I have been away from blogging due to a respiratory infection.  The medication has had me in and out of sleep for days now.  But it is almost over.  A few more days of meds and I should be healthy and lucid.

In the time I have been away the movement to bring a MLS expansion franchise to New York has continued.

We topped 100 signatures in our petition.  The Borough Boys have made some important contacts.  And most importantly, the holidays are over and we can again focus our attention on how to bring soccer to New Yorkers.

Time to party!  Enjoy your New Year activities with friends and family.

A quick review of NYC FC’s 2007:
1. The league confirms that New Yorker Fred Wilpon wants to buy a Major League Soccer expansion franchise
2. The Borough Boys Supporter Group and New York City FC dotNet are formed and NYC FC fans start to organize
3. Please sign the Bring Soccer to New York City petition that is being circulated to support Wilpon’s bid
4. Borough Boys outlined plans for 2008, including trips to sporting events and other outreach efforts
5. Money to redevelop the area around Shea Stadium looks like it will be approved by the City
6. At the end of the year, the math is simple… build a soccer stadium and the MLS will come

But with all the good news, there is still a lot to do in ‘08 to bring New York its FC!

::lifts his glass to toast:: To a prosperous New Year!

Someone cue Ol’ Blue Eyes… because it is time to start spreading the news, NY FC is not far away!

1. Proofreading my posts.  Since I have been medicated for the past two weeks I have noticed more typos in my articles.  Obviously that has to change.

2. Try to take Sundays off.  I see from my stat counter that people read this blog from work or on weekday afternoons.  There is a drop off on the weekends.  A day off will give me time to write ahead and relax.  Watch Wilpon announce a NYC FC on a Sunday.

3. Finally, what I think can be something really special is forming a soccer team to join a ZogSports casual co-ed league.  The goal would be to field a fun team of fellow New York City FC supporters and have the money raised donated to a NYC soccer-related charity.

The charity I have found is New York Scores.  Not to be confused with the strip club, this not-for-profit helps inner city youths develop their soccer and poetry skills while keeping them out of trouble.

I will post more information as the registration date for the Spring Leagues approach, but if you are interested please contact me.

Plus, this way I can get in shape

Even though we are passionate about NYC and soccer, I would like to think that the meaning behind this holiday season is more important. So enjoy your time with friends and family.  Let’s hope Santa Wilpon delivers in 2008!

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

By the way, this is the actual Christmas card Mel & I sent out this year. Yep, we don’t have kids.

* I redid the Forums to make them more appropriate for the need. Let me know if you would like to see a specific forum added. Thanks Chris!
* You can still email me at Kubah@newyorkcityfc.net, but I added a Contact Me page that is linked on my navigation bar to make the process easier.
* The petition counter button is now on the top of the left sidebar. There is also a link on my navigation bar.

Tomorrow I’ll post the Best XI ways to spread the word about the petition. Now go out and get people to sign the petition!

This site has only been up for about three weeks, but I have seen a steady increase in traffic and returning visitors. I think this says something about the level of interest in a NYC FC. To all that dream of seeing professional soccer in the Big Apple I have only this to say to you: YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

I would like to thank everyone that has visited and hope that you continue reading.

Let me know what you think.  Leave a comment or shot me an email.  I still have to fix some links, but I would like to know if it is taking too long to load up, if you find any dead links or if it looks too cluttered/hard to navigate.

A few new features:
The navigation bar on the lower right on the title banner is up and running.  I’ll be adding some more pages soon, but that’s were you can return to the front page, find out why I am doing this, an expanded blog roll with info on all of NYC sports,  results from previous polls, and our new forums.

Yep, forums!  I linked the new NYC FC forums up for those that want to use them.  I like Big Soccer, but I know from my stat counter that the there are a lot of people that are not posters at Big Soccer, but read this site.  Here’s your chance to join the discussion.  Also these forums will have an off-topic area and areas for supporter groups that Big Soccer has not yet been approved for the NYC forums.  I will assign mods as needed.  I think I placed the Borough Boys forum on private, so if you want to post there send me an email so I can give you access.  This is purely for you guys, so its usage level will be up to you guys.

You now can use social bookmarks on all of the posts.  Find the “Bookmark” button after every post.

We now have some ads if you would like to help support the site.  What I like about this theme is that if you shrink the width of the browser window you can actually get rid of all of the ads if you like.  Try it out!  All the site information and links are now on the left sidebar.

So again, if you have any feedback let me know.  I tried to make the site as interactive and easy to read as possible.  Try out the new comment features.  It is so much better. 

Hope you like the new look.  Enjoy!

ISSUE #1: The feed is acting up.  I hope to get that rectified soon for subscribers.

UPDATE: The older feed links have been fixed.  Those are the feed buttons on the top of the left sidebar.  The new RSS feed buttons at the bottom of the left sidebar need a few hours to activate.

UPDATE: All the feeds have been fixed.  This includes the Catergories RSS feeds that will just send you updates to those particular topics.

ISSUE #2: Permalinks are not showing up correctly.  I am working on it.

UPDATE: Fixed.  Some permalinks might have changed.

Also incredibly helpful has been my family with helping spreading the word. I knew I could count on them to spam their internet friends. I hope this makes holidays dinners less awkward… just kidding!

Finally, I would like to thank Chris, my brother-in-law, for offering to provide some free web hosting (and I am sure IT assistance). What that means is that this blog will be moving over to WordPress soon. I have already started working on the template and it is look amazing.