LAST weekend I rather scared my wife and son with some excessive hooting and hollering over a sporting event.
No, I'm not a huge Baltimore Ravens fan, nor was I screaming about Beyonce's half-time show. Beyonce actually inspired feelings in me that I certainly wasn't going to share with my wife or two-year-old. Judging by Twitter, though, it appears I shared those feelings with pretty much everyone else in the world. I was happy to see though that Beyonce - like Up With People of Super Bowl half-times past - used her platform to share a good message with the millions who were watching: clothes are totally overrated. Moving on.
The sport that had me screaming was something quite different. My wife came running into the living room to see what had set me off.
"Tennis?" she said. "Explain."
It was Friday night and Canadian Frank Dancevic, ranked No. 166 in the world, was polishing up a stunning upset over Spain's Marcel Granollers, ranked No. 34 in the world. Playing what the Spanish coach would later call "perfect tennis," Dancevic romped to a 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 win at UBC's Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre to give Canada a 2-0 advantage in their five-match Davis Cup World Group opening round series against Spain. Spain came into the series as the No. 1-ranked team in the world while Canada came in ranked No. 12.
The Davis Cup tournament was first held in 1900 and since that time Canada had never once gotten past the first round of the elite World Group stage while Spain had won the whole thing fives times, all of their victories coming in the last 13 years. Dancevic's win put Canada on the verge of a historic victory for the country and an upset that would be felt around the tennis world.
"I don't get it," my wife said. "Is Federer there? Nadal? Is Nadal gonna take his shirt off? No? What's so exciting?"
My son had no such questions. "Go Canada!" he screamed, turning his mini hockey stick into a tennis racket and swinging it wildly around our living room. He's got a lot of patriotic spirit, that kid. So much so that he very nearly put a patriotic hole in our flat screen.
My wife's confusion/ obliviousness/indifference seemed to be shared by much of the rest of the country. I tuned in to TSN's Sportscentre that night and waited 40 minutes before highlights of Milos Raonic's win from earlier in the day were shown. There was no mention at all of this Dancevic fellow.
"Spain is No. 1 in the world in tennis," I told my wife, looking for an analogy she'd get. "Canada sucks at tennis. If we beat them in the Davis Cup it'd be like them beating us in hockey."
She started to come around.
The next day Canada narrowly lost a marathon doubles match, setting up a final Sunday showdown with two singles matches. If Canada won either one they'd take the series and score some history.
I had a press pass so I headed to UBC Sunday to feel the excitement for myself, much to the amusement and consternation of my friends and family who were settling in to catch the Super Bowl.
"Davis Cup? Is that the golf one?" my wise-guy brother asked before texting me a string of terrible tennis puns. "You must really LOVE tennis. Are you going to NET an interview with Raonic?"
The atmosphere inside and outside the stadium was phenomenal. A high school marching band and cheer team welcomed fans to the front entrance and kept up the music throughout the day. Giant flags waved, trumpets blared and fans did their best to make Spain feel unwelcome.
The loudest statements, however, came from Raonic. He was the biggest, baddest man on the court all weekend. Never before has Canada had a weapon like this in tennis. Blasting serves of more than 230 kilometres per hour, Raonic won his match with relative ease and showed why he is one of the best young players in the world.
Speaking of best in the world, for some people the elephant in the room during Canada's win over Spain was that neither Nadal nor fellow world top-five player David Ferrer played in the tie. To that I say, beat it, elephant. Pack your trunk and get out of here (sorry, pun residue).
I started paying attention to sports as a teenager in the mid 1990s and, given the landscape then and for many years after, I was convinced I would never see a relevant Canadian tennis moment in my lifetime. That changed Sunday and it was amazing to see it happen live with a raucous Vancouver crowd spurring it on. The win is on a very short list of the greatest moments in Canadian tennis history.
There's something cool about Davis Cup tennis. In an individual sport that seems to be populated by more than its fair share of individualistic, temperamental athletes, Davis Cup brings them together to share common goals, flags and hairclips.
Canada has earned a spot in the World Group quarterfinals and will host Italy April 5-7. The host site hasn't been picked but the buzz around UBC Sunday was that they'd be crazy to hold it anywhere else but Vancouver after the showing against Spain.
If it does come back, I'll be there to catch a little more history. I may even bring the mini hockey stick.
