U.S. athletes should get used to being treated as the ugly Americans.
The U.S. men’s hockey team probably won’t hear a repeat of the boos during the “Star-Spangled Banner” before Thursday night’s 4 Nations Face-Off final that they did Saturday. But only because the game is being played in Boston.
If it was in Montreal or Toronto, or any other Canadian city, there’d be more of the heckling and jeering we’ve heard over the last three weeks. Boos before NHL games. Boos before NBA games. Boos before PWHL games. Probably boos during next year’s Milan Cortina Olympics, too.
So long as President Donald Trump continues to bully our closest neighbor, set fire to decades-long alliances and dehumanize foreign citizens, American athletes will feel the repercussions.
And no, this isn’t simply the byproduct of a heated rivalry. Fans are usually respectful of the anthems of other countries. But when we are disrespecting their countries, we should not be surprised that the response is raw and it’s real.
“The reaction (was), ‘Wow.’ And then you just think about why they’re booing,” Toronto Raptors forward Garrett Temple, who is American, told The Athletic after hearing boos ahead of a Feb. 2 home game against the Los Angeles Clippers.
“A lot of things bigger than basketball going on in the world right now. At the end of the day, we play in an arena that’s in Canada and they’re Canadian citizens, so they have a certain feeling about the trade situation going on, the tariffs,” Temple said. “The people that booed let their thoughts be known.”
Some athletes no doubt support the wrecking ball Trump is wielding. Others do not. But all will serve as stand-ins for the president because, for many people, athletes representing the United States are an extension of the people running the United States.
The average Canadian will never have the opportunity to let Trump know what they think of the potentially crippling tariffs he has threatened to level out of a misguided understanding of economics, or his juvenile insistence that Canada become our 51st state. Ordinary Ukrainians will never be able to express their outrage to Trump for characterizing their country as the instigator of Russia’s unprovoked invasion in 2022 and selling them out to Vladimir Putin. Citizens of Guatemala, El Salvador, China and other countries will never have the chance to tell Stephen Miller of their disgust at the degrading way we’re treating their fellow citizens.
They can, however, let a chorus of boos rain down during our anthem or direct jeers at American athletes. It’s a way of giving a middle finger to Trump, his minions and everyone who supports the chaos and cruelty, even if they don’t hear it themselves.
Some U.S. athletes will tune it out completely. Others will acknowledge the hostility, maybe even express understanding for the reasons behind it.
And some will use it as motivation, ratcheting the game up into a faux proxy war. That’s what the U.S. hockey team seems to be doing.
After the crowd in Montreal booed during “The Star-Spangled Banner” before Saturday’s 4 Nations game, U.S. players picked fights with Canadians as soon as the puck dropped. The team GM also extended an invitation for Trump to attend the rematch, but Trump said Thursday he wouldn’t be able to attend. He did call the team, however.
“We would love it if President Trump was in attendance,’ Bill Guerin, Team USA’s GM, said during an appearance on Fox News’ ‘America’s Newsroom’ on Monday. ‘We have a room full of proud American players and coaches and staff. Listen, we’re just trying to represent our country the best way we can.’
The same could be said of those heckling U.S. athletes and booing during our anthem, too, though.
When the United States is punching down on just about everyone but Russia, we can’t be surprised when those countries respond, regardless of the form that takes.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.