Royalty Tours USA

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Royalty reunites with roadtrippers over Christmas weekend in Chicago!

After I saw the Knicks play the Bulls at Madison Square Garden, the real fun was about to begin.

I took the subway back to Queens to get my car. I proceeded to drive to LaGuardia Airport. I parked my car on the street nearby. Instead of walking to the airport, I took a bus across the highway.

I had plenty of time to catch my 5:55PM flight on Southwest Airlines to Chicago Midway Airport.

I got to Chicago with no problem. I took the CTA, the Chicago Transit Authority, train. They have a color system there as opposed to letters and/or numbers like in NYC. I took the Orange line which starts at Midway Airport to the Loop which is what they call the downtown area there. My hotel, the Travelodge, was located within a short walk of the subway.

I went to the hotel and checked in for two nights. I dropped off my bags in my room.

I arranged to meet up with my friend Jimmy Lieberfarb who was in Chicago to see the Jets play the Bears too. Jimmy is originally from New York but now he lives in Los Angeles.

He was staying at a hotel about a mile away so I decided to take a walk to go see him. After spending a few hours with him, I went back to my room to get a good night sleep.

Sunday morning I got up and I met up with Andrew Van Cleve, a fellow roadtripper, who hooked me up with a ticket for the Bear game. He has season tickets so he saved me the hassle and aggravation of having to find a ticket. He made it easy when he said months ago I could buy one of his.

For that, I was very grateful especially since the Bears are having a great season.

Earlier in December, another roadtripper, Bob DeVries, asked me if I was going to Chicago to see the Jets. I told him I was. In addition, I told him we're going to the Blackhawk game too. He said he was planning to also.
With that being said, I told Bob my game plan. We communicated back and forth to make this get together a reality.

Bob and his fiancĂ© Charlie Cahill had tickets in the United Club for the Bear game so we had to meet them after the game which worked out well. Andrew had to run some errands after the Bear game. I wound up meeting Bob where he parked his car. He gave me a ride to the United Center aka the Madhouse on Madison, home of the 2010 Stanley Cup Champion Blackhawks.

We parked the car by the arena. Then we walked over to the Billy Goat Tavern which was within walking distance to have dinner between games. Andrew wound up meeting us there. They serve great burgers and fries. As for drinks, they say "No Pepsi, Coke". I said "No Bud, Old Style".

After dinner we all walked over to the game. I want to thank Bob for arranging to secure four tickets together for all of us. Since they won the Stanley Cup, Blackhawks have become a very tough ticket to get.

As a result, Charlie was able to attend her first Bear/Blackhawk doubleheader which was really cool especially since she was able to change her attire between games from her Bear winter gear to her Blackhawk jersey and hat.

After the game, we said our goodbyes and we all went on our way.

We plan to meet again at some point in 2011.

While we were eating dinner I received a text message saying that my flight home on Monday morning was cancelled due to the blizzard in the Northeast.

Now an unexpected adventure was just beginning,  I had to figure out a way to get home as soon as possible.

Stay tuned as I recap how I had to resort to taking the long way home.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Happy New Year to you all.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Royalty schedule w/o 12/27

Here's the game plan:

Wednesday, December 29th Rangers at Devils 7PM

Thursday, December 30th Pinstripe Bowl Kansas State vs. Syracuse 3:30PM

Friday, December 31st Senators at Blue Jackets 7PM

Saturday, January 1st Winter Classic Capitals at Penguins 1PM

Sunday, January 2nd Bills at Jets 1PM

Please check back to see how it turned out.

In addition, stay tuned for the recap of the wild weekend in the second city. It turned out to be a "long strange trip indeed".

Happy New Year to all my readers and followers.

2010 was an incredible year, let's make 2011 even better.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 12/20 in review

After getting a few nights off upon returning from the Sunshine State, I was ready to tackle the week ahead.

Here's how it played out:

Wednesday night I went to Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks take on the Thunder. This time Kevin Durant played after I missed seeing him play in Boston and New Jersey. He looked great in the first half of the game as the Thunder hung tough with the Knicks. In the second half, it was a different story. The Knicks wound up pulling away and they went on to win the game easily, 112-98!

The Knicks were paced by Amar'e Stoudemire who scored 23 points. Wilson Chandler added 21 while Landry Fields had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Raymond Felton finished with a dozen points and he dished out ten assists.

