Royalty Tours USA

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Royalty is live at Yankee Stadium - Baseball's back!

View from Section 420B row 7
It's feels like we're at the Pinstripe Bowl again.

However the Yankees are getting ready to take on the Detroit Tigers on Opening Day.

First pitch from CC Sabathia was 1:11PM Eastern Time as the picture shows you from my seat in section 420B row 7, my season tickets. If you're in the building, come on up and say hello.

Royalty is here to set the scene for you today and throughout the season.

If you want to be part of the experience let me know. If can't make it to the game and you want live pictures let me know and I'll e-mail and/or text them to you.

All my readers and followers are always with me in spirit.

Whoever you root for I hope they have a successful season.

Hope to meet and greet some of you during the season at a ballpark.

If not, my blog is the next best thing.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Royalty sees a convenient doubleheader in Philadelphia!

As many people know the City of Philadelphia is not known for having the nicest people or fans in the country. They have a reputation for a reason.

With that being said, the King and I are very fortunate to know some good people that live there.

On the other hand, they do have the best sports complex. That won't change anytime soon either.

In the past, they had Veterans Stadium which has been replaced by Citizens Bank Park as the home of the Phillies.

Years ago, they had the Spectrum which has now been demolished but it was replaced by the Well's Fargo Center as it's called these days. It's the home of the Flyers and 76ers.

Furthermore, back in the day they had JFK Stadium which hosted Live Aid back in 1985.

That has been replaced by Lincoln Financial Field aka "The Linc", home of the Eagles.

Most importantly, the complex is very easy to get to either by car or train.

On this past Sunday the King and I as well as our friends Rich Wolber & Mike Carroll had the privilege of seeing a nice easy same building doubleheader.

However, Rich decided he didn't want to stay for the Flyer game so he wound up taking a bus back to NYC instead. That was his prerogative.

We saw the 76ers play the Sacramento Kings at Noon and the Flyers hosted the Boston Bruins at 7PM.

In between games we got to go to the Oregon Diner for a nice full course meal too.

What a way to spend a day in Philadelphia if you're a sports fan.

The King and I have done many doubleheaders here over the years.

As for the games we saw, the home teams lost both of them.

First, the 76ers got crowned by the Kings as royal treatment was delivered in more ways than one in the matinee.

The Sixers tied the game at the buzzer in regulation as Lou Williams hit a three pointer from just inside half court.

In the overtime, the Kings managed to overcome the Sixers as they went on to win, 114-111.

As for the nightcap, the Flyers were tied at one late in the third period but the they got called for an untiming penalty.

As a result, the visiting Bruins took advantage and capitalized on the power play as Brad Marchand found the net with just 3:43 left in regulation to win it for the Bruins, 2-1.

In the future, if you want to experience a live sporting event or two in the City of Brotherly Love you should make sure you talk to me.

I've seen hundreds of games down there over the years.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Royalty w/o 3/21 in review

This week consisted of a few nights off on Tuesday and Thursday after work.

On Monday, Wednesday and Friday I went to see the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

On Monday night, the 2010 Eastern Conference Champion Boston Celtics came back to play the Knicks. The last time they played here in December they wound up winning a thriller with Paul Pierce making the game winning shot with a fraction of a second remaining. To refresh your memory, Amar'e Stoudemire made a shot that would have won it for the Knicks but it came after the buzzer upon review as the referees looked at the replay.

This time the Celtics didn't show up for the first three and a half quarters but they woke up with 5:31 left in the game to eventually overtake the Knicks who collapsed mightily down the stretch after leading most of the game.

Paul Pierce scored 13 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter to once again help the Celtics beat the Knicks, 96-86.

It should be noted this was a very physical game throughout. There were many hard fouls by both teams.

Ray Allen took an elbow to his face and he wound up getting stitched up and he came back to finish the game.

On Wednesday night, the Orlando Magic made their first appearance at the Garden this season.
The Magic wound up pulling away from the Knicks in the fourth quarter to come away with a 111-99 victory.

They got 33 points from Superman aka Dwight Howard, their dominant center.

The most impressive part of his game on this night was his free throw shooting. He's notorious for being a lousy shooter from the charity stripe. He made 11 out of 13 free throws which totally shocked me. He made his last eight in a row too. He normally misses almost half of them.

Friday night the Milwaukee Bucks returned to the Garden. They were the opponent the night Melo played his first game in a Knick uniform back on February 23rd.

Before the game, I got to speak to Knicks radio announcer, Mike Crispino. He said and I quote "the Knicks can't beat anybody." His honesty was a breath of fresh air.

