Brian McAvoy's Las Vegas Diary-Week 2

I know I get ribbed on the Global Hoops for going on about Vegas but that
going on has 22 from the Sydney City Celtic Supporters Club coming over for
the Convention in June [plus the Good exchange rate with the US Dollar].No
doubt a couple of late comers might decide to come
as well.16 of us booked up about 3 months back ,then at the Christmas BBQ 5
more said they booked up and gave me their money to organise tix for the
Thursday Welcome Night and Dinner Dance,so I oragnised that and sent off
another cheque,only for another one on Wednesday night to say they had
booked up and to organise them tix for the 2 nights.

Most of us from Sydney will be arriving on the Saturday in Vegas about
2.15pm,so after checking in and a quick shower should be in the Queen Vic
for 4.30pm :-)

Best get there in time for the Tuesday Pool Party what an amazing day that
is, a few thousand Celtic fans taking over the pool area,they take over the
hotel full stop that week :-) .Thats why I cannot understand people booking
into another hotel other than The Riviera for the Convention.Anyway for the
Pool Party there is a small stage set up for anyone that wants to get up and
give a song and believe me there is no shortage of takers.


The work the Committee of the NAFCSC do putting this on every two years is
amazing.

Just the whole vibe,comradeship and feelgood factor of everybody at the
Convention is unbelievable.I fell in love with Vegas the first time I was
there and there was no Celtic Convention on then but I don't think I will
ever go  back to Vegas again outwith a Celtic Convention.

If you know OUR history

New York CSC President Jim McGinn takes a look back at the formation of his club.

The year was 1995 the month was May and a few tims in the metropolitan area heard that a small pub on the east side was going to show the Scottish cup final involving Celtic and Airdrie. The pub was Paddy Reilly's, a small neighborhood establishment with good Irish roots.About a dozen timalloys showed up for the telecast which Celtic won 1-0 courtesy of a Pierre Van Hoydonk headed goal.At the final whistle we celebrated wildly as Celtic had lifted their first trophy in yonks.It was also noted a couple of grown men had a tear or two in their eyes such was the built up emotions. During the post match celebrations a question was raised "Now that satellite tv is coming into the technology forefront why dont we form a club of our own, the NYCSC? There was Jim Breagy(who subsequently moved to Chicago), Pete Devlin, John Butterfield and yours truly.We saw no earthly reason why we could not give it a go and the staff at Paddy Reilly's had no objection to us using there premise.
John Butterfield was established as the club's first President and I took on the role as Director of Communications to get the word out that a CSC has been formed in the Big Apple. It was soon realized that Paddy Reilly's was indeed too small and our first move was to another bar on the east side(e29 & 3rd ave) called Fitzgeralds. By this time the club had over thirty members, At this time Francis McGinn(no relation) came on board as the club's secretary and we soon had a mailing list with over 100 names.

 After watching only a few games at Fitzgeralds it became apparent that we had to find another venue as the location & logistics of the tall buildings in the area were causing us massive satellite problems. We then moved to bar on the west side called the 'Triple Crown" only a stone throw from Madison Square Garden. While at the Triple Crown we held our first AGM as our membership had swelled to over 60.We launched the club hotline(212-946-5856) at this AGM and paid homage to Peter Gorman who had sadly passed on to Paradise. Peter was a staunch Celtic man and was a great benefactor to the NY CSC as we were going through our formation.

 By 1998 we now had over 100 members and even the Triple Crown was unable to hold our increasing numbers from game to game. We now moved into a sports bar type format when we re-located to Boomers on w76 & Amsterdam ave. Francis McGinn was now our president and the club was flourishing. While at Boomers we saw the Bhoys lift their second trophy in the League cup final at Ibrox by beating a good Dundee United team 3-0. We also had Boomers bouncing when we beat St Johnstone 2-0 to prevent 10 in a row to the Dark Side. The celebrations that day will live with me till the day I die.
...In 1999 Eddie Cairney became our third president and our membership was at 120. We had our first annual Dinner dance and our guest of honour was Tommy Burns and his lovely wife Rosemary. In 2000 I was elected President and we held our second annual Dinner dance and our guest was David Hannah and his fiance.Our membership numbers were now dwindling as other clubs were being established. The Manhattan Bhoys CSC, Queens CSC, Yonkers csc & Bronx had all formed clubs.

