South Carolina women's basketball team declines invitation to Trump White House

[DonViejo]

Source: The Hill




BY BRANDON CARTER - 11/17/17 10:06 AM EST

The University of South Carolina women’s basketball team is declining an invitation from President Trump to celebrate their 2017 NCAA championship win at the White House.

USC head coach Dawn Staley released Link to tweet
" target="_blank">a statement Thursday saying the team would not attend an event honoring NCAA champions at the White House on Friday. “We did hear from the White House about attending tomorrow’s event, but we will not be able to attend,” Staley said. “As I’ve been saying since our practices for this season started, all of our focus is on the season ahead. The only invitation we are thinking about is to the 2018 NCAA Tournament.”

According to The State, the team received their invitation to the White House earlier this month after Staley told the Associated Press in September that team was still waiting on their invite. “We haven’t gotten an invitation yet and that in itself speaks volumes,” Staley said. “We won before those other teams won their championships. I don’t know what else has to happen.”

The Gamecocks won their NCAA title in April.



Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/360867-south-carolina-womens-basketball-team-declines-invitation-to

[paleotn]

1. About time they got an invitation....

And little Donnie...go fuck yourself. Well played USC. Well played.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Has South Carolina ever before snubbed an American president? Not since the 1860's.

Has South Carolina ever before snubbed an American president?

Link to tweet

Not since the 1860's

Link to tweet

[Corgigal]

3. Good people on both sides, both sides.

What an idiot President.

Good for them.

[erpowers]

4. Scheduling Conflict

Last edited Fri Nov 17, 2017, 06:07 PM - Edit history (1)

South Carolina's head coach, Dawn Staley, is claiming the team is not accepting the invitation because the season has started and she wants the team to focus on getting back to the NCAA Tournament. That sounds reasonable and believable. Would the players be able to enjoy a trip to the White House at this point? I am not even talking about politics. Considering the season has started, would these players be able to relax and truly take in the idea that they are at the White House? It seems like a White House trip, at this point, would do more to stress out these players. I assume they would either have to miss at least one practice, or miss a class. Then they would likely have to rush back to South Carolina, or wherever their next game is taking place. Then they would have to worry about being ready for the game. This was bad timing on the part of the White House.

I wonder if the Trump team sent out the invitation at this time because they did not really want to meet with this team. Who in their right mind sends an invitation to visit the White House to a team after their season has started? How would Staley find time for her team to go to the White House? The players have classes they have to attend, they have to practice for games, and then they have to actually play home games and travel to get to away games. It would be hard for the team to focus on school and their season while also trying to find time to meet with the President. I realize a trip to the White House only takes one day, but that is one day during the season. These players would likely have to miss out on something in order to visit the White House. The invitation should have been sent out after the basketball season. That way Staley and the players likely would not have had much, aside from visiting the President, to worry about.

[GoCubsGo]

6. I'm not sure it was deliberate.

Given the level of incompetence in the current White House, they probably weren't even aware that the NCAA had a women's tournament.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. THIS

They barely got the Easter Egg Roll on the calendar in time, let alone got the specially designed commemorative wooden eggs completed and delivered. They are even screwing with the WH Christmas Tree acceptance ceremony so they can open up Mar-A-Largo.

[erpowers]

12. If Michelle Obama

I can only imagine how conservatives would have reacted if Michelle Obama had moved up the delivery of the White House Christmas Tree because she wanted to be out of town after Thanksgiving. It most likely would have been said to be a part of the Obama's war on Christmas.

[BumRushDaShow]

13. It was bad enough when the Obamas would go to Hawai'i

for Christmas despite the fact that it was his birthplace. Every trip was a RW loon meltdown.

[Kaleva]

11. Not exactly a well oiled machine.

[Kaleva]

10. And the seniors that have graduated have moved on with their lives.

[GoCubsGo]

5. I don't blame them.

Nobody likes being treated as an afterthought.

[Gothmog]

7. They were afraid of being groped by trump

[truthisfreedom]

9. Disinvited in 3, 2, 1...