I realize that some people will immediately denounce this column as gender bashing, but they would be wrong. My analysis that Davis Cup in America is thriving and Fed Cup is dying is merely an objective look at the discrepancies and inequities of the two.

Case in point: earlier this month 10,000 people from all over the country dusted off their foghorns and 4th of July bests to root Team USA to an enthralling win over France in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup in Winston-Salem, N.C. It was the second Davis Cup match in the venue in the past eight months and if you asked anyone in Winston-Salem, they’d tell you they’d want to have every home Davis Cup match there. I couldn’t walk into a restaurant, coffee shop or through the hotel lobby without engaging in a conversation about the event.

It certainly helps that the American men are defending champions, have a star-studded team and their loyalty is so strong that they might as well bleed red, white and blue. Andy Roddick, James Blake, and the Bryan twins have played in Cup matches 10 straight times. This isn’t a partnership of convenience. These guys play anywhere, anytime. They’ve played home, away, on clay, on grass, a week after Grand Slam successes and disappointments, and even six weeks after lifting the Championship Cup.

Their consistency is rewarded by a legion of fans, some of whom refer to themselves as NETHEADS, who travel to support the team no matter where and when they are playing. Easter Sunday? No problem. Friday afternoons? No sweat. Look up and there they are, dressed in red, white, and blue and screaming their heads off.

[1] Click here to read the full article at SI.com.