Royalty returns to Foxboro for the AFC Championship Game!

Patriots win , 23-20!

Early Sunday morning I went to Avis to rent a car for the day so I could drive the King and I back to Foxboro to see the New England Patriots play the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game.

The winner will be represent the AFC in the Super Bowl in Indianapolis.

On the way, we stopped off in Providence, Rhode Island where we picked up our pal Andrew Van Cleve aka the Ultimate Sports Fan who left his wife Nicole and their baby Dylan there while he went to the game with us. Nicole got to take Dylan to the Children's Museum so they were entertained too.

We all needed tickets for the game but once we arrived at the Stadium we went right to the box office and they had some tickets available so we were able to buy them there surprisingly.

Everything worked out well for all of us. We all proceeded to go inside and we saw the game and history in the making.

As for the game, it reminded me of a heavyweight fight as the Patriots and Ravens slugged it out on the gridiron.

It was a close game all the way through. The Patriots led, 23-20 with time running out in regulation. The Ravens were forced to try a field goal attempt after wide receiver Lee Evans dropped what appeared to be the go ahead touchdown in the end zone.

So the Ravens trotted their kicker Billy Cundiff onto the field to attempt a 32 yard field goal to tie the game and send it into overtime. Unfortunately, Cundiff hooked the ball wide left with 11 seconds left which enabled the Patriots to survive another scare as they held on to win and they earned a trip back to the Super Bowl for the fifth time in the last 11 years.

Since we arranged to meet up with Nicole and Dylan aka the Ultimate Sports Baby back in Providence, we didn't need overtime because we all had a long drive home.

Regardless of the outcome, we saw a great game and we were part of history.

Unfortunately, somebody had to lose. I feel for Billy Cundiff. That was a hard way for the Ravens to end their season.

As the Lamar Hunt Trophy which is given to the AFC Champions was presented to the Patriots after the game, quarterback Tom Brady said and I quote "I really sucked today." He's lucky that Cundiff & Evans sucked more as it turned out.

We went back to the car after the game and we drove back to Providence where we met up with Nicole and Dylan for dinner at a Greek restaurant called Andreas by Brown University.

We all enjoyed a great meal together. It was very royal as Nicole made a sound decision. It was nice to see the Ultimate Sports wife as Andrew calls her and the Ultimate Sports Baby, Dylan who's always so playful when we've seen him.

After we ate, we said our goodbyes and we all went on our way home.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Washington Nationals show loyalty & royalty as they introduce Gio Gonzalez!

The Washington Nationals recently traded for Gio Gonzalez. They showed him the long term commitment and stability he deserves by signing him to a five year extension.


For all the details, please see the video below as they introduced him to the media.


Congratulations, Gio! You definitely earned it with your positive attitude and your perseverance. You're truly a class act and those in DC will find that out real fast.

Nats introduce Gio

Nationals welcome Gio to DC

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=20072363
Thank you for reading and following along.


Yours truly,


Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 1/16 in review

Nuggets win in double overtime, 119-114

Upon returning from Baltimore at midnight Sunday night, I had to get up earlier than the King and Steve Fekete aka the Padre Punk who stayed over with us because I had to return the car I rented to Avis by 10AM Monday morning.

Thankfully I didn't have to go to work so to speak because it was Martin Luther King Day.

I did so successfully as I safely drove 897 miles over the weekend. I might add the King was amazed how I was able to handle all the driving by myself despite getting so little sleep. He raved to people we know how I was a machine behind the wheel. I appreciate the kind words. I plan ahead so I'm ready to handle the task at hand. With plenty of years experience, I was able to follow through on my game plan which was executed perfectly.

After I returned the car, I went to the Omega diner near where I used to live to have breakfast before I took public transportation out to the Nassau Coliseum to see the Islanders play the Nashville Predators that afternoon.

As for the Steve and the King, I arranged for them to meet our friend Larry Peim who picked them up in Astoria and he drove them out there. Our friend Frank Anichiarico also went with them.

Everything worked out beautifully for all of us.

As for the game we saw, the Islanders looked like they were sleeping walking on the ice. They fell behind 3-0 in the first period. That proved to be the game in a nutshell. They scored a goal late to break the shutout as they lost, 3-1.

