Boston Bruins goalie and playoff MVP Tim Thomas elected not to join his teammates at the White House Monday. Thomas explained his decision on his Facebook page, clarifying that it wasn’t about “politics or party,” but, rather, had to do with his general dissatisfaction with the manner in which the Federal government is being run:

Thomas explained his decision on his Facebook page, clarifying that it wasn’t about “politics or party,” but, rather, had to do with his general dissatisfaction with the manner in which the Federal government is being run.

Tim Tebow is a football player very well-known for his Christian beliefs. And recently, he has begun to get some flack in the media for silent prayers after scoring a touchdown and for other public displays of his faith. You’ll recall that he filmed an ad for Focus on the Family that took a very powerful stand against abortion that aired during the Super Bowl. On Reliable Sources today, Howard Kurtz examined media coverage of Tebow and how much of it was being influenced by religion as opposed to sports.

Former Virginia governor George Allen may be most famous for once calling an Indian American “macaca” on the campaign trail, but now he’s making news again for repeatedly asking a black NBC reporter what “position” he played, continually forgetting he didn’t play a sport at all. The Red Eye panel was somewhat torn on what to make of this– was Allen, now a Senate hopeful, a “casual racist,” or a “shitty conversationalist”?

What do Ronaldinho, Didier Drogba, Fabio Cannavaro, Franck Ribery, Landon Donovan, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Roger Federer, and Homer Simpson have in common? Yes, they are all stars of Nike’s “Write the Future” ad campaign and, with the exception of Homer Simpson, recently defeated athletes. Rumors of a sports curse around the ads are growing, and Rachel Maddow believes them.

The gay sports blog Outsports has detailed its investigation of the gay teen hockey player blog that drew international attention and a loyal community of followers and concluded the blogger was actually a formerly married man in his 40s who appears to have duped the blog’s teen and adult fans.

About 10 minutes into Tiger Woods’ press conference at Augusta National Golf Club yesterday, I understood why Team Tiger chose that venue as the site for their man’s much-anticipated meeting with the media. As many observers have noted, the club already provides more secure surroundings — and more security — than any golf tournament in [...]

ESPN New York went live yesterday, and upon first glance it looks like the worldwide leader of sports has a legion of writers and content producers hellbent on making the sports section of the New York Times obsolete. But according to a new GQ piece, that might not be entirely true.

Michael Jordan is back in the news, as new details are emerging regarding his fire-sale purchase of the Charlotte Bobcats, and the financial troubles faced by former owner Robert Johnson. This comes one day after a Vanity Fair piece shed light on his alleged bad influence on Tiger Woods.

Finally, an objective resource to solve life’s greatest debates on who are the most hyped, underrated or legendary teams, players and executives of all time. Hello, SportsGrid! Mediaite founder Dan Abrams will be launching his sports-themed website in late April. The site takes Mediaite’s Power Grid and applies it to the world of sports, covering professional leagues, collegiate sports, and sports media using a bulked-up version of Mediaite’s proprietary algorithm.

Last night’s premiere of Dancing With the Stars, powered by Erin Andrews’ much buzzed-about debut, scored big ratings for ABC. It’s hard not to conclude that this year’s inclusion of Andrews (also, Mediaite’s number-one-ranked TV Reporter), helped out a bit.

In anticipation of SportsGrid, Mediaite’s upcoming sports baby (babies having babies!), and the crazy Power Grid-related arguing which will follow that launch we’ve decided to count down our list of the top 25 most influential sports bloggers, writers, and tweeters currently shaping the online sports narrative.

Those who doubted Lindsey Vonn‘s injuries when she soared to a gold medal finish in last night’s women’s downhill skiing event can now believe. Vonn, who had been suffering from an injury on her right shin sustained during a practice run, held the pain back just enough to win her medal last night, but just crashed while seeking her second medal in the women’s super combined competition. NPR reported that she was visibly limping and complaining that the injury was “not good” this morning. She managed to maintain her lead during the downhill portion of the competition, but wiped out, giving up the lead– and the gold medal– to her friend Maria Riesch of Germany.

The overnight numbers are in, and last night’s Vikings-Saints game is expected to be the most watched television program of any kind, excluding Super Bowls, since the series finale of Seinfeld.

The Washington, D.C. area is about to become a one-newspaper sports town with the demise of the Washington Times‘ sports section, announced Dec. 30 by the conservative paper’s top brass. The Unification Church-run paper slashed 40 percent of its staff and will focus on national news and politics, while shuttering its Sunday edition.

With just over two minutes to go in last night’s much-hyped Colts-Patriots game, Belichick elected to go for the first down on a 4th and 2 from his own 28 yard line. Tom Brady’s pass to Kevin Faulk was bobbled and caught, but Faulk came up a half-yard short, leading to a Peyton Manning touchdown pass and Colts victory. Yesterday was the loss, and today is the backlash.

MSNBC, 12:50pmET:

By now, everyone has likely seen the video of the hair-pulling, punching female college soccer player who has been suspended indefinitely. Dr. Nancy Snyderman took this as an opportunity to delve into the topic of whether women athletes are just too darn aggressive and emotional these days.

News reporters like to catch readers’ attention with a few zingy lines at the start of an article. Sometimes, these so-called “ledes” go horribly wrong. But sometimes, they’re great! In Today’s Best News Ledes, we highlight the cream of the crop:

140 characters is mightier than…well football players and the military, apparently. There are two stories out today about two very different, but very powerful, organizations deciding to ban the use of Twitter. But is this practical? And how long can it actually last?