For the Thunder, Kevin Durant had 26 points. Most of them in the first half. Teammate Russell Westbrook poured in 23 in the loss.

Thursday after work I went to the Prudential Center in Newark to see a battle of local area teams. The NJ Devils hosted the NY Islanders.

The Islanders built an early lead and they went on to cruise to an easy 5-1 victory. Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur was awful.

For the Islanders, Josh Bailey was the hero. He scored two goals and he added as assist in the triumph.

After another night off on Christmas Eve, I braced for an another weekend getaway.

I wound up spending Christmas Day at the Garden as the Chicago Bulls came to the Big Apple to play the Knicks.

The Knicks out shot the Bulls in this one to emerge victorious, 103-95!

Raymond Felton led the way as he scored 20 points, handed out a dozen assists and he had five strips. Amar'e Stoudemire had 20 points and 10 boards. Wilson Chandler added 15 points and he grabbed 10 rebounds as well.

For the Bulls, Carlos Boozer, who they signed in the off season led the with 26 points and 19 rebounds. Derrick Rose had 25 points, dished out 8 assists and he stole the ball a half a dozen times.

After the game, I went to LaGuardia Airport to catch my flight on Southwest Airlines to Chicago Midway Airport. I wanted to make sure I arrived in "Sweet Home Chicago" early enough so I wouldn't miss seeing the games I had planned due to mother nature.

With that being said, my trip consisted of a Sunday Chicagoland doubleheader. I saw the Bears play the Jets at the New Soldier Field and the 2010 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks take on the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The last time I went to Soldier Field to see the Jets play was in 1997 before they renovated the stadium.

In 2002, I saw the Jets play the Bears in Champaign, Illinois home of the Fighting Illini while Soldier Field was being renovated.

This time I was looking to see the Jets play in the New Soldier Field.

Thanks to help from a fellow roadtripper, Andrew Van Cleve who has Bear season tickets, that mission was accomplished.

In addition, another roadtripper, Bob DeVries who I met at Citi Field back in September was there too.

Ironically Bob's a Bear fan and he asked me if I was coming to Chicago for the game. I said I was so we wound up hooking up too.

Stay tuned as I will write a special post on the reuniting of us roadtrippers. I'll go into further detail of how everything unfolded in the second city.

As for the game we saw, the Bears got off to a fast start in cold, windy and at times snowy Soldier Field.

The Bears raced out to a 10-0 lead early but the Jets came back behind Mark Sanchez drove who his team down the field for a touchdown to make it 10-7.

After the Bears got the ball back, the Jets Dwight Lowery picked off a pass and ran it back 20 yards for the go ahead score at 14-10. The Jets extended their to 21-10 and 24-17 at halftime.

In the third quarter, the seesaw battle continued as the Bears tied the game at 24 and then they regained the lead as always dangerous Devin Hester caught a 25 yard TD pass to put the Bears up, 31-24. Santonio Holmes caught a 23 yard TD pass to tie the game again.

The Bears proceeded to go ahead again when wide receiver Johnny Knox caught his second TD pass of the game which gave the Bears the lead for good as they went on to hold off the Jets, 38-34!

Despite losing the game, the Jets received help from the Washington Redskins who knocked off the Jacksonville Jaguars in overtime allowing the Jets to clinch a playoff berth. As a result, we all turned out happy in the end.

After the game, it was off to the United Center aka the Madhouse on Madison to see the Stanley Cup Champs play.

As for that game, the Blackhawks led the Columbus Blue Jackets, 1-0 going into the third period. In the third, the Blackhawks extended their lead then they put the game away as they scored three times. The Blue Jackets avoided the shutout late in the game as the Hawks won, 4-1!

Patrick Sharp of the Blackhawks scored two goals in the victory.

Thank you for following along and please stay tuned for that special post I told you about.

It will be another example of why going with royalty is the way to go.

Happy New Year!

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Friday, December 24, 2010

Royalty is closing out 2010 and opening 2011 in "Classic" fashion!

2010 is coming to a close and Royalty is going out with a bang. In addition, we'll be starting 2011 in "Classic" style thanks to the NHL.

The game plan is as follows:

The King and I are going to see our first ever college bowl game which takes place in our backyard at the New Yankee Stadium.