After the game, Larry was kind enough to not only drive us home but he took Steve to the airport too. Since Steve's flight wasn't leaving until 9:35PM. We decided to go to the Apollo diner which is located in East Meadow, a few miles from the Nassau Coliseum to have dinner since we were all hungry. Needless to say, the food was tremendous as was the company. A royal gathering indeed. Steve got plenty of royal treatment during his brief visit to the Northeast.

Tuesday after work I went out to the Prudential Center in Newark to see the Devils play the new Winnipeg Jets. The one and only time I saw these two teams play was back in early December in Winnipeg. That night the Jets beat the Devils, 4-2. On this night, the Devils returned the favor as they whipped the Jets, 5-1.

Wednesday night after work I went to Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks host the Phoenix Suns. It turned out to be a lower scoring game then I had anticipated. The Suns were lead by their great point guard Steve Nash who guided them to a 91-88 victory.

Thursday night after work I went back to Newark to see the Devils play the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins for the second time in 15 days.

This time I arranged to have my Cousin Andy join the King and I for the festivities. My Cousin wasn't feeling well but he still managed to enjoy himself. He always loves to see us and we made sure he wasn't disappointed. In addition, my pal Vincent Ascanio was there as well.

As for the game we saw, the Devils looked good for the first two periods as they had a 1-0 lead. In the third period, the Bruins came to play. They crashed the net and they scored two goals in less than a minute to take the lead early on in the period. They continued to apply the pressure as they added a few more goals to beat the Devils again, 4-1.

Friday night after work I went back to Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks play the Milwaukee Bucks. It turned out to be another nightmare for the Knicks as Brandon Jennings of the Bucks lead the way as the Bucks got passed the Knicks, 100-86.

Saturday afternoon I was going to stay home and catch up on things but my buddy Vincent Ascanio told me he had an extra ticket for the St. John's/Villanova game at the Garden so I decided to take him up on it. He actually gave me the ticket which was very nice of him. Royal treatment indeed.
The King went out to Newark to see the Devils play the Philadelphia Flyers. I gave my ticket to our friend Frankie Centola from Philadelphia who needed it for someone he knew. For all the times he's helped us out, it was nice to return the favor.

As for the game I saw with Vincent, St. John's blew a 10 point lead with just under six minutes to go in regulation. The game wound up going into overtime. The Wildcats of Villanova pulled away as they topped the Red Storm of St. John's, 79-76.

After the game, I went shopping and then I ate dinner at home before I went back to the Garden for the night cap of my basketball doubleheader.

The Knicks were playing again. This time against the Denver Nuggets who they made the big trade with last February to get Carmelo Anthony.

Former Knicks Danilo Gallanari, Al Harrington and Timofey Mozgov all shined in their return to the Garden as the Nuggets outlasted the Knicks, 119-114 in double overtime. What a game it was.

Stay tuned for the special post I'm going to do regarding my return to Foxboro and the AFC Championship Game.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 1/23

Here's the game plan:

Tuesday January 24th Sabres at Devils 7PM

Friday January 27th Boston University at Stonybrook 9PM

Saturday January 28th Delaware at Drexel 2PM

St. Joseph's at Temple 4PM

Pistons at 76ers 7PM

Sunday January 29th Raptors at Nets 6PM

Check back to see how it turned out.

Hope all my readers and followers have a great week.

As always, if you need assistance don't hesitate to ask.

Stay tuned for my w/o 1/16 in review as well as my special post about our return visit to Foxboro. Please bear with me.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should be always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty and company enjoy AFC Divisional Playoff Games in Foxboro and Baltimore!

Prince is in the house tonight

During the week leading up to the divisional playoff games, I got a call from Steve Fekete aka the Padre Punk who lives in Anaheim, California. He told me he wanted to come East for some royal treatment. He prides himself on seeing quality as he likes to say.

Once the matchups were set for the divisional playoffs, he booked a flight to come to NYC. We went back and forth during the week to coordinate his surprise visit.

Our friend Vincent Ascanio decided he wanted to make a royal road trip for the first time with me.
So with that being said, I had already booked a car rental from Avis anticipating going away for that weekend. Now the King and I had some additional company too.

