The tradition of sports teams visiting the White House dates back more than 160 years, but it only became a regular occurrence in the 1980s during the Reagan Administration. For a good 20-plus years after that, it was a benign-at-worst ritual of the sports landscape. Sure, you might’ve wished there was someone else hosting, and because only one team in each sport got the honor, you probably wished it was another squad gifting the president his replica jersey. But politics were an almost non-existent factor. Ronald Reagan hosted the 1984 Georgetown Hoyas . Bill Clinton hosted the Dallas Cowboys . The sporting world found other things to get excited about and moved on. And then? Well, the world lost its ever-loving mind and entered an era where everything is political, including the hitherto beloved or completely ignored sports White House visit.…