Sports no sure respite from politics when title-winning athletes visit the White House

By CHRIS MEGERIAN and JOSH BOAK
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Politics and sports go together like baseball and apple pie. Title-winning teams have visited the White House for decades. But what started as a nonpartisan rite of passage has become increasingly tangled up in politics. It’s a shift that some peg to Bill Clinton’s presidency. One pro golfer declined a White House invitation and described Clinton in unflattering terms. On Friday, President Joe Biden will welcome the NCAA champion LSU women’s basketball team along with UConn’s men’s team. Some took umbrage when first lady Jill Biden suggested also inviting the Iowa team that lost in the finals to LSU. After significant pushback, that idea faded away.