He was right as the Bucks returned the favor by beating the Knicks on their home court this time.

They were led by second year guard Brandon Jennings who ran circles around the Knicks with his amazing quickness as he scored a game high 27 points.

He made a number of big baskets late in the fourth quarter as the Knicks hung around but they couldn't close the deal.

The Bucks emerged victorious in this one, 102-96.

On Saturday night I went out to the Nassau Coliseum to see the Philadelphia Flyers play the Islanders.
With a near capacity crowd on hand, the Islanders fell to the Flyers, 4-1.

As for the crowd, there were many Flyer fans in attendance. They wound up going home very happy.

As for the game, it started with a fight just 2 seconds in. 19 seconds later, there was another fight. Order was restored for most of the game thereafter. With just under 8 minutes left in the contest, a third fight broke out.

In the second period, two goals were scored in span of 22 seconds.

In addition, James Van Riemsdyk of the Flyers scored his first career hat trick.

When he scored his third goal of the game, hats went flying onto the Coliseum ice by many of the Flyer fans who were there. They came prepared just in case.

Speaking of Philadelphia, the King and I and company went down there on Sunday to see a basketball/hockey doubleheader.

Stay tuned as I'll write a special post about our visit to the City of Brotherly Love.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Monday, March 28, 2011

Royalty schedule w/o 3/28

Here's the game plan:

Monday March 28th Magic at Knicks 7:30PM

Tuesday March 29th Rockets at Nets 7PM

Thursday March 31st Tigers at Yankees 1:05PM Opening Day

Friday April 1st Astros at Phillies 1:05PM Opening Day

                           Nets at 76ers 7PM

Saturday April 2nd Braves at Nationals 1:05PM

                              Astros at Phillies 7:05PM

Sunday April 3rd Tigers at Yankees 1:05PM

                             Cavaliers at Knicks 6PM

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 3/21 in review.

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

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Saturday, March 26, 2011

It's time to play ball, baseball's back and royalty is ready to roll!

Back on July 28, 2010, royalty got wind of the MLB schedule leaking out. I proceeded to post it to my blog which has fueled plenty of interest.

Well now it's time for the players to play ball for real. Unlike in years past, this season will open and close earlier than usual so the World Series won't run into November.

Mr. November aka Derek Jeter will be guaranteed that distinction for at least another year.

Speaking of the Yankee Captain, now that he has resigned with the Yankees he should finish his career in pinstripes.

Back on September 11, 2009, royalty witnessed history as he broke Lou Gehrig's record for hits as a Yankee when he delivered his 2,722nd major league hit.

Coming into this season, he needs only 74 more to join the elite 3,000 hit club.

With that being said, I'm planning to see more history probably sometime in June at Yankee Stadium.

Royalty prefers to hit the road when the Yankees are home. I hope that he does it in June since I don't have any big plans set for then.

As for road trips and other highlights, here are some of them.

Thursday, March 31st we open our season in the Bronx at Yankee Stadium as the Detroit Tigers play the Yankees in their Opener.

Friday, April 1st we'll be in Philadelphia for the Phillies Opener against the Astros. The Doc will be in the house. In other words, Roy Halladay gets the start. That's not an April's fools joke either.

In addition, we're going to be joined by our good friends and fellow roadtrippers from Buffalo, Andrew Kulyk and Peter Farrell, aka USRT if you will.

Saturday, April 2nd we're all going to Washington D.C. to see the Nationals play.

Sunday April 3rd, the King and I return to Yankee Stadium.

Friday, April 8th we'll be at Citi Field for the Mets home opener with the Nationals.

Monday, April 18th we'll be at Fenway Park for the traditional Patriot's Day game against the Blue Jays.

On July 4th, we return to Fenway for another game against the Blue Jays.

On May 13th, we're planning to be in Wrigley Field for the World Champion San Francisco Giants as they take on the Cubs at 1:20PM.

Afterwards we're going to take a 90 mile ride through the crazy Chicago traffic as we head to Miller Park that night for the Pirates and Brewers at 7:10PM.

We'll be back at Wrigley Field for a rare Saturday night game and the Sunday afternoon game before we fly home that night.

At the end of July, I have a blockbuster driving trip in the works with an upcoming roadtripper, Paul Derrick from Houston, Texas.

Stay tuned as it gets closer because I'll be rolling the game plan then. It's going to be a baseball fan's dream type trip.

I plan to do plenty of driving that week. Once I figure out all the details I'll post it up.