Thursday, December 30th after I work a half a day I'm going to Avis to rent a car for the weekend. Once I pick up the car then I'll go to get the King after he gets a few hours sleep after working. After that, we're driving to the Bronx home the newly created Pinstripe Bowl between a team from the Big 12 Conference and one from the Big East. This year it features the Kansas State Wildcats and the Syracuse Orangemen. The kickoff is scheduled for 3:30PM. We'll be leaving town after the game to make our way towards our next stop that being Columbus, Ohio.

Friday, December 31st we'll arrive in Columbus in the mid to late afternoon which will get us plenty of time to get to the 7PM face off between the Ottawa Senators and the Columbus Blue Jackets.

After the game we'll be bringing the New Year somewhere along I-70 as we make our way to Pittsburgh for New Year's Day.

Saturday, January 1st we'll be starting the New Year like we have 3 of the past 4 years at an outdoor hockey game aka the Winter Classic. This time Heinz Field is the host for this unique event that hockey has taken by storm. The game features two of the league's greatest young stars, Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals. The puck drops at 1PM Eastern Time so if you want to watch the game tune into NBC and you'll see it. If you do so, you can think of the King and I who will be in the house.

After the game, we'll be driving back home so we can be at the Jets game on Sunday at the New Meadowlands Stadium against the Buffalo Bills at 1PM.

Please feel free to check back for all the details of how this getaway turned out.

If you want to join us, please let me know so I can arrange to make it happen.

Happy New Year to all!

2011 is going to be another great year especially if you add some royalty to your life. Don't just read and think about it, contact me and we'll make sure you do something about it. Life's too short why not go for a "royal" ride.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Royalty visits the New Magic Kingdom and sees history made in Tampa!‏

When the NBA schedule came out in August, I knew that I needed to get to Orlando, Florida to see a Magic game since their new arena, the Amway Center was opening in October.

With that being said, Royalty went to work. I pulled up the Magic schedule to see what games fit my busy schedule.

I wasn't too happy when I got done looking because the Magic play a lot of home games on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. I needed to see a game preferably on a Saturday. In addition, I was hoping to add a football game to the mix.

After further review, the only option was Saturday, December 18th. I already knew the Buccaneers were home that Sunday at 1PM against the Detroit Lions. I said to myself that's perfect well almost. Back in June, I bought a few tickets for the Jets in Pittsburgh.

As a result, I had to sell off the Steeler tickets so I could make the getaway to warmer climate.

Now for the recap of how it played out.

Saturday morning the King and I flew to Tampa via Atlanta on Air Tran Airways. We arrived in Tampa just before 2PM. I proceeded to rent a car from Alamo for the weekend.

We drove 90 miles to Orlando and we got there around 4PM which gave us plenty of time for the 7PM game against the Philadelphia 76ers.

We wound up parking by a meter in downtown Orlando for $2.00. The surrounding parking lots were charging $5, $7 & $10 to park for the event. Free parking wasn't a realistic option.

The new Magic Kingdom, aka the Amway Center, is conveniently located in downtown by the Church Street Station District.

Once we parked the car we got out and walked around the area. There were a number of restaurants and bars which makes for a festive pre game experience.

Royalty took full advantage of the opportunity. We looked around and we decided to go to Hamburger Mary's Bar & Grille where you Eat, Drink and be "Mary".

I was very hungry so I decided to indulge in getting a full pound of angus beef that was covered with cheddar cheese and bacon and lettuce. Needless to say, it was huge. All their other burgers are a half pound.

I did finish the burger which filled me up and then some.

While we were eating we found out that the Magic made a few big trades to shake up the team. As a result, they were only able to dress 8 players.

After we ate, we made our way over to the arena so we could check it out.

It was NBA arena number 57 for me. More importantly, the King and I now have every current NBA court once again.

As for the arena, it was massive compared to the old "O-Arena" as it was referred to TV commentators.

In my opinion, it was a nice place to see a game especially if you have a corporate connection.

Royalty is always happy to be in the building that's all that matters to us.

I did like the spacious concourses on both levels of the building. On the lower level, they had a timeline of the Orlando Magic since their existence in 1989.

As for the game, the shorthanded Magic came up short and they lost to the 76ers 97-89.

Lou Williams led the way for the Sixers as he scored 24 points. Andre Iguodala added 21 while Elton Brand had 20 points to go along with 13 rebounds.

For the depleted Magic, Superman Dwight Howard finished with 26 points and he pulled down 20 boards but he's lousy free throw shooting hurt him and his team. As a result, they lost.