Here's how it turned out. I woke up early Saturday morning and I went to Avis to pick up the car. I wound up getting a Crown Victoria which was perfect for this getaway.

After I got the car, I went near JFK airport to pick up Steve who flew in late Friday night. I went to his hotel and picked him up. I proceeded to go back home to Astoria to get the King. Then we drove to Queensbridge where we met Vincent.

With everybody in the car, we went on our way towards Foxboro. We arranged to have an appetizer if you will. We stopped off at the University of Rhode Island which is located in Kingston, Rhode Island. We went to the Thomas Ryan Center for the very first time to see the Rams of URI play the Dukes of Duquesne University.

What a beautiful arena it was. It was a perfect way to pass time on our way to see the New England Patriots play the Denver Broncos in prime time.

As for the game we saw, the Rams lost to the Dukes, 78-71.

After the game, we drove to Cranston, Rhode Island which was about 25 miles away going towards Foxboro. We went there because I arranged to meet a guy named Rick Forcino who I got in contact with on Craigslist earlier in the week. He had a pair of extra tickets so he was kind enough to sell them to me. It worked out perfectly as the King and I used them. They were located on the upper level halfway up at the 35 yard line.

Steve and Vincent were able to secure tickets through Ticketmaster so it worked out well for all of us.
We arrived in Foxboro shortly after 6PM. We parked the car in the $20 lot which is the cheapest you'll found in the area. We proceeded to walk towards Gillette Stadium.

We stopped off at Papa Gino's to have some pizza on the way before we braved the elements to watch the game.

We all indulged in a hearty meal. We then continued about a mile to get to the Stadium.

We all went in and picked a place to meet after the game.

As for the game we saw, it was over early for all intent and purposes, the Patriots scored a touchdown on the first drive of the game. It took them a mere 1:51 to drive down the field to take the early 7-0 lead. That drive set the tone for the rest of the evening as the Broncos couldn't get out of their own way.

The Patriots' defense stifled them the whole night. Tim Tebow wound up getting hurt in the second quarter but he showed heart and he continued to battle through it but his team proved to be no match for the Pats on this night. The Patriots cruised to an easy 45-10 victory as they will host the AFC Championship Game against the winner of the Ravens and Texans.

It should be noted that the King hinted that we could leave early but he knew that was going on deaf ears as I had no intention of checking out early despite the lopsided score.

As a result, we got to see Tom Brady even punt the ball late in the game.

We met up with Steve and Vincent after the game and we all walked back to the car together.

We pulled out of the parking lot at 12:14AM as we headed towards Baltimore which was 400 miles away where we were going to see the Baltimore Ravens play the Houston Texans at 1PM Sunday afternoon.

We arrived in Aberdeen, Maryland at a Super 8 at 6:14AM where we got some sleep. We checked out at 10:45AM and we continued the drive to Baltimore which was 30 miles away.

Everybody was amazed that I was able to stay awake overnight to drive us all safely to our destination.
I made sure I got enough sleep and rest during the week so I would be up to the task. Thankfully I was.
We parked the car on the street in the neighborhood upon arrival in Baltimore. We then walked over to M&T Bank Stadium which was nearby. We all went to the will call window where we picked up the tickets we ordered during the week from Ticketmaster.

In addition, we met up with our pal, Andrew Van Cleve who took the train down from Philadelphia. It was great to see him again.

After the game, we went out to eat with Andrew and we drove him home on our way back to NYC.
Before the game, I went upstairs to section 500 so I could say hello to my friend, Nib Pirrung who's been a Raven season ticket holder since day one when they moved to Baltimore. It was great to see him again as well.

As for the game we saw, the Ravens fell behind 3-0 as their defense clamped down after the Texans got a nice return on the opening kick off.

The Ravens proceeded to take the lead. The Texans battled back all day but they couldn't get over the hump as the Raven defense came up big when they needed to as the Ravens escaped with a 20-13 victory to advance to the AFC Championship Game in Foxboro.

After the game, we all ate in Baltimore then I dropped Andrew off in Philadelphia at 9PM. We drove back to Brooklyn where Vincent lives. I dropped him off at 11:15PM.