Paul is in for a royal treat. He already has a great opinion of me and we haven't even met. It's going to be a blast. I can't wait.

In September, I have a few other possible trips planned to Kansas City and Atlanta.

In October, I hope to get to some postseason games too.

In the meantime, batter up, let's play ball!

Hope to see you at a ballpark soon.

If you need my assistance and expertise in getting places, I strongly suggest you consult me so I can help make it happen.

If you want to go for a "royal" ride, contact me so I can arrange to accomodate your needs and wants.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Friday, March 25, 2011

Matthew's Pizza

Matthew's Pizza
When we were visited our friends Peter & Carmen Agnew in Baltimore on Sunday we went to Matthew's Pizza.

This was the first pizzeria in Baltimore, Maryland. It opened back in 1943.

It's located at 3131 Eastern Avenue in the Highlandtown section.

It's been serving the locals there ever since. Their motto is "gourmet taste at an affordable price".

The King and I decided to give a try based on Peter & Carmen's recommendation.

It's a small place with only around ten tables. Luckily we got there at the right time. Shortly after we got seated it was packed and rightfully so.

We had a nice young lady named Rachel who was our waitress.

She was did a great job accomodating our needs and wants since we weren't sure what to order.

She described in detail all the different types of pizza they offer.
They make Chicago style pizza which is deep dish. They have a wide variety of choices to choose from. We went with the traditional approach but regardless we made a wise choice.

The pizza was really good. In addition, I ordered a plate of spaghetti which was excellent.

For dessert, I had some Italian ice cream the menu said sorbet which thanks to Rachel I was able to sample first.

I chose their lemon flavor which tasted similar to Italian ices. It was a great way to cap off a tremendous dinner.

If you happen to be in the Baltimore area, I suggest you stop in and see for yourself what I'm talking about.

If Rachel happens to be working, tell her I said hello.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Royalty catches up with Memphis Grizzlies radio announcer, Eric Hasseltine at MSG!


Eric Hasseltine and I
On December 4, 2006 when the Memphis Grizzlies came to Madison Square Garden I got to meet and greet their radio announcer, Eric Hasseltine.

Eric is a great guy who I always say hello to when I see the Grizzlies play.

Over the years, I've seen him in a number of times at the IZOD Center when the Nets played there and at the Garden when the Grizzlies come to town.

He has been working for the Grizzlies since they moved from Vancouver to Memphis back in 2001. This is his 10th season with the team behind the mic. It's his 6th season doing their play by play on the radio.

Prior to that he served as their radio host on the pre game, halftime and post game shows.

He's originally from the Bay Area. In addition, he went to college at UC-Davis which is near Sacramento.

That's the same school former Jet quarterback Ken O'Brien went to.

Ironically when I met Eric I told him about my trip that was coming up in January 2007. That one I referred to as the "Bay Area Blast".

The King and I flew out to the Bay area and we saw a bunch of games over Martin Luther King weekend. We went to Cal-Berkeley for a college basketball game upon arrival that Saturday afternoon at the Haas Pavilion followed by the Sacramento Kings that night.

After the game we drove to Reno, Nevada to sleep and we hung out at a casino before returning to Stockton to see a minor league hockey game.

On Martin Luther King Day, we went to Oakland to see the Warriors play in the afternoon and then we went to San Jose that night to see the Sharks.

After the double dip, we caught the red eye flight home.

What a blast that was.

As for the Grizzlies, they've had their share of ups and downs since they moved to Memphis back in 2001.
This season they're playing better than in the past. They came to the Garden on St. Patrick's Day night with a 37-31 record. I told Eric they should make the playoffs. He had his doubts that they would. We'll have to wait and see.

When I asked him his thoughts about the Carmelo Anthony trade he said it was a good trade for both teams.
Time will tell who ultimately got the better of the deal.

While I got to see Eric, I had the privilege of seeing his partner on this night too. I'm referring to former NBA player and part owner of the Grizzlies, Elliot Perry aka "Socks" as Eric calls him. He works some of the games. Fortunately for me, this was one of them.

Eliot was an excellent shooter when he played back in the day. He was known for his knee high socks hence the nickname.

I got to speak to him too. He seemed like a real class act and gentleman. He's the one who took our picture.

I hope someday the Grizzlies can find a way to improve dramatically and win a championship so Eric can have the privilege and honor of calling it.

Keep up the great work, Eric. I'll see you again somewhere when I see the Grizzlies play again.

Hopefully the next time we'll be in Memphis in November barring a lockout and assuming the schedule works out right.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Waffle House

Menu
This is one of royalty's preferred places to eat breakfast. They also serve lunch and dinner.