Jameer Nelson, who played at St. Joseph's in Philadelphia added 17 points and dished out 9 assists in the losing effort.

After the game, we drove 140 miles to Port Charlotte where the King's brother Henry lives.

I want to personally thank Henry for rolling out the carpet to accomodate us for the night.

In the morning we went to have breakfast together. Afterwards, the King and I drove another 100 miles to Tampa to see the Buccaneers take on the Detroit Lions at 1PM. Thankfully the Lions are so bad that this game didn't get flexed.

The Buccaneers are making a push for a playoff spot and their games lately have been changed. Lucky for this wasn't one of them.

We arrived in the area around 11:30AM. I proceeded to go to a nearby shopping mall to park for free.

The last time we were at Raymond James Stadium we saw the Giants beat the Buccaneers which was their first step in winning the Super Bowl. That's where we parked then so I knew exactly where to go.

As for the game, we wound up seeing history. The Detroit Lions came in losing 26 straight road games but on this day that streak finally ended.

The Lions needed overtime but they finally won, 23-20.

Dave Raymer kicked a 34 yard field goal on the first possession of the extra session with 9:51 left to get the Lions the victory.

Wide receiver Calvin Johnson was a beast as he caught 10 balls for 152 yards. More importantly, he made many of them on third down and long to sustain drives for the Lions including one on the winning drive in overtime.

Running back Maurice Morris, a former Oregon Duck ran for 109 yards on 15 carries.

For the Buccaneers, their rookie running back, LeGarrette Blount also a former Oregon Duck had 110 yards on the ground which included a 39 yard touchdown run.

After the game, the King and I caught our 6:40PM flight at the Tampa Airport which is located a few miles from the Stadium.

Another great weekend getaway is in the books.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Royalty w/o 12/13 in review

Monday after work I went home to recharge the batteries for the busy week ahead.

Tuesday night after work I went out to Newark, NJ to the Prudential Center to see the Nets play the Philadelphia 76ers.

My Cousin Andy met me there and he joined the King and I. He always loves our company. It was a great time having him with us.

As for the game, it was rather boring. Both teams had trouble scoring points. The 76ers wound up coming out ahead in the end, 82-77.

The Sixers were led by Jrue Holiday who scored 19 points. Spencer Hawes added 18. On a side note, the King and I saw him play in college with the Washington Huskies back in January 2007 when we saw a game at Cal-Berkeley which was part of our "Bay Area Blast" excursion.

For the Nets, Brook Lopez had 16 points. Other bright spots were Kris Humphries and rookie Derek Favors who both grabbed 13 rebounds.

Wednesday night after work it was off to Madison Square Garden for the showdown between the Knicks and the visiting Boston Celtics.

This game lived up to the hype. Unlike the game in Newark, this was an action packed down to the wire thriller.

The Knicks played very well throughout the game and they led for the majority of the game but with four tenths of a second to go, Paul Pierce of the Celtics delivered a potential game winning dagger as the Knicks fell behind by 2.

The Knicks called a timeout to set up a possible miracle finish. In fact, they did execute it to perfection as Amar'e Stoudemire hit a trey to put them ahead as time expired.

The officials went to replay to see if indeed the shot beat the buzzer. After further review, the basket was ruled that it came a split second late and the Knicks fell short, 118-116.

Paul Pierce finished with 32 points and he had 10 rebounds. Ray Allen poured in 26. Kevin Garnett aka KG added 20 points and 13 boards for the big three. Rajon Rondo dished out 14 assists.

For the Knicks, Amar'e Stoudemire scored 39 points as he set a team record with his ninth consecutive 30+ game. He also had 10 rebounds. Raymond Felton had 26 points and 14 assists. While Wilson Chandler contributed 18 points and 12 boards in the heartbreaking loss.

Regardless of the outcome, it was a tremendous game to watch.

Thursday night after work I went out to the Nassau Coliseum to see the Islanders take on the Anaheim Ducks.

The Islanders were in search of a rare victory. They got off to a fast start as they scored 3 unanswered goals to take a 3-0 lead midway through the contest. The Ducks chipped away as they got within one goal in the third period. The Islanders fought hard and were able to hold them off as they skated off with a 3-2 win.

Friday night after a holiday party at work I went back to the Garden to see the Miami Heat make their first visit since they added LeFraud James to South Beach as he stated in his ridiculous announcement back in July.