 We were always involved in charitable activities. In  the early days we made donations to St Aloysius Boys school in Harlem, we continue to sponsor a child in the Third World and we annually raised money for the fight against breast cancer.We donated $1000 to the Mark Scott Memorial to mark the murder of a young Celtic fan in Bridgeton.John Butterfield,himself, delivered the cheque to Mark's dad during a visit to Glasgow in what John said "Was a very moving moment".

 In early 2001 we found ourselves moving once  again. Boomers was being sold and the new owners were not really receptive to having a soccer fan club(as they called us) in their establishment. The Parlour(on 86th st & Broadway) was our next home and has been ever since. Now a day etched in all our memory banks is September 11th, 2001. Just a horrible day in history when over 3,000 innocent people lost thei lives due to an ultra evil terrorist attack on NYC. Well the Celtic Supporters Clubs of North America were going to get involved and raised $57,000 for the relief of the 9/11 victims and their families. The Parlour was chosen as the venue to present the cheque to the NY Fire Dept & NY Police dept as dignitaries from both departments were on hand to accept the cheque.There were not many dry eyes during this presentation, let me tell you. Representatives from all the CSC'c in the metropolitan area were on hand for this very moving ceremony.So, to conclude, we have remained at the Parlour and formed a good relationship with the bar owner & staff. Through the years membership numbers have dropped from 125 at one point to the current 32 members. We will do all in our power to keep the NY CSC's flag flying. Our notable visitors include

Rod Stewart

Billy Connolly

Tony Roper

James Martin(Still Game)

Dario Franchitti

Dermot Desmond(don't tell Brad)

Paul Reilly Tribute

The club was shocked and saddened to hear of the death of Paul Reilly last year.  In response to this and in recognition of the colossal contribution of Gary Haley to the club, we are doing a special polo shirt, members will play in a golf tournament in Vegas and we have commissioned a special badge to honour his memory.

The first of these out is the badge and it costs £5 each which includes P&P. You can pay for this through http://www.paypal.com/ to globalhoopscsc@yahoo.co.uk

All proceeds will go to http://www.lustgarten.org/Page.aspx?pid=587

Brian McAvoy's Las Vegas Diary-Week 1

My first time in Vegas was not for a Celtic Supporters Convention but just a
2 night stopover on my way home back to Australia after being in Seville
back in 2003.I wasn't even originally going to go there,a bloke from work
when telling him I was going to get a Round The World ticket  kept saying I
should go to Las Vegas as well,so I took his advice and got Las Vegas added
to my itinerary.Would you believe that the hotel my travel agent suggested
to book me into was the Riviera,so I went with that.

I flew into Vegas at nightime and could not believe the view coming into
land as the runway runs parallel with the Las Vegas Strip.The first thing I
noticed when leaving the airport to get the shuttle bus to the Riviera was
the heat,it was about 9pm and it was like opening an oven door when I left
the confines of an air conditioned airport.

Got to the Riviera checked in and made the mistake of lying down for an
hour,I woke up and it was daylight ARGH I was only in town for 2 nights and
the first one was lost before it started :-(. I was starving as well so made
my way to the buffet breakfast at the Rivier,whilst walking through I
noticed a lot of folk covered in Tattoos [some head to toe] and piercings
walking around the Riviera,turned out it was the 'American Tattooist's And
Body Piercers Convention' that was being held there.Well as I had a few
piercing back then and with my small Tiochaidh Ar La and Radio Birdman [an
Oz band] tatts on each arm I kinda fitted in :-)

I had about 30 hours left to squeeze in as much as I could,everyhing looks
so close by so decided to take a walk to the Stratosphere Hotel as that
looked interesting,what a mistake that was it might have looked close and a
5 or so minute walk but it took about half an hour or more to walk to it
:-).Went up to the top of the Stratosphere and I could not believe what I
saw from the top of there, no not the rides which are at the top but the
view of how big Las Vegas actually was.I always thought Las Vegas was a  1
street city of Casinos in the middle of the desert and that was that,but the
place was immense and the view went for miles and miles.Got the shuttle back
to the Riviera and decided then to take a walk in the opposite direction to
see all the other hotels down that end of the Strip.

