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Davis Cup and ice hockey have REAL team spirit, unlike the NBA and NFL fakes

There's no room for individual egos and personal gain when stars come together in a common cause. It's amazing how attitudes change.

by Ed McGrogan on 28 September 2007

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Team spirit sees Great Britain through in the Davis Cup (Gettyimages.com)

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I've been watching a lot more Davis Cup this year than I have in the past. I'm not exactly sure why; I still believe that singular (read: no teams) competition is more captivating then battling in groups.

However, there is one reason for this change that comes to mind - tennis players are so deprived of team competition that when they do compete together, the teamwork and company is actually genuine. Because of this, it's very refreshing to watch. Steve Tignor references this in his fantastic Davis Cup preview post, but I'm going to elaborate on it further here.

I'm a rabid tennis fan, but I do watch all sports. Ice hockey is neck-and-neck with tennis on my hierarchy, for various reasons. One of these reasons is that the "teams" that form in hockey seem so real that the players would simply die for each other on the ice. Not just a Canadian for his fellow Canuck, but I've even seen former Soviets stick up for his American mate like they were long-lost friends.

'Tennis players are so deprived of team competition that when they do compete together, the teamwork and company is actually genuine'

Watch the NHL (there's plenty of room!) if you don't believe me. Other sports teams aren't so . . . real, at least in my opinion. The NBA and the NFL are the best examples I can think of. These two pillars of American sport are littered with prima donnas and selfish athletes who do not care about the end goal of winning for the team. Rather, they care about themselves, their money, and their status.

I'm not going to say that the NHL doesn't have some of these bad apples as well, but this epidemic is most found in the football and basketball ranks. In Davis Cup, it seems that the players adopt the team concept much more than in other sports; I would go so far as to say they even embrace it.

That may not have always been true (Connors/McEnroe led US teams), but in this year's Davis Cup, the players who have chosen to participate seem to really enjoy playing, and most importantly, supporting each other. "Fake" teams that are put together in sports are almost unwatchable for me. There are plenty of them out there - but Davis Cup doesn't have those unfortunate combinations.

Is that the secret of the Davis Cup - genuine teamwork? Post your comments below or submit an article to Sportingo.

Comments (2)

by Nick McCarvel on September 28, 2007

Great points, Ed. I wonder if we're seeing more of this team unity because the big names in the game (Federer, Roddick, Djokovic, Hewitt, etc.) are playing instead of ignoring this great competition? Along with that, are we paying more attention to the Cup this year just because of American success? If so, that is sad. But stories like the Israeli triumph over Chile is why I love the Davis/Fed Cup competitions.

by Aasim Shaffi on September 28, 2007

The most consistent thing tennis players have in team work is doubles but that is very unheard of compared to singles. I like watching the Davis cup and Fed cup. But i think tennis should remain more indiviual then teamwork It gives players a chance to stand on their own two feet and lets them develope more. Fed cup and Davis cup are unique and great. I guess the sense of country against country seems fun and is. When players play doubles and even singles but in Davis/fed cup thay seem a bit more relax and laugh a lot more. Fed/Davis cup is a lot of things that singles isn't, but team tennis shouldn't become more frequent then it is, ONLY in the professional sense (e.g wta and atp).