Roger Federer, a pair of virtual bongo drums and the dorkiest dad GIF in history
It's mid-morning on Jan. 4, 2017 and already we've been gifted with one of the great sports GIFs of the year. While in Australia for the team exhibition, the Hopman Cup, Roger Federer was off the court and watching his teammate Belinda Bencic play her singles match against Germany's Andrea Petkovic. During a changeover, there were the usual antics on the scoreboard at the arena, one of which included a pair of animated bongos appearing on the bottom of the screen for crowd members to "play" when they were flashed onto the Jumbotron. It's basically like a Kiss Cam without the crippling fear of rejection.
The scoreboard director hit pay dirt during the gag, happening upon a father of four who was all too eager to dad it up by playing those fake drums like he was Gene Krupa.
https://twitter.com/doublefault28/status/816636251747086336
Like the best GIFs and Vines (RIP), this one gets better the longer you watch. There's the moment Federer realizes what's going on and really gets into it and for some reason thinks that raising his knees like he's in a Jane Fonda workout video is part of that process. His facial expressions make him look both a ham and a cheese. He gives up at one moment but, like any great showman, has to give the crowd more, this time really throwing his shoulders into it. And then, the highlight, is when Federer, who wasn't close to hitting the virtual bongos in the first place starts playing like there's a third and fourth bongo to the left.
The Most Stylish Man of 2016, already getting a head start on the new year.