Again all the hotels look close but really they are quite a distance away
but once you get past the Fashion Street Mall [that thing you see that looks
like a spaceship well thats a shopping mall,Fashion Street Mall] you come to
the Treasure Island all the big fancy reorts are past there and you really
don't notice the walks as the thing to do is walk through each place and see
what it is like inside,believe me inside all these places are amazing with
themed shopping precincts and the free shows on the Strip outside the
hotels. Treasure Island has the nightly Pirate Show that goes every hour
till about 11 but you have to get there early after each performance as the
place gets packed .Next down from the Treasure Island is The Mirage and they
have the nightly Volcano Eruption which is impressive,plus inside they have
the White Lions.Think it is then Cesars Palace which is amazing .Next is the
Belagio with the Belagio Fountains which goes every 20 or minute ir so from
about 3pm till about 11pm.Still on thatside of the Strip further down is the
New York New York Hotel and after that it is the Excalubar,Luxor [the
Pyramid] and then Mandalay Bay.

Across the road from New York New York heading back up towards the Riviera
is the MGM Grand.Quite a few shops on that side though still qute a fw
hotels Paris Paris which is directly across the road from the Belagio and
you can take the lift to the top of the Eiffel Tower [it was $9 to go up in
2009] but again you get a great view of the Strip plus you are directly
above the Belagio Fountains which is good to see from there as well but you
don't get to hear the music that goes with the fountains because you are
that high up.

The Venetian Hotel is the one that has the 2 Gondola's inside and
outside.Most time you cannot just roll up and hope to take a ride you have
to purchase a ticket and they tell you what time to come back which is
usually an hour or so.I can thouroghly recommend doing both Gondolas.They
even sing to you but the fckers only seem to know two songs 'Santa Lucia'
and 'O Sole Mio' I did ask one time when at the 2007 Convention 'Haw Jimmy
Gonnie gie us "Con Te Partiro' :-)  or even Nessun Dorma,at least it wasn't
'Haw Jimmy Gonnie Gie Us Ten Guitars' surely some wag familiar with the Billy
Connolly routine would have asked that one :-) Anyway asked if he knew 'Con
Te Partiro' he looked kinda shocked till I started to spell it out "No not
C.U.N........ " it is "C.O.N.  T.... ' ". I even hummed it to him and said
it is a famous Italian song by Andre Boccelli that has been redone in
English by quite a few singers as Time To Say Goodbye . He had never even
heard of Andre Bocelli or the song,so got stuck again with Santa Lucia :-(

The best and cheapest way to get along the Strip is to take the 'Deuce' the
double decker bus that runs along the strip 24/7 from Freemont Street and
turns back again at the MGM Grand a singleticket is a few bucks where a 24
ticket is $7 which you buy on the bus.There is a 72 hour ticket that costs
$15 but you can only purchase them from the ticket machines and there is
only 2 of them on the Strip ,one is directly across from the Riviera at the
bus stop outside 'Slots Of Fun' you have MacDonalds at one side and Circus
Circus the other side.The other machine is at the bus stop just outside the
MGM Grand.

There is a million things to see and do in Vegas one of the best places to
give an idea what to do and see is http://www.viator.com/las-vegas-tours/d684-ttd?pref=02&aid=g3320
Also   http://www.vegas.com/shows/  for to get an idea what productions
and concerts are on but there are plenty of tour sellers all along the strip including a few
near the Riviera, there is one just outside to the left when you step onto
the Strip on the corner next to the Peppermill Lounge which you will likely
get cheaper.