Needless to say, the hostile Garden crowd booed him every time he touched the ball.

My biggest problem with him was that he was from Akron, Ohio which is a mere 39 miles from Cleveland where he grew up. He should have stayed home and been a real "hometown" hero by winning the NBA championship some day for them.

Instead he ran away from home. Yes that's his choice. He was free to do when he thought was best.

He just didn't show any class in what he did.

As for the game he played he was a monster as he tuned out the boos and silenced the crowd with a triple double to lead his new team the Miami Heat past the Knicks, 113-91.

He scored 32 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

He did put on quite a show. As an astute basketball observer I did appreciate his performance.

As for his supporting cast, Dwayne Wade  aka "DWade" had 26 points and Chris Bosh who also turned down the Knicks had 26 points as well. It should be noted that every time he went to the free throw line the crowd yelled out loud and clear "OVERRATED". I beg to differ, I think Bosh is a nice player. I won't say great but very good. If he wore a Knick uniform he would be graced with open arms and he would get the love he deserves.

As for the Knicks, Danilo Gallanari led the way with 25 points. Amar'e Stoudemire had his record breaking of scoring 30 or more points snapped though. He finished with 24 and he pulled down 14 rebounds. Wilson Chandler added 17 points and he snatched 10 boards in the losing effort.

The Knicks fell short to the best in the Eastern Conference this week but you can tell the team is heading in the right direction once and for all. It's only a matter of time before they get back to being a contender.

Stay tuned as I recap my weekend getaway to the Sunshine State.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Happy Holidays to all!

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Monday, December 20, 2010

Royalty schedule w/o 12/20

Here's the game plan:

Wednesday, December 22nd Thunder at Knicks 7:30PM

Thursday, December 23rd Islanders at Devils 7PM

Saturday, December 25th Bulls at Knicks 12 Noon

After the game I'm off to "Sweet Home Chicago"

Sunday, December 26th Jets at Bears 12 Noon

Blue Jackets at Blackhawks 6PM

Hope all my readers and followers have a great week.

I want to personally wish everybody a Merry Christmas if it applies and if not Happy Holidays to you all.

Stay tuned for my w/o 12/13 in review.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Royalty w/o 12/6 in review

Upon returning from Cincinnati Monday at Noon at LaGuardia Airport I went home quickly to drop off my bags. After doing so, I proceeded to go to Avis to rent a car for the day.

I drove to pick up our buddy Al Linderman aka "Big Game Al" who took the King's place since he had to get back to work so he reluctantly couldn't make the trip. Al and I went to Foxboro, Massachusetts to see the AFC East showdown between the Jets and the New England Patriots.

On the way up we were listening to sports radio. Mike Francesa, a local host on WFAN in New York said and I quoted "if you plan to stay for the whole game it's going to take you 3 or 4 hours to get out of the area since there's only one road in and one road out."

Royalty laughed at the commentary. Rightfully so, we stayed to the bitter end and we got out rather fast even with plenty of traffic. I drove 3 miles to the highway in 10 minutes. Once I got on the highway it was smooth sailing the rest of the way. I dropped Al off and I took myself home. I got home at 4:10AM.

In addition, Royalty knows where to park cheap. I paid $20 to park as opposed to the other lots that we passed that were charging $30, $35, $40 & $50 to park. We had to walk a mile and a quarter but it was well worth it. If you parked in one of those other lots you still had to walk a mile or more.

As for the game, it didn't live up to the hype for the Jets who failed to show up. They fell behind early and they never had a chance. They went on to lose, 45-3!

After getting an hour and a half sleep I went to work Tuesday. After work, I went to see St. John's play St. Bonaventure in college basketball on my way home at the Carnesecca Arena formerly known as Alumni Hall in Jamaica, Queens.

I managed to stay awake even though it was a struggle in the second half.

I saw a good game and a great ending. The Red Storm as they're called these days got off to an early 13-2 lead but that disappeared as the Bonnies from St. Bonaventure stormed back to keep it close the rest of the way. In the end, the Bonnies won 67-66 as Andrew Nicholson who had 19 points and 13 rebounds scored the winning basket with just 5.2 seconds to go. His teammate Michael Davenport added 22 points.

Dwight Hardy of the Red Storm led all scorers with 24 points in the losing effort.

