Fenerbahce USA Celebrates Centennial in Style
Fenerbahce USA Celebrates Centennial in Style
By Nathan L. Redd
Fenerbahce has a lot to celebrate in 2007, and their American fans got in on the party last Friday evening in New York City. A crowd of approximately 500 Fenerli's packed the Marriott Marquis in Times Square to party and celebrate the club's 100th anniversary.
Fenerbahce USA President Turgay Kadioglu opened the evening with videos of Fenerbahce's triumphant 2006-2007 futbol season. Fenerbahce President Aziz Yildirim was unable to attend the event due to illness, but his absence didn't dampen the spirits of the crowd. Throughout the ceremony, speakers and musicians frequently had to pause as fans hoisted their scarves and flags into the air and sang the songs that echo throughout Sukru Saracoglu each week. Fenerbahce Vice-President Ekmel Anda received a special plaque and award, and President Turgay read a special letter from Aziz Yildirim. With the songs of Athena's "100 Yil." celebration songs blaring through the speakers, it was difficult to keep from getting excited about the club's accomplishments.
Despite the event being held in New York City, fans came from far and wide to join the celebration. There were participants from Turkiye, as well as California, North Carolina, Chicago, New Jersey, Washington D.C., and across the globe. Fenerbahce Worldwide Author and Publisher Nathan L. Redd represented Louisville and spoke to the crowd for several minutes about how an American came to love Fenerbahce. Deniz Turker from Lig TV and Kivanc Ozkok from Fenerbahce TV were broadcasting and filming segments for upcoming features on the respective networks. In addition, there were media representatives in attendance from Fenerbahce Magazine, Zaman, Hurriyet, Milliyet, Fotomac, Antu.com, etc.
The evening was capped by musical performance from singer Nukhet Duru and clarinettist Husnu Senlendirici, who electrified the crowd and quickly got everyone onto the dance floor. In addition, autographed Fener shirts from new signee Roberto Carlos, Fener legend Lefter Kucukandonyadis, Tuncay Sanli, and Selcuk Yula were on display in the ballroom.
The 2007 Fenerbahce USA Celebration was a huge success by all accounts and already has many fans looking forward to the 2008 event. For more information on Fenerbahce USA or to join, log onto the organization's official website at www.fbusa.org.
posted by Nathan L. Redd at Tuesday, June 26, 2007
6 Comments:
omg!!! did I send you the clarinettist Husnu Senlendirici cd? I think I bought it to give to you but never sent it :)) Did you like him?
Hahah!! Looks like you had an awesome time!
I hope you can soon go to Turkey too, to celebrate Fener's past & future successes..
enjoy it while it lasts....tee hee...but seriously sounds like you had a good time and I am damn sure us CimBombers would be doing exactly the same....lets face it without the rivalry would life be worth living....oh and Dunkin....and Amerikan Turk .....and the Kankas....and Ahmet...and Leana and the Husband...etc.........
SN, no, you didn't send it to me and YES - he was incredible! I loved him! He brought his band with him and had everyone on the dance floor. And ofcourse, somehow, Insallah, I will go to Turkiye very soon.
Tesekkurler, Gulay - we did have a great time. You're right about the rivalry. I just finished an interview with Zaman and they asked me what I thought about the rivalry. I know we tease each other, but we also need each other. You know I love Turkish futbol and cheer for GS, BJK, etc. in European play. Ofcourse, that doesn't change Fener's record vs. GS in all sports this past year....:)
Yes, and congratulations from us Kankas too. The photos are great and you obviously enjoyed this historic evening.
I doubt if ANKARAGUCU's centenery in 3 years time will be as big, but you can be sure that we will do something special here in Ankara.
By the way, the Kankas made it into the Hurriyet yesterday for the 2nd time. Oz Kanka will make a post about it on The Round Ball in Ankara soon.
All the best from Eski Kanka Jim
I don't think you took enough photos.
I'll keep my eyes open to see if you are mentioned in the papers.
Kankas, that's awesome! Do you have a link for the Hurriyet piece?
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