Best show to see is deffo Cirque Du Soliels LOVE at the Mirage I saw it in
2009 and will be going to see it again in June as will be going to see their
new production ELVIS at the new Aria Resort.Any Cirque Du Soliel production
is quality.

Also if you want to see the famous 'Welcome To Las Vegas' sign to get a
photo taken at ,it is in the niddle of a traffic island just past the
Mandalay Bay Hotel on Las Vegas Blvd.A bit of a walk but one of the best
ways is to take the free monorail from the Excalubar Hotel to the Mandalay
Bay Hotel. There is two monorails at the Excalubar one that goes direct to
the Mandalay Bay or the other one that stops at the Luxor first.Then after
that walk onto Las Vegas Blvd and it is maybe a 5/10 minute walk south,or
jsut get a taxi.

All this rambling on and I haven't even touched on the North American Celtic
Supporters Club's Las Vegas Conventions :-) I fell in love with the place in
03 and made it my point I was going to go back again. I made 2007 my goal to
get to a Convention,and what a Convention it was.It was the 40th Anniversary
of Lisbon and the whole surving squad [except John Clark who was with Celtic
doing their pre season training] and the widows of Ronnie,Bobby and 'The Wee
Man' down in Viewpark it wasn't Jinky it was either 'The Wee Man' or 'The
Wee Bastard' told this to Agnes Johnstone in Vegas and she told me the week
before she was down at his grave and someone else was there and said to her
that he was paying his respects to the 'Wee Fucker' so Agnes said he is now
known as the 'Wee Fucker' as well :-).

I arrived in Vegas for the 07 Convention after criss crossing the
international date line a couple of times Sydney to Auckland in New Zealand
then onto Rarotonga,had to do a Google search and discovered it was in the
Cook Islands,one of these airports that you used to see back on the old B/W
TV shows like The Saint  or Dangerman thatched covered roofs etc and that is
not kidding.Left on the Saturday flew into a Sunday back into a Saturday
[The Pilot told us that we flew back in time  for an hour or so :-)] and
then back into a Sunday.Arrived in LA for a couple of hours then arrived in
Vegas think it took about 30 hours,the first person I bumped into when going
to Check in at the Riviera was Tam Donnelly.

Yes I was knackered but I was deffo not going to do what I did the first
time in Vegas and that was lie down for a hour or so.Just a quick shower and
shave and somthing to eat and then down to the Bar. I discovered the name of
the bar was the 'Splash Bar' the place was buzzing it was like being in busy
pub before a Celtic game.Then there was another exclusive Celtic bar set up
just across from the Splash Bar and it was buzzing in there as well.Started
talking to someone who introduced himself as Jimmy Bradley and said he came
from Belshill,told him I had two cousins married to two sisters called
Bradley from Bellshill,he named them all straight away and told me he was
the girl's uncle.It was like that almost every day when talking to a
stranger turned out you knew the same people or in some case had met them
before.

Was having a drink in the Celtic Lounge when someone shouted 'Skippy' turned
out when I went to Lisbon for the Benfica v Celtic game 7 months before on
the Saltmarket bus this guy was on the bus as well.Another guy told me he
had been in Sydney four years before for a holiday and was in our Club for a
meeting,it wasnt until he said he was from the London Underground CSC that I
said I remembered him because when he got back home it was to me he posted
a polo shirt and a couple of badges.Like I say it was like that everyday
just start talking to strangers and more than likely you will have common
link.