Wednesday night after work I went to Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks take on the Toronto Raptors. The Knicks won in dramatic fashion as Raymond Felton hit a three pointer that bounced off the rim a number of times before dropping in with 2.7 seconds left to give the Knicks a 113-110 decision over the visiting Raptors. The Knicks were paced by Amar'e Stoudemire who poured in 34 points. Raymond Felton finished with 28. The Raptors got a career high 41 points from Andrea Bargnani in the defeat.

Thursday & Friday night I went home to catch up on sleep and I prepared for the busy weekend ahead.

Saturday I went to Manhattan College to see the Japsers take on the Bearcats from Binghamton. Both teams came in with horrible records. Despite that, the game turned out to be a good one including another stunning ending. The visiting Bearcats came away with the victory as guard Jimmy Gray scored his only basket of the game with just 5.6 seconds to go to give the Bearcats a 70-69 win. Mahamoud Jabbi led the Bearcats with 20 points. George Beamon paced the Jaspers with 20 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. 

After the college basketball game, the King and I went to the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ to see the Detroit Red Wings, the King's favorite team play the NJ Devils.

The Red Wings got a few goals early and never looked back as they beat the Devils, 4-1!

Pavel Datsyuk led the way with a goal and two assists.

It should be noted this game was the King's 400th sporting event he has attended this calendar year.

Sunday we had another double dip as we saw the Knicks play the Nuggets at the Garden at Noon.

The Knicks continued their winning ways as they notched their eighth straight win for the first time in 16 years. In addition, they've now won 13 out of their last 14 games.

Amar'e Stoudemire was a monster again especially in the second half as he scored 30 points again for the eighth straight game. Wilson Chandler added 27 while Raymond Felton had 19 points to go along with 17 assists.

As for the Nuggets, they were led by Carmelo Anthony who had 31 points and 13 rebounds and Nene who scored 26 points in the loss.

After the Knick game, we went to the New Meadowlands Stadium to see the Jets try to rebound after Monday night's nightmare against division rival the Miami Dolphins.

Before mother nature made things ugly the Jets got a head start. They had some costly turnovers that gave the Dolphins an early 10-0 lead which the Jets couldn't recover from.

As the game wore on the weather got worse. As a result, Santonio Holmes missed a sure touchdown pass in the end zone as the Jets had to settle for a field goal to get on the board late in the second quarter.

The Jet defense played well as they shutdown the Dolphins the rest of the game. Unfortunately, the Jet offense couldn't get going all day as they failed to get in the end zone for the second straight game.

They went on to lose again, 10-6!

Their season has taken a turn for the worst. The way they're playing they may miss the playoffs. We'll have to wait and see if they can get it together again.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Monday, December 13, 2010

Royalty schedule w/o 12/13

Here's the game plan:

Tuesday, December 14th 76ers at Nets 7PM

Wednesday, December 15th Celtics at Knicks 7PM

Thursday, Ducks at Islanders 7PM

Friday, December 17th Heat at Knicks 7PM

Saturday, December 18th 76ers at Magic 7PM

Sunday, December 19th Lions at Buccaneers 1PM

Hope all my readers and followers have a great week.

Please check back to see how it turned out.

Stay tuned for my w/o 12/6 in review.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Friday, December 10, 2010

Ultimate Roadtrippers visit the New Meadowlands Stadium with the help of Royalty!


Peter Farrell, Andrew Kulyk, The King and I













Back on Sunday, November 21st the Ultimate Sports Road Trip made their first visit to the New Meadowlands Stadium to see the Jets play the Texans.

Royalty arranged for them to sit with us in section 312 row 13. In addition, we needed their karma as the Jets blew a lead and they came back with a miracle home win.

I want to thank Andrew and Peter for helping the cause.

As always it was a great time seeing these fellow roadtrippers who like us have set the standard and raised the bar when it comes to attending live sporting events across the country.

I look forward to seeing them again on the road somewhere in 2011.

Thank you for reading .

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 11/29 in review

After an exhausting Thanksgiving weekend where I saw 7 games in 4 days, I came home to rest and to catch up on lost sleep after work Monday night.

Tuesday night after work I went to Madison Square Garden to the new look Knicks try to continue their winning ways against their crosstown rival, the New Jersey Nets.

As for the game, the Knicks fresh off a successful road trip beat up the Nets, 111-110!

Their big free agent signing, Amar'e Stoudemire led the way scoring 35 points. Wilson Chandler added 27 while newcomer Raymond Felton poured in 21 of his own.

