Tim Thomas -- again

[Madcombinepilot]

wow.

Is this guy a piece of work or what?!?

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=387260

I guess the Bruins media control can't teach this guy how to be a professional. He is kind of like the Dennis Rodman of hockey these days... "its all about me"

[Jovorock]

He's a idiot who cares

[Meds]

Just watched the clip on TSN. Loved it. I wish we had guys like that on our team, willing to tell the media where to go when they need to let something drop.

Thomas is absolutely right to separate the two, he would also be completely in the right if he wanted to talk about that stuff and blend his personal life with his professional life. It's totally his choice. I actually have a lot of respect for the guy in this incident, he was unbelievably patient with the media even though the reporters seemed to be completely deaf. Had that been me I think they would have asked twice, at most, and I would have walked away.

As a free citizen of a free country I applaud Thomas for being an ordinary guy on facebook and refusing to be sucked into the media's BS. However, as a Canuck fan I gotta say that if this brings any distraction into the Bruin's dressing room, or if it translates to problems on the ice, I'm extatic!

I hope some fool reporter writes something that gets to print and takes his non-commital responses out of context. Then I hope Thomas sues the moron.

[Madcombinepilot]

So, how did you feel when Bertuzzi was rather short with the media when he was here?

[Groovypippin]

Don't have a problem with Thomas having and expressing political opinions and don't have the least problem with how he conducted himself in the interview. I happen to fundamentally disagree with him, but oh well.

TSN however should be kicked in the nuts for their pathetic introduction to the story. "The US government's decision to force religious groups to hand out condoms"? WHAT? THE? FUCK?

What the Obama administration did was force catholic health insurance companies to follow the same rules as every other health insurer in the US and provide contraception to their clients upon request as part of the health insurance plans they sell. Catholic HMOs are very active in poor neighbourhoods and lot's of folks who belong to them are NOT CATHOLIC, but sign up with them because they are the only HMO who will take them. Preying on poor people who cannot afford other services and then imposing religious values on them through their health insurance is disgusting. Period.

/rant.

[cjc]

The only reason anyone pays attention to Tim Thomas is because he's a Boston Bruin. He's using his fame to make political statements and that involves the team no matter how you look at it. He is front and centre with the media in a hockey context and yet the controversy surrounding his views takes centre stage every time he opens his mouth. No wonder the Bruins organization is pissed. It's a selfish, grandstanding attitude and Thomas will be gone by the summer, if not sooner.

Good riddance.

[Per]

Thomas will be gone by the summer, if not sooner.

Good riddance.

And preferrably before the Stanley Cup Final!

The Finns just elected a conservative president (Niinistö), maybe he can go back to playing in the Finnish league,as he did for four seasons (no connection to Vivaldi whatsoever) before finally landing a true NHL contract with the Bruins at age 31.

Of course, that means he will have to accept living in a country with free health care, the best public schools outside of Asia, subsidised contraceptives and late night porn on public TV... What the heck, didn't seem to have a problem with it before.

[rats19]

Don't care what his belief system consists of....he has every right to voice.his concerns



BUT , this is a distraction for the team and nothing good can come of it.....therefore it is selfish and all about TT.

[Per]

He's a idiot who cares

An idiot.

But it's nice that he cares.

[dbr]

He's right that reporters in the Bruins dressing room asking him about his personal views are blurring the line between his job and his personal life.

Sooo, I'm hoping a reporter corners him in the parking lot or comes and knocks on his door at home.

[wafflecombine]

I don't buy the seperation of personal and work life at all when you are a public personality who goes out of his way to express politically charged opinions. This notion that reporters should keep those questions out of the locker room is just wrong. We don't cut any other public personas slack - Timmy isn't so special a snowflake that he warrants the kid gloves.

You got a personal opinion on XYZ, keep it to yourself or only share it amongst trusted friends. But posting on Facebook (which is akin to taking a bullhorn to a busy street corner) is asking for trouble - especially as a public figure. Do you really think all the people "friended" on Thomas' FB are real, face to face, going for beers on Tuesday eve friends? I highly doubt it.

The nature of his recent off ice actions and rants are proving to be a distraction to the team. I also think they are affecting his play (which I am ok with as a Bruins anti-fan). Either way, its a rookie media mistake and teams are only willing to put up with so much. Tim has a fair bit of cred after his performance last year and through most of this year.... but there is a limit.

And Tukka Rask is MORE than willing to take the No. 1 slot should Tim prefer private life over public hockey.

[vic]

The best part of this which is making Thomas look like an even bigger idiot is when he says Facebook is his personal life and The Arena is his Job so he doesn't want to answer questions about his personal life with reporters in the Arena.

I had to take a look at Thomas's Facebook page - his "personal life" is scattered with photos of him in a Boston Jersey celebrating the Stanley Cup win. So it's fine for him to bring his "Job" into his personal space, but when asked about his personal space in the locker room he wants to separate it.

[herb]

Timmy is looking more and more like a headcase.

When you're a public figure, you can't expect to go and make public comments on Facebook and not expect to have any questions come up about it!

Regular ol' non famous people have gotten fired for what they have said or posted (or other people have posted) on their Facebook profiles. There's nothing personal about Facebook, and when you're a professional athlete you should be a bit more media savvy than "those are my personal opinions and they have nothing to do with the Boston Bruins or hockey".

[tantalum]

All fine and dandy if you want to keep work and personal separate. I have no problem with the idea. Unfortunately for little Timmy he isn't smart enough to do that.

First he annoys his employers by failing to attend what is a work function (and in the end quite an honour as well). It was his personal choice so he says. Except he decided to comment on this WORK decision on his PERSONAL facebook page and then didn't want to answer questions on that decision. Then of course it came out that it doesn't appear he is actually registered to vote so all his "this is not how the forefathers wanted government to become" schtick is not genuine as I'm pretty sure those same forefathers wanted him to vote. If you didn't vote shut up.

Now he makes what I agree is a personal comment on his facebook page. But because he is a public figure with a PUBLIC facebook page who just had another government based controversy it has spilled into his work whether he likes it or not. The guy is an idiot. My guess is that the Bruins tell him to take down the page so the circus ride stops (not unlike others who have been asked to take down a twitter page or at least curb the comments).

Honestly, the guy is just stupid and I do think Jacobs could very well demand his trade once his NTC lifts at the end of the year. The Jacobs family is not happy with him.

[Meds]

Timmy is looking more and more like a headcase.

When you're a public figure, you can't expect to go and make public comments on Facebook and not expect to have any questions come up about it!

Regular ol' non famous people have gotten fired for what they have said or posted (or other people have posted) on their Facebook profiles. There's nothing personal about Facebook, and when you're a professional athlete you should be a bit more media savvy than "those are my personal opinions and they have nothing to do with the Boston Bruins or hockey".

I'm fairly certain he didn't expect that there would be no questions, he simply said he wouldn't answer any. Are people so moronically obsessed with "public figures" and "sports icons" that they think they should have access to every detail of said person's life? I suppose Thomas should be telling everyone which way his wife takes it and whether or not he has had his annual prostate exam.....

Idiots.

So, how did you feel when Bertuzzi was rather short with the media when he was here?

I actually thought it was hilarious and I loved it. A star player on the Canucks who would tell reporters to go f##k their hats if he didn't like their questions or thought they were simply picking at a scab for a story. Reporters annoy me. They ask loaded questions in hopes of getting an athlete to jumble his words and reply with something that is a bit vague to they can purposely twist his words and misrepresent the guy. Major media is a bane of our society, sometimes sports reporters are as bad as the paparazzi.