White House goes Green

WASHINGTON, D.C - Win a title and see the world.

Well maybe not the world, but a cool part of your own country.

On Monday, Michigan State's NCAA men's hockey championship team and staff visited Washington, D.C., and were recognized by President George W. Bush at the annual NCAA Champions Day at the White House.

"This was like the icing on the cake to our season. It was really neat,'' Spartans senior captain Chris Lawrence said. "It was great to meet the President and talk to him for a few minutes with our group.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience.''

Twenty-eight national championship teams - ranging from the Florida men's basketball team to the Northwestern women's lacrosse and Georgia men's tennis teams to the Vanderbilt women's bowling team - were at the celebration in Washington.

The Spartans presented Bush with a No. 1 Spartans jersey with his name on the back and had a picture taken with the President, who congratulated the team on its title.

MSU's traveling party included the players, coaches and hockey staff members, as well as President Lou Anna K. Simon, Athletic Director Ron Mason, university trustees and various other administrators.

Commenting on all the teams at a gathering on the South Lawn of the White House, President Bush said, "Michigan State men's ice hockey team - they won their first hockey crown more than 20 years ago and they're back. Congratulations to you.''

Actually, the Spartans won their first title more than 40 years ago - in 1966 - and their last NCAA championship was 21 years ago in 1986.

Lawrence was seated with other teams' captains on a stage to the side of the President while the rest of the Spartans were seated on the South Lawn.

"You've distinguished yourselves on the field and fairways and tennis courts, river and rinks, pommel horses and pools, bowling alleys, mountains and basketball arenas,'' Bush said.

"You have one thing in common: You have achieved the great title 'Champion,' and nobody can take that away from you.''

The Spartans arrived in Washington on Monday morning and first toured the Supreme Court, where they also presented Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. with a No. 17 Spartans jersey.

The team also took a bus tour of Washington, stopping at the Jefferson, Lincoln and World War II memorials, as well as seeing other sites. After their White House visit, the Spartans attended a Congressional reception in the Rayburn Building.

For MSU coach Rick Comley, the White House and presidential visit was his second. When he was coaching at Northern Michigan, the Wildcats won the 1991 NCAA title and the team was honored at the White House when Bush's father, George H. W. Bush, was President.

Lawrence said he's visited Washington several times, but not as a "celebrity.''

The 25-year-old former walk-on forward, who's from the Philadelphia area, has said all along that MSU's dramatic 3-1 victory over Boston College in the NCAA title game in St. Louis on April 7, was his last as a competitive player.

Lawrence already has landed a job near Philadelphia, working as a headhunter for a computer firm. He'll return to East Lansing this week, pack up his things and move back to Philadelphia.

"This was special to be honored like this,'' he said. "And this was our chance to get together as a team, as a group, for one last time. You never know if we'll all be together again. This was pretty cool.''

The championship teams saluted Monday were from eight conferences, 14 states and 21 campuses.

The only NCAA champion not present was the Tennessee's women's basketball team, which reportedly could not visit because of summer camps.