Then I took Steve, the King and I back to Astoria. We arrived there a few minutes before midnight. Steve spent the night with us.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 1/9 in review

View from the West Balcony

I basically spent my week at Madison Square Garden after work Monday-Thursday.

I took turns watching the Knicks on Monday and Wednesday nights and the Rangers on Tuesday and Thursday nights.

Here's how the games I saw went:

Monday night the Knicks hosted the Charlotte Bobcats. The Knicks played them the week before and they lost to them. I didn't go to that one. This time it was payback as the Knicks returned the favor as they beat the Bobcats, 91-87.

I did get to see Kemba Walker play as a pro for the first time. He played college ball at UCONN and he's from the Bronx. He came off the bench and he scored 10 points.

Tuesday night I saw the Rangers play the Phoenix Coyotes. I sat in the newly added West Balcony which is located upstairs behind the goal. It's a great aerial view of the action.

As for the game, it was scoreless after two periods. In the third period, both teams scored a goal which forced overtime. Neither team was able to score in the extra session so the game had to be decided in a shootout. This one took six rounds until the Rangers finally emerged victorious as Derek Stepan lit the lamp to give the Rangers the 2-1 victory in the skills competition.

Wednesday night I saw the Knicks take on the red hot Philadelphia 76ers who had won six in a row. The Knicks came to play as they held off the tired Sixers who played the two nights in a row prior to coming to the Garden. The Knicks won the game, 85-79.

Thursday night I saw the Rangers entertain the Ottawa Senators. Once again I sat up in the West Balcony. This time I wound up meeting a guy named Evans Longacre who was at the game with his co-workers. We spoke to each other during the game which enhanced my game experience on this night. I hope to see Evans down the road again.

As for the game, the Rangers had an off night as they failed to score a goal as they fell to the Senators, 3-0. Jason Spezza of the Senators scored two goals to lead the way. I'm a big fan of his since I remember seeing him play back in 1999 in Junior hockey. He has had himself a nice career with the Senators.

Friday night after work I came home and rested since there were no games of interest in the local area for me to attend.

More importantly, I had to do my wash and get ready for my busy weekend getaway for some playoff football and then some.

Stay tuned for the special post I'm going to do that will recap all the festivities of this classic weekend. It was very royal to say the least.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 1/16

Here's the game plan:

Monday January 16th Predators at Islanders 1PM

Tuesday January 17th Jets at Devils 7PM

Wednesday January 18th Suns at Knicks 7:30PM

Thursday January 19th Bruins at Devils 7PM

Friday January 20th Bucks at Knicks 7:30PM

Saturday January 20th  Villanova at St. John's 1PM (MSG)

                                    Nuggets at Knicks 7:30PM

Sunday January 22nd Ravens at Patriots 3PM AFC Championship Game

Check back to see how it played out.

Hope all my readers and followers have a great week.

As always, if you need assistance don't hesitate to ask.

Stay tuned for my w/o 1/9 in review as well as my special post about my epic weekend with some special royal company when I find some time to do it. Please bear with me.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should be always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty witnesses history at MetLife Stadium!

1st Ever Playoff Game at MetLife Stadium

Sunday afternoon the NY Giants who won the NFC East Division got to host a playoff game at MetLife Stadium. It was the first ever playoff game played there as the Giants played the fifth seeded Atlanta Falcons in the Wild Card game.

This time the King and I avoided any hassles by buying tickets which were available during the week on Ticketmaster. Our friend Rich Wolber aka Staten Island Rich was there as well. I arranged to get all the tickets for us.

Our friend Andrew Van Cleve came up from Philadelphia so he could be part of history too. Since he moved to the Northeast at the beginning of December, we've seen each numerous times. It's always a pleasure to see him.

As for the game we saw, the Giants fell behind 2-0 as the Falcons forced Giant quarterback Eli Manning into an intentional grounding in the end zone as he was trying to avoid the sack which gave the Falcons a safety. That's the only points the Falcons got the rest of the afternoon as the Giants defense totally shut them down.

