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The All England Club Would Be Disgusted

Apr 12, 2008, 4:04 PM UTC

Sporting News’ Jim Ryan will be in Winston-Salem, NC, this Friday through Sunday to cover the United States’ tie against France in the Davis Cup quarterfinals.

â†µâ†µCentre Court at Wimbledon this is not, nor does it aspire to be. This is not stuffy, wear-all-white, aristocratic tennis. This is the people’s tennis.â†µ

â†µâ†µOver 10,000 people attended Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, NC, on the first day of the United States’ Davis Cup quarterfinal tie against France. They chanted. They sang. They exasperated the chair umpire by cheering between first and second serves. In short, they enjoyed themselves while supporting their country.â†µ

â†µâ†µ“Having a biased crowd makes it feel like it’s another kind of sporting event like a basketball game or soccer game,” James Blake said after winning an epic five-setter Friday to give the U.S. a 2-0 lead in the tie.â†µ

â†µâ†µLeading many of the cheers were the “NetHeads”, a section of fans adorned in American flag shirts and hats fashioned out of red, white and blue basketball nets. Silly as they look, some of these people are gainfully employed. Rod Pearson, the fellow in the photo with the racquet on his head, is a local tennis pro.â†µ

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â†µâ†µThroughout the match, the NetHeads banged bongos and snare drums while belting out cheers based on popular song lyrics. Some cheers bordered on clever -- for example, “Dontcha wish you had a serve like An-dy” for Andy Roddick. Others were a little uninspired, like “All you need is James” to the tune of “All You Need Is Love.” And, shockingly, the NetHeads are not infallible. At one point, they accidentally started chanting, “Give us a break!”-- as in, break of serve -- while Andy Roddick was serving.â†µ

â†µâ†µFrench supporters were predictably smaller in number, but there was an entire section sitting in the second deck above a banner reading “club des supporters depuis 2001.” If I remember correctly from all the French classes I didn’t take in high school, that means “supporters club since 2001.”â†µ

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â†µ Some other notes from Winston-Salem: Davis' cup gives Stanley's cup a run for its money. Seriously, the thing is huge. Unlike the Stanley Cup, however, I doubt the Davis Cup has been taken repeatedly to strip clubs by its winners.â†µ

â†µâ†µI didn’t think this was possible, but someone has created a noisemaker more asinine and annoying than ThunderStix. A laminated “Go USA” poster -- maybe about 2 feet by one foot – folds like an accordion, at which point it can be banged against one’s hand to make a loud noise. And why wouldn’t someone invest this? Simply clapping and yelling is far too difficult for the average fan.â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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