LILLE, France - Jo-Wilfried Tsonga rued the lack of support of his home crowd Friday after losing to Stan Wawrinka in the opening singles match of the Davis Cup final between France and Switzerland. Wade Boggs Jersey .Despite the presence of a record crowd of 27,432 spectators in the stands of the Pierre Mauroy stadium, Tsonga said after his 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 loss to the fourth-ranked Swiss that the visiting fans were showing more support for their players.When the teams were introduced, they applauded Stan more than us, Roger (Federer) more than us, a dejected Tsonga said. We heard the Swiss spectators more than we heard the French ones.After saving two consecutive set points in the eighth game of the third set, Tsonga turned to his fans to ask for more noise, with the crowd responding with shouts of Allez La France and Allez Les Bleus.About 2,500 Swiss fans travelled to the northern French city of Lille for the tie, but they are equipped with hundreds of cow bells and make a constant noise in the arena.Another explanation for the so-called lack of enthusiasm felt by Tsonga is that most of the French fans are seated in the upper part of the stands in the converted football stadium, with their cheers and applause barely reaching the court. Two large sections of seats just next to the court are reserved for officials and VIPs.I think because of the match maybe we were having more support from the Swiss people than the French guy, Wawrinka said. I think its tough to get all the noise from the people really upstairs.Tsonga added that he was gobsmacked when he received boos from the Swiss fans after checking a mark.I was booed in my own country, maybe not by the French spectators but by the Swiss spectators. Its annoying, he said.After losing his fifth Davis Cup match, Tsonga acknowledged a better display would have probably helped.We need to go and get the enthusiasm of the French crowd by the quality of our game, he said. Its because I was not winning today maybe that it happened. Im hoping that for the next matches its going to change. Tampa Bay Rays Jerseys . With newly minted president of hockey operations Trevor Linden looking on from above one day after being handed the keys to the franchise, it was more of the same on Thursday night. Steven Souza Jersey . The 36-year-old Colts receiver is going back to the playoffs as a division champion. http://www.officialraysgearshop.com/Rays-Jonny-Venters-Kids-Jersey/ .I shared with him how much I appreciated all he had done for us, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said of that Thursday night farewell.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hi Kerry, Welcome back! Im sure you heard Peter Forsbergs comments last week regarding Canadian referees in the gold medal game. Seems to me that he was questioning the integrity and impartiality.Did you think there was anything peculiar about this decision? Thanks,Ed Hi Ed: I am thrilled that NHL hockey is back and we can all adjust our watches back to the North American time zone! Initially, I was surprised by the expletive-deleted comments Peter Forsberg made the day before the Gold Medal game and following the IIHFs selection of four North American NHL officials to work the Canada-Sweden game. Even though the officials nationality and residency slanted exclusively toward Canadian soil, the timing of Forsbergs comments (the day before the puck was dropped) caused me to pause and consider the Swedish general managers motives. Ive seen plenty of "gamesmanship" from general managers and coaches during Stanley Cup playoffs and finals, but Peter Forsbergs public comments rank up near the top of the list in attempting to gain an advantage and competitive edge. Peter was not only a world class player but I also know him to be a very intense competitor. That being said, Peter is not a stupid man and made a calculated move in hopes of gaining some advantage for his players against a highly skilled Canadian team. I believe Peters comments were designed to put the IIHF on notice in the event he felt the need to complain post-game but most importantly to plant a seed in the head of each game official hoping his team might receive the benefit of the doubt when one could be offered. It also became a story the day before the game designed to deflect some of the pressure away from Team Sweden players. I dont believe that Peter Forsberg would honestly question the integrity and impartiality of the NHL Officials that were assigned to work the game. Kelly Sutherland, Brad Meir, Derek Amell and Greg Devorski were selected on the merit of their work during the Olympics and weere regarded as the very best! They are professionals in the true sense of the word. Mallex Smith Jersey. The players have more confidence in the NHL officials ability than their International counterparts. Swedish team captain Niklas Kronwall of the Detroit Red Wings believed that both teams would benefit from North American officials when he was quoted as saying, "We are used to having referees from USA and Canada in the NHL. We know their standards so I think its easier for us too if the referees are from there." And teammate Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators agreed. Prior to 1998, the IIHF would not assign an official to work a game in which his country of nationality was participating in. Only neutral officials were assigned. That changed in Nagano with the inclusion of NHL players and officials. The best officials were assigned to the games regardless of their country of nationality or residency. In response to Peter Forsbergs comments, IIHF officiating manager Konstantin Komisarov issued the following statement on the selection process; "The main factor of the selection of these officials has most of all to do with their experience officiating in high-level competitions. These include Stanley Cup playoffs, World Championship competitions and Olympic competitions. Their nationalities arent considered as factors nor should they be, we want the best officials working the medal games. We are fully confident that with their experience and professionalism these officials will do their job well and preserve the integrity of the game." Good for Konstantin Komissarov and the IIHF officiating committee for selecting the best officials to work the Gold Medal game. The officiating crew did an outstanding job and preserved the integrity of the game as Konstantin was confident they would. Last Sunday, the game was played on Olympic ice in Sochi and not in the media. Peter Forsbergs silver medal-winning Swedish team was beaten fair and square by Canada to take Gold. The officiating was a complete non-factor; regardless of county of nationality. NHL officials are clearly the best in the world. ' ' '