The Giants' offense was slow to get started as they led by a score of  7-2 at halftime. In the second half, the offense got into high gear as they ran the ball well with their running backs Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw. In addition, their three wide receivers emerged. Victor Cruz was double covered most of the time so that gave his teammates Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham a chance to shine and they did.
Nicks scored a touchdown that covered 86 yards in the third quarter that for all intent and purposes put the game away. As a result, the crowd went crazy. The building felt like it was shaking literally. What a moment it was to be a Giant fan.

The Giants went on to win the game, 24-2. They go to Green Bay this weekend to play the Packers in the Divisional Round at Lambeau Field. It won't be an easy task but they won there on their way to winning the Super Bowl back in 2007. We'll wait and see what happens this time.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 1/2 in review

Rangers Win, 3-2 in OT!

After starting the week at the Winter Classic on Monday, I got a much needed night off on Tuesday after work. Not really I came home and I did my wash in the freezing cold.

Wednesday after work, I went out to Newark, NJ to see the Devils take on the defending Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins.

As for the game, it was an impressive performance by the Bruins as they overpowered the Devils, 6-1.
Thursday night after work, I went to Madison Square Garden to see the Rangers play the Florida Panthers. It was their first game after the Winter Classic.

The Rangers and the Panthers battled it out on the ice as they took turns scoring goals. After regulation time, the game was tied at two. In overtime, Marian Gaborik lit the lamp with 1:31 left to give the Rangers a 3-2 sudden death victory.

Friday night after work I went back to Newark, NJ to see the Devils host the Florida Panthers at the Prudential Center. Patrik Elias of the Devils played in his 1,000th NHL game on this night.

As for the game, the Devils beat the Panthers by a score of 5-2. The score is deceiving because the Devils scored two empty net goals in the last minute. One of them was while they were shorthanded. It was a good competitive game until that point.

Saturday night after resting up during the day and catching up on my necessities, the King and I went out to Newark, NJ again. This time to see the Nets play basketball against the Miami Heat. We had some company as our friends Ralph and Vincent Ascanio were there too. It was nice to see them again. We got to catch up and enjoy each other's company.

As for the game we saw, LeBron James aka LeFraud as I call him, was exciting to watch as he scored 22 points in the first quarter alone. He helped the Heat raced out to a early 10-0 lead. The Nets cut the lead to 2 at 12-10 then the Heat pulled away for good as they cruised to a 101-90 win. LeFraud finished with a game high 32 points. It should be noted that Dwayne Wade didn't play due to an injury.

Stay tuned as I'm going to do a special post about the first ever playoff game at MetLife Stadium that I saw that Sunday.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

The Winter Classic Experience

Me in the Crowd at Winter Classic

On January 1, 2008 the NHL decided to stage a unique event that being the Winter Classic in Buffalo, New York. The Buffalo Sabres hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins at Ralph Wilson Stadium which is the home of the Buffalo Bills.

Thanks to my pals Andrew Kulyk and Peter Farrell who are Sabre season ticket holders, they were able to secure tickets for my friend the King and I to see this unique event.

The experience that day was priceless. Despite not feeling our best, we still braved the elements on this day to see hockey history in the making. With snow falling during the game, the ice needed to be repaired numerous times but that didn't stop the game from being a big hit. A record crowd of 71,000 were on hand to witness it.

The game wound up being decided in a shootout as the Penguins beat the Sabres, 2-1 as Sidney Crosby scored the game winner.

On January 1, 2009 the NHL decided to do another Winter Classic. This time they chose Wrigley Field in Chicago as the site of the event. The Chicago Blackhawks took on their original six rival, the Detroit Red Wings. Unfortunately I didn't get to witness this one in person. I did watch it on TV with deep regret.
Since the game was at a smaller venue, the ticket prices were rather pricey. That coupled with the fact I live in NYC, it's a long drive to Chicago and mother nature can always play her tricks. In addition, my friend the King who happens to be a Red Wing fan thought he was going to have to work so we decided it was better not to go.

Ironically we met up with Andrew Van Cleve a few years ago when we visited Chicago. He was at that Winter Classic. I wish we knew each other then.

As for the game that day, the Red Wings beat the hometown Blackhawks, 6-4 in the highest scoring Winter Classic game.

On January 1, 2010, the tradition continued. This time the Winter Classic was played at Fenway Park in Boston as the Philadelphia Flyers invaded Beantown to play the Bruins.

