It's nice to be back in this gray, dingy hallway,

There really is something nice about it as far as energizing this team. This team has some deadbeats on it, anyway, and the coach is one of them. It's good to have some people out there that are enthusiastic about the game.

It was dark, dingy and overcrowded.

It was a very nice gesture on the club's part,

Various pieces of huge dark furniture constricted the passage, and the place smelled of boiled fish. I was shown into the parlor, where the gloom of that overcast day was filtered through windows curtained in dingy lace.

So, it's nice to know that you've inspired someone to do their life's work.