For the Nets, Brook Lopez was a monster he scored 36 points in the losing effort. Unfortunately he had no supporting cast on this night.

Wednesday night after work I went to the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ to see the Nets take on the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Just like a few weeks ago when the King and I went to Boston to see the Thunder play, their superstar forward KD aka Kevin Durant wasn't playing.

Despite that the Thunder won the game again. This time they needed three overtimes to do so as they overcame the Nets.

Anthony Morrow of the Nets forced the game to go into overtime initially when he hit a three pointer at the buzzer to tie the game.

In the overtimes, it appeared the Nets were going to win the game but they finally fell short in the third one and they lost, 123-120!

Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green paced the Thunder with 38 and 37 points respectatively.

The Nets were lead by Brooks Lopez and Jordan Farmar who each had 28 points. Anthony Morrow contributed 25 and he forced the game to go into overtime.

Thursday I left work early at 3:30PM so I could go back to Queens and pick up the car I rented from Avis before I went to work that morning.

I went down to Philadelphia to see the Eagles play the Houston Texans at 8:20PM.

More importantly, I arranged to meet a fellow roadtripper named Kurt Smith who lives in the area.
Kurt is a great guy. We had been e-mailing each other back and forth exchanging a variety of information and stories of things we have in common.

Kurt recently started a business selling "e-guides" to a handful of ballparks such as Citi Field, Yankee Stadium, Citizens Bank Park and Fenway Park. He has a website dedicated to this. For more information, check out his site that's listed on my blog list.

The guides cost only $5.00 and they will be a steal of a deal when you utilize his ways of saving money.
Speaking of saving money, Kurt was kind enough to get to the Stadium area early so he could hold a parking spot for me.

Once I got there he pulled out and I pulled in. Now that's teamwork.

Since he couldn't join me for the game, we planned on going out for dinner that way we could talk face to face for the first time.

After dinner, Kurt drove me back near the Linc so I could get to the game on time which I did.
Thanks to my friend, Frankie Centola who arranged to get me a Club seat for the game which made my life real easy. I got the royal treatment as a result.

The Club entrance is separate from the regular entrance which was mobbed with late arriving fans.

With the help of other kind hearted people like myself, my visit to the Linc was a success.

As for the game, the Eagles went on to beat the Texans, 34-24. The Texans fell behind early but they stormed back to take the 27-24 late in the third quarter only to see the Eagles comeback and overtake them in the end.

It was another heartbreaking loss for the Texan fans.

Friday I was tired again since I drove home right after the Eagle game and I returned the car and went to work.

After work, I went home to rest up for the big weekend I had planned to the Queen City of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Just before I left work at 5:30PM Friday night my cell phone rang.

I answered it and it was Jake Cain, another roadtripper who lives in Cincinnati who I was planning to see over the weekend. He also has a website called Ballpark Savvy which you can also find on my blog list. Please feel free to check it out. It's to your advantage to do so.

I did that's how I got in contact with Kurt Smith.

He called me to tell me he's going to Texas for the weekend due to change in plans. I thought it was going to be a total missed opportunity. It wasn't thanks to Jake's brainstorming. He knew the King and I needed tickets for the University of Cincinnati Bearcat game Saturday at Noon. Jake and his father Dale have season tickets and a parking pass. Since Jake was going to be away he told me he was going to arrange to leave the tickets and the parking pass for us to use free of charge. That was very nice and thoughtful of him.

He said he would e-mail me the plan. When I woke up early Saturday morning the e-mail was on my Blackberry.

I proceeded to drive to the airport to catch my flight on Delta Airlines. I met the King there. After we got through security we went to the gate to get ready to board the plane. We finally get on the plane and a person in first class looks at us like he knew us. Yes, indeed he was right. The person we saw was Bob Kelly. Bob's brother Dennis and his wife Sue met us when we went to Japan in  March 2000 to see the Mets play the Cubs. Bob was flying home to Norfolk, Virginia via Cincinnati from a business trip. What timing that was.

I told Bob we have plans to go to Norfolk in the middle of March. He said we can have dinner at his house. That was very nice of him. He took a picture of the King and I and he sent it to his brother Dennis who lives in Irvine, California. What a small world it is we said. We saw Bob at Citi Field back in June when he came to New York to see the new stadium for the first time.