Once again the King and I decided to go. We wound up buying tickets at the last minute on Craiglist because we were concerned about the weather.

Thankfully mother nature cooperated. It turned out to be a beautiful winter day. The temperature was a comfortable 36 degrees which made for a wonderful setting. We had the privilege of sitting towards the back of the grandstand near first base which was the corner of the rink. We had the Green Monster staring us right in the face.

As for the game, the Flyers lead 1-0 into the third period. Late in the period, the Bruins evened the score at one. This one was decided in overtime as the Bruins found the net in the extra session as they sent the natives home happy, 2-1. It should be noted their were a number of Flyer fans in attendance as well who had a long ride home after the loss.

As for the King and I, since we didn't have a real rooting interest so we got to enjoy the outcome regardless of who won.

On January 1, 2011, the Winter Classic returned to a bigger venue. This one was played at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh which is the home of the Steelers. The Penguins hosted the Washington Capitals.

This game was originally scheduled to start at 1PM like the others. Unfortunately mother nature was up to her tricks again. This time the temperature was in the 40's and rain was expected. With that being said, they decided that with the rain suppose to clear out by the evening, they changed the starting time to 8PM. By doing so, this turned out to be the first Winter Classic in prime time.

As for the King and I, we got to go again. This time our friend Peter Agnew who has season tickets for the Capitals said he didn't want to go. He asked us if we wanted to buy the tickets he was offered. We instantly told him yes.

We wound up sitting in the upper level with other Capital fans. They did a nice job distributing the tickets for this game. It seemed like every other section was divided by each team's fans. By doing that it made for a fair view for everybody who was able to be part of this unique experience. They drew a crowd of 68,000.
As for the game, the hometown Penguins came up short as the Capitals won, 3-1.

This year New Year's Day came out on a Sunday. With that being said, the NHL decided to move their Winter Classic game to Monday, January 2nd instead.

This time they went back to the baseball park setting as they chose to have the Philadelphia Flyers host the game at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Phillies. The Flyers played the New York Rangers in the latest installment of the Classic. The game was scheduled to start at 1PM but since the weather conditions weren't ideal they decided to move the starting time to 3PM.

The King and I once again got to take part in the festivities. We were also joined by our friend Andrew Van Cleve who recently moved to Philadelphia.

The King and I got tickets with the help of season ticket holders that we know. Andrew found a person on Craigslist who sold him a ticket for face value.

Surprisingly it seemed like their were a lot more Flyer fans than Ranger fans at the game. We happened to be sitting around a lot of Flyer fans. There were a lot of people dressed up in their Flyer colors throughout the ballpark.

Don't get me wrong, there were a good number of Ranger fans in the building but with the ticket prices being really pricey I think that prevented some people from going to the game.

The experience is different than seeing a hockey game indoors. The outdoor game makes for a once in a lifetime scenario for those who have some spare money to burn. If you like the game of hockey, I strongly suggest that you go to a Winter Classic so you can see the experience for yourself.

As for the game, the Flyers took a 2-0 lead in the second period after there was no scoring for the first half of the game. The Rangers cut the lead in half at 2-1 after two periods. During the intermission, I ran into a guy I knew from New York who happens to be a big time Ranger fan. He said and I quote "this game isn't over yet." He turned out to be right. The Rangers proceeded to tie the game at two and then they got the eventual game winning goal as the Rangers hung on for the 3-2 victory.

In retrospect, I may regret not going to Wrigley Field in 2009 but I've been to the last three in a row. I hope to be able to keep going to see this unique event year after year. Time will tell.

If you plan to go, please take into account that many of the seats are bad. That's the nature of setting up a rink in a baseball and/or football stadium.

In a baseball stadium, the rink usually runs from across the outfield behind second base.

In a football stadium, the rink is laid across the gridiron between the 20 yard lines.

The bottom line is this experiment is working as the NHL now has a day it can call its own.

In the future, if you like hockey New Year's Day is the day you can see the sport outdoors. Hopefully they'll chose different locations and teams so it's more fair to the rest of the country.

I hope I've given you a reason to see for yourself what the Winter Classic experience is all about.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman