Writing in For the Win, a media property of USA Today, Mary Clarke charged Team USA men’s hockey with failing “utterly” to rise to what she calls the “cultural moment” by accepting President Trump’s invitation to attend the State of the Union (SOTU) address.
The president called the U.S. men’s team in their locker rooms while they were still drenched in celebratory beer, not only to congratulate them on their thrilling 2-1 overtime win against archrival Canada, which won the U.S. its first Olympic gold men’s hockey medal in 46 years, but also to invite them to attend Tuesday night’s SOTU address.
The team accepted the president’s invitation before he even finished the sentence.
However, at one point, he joked that he would be impeached if he didn’t invite the women’s team as well.
“I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that,” Trump said while speaking to the men’s team.
Trump added that if he didn’t invite them, “I do believe I probably would be impeached.”
The joke was received by the men’s team exactly as intended; they laughed. It was a joke.
However, one person who was not laughing is USA Today’s Mary Clarke, who charged the president with belittling the women’s team’s achievements and scolded the men’s team for laughing about it and accepting the invite.
“I’m sure I’m not the only one that feels as if a bucket of cold water has been dumped on your head after listening to that exchange,” Clarke wrote of Trump’s obvious joke.
Clarke then goes on to detail the many accomplishments of female athletes at the Winter Olympics: Alysa Liu’s gold medal-winning performance in figure skating, Elana Meyers Taylor and Mikaela Shiffrin, who won gold in bobsledding and slalom, respectively, and others.
But then Clarke charged the White House with being “silent” amid all the success female athletes were having. And she attributed the silence to politics, claiming the president only spoke up when “right-leaning” hockey players began finding success.
“But, for most of the Games, the White House has either been silent in the face of these victories or has actively disparaged athletes that have spoken out against the United States politically,” Clarke wrote. “It wasn’t until the men’s hockey team won gold over its long-standing rival that the Trump administration decided to hand out praise and victory calls.
“Given the NHL reportedly has the second-highest percentage of right-leaning athletes out of the five major sports leagues in the United States, it shouldn’t come as a surprise.”
Clarke then blamed “hockey culture” for this phenomenon.
“If you’re a long-time fan, you knew that hockey culture would rear its ugly head again,” Clarke explained. “In 2023, multiple NHL players declined to wear Pride Night jerseys in a move that ultimately saw the league ban specialty warmup jerseys. The Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault scandal rocked the NHL in 2021, but multiple members of the organization in Stan Bowman, Joel Quenneville and Kevin Cheveldayoff have either retained their jobs or have gotten new ones in the years since the news broke.
“And, just last October, the Vegas Golden Knights signed free agent goaltender Carter Hart. Hart was one of the five players found not guilty on sexual assault charges in the Hockey Canada sexual assault case that had two juries dismissed before a verdict was reached.”
Despite, in her view, hockey’s sordid political and misogynistic roots, Clarke then swerved and said the sport is actually on the ascendency. She credited the Netflix series Heated Rivalry, which focuses on a gay romance between two players, with bringing throngs of LGBTQ fans to the sports.
But then, at the precise moment when gay cinema had redeemed hockey from its “right-leaning” political depravity, USA men’s hockey dropped the puck.
“With hockey at the peak of its popularity in the pop culture zeitgeist, the United States men’s team failed to meet the moment and then some,” Clarke lamented.
The USA Today writer then went on to accuse the men’s team of paying mere lip service to their female counterparts despite attending their games and singing their praises in the media.
“All of that feels so hollow now in the face of the team’s embarrassing postgame moments with Patel and Trump,” an obviously distraught Clarke wrote of the men’s seemingly genuine support of the women’s team. “To laugh at a joke disparaging your United States teammates and peers who won the same accomplishments as you just a few days prior is incredibly disappointing behavior.
“It leaves such a sour taste to the end of what has been an exceptional Olympics, not just for the United States but the entire world.”
The U.S. men’s hockey team landed in the DC area on Tuesday and will be present at the SOTU address Tuesday night.