After arriving in Covington, Kentucky where the airport is located, I wound up meeting  up with Jake's father, Dale in Downtown Cincinnati and he gave me the tickets and the parking pass. He told me Merry Christmas and I said same to you and I mentioned that Christmas came early. The King and I were very grateful.

We proceeded to dodge the snow flurries and we went to Nippert Stadium to see the Pitt Panthers play the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Ironically last year I was in Pittsburgh to see these two teams play for the Big East Championship game. The Bearcats won a thriller, 45-44!

This time the Panthers returned the favor as they won 28-10 but the Big East Championship was not on the line.

It was an amazing experience watching a game in this old time venue. Mother nature helped enhance the experience by adding to the setting. I strongly suggest that if you haven't been to Nippert yet that you go there.

If you need any assistance, Jake Cain is there for you. Just get in contact with him so he can guide you along.

After the football game, the King and I went to see the Cincinnati Cyclones play the Florida Everblades in an ECHL minor league hockey game at the US Bank Arena.

The Everblades won,5-3!

Sunday we went to Paul Brown Stadium to see the "Who" Bowl. The hometown Bengals are referred to as " Who Dey" and the visiting Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints are known as "Who Dat".

As for the game, the Saints came marching in and they marched out of the 'Nati with the W. The Bengals who I saw play the Jets on Thanksgiving night beat themselves. They've had a rough season and this game was indicative of that fact.

The Saints blew a lead and came back to beat the Bengals, 34-30!

After the game, I drove the King to the airport so he could catch his 7PM flight home. He had to get to work.

On the other hand, I was flying home Monday morning.

A former co-worker of mine, Melissa Vierling got a job at the ABC affiliate WHAS-TV in Louisville, Kentucky as an account executive in late October.

I told her before she left that I'll come visit her and we can go out for dinner.

True to my word, after I dropped the King off at the airport I proceeded to drive 100 miles to meet Melissa for dinner at Joe's Crab Shack in Downtown Louisville right by the ballpark where the Louisville Bats play home of the Triple A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds.

I spend a few hours catching up with "Sweet Melissa". She's such a nice person. We enjoyed each other's company in the "Ville".

I would want to personally thank Melissa for making the time to see me. That was very thoughtful of her.

Another incredible week is now in the books.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Royalty is heading down to the Sunshine State for a few days next weekend on 12/18 & 12/19!

It's getting cold here in NYC, Royalty will be warming up for a few days next weekend as we take a quick getaway to the Sunshine State of Florida.

The game plan is as follows:

The King and I are going to Orlando and Tampa.The primary purpose is see the new home of the Orlando Magic, the Amway Center which just opened its doors in October. By doing so, we will once again have seen a game in every current NBA arena.

Saturday, December 18th we have a flight booked on Air Tran Airways that departs NY LaGuardia Airport at 8:44AM Eastern Time and it's scheduled to land in Tampa, Florida at 1:34PM Eastern Time after a layover in Atlanta, Georgia.

Upon arrival, I'll be renting a car from Alamo and we'll be driving to Orlando which is 89 miles from Tampa to see the Philadelphia 76ers play the Orlando Magic at 7PM local time.

After the game, we're going to drive 136 miles to Port Charlotte to sleep at Henry Casiano's house. Henry is the King's brother who always accomodates us when we come down.

Sunday, December 19th, we'll be driving 102 miles to Raymond James Stadium to see the Tampa Bay Bucanneers take on the Detroit Lions. Kickoff is scheduled for 1PM local time.

After the game, we'll be driving to the airport which is nearby so we can catch our 6:40PM flight home which also stops in Atlanta and is scheduled to arrive at LaGuardia Airport at 11:03PM. Upon arrival, the King has to go into work. I go home and sleep then go to work Monday morning.

Please feel free to check back for all the details of how this getaway turned out.

If you want to join us, please let me know so I can arrange to make it happen.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Monday, December 6, 2010

Royalty schedule w/o 12/6

Here's the game plan:

Monday December 6th Jets at Patriots 8:30PM

Tuesday December 7th St. Bonaventure at St. John's 7PM

Wednesday December 8th Raptors at Knicks 7:30PM

Saturday December 11th Binghamton at Manhattan 2PM

                                       Red Wings at Devils 7PM

Sunday December 12th Nuggets at Knicks 12 Noon

                                     Dolphins at Jets 4:15PM

Please check back to see how it turned out.

Hope all my readers and followers have a great week.

Stay tuned for the w/o 11/29 in review.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman