Finally, my Fitbit arrived! Like clockwork, my steps were more accurately counted, and I broke the 10K threshold for the 2nd day in a row.
Monday started with another typical day at school: two blocks to walk to school and three flights of stairs up to the top floor of our school. The highlight of Monday, December 4, was the annual Holiday Party for the 30+ supporter clubs that watch their soccer matches at The Football Factory.
It is a simple commute for me to get from Brooklyn to Manhattan, about a half-mile walk from my apartment to the subway station, and a few flights of stairs to get up and down from the train tracks. The vibe at The Football Factory was festive and there were many different supporter groups there.
The New York Blues, the longest-running US-based Chelsea FC supporters group, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this season. French side Paris SG and Brazilian side Flumanense were the other large groups to show up for the occasion. In all, I counted at least 15 different clubs represented last night.
The celebration ran from 6 pm until 9 pm. The highlight of the night was a moving speech from Jack Keane, the driving force and lead barkeep who has been arranging football matches for NYC since the 1993-94 season when Setanta Sports was the only way to get overseas soccer matches. He recounted the early days when he would struggle to source the different international soccer feeds for US viewers. Of course, now there are many more coverage options and it is much more accessible to show matches from different countries and different leagues. He made some touching remarks about how footie, and sports in general, have an ability to bring people together and give them a source of pleasure and purpose that is sometimes missing from mundane life.
We concluded his speech with a rendition of "White Christmas" and then several of the supporters groups sang their songs in tribute of "The Guv'nor" our affectionate nickname for Jack Keane, who has been running The Football Factory now for 30 years! He has done so much for the advancement of soccer here in New York City and continues to make it the premier place to watch soccer in one the greatest cities in the world. Even though I don't drink, cheers to you, Jack, guv'nor of The Football Factory!
"Oh when Jack Keane, is pouring pints,
oh when Jack Keane is pouring pints.
I want to be in that number,
when Jack Keane is pouring pints!"
This report was published via Actifit app (Android | iOS). Check out the original version here on actifit.io
