For three magical days in December 2007, Team USA packed Veterans Memorial Coliseum in the Rose Quarter and captured the Davis Cup title the first time in 12-years. Andy Roddick, James Blake and the Bryan Brothers absolutely dominated the Russians in the Final. As you can see from the photos above, it was an overwhelmingly emotional accomplishment for American tennis.

Andy’s two favorite Davis Cup memories from Portland

First, during the official dinner on Sunday night, I got a chance to see a 22-year-old John Isner stumble through “the team speech” – a right-of-passage for rookie hitting partners with Team USA. Before John nervously took the stage, the rest of the team handed him a fist-full of words and ridiculous phrases printed on tiny slips of paper. His responsibility? To individually pull out each piece of paper during the speech and meaningfully work the words and phrases into his presentation. It was brutally hysterical. John was brilliant. I just wish I had the brain capacity to remember some of the phrases he was forced to say.

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Genuine. Authentic. Real. Mardy Fish

Then, the “Mardy Fish Moment” during the 2007 Player Dinner that I wrote about after interviewing Mardy for the last time at the 2015 US Open:

He’s pure class. I haven’t run into Mardy since 2007 when the US Davis Cup Team won the title in Portland, Oregon. At the time, Mardy wasn’t in the mix, but he was on the bench, selflessly supporting his buddies Bob, Mike, Andy and James. After the win, at the official dinner, the USTA brought me in to voice-over a few of the evening’s events and activities. I was tucked away in the back, but when Mardy heard my voice, he got up and sought me out. He formally introduced himself, saying he wanted to finally meet the man behind the voice he’d heard for years, rattling off his accomplishments before matches at the US Open and Davis Cup Ties.

Genuine, authentic and real – he and Patrick McEnroe then introduced me to the rest of the guys. I’ll never forget Mardy’s sincerity. His kindness. His appreciation. That moment stuck with me, and I couldn’t have been more thrilled to see him crack the top-10 and enjoy tremendous success on the court. There’s no doubt in my mind, as he blends his natural compassion with the raw and determined work-ethic he honed in chapter-1, Mardy Fish has a very rewarding future. As do many he will touch along the way. I’m grateful he had a chance to say “so long” on his own terms at the 2015 US Open.