I’m not American and never will be, but the citizens of the country allied with Canada had much to celebrate in recent days as their Olympic men’s and women’s teams captured gold medals at the Milan-Cortina Olympics. Americans should be proud of these men and women, but it seems one man wasn’t as proud of the women as he was of the men afterward. joking with the men’s team over a phone call that “I believe I would probably be impeached” if he didn’t invite them to the White House on Tuesday.I will fully admit that I hate talking about politics on this site, and the American political scene is one that I try to avoid altogether. As much as this saga affects life in Canada, it is simply exhausting to follow and the drama that comes with it is nothing more than self-aggrandizement and delusion. To be honest, I try to avoid it all.
The US women’s team was dominant throughout their entire stay in Italy, allowing just two goals in the seven games they played. In doing so, they set a shutout record that likely won’t be broken for a while and prove that they are the best team in the world right now. You’d think someone concerned with “big” wins would be more than excited to welcome this dominant team to the White House, but he didn’t even bother contacting them after he won.
Unsurprisingly, the U.S. women’s team turned down the offer.
“We are sincerely grateful for the invitation to our gold medal-winning U.S. women’s hockey team and deeply appreciate the recognition of their extraordinary achievement,” the U.S. women’s team said in a statement released Monday. “Due to timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate. They were honored to be included and are grateful for the recognition.”
I appreciate their polite response to what was clearly treated as a side issue, but we may want to expand on this as this is not the first time there has been inequality by the current regime. Let’s get out the shovels!On February 4, 2026, the current board decided to do this releasing a statement on National Women and Girls in Sports Day. In that statement, the country’s leader wrote, “Under my leadership, the safety, dignity and work ethic of every woman will always be protected,” which seems a bit hollow after making jokes about not inviting the dominant U.S. women’s team to the White House.
Some will say, “Teebz, he was just joking at that moment!” That’s unfortunately true, but upholding the team’s dignity should have been a priority considering he made that statement just three weeks ago. But jokes aside, the “work ethic” part should be easy to reinforce since this guy has the ability to sign decrees into law, so we should see him reward the women of the U.S. Women’s National Hockey Team somehow, right?
The Atlantic Ocean‘s Jemele Hill wrote an article on March 4, 2025 where she pointed out that “[t]The Department of Education recently announced that Title IX, the federal law that requires colleges to provide equal per-player funding for men’s and women’s sports, does not apply to name, image and likeness payments paid directly to college and university athletes.
With this new change in law under the current administration, it means that Title IX rules in U.S. colleges and universities will no longer apply to NIL deals, allowing universities to spend a larger portion of their annual salary cap of up to $20.5 million per school on sports and athletes wherever they choose, rather than distributing it more evenly.
In short, highly marketed sports like NCAA football and men’s basketball could receive the vast majority of that NIL money at some schools, as rules under the previous administration that required schools to “distribute that money between male and female athletes in proportion to their participation rates” were expunged from the record.
For players like Abbey Murphy and Caroline Harvey, who could very likely end up in an EA Sports video game as part of the selected Olympic teams, this would mean receiving little to no money despite the major role they each played in America’s gold medal victory. We already know that most female NCAA athletes are having a “difficult time keeping up with their male counterparts in the new era of NIL money,” as Hill writes, and the 2025 change made it even harder for female athletes to be paid equally at the NCAA level. After all, paritynow.com’ Hannah Taylor noted that women’s sports will account for “15% of total sports media coverage” by 2024.
This isn’t new either thanks to recent reports. By 2022, USA today pointed this out for every dollar spent on men’s sports at the NCAA, the same schools “spent just 71 cents on women,” while the newspaper’s research and analysis “focused exclusively on sports with comparable men’s and women’s teams.” NCAA women’s sports already started with a deficit, and now the NIL money change is pushing them back again.
Tell me again how the work ethic of the women’s team is protected?
I was a little disappointed when I saw that USA today‘s report did not include hockey, but let’s look at an example that should serve as a basis for this argument. Canada’s Gavin McKenna’s reported NIL deal with Penn State “is ‘in the ballpark’ of $700,000, a source tells ESPNDo you think Abbey Murphy, who was dominant for Team USA in Italy and for Minnesota during her NCAA career, has such a deal waiting for her with the Golden Gophers? Hint: not a chance.
Knowing that this current administration has diminished any chance of universities distributing NIL funds evenly, why would anyone expect the NCAA players on the US women’s hockey team to willingly show up to the White House if they had been made into a punch line by the current office holder whose administration has taken money out of their pockets despite the expectation of winning gold being ever-present? The women did the right thing in refusing.
They have often returned from major events with gold. They have worked just as hard, if not harder, than the men to put their sport on the world stage. They have all graduated or are in the process of obtaining a university degree, so that they can contribute to society in a meaningful way even after their hockey career. They are heroes and icons to many, and have inspired countless others. These are pillars on which women’s hockey is built and will grow.
As a Canadian, I have great respect for the US women’s hockey team. They are exceptional players, better people, and I can assure everyone that they are not an afterthought, nor punchlines for poorly delivered jokes. Treating them as such highlights how pointless this government’s declaration of National Women and Girls in Sports Day was, and their actions to make it harder for women to win NIL deals is further evidence that this government is using women’s sports as pawns in their political games.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in life when it comes to jokes, it’s that never just joking. There’s always a little truth in every joke, and it seems like there’s a mountain of evidence showing that this administration doesn’t hold women’s sports in high regard, despite Team USA’s women’s hockey team being the most dominant team in modern Olympic history on its way to winning a gold medal.
The American women were stylish during this ordeal, but declining the invitation was the right thing to do. No jokes needed for that.
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
#words #meaningless