It was the same at the 2009 Convention was drinking with a couple from the
Bronx CSC she came from Calderbank and knew some of my family and she used
to pal about with one of my older cousins when she was younger.He came from
New Stevenston and lived on the same street as where my grandparents lived
and where my mum was brought up.During that wee drink an old guy came up and
asked us how to phone Glasgow.Invited him to join our company and got
talking I said I was from Sydney[nobody has ever heard of Wollongong so I
just say I'm from Sydney] .Anyway he says he was in Sydney and that his son
lives in French's Forrest [Suburb in Sydney] I said I know someone from the
CSC who lives in French's Forrest his name isn't John Chalmers by any
chance,turns out it was.I had John's number in my phone but phoning Oz with
my Oz SIM in the USA is cost prohibitive,I was only using it for
texting.Anyway the couple from the Bronx CSC had one of those cheap
international calling cards for phoning Scotland from the US so we used
their phone and I called John I told him I was in Las Vegas and had someone
here who wanted to talk to him so put his father on to talk to him.

The best place for a Celtic atmosphere was the Splash Bar it was going 24/7
and many an early morning there would be a sing song going on.Unfortunatly
at the 2009 Convention The Splash Bar was gone and the other bar there just
didn't have the same atmosphere,but for the upcoming Convention there will
be the Queen Vic Pub run by expats inside the Riviera that is open 24/7 and
is also the home of the Las Vegas CSC so I think that place is going to be
jumping 24/7.



At the Huns Nere'day game 6 months before the 2009 Convention I wore a
Celtic Santa hat to the game at our venue Cheers in Sydney,saw these two
lassies with Vegas 07 on their Celtic tops so started to talk to then and
said I was there as well and was going again in June. They said they were
also going again after they finished back packing around Australia.One of
them kept asking for my Celtic Santa hat but I wouldn't give her it, my
sister only got it for me a couple of weeks before when she was home on
holiday.I finally gave in and said I will give it to her on the proviso I
get it back in Vegas which she agreed to.Jump forward to Vegas on the Sunday
I went up to the Celtic Lounge that was upstairs and saw her sat there so
went over and said 'Where's my fckn hat :-)" She jumped up and kept saying
to her family who were all there "What did I say a few minutes ago " some
one said you took somebodys Santa hat in Australia and you have to give him
it back in Vegas" So she jumped up saying 'this is him this is him".She ran
to her room and brought back and gave me my hat back :-).I'm going to bring
the hat with me to the upcoming Convention and if she is there I will give
it back to her.If I don't see her and you see a lassie with one of those
Corked Aussie hats let me know as she wore that one almost every day at the
Convention.

Global Hoops-A look back in pictures

Global Hoops was formed on October 14th 2003 which the intention of being a 24/7 Support Network for its members.

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, the club saw the horrific pictures and in particular heard of the fate of the New Orleans CSC and decided to have our first annual sponsored walk.

We attract a wide spectrum of members from all across the world. Even Livingston.

We try to support all our members as well causes and people close to our hearts.

We are always looking to help others and recognise selfless acts.

We always seek to try and stop injustice and were instrumental, along with CAFE, in insuring disabled Celtic supporters got back in in Ibrox for the first time in 17 years.

Over the years we have run various Social and Charity events.

With some players and ex players in attendance.

As well as many members and friends from all around the globe.

And we are always looking to reward our members.

In Sep 2008 we took a group of Pensioners to a game at Celtic Park.

and we also took a group from the Saint Vincent de Paul charity.

All paid for by the club and our members. We also paid for 5 pensioners at random one day.

We paid tribute to Phil O'Donnell after he passed away.

and have continued with a sponsored walk every year as well.

We are club very much about deeds not words. Fun and support for our members, an unrelenting support for Celtic and the ambition to constantly evolve.

and if you don't like all that, Tam will kick yer heed in.

New Blog for 2011

Websites are dead. Long live Social Media! Or something like that. We are going to do a blog now for club info and members contributions. You've probably noticed, or will now it's been mentioned, you don't visit many websites that you don't interact with nowadays and that's the direction we are going in now. As a club we have been evolving into a one for all, all for one support network that has long since moved away from being connected solely to what happens on the park and we hope that will continue to happen. After all, if it was just about 90 minutes, we wouldn't put so much into it, right?

We also intend to blog from various events, like the NAFCSC Convention in Las Vegas for example and want to encourage as many members as possible to do so day to day.

Happy Posting!