The Waffle House has been around for 55 years. They thrive on serving good food fast and friendly.

They're open 24 hours a day so if you happen to be down South you should be able to find one. That's where many of them are located.

They do have locations in other parts of the country such as Carlisle, Pennsylvania and Toledo, Ohio. The King and I have been to those so we know.

In addition, we've gone to one in Denver, Dallas and in Lexington, Kentucky too.

They have a number you can text to find out where they're located accordingly to their receipt.

I usually get the All-Star Special which consists of two eggs with a choice of meat, grits or hash browns, toast and a waffle.

If you're pressed for time and you don't want to settle for McDonald's then this is a perfect place to go to enjoy a quick meal on the go.

If you haven't been to one, when you see one on the road I strongly suggest you stop in and see for yourself.

They're usually conveniently located right off the highway.

For example, we went to one in Fredericksburg, Virginia the other day.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty visits friends and sees the Nets play on the road in Washington D.C.!

Sunday morning we got up and we had breakfast at the Waffle House which was conveniently located by the Days Inn we stayed at in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Stay tuned for the special post I'm going to do on that eatery.

After we ate, we drove to the Verizon Center to see the Nets take on the Washington Wizards in a matinee game. The opening tip-off was scheduled for 1PM.

We arranged to meet our good friend Peter Agnew from Baltimore there. He's been a loyal Wizards season ticket holder since 1987. He was able to secure some additional tickets free of charge and he decided to give us the royal treatment.

In addition, he brought his friend John Pratt from Baltimore and his nephew to the game.

As for the game we saw, the Nets who played without newly acquired Deron Williams. Despite that they got off to a fast start and led by 17 late in the second quarter.

In the second half, the depleted Wizards arose and they stormed back as the Nets played awful. The Wizards came away with a 98-92 victory.

After the game, we went to Baltimore where we met up with Peter and his lovely wife Carmen for dinner.

We wound up trying a new place called Matthew's Pizza.

Stay tuned as I go into further detail in a special post.

As always we enjoyed their company. We take turns visiting each other.

Peter always invites us to come down. Thankfully the schedule worked out so we took advantage of this opportunity.

That's what makes going places so much fun.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty takes a scenic ride down to Norfolk, Virginia!


Me, the King and Bob Kelly
 On Saturday morning I rented a car for the weekend from Avis.

I proceeded to drive to Astoria to pick up the King and off we went to Norfolk.

The first time we did this ride there was back in March 2006.

I remember what a beautiful ride it was. Now we got the opportunity to do it again. So we took advantage.

As for the journey, we drove down through Delaware on US 13 which goes through a few small towns along the way.

In addition, we passed through Salisbury, Maryland which is the home of the Delmarva Shorebirds, the Single A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles in the South Atlantic League.

In order to handle this ride you need to pack your patience. US 13 is a long tedious road with lots of traffic lights and fluctuating speed limits with breathtaking scenery.

We allowed a lot of time knowing what to expect. The best part of the ride is the 20 mile stretch as you get close to Norfolk.

I'm talking about the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel which consists of two bridges and two tunnels. It's quite a structure. We enjoyed our joy ride which culminated in meeting up with my friend Bob Kelly who lives in Virginia Beach which is right after you get off the Bridge-Tunnel.

In December we saw Bob by surprise on our flight to Cincinnati. He was returning home from a business trip. I told him we were going to Norfolk in March. He said we'll hook up.

As it got close, I contacted him and we made it happen.

We wound up driving 380 miles to get there but meeting up with Bob made it all worth it.

We decided to get a quick meal at Wendy's before we went into downtown Norfolk to go to the Scope which is the arena where the Norfolk Admirals of the American Hockey League play.

On this night we saw the Admirals host the Albany Devils.

We "scoped" out the building before the game and we found some nice center ice seats in the upper level to sit in which gave a great elevated view of the action.

Since the King and I were there in 2006, they have upgraded the seating area with new comfortable cushioned seats. They made an older venue better by doing so.

The Scope has been around for 40 years now. It opened back in 1971. It's a unique looking structure and there's a parking garage attached underneath it.

Back in the day, the Virginia Squires of the ABA with Julius Erving aka Dr. J used to play there. I can imagine how great it was back then to see him play in person there. It's a nice intimate bowl that holds 12,600 people.

As for the game we saw, the Admirals fell behind 3-0 but they came back to tie the score as the goals came fast and furiously in this seesaw battle.

It turned out to be an action packed match. The game went into overtime and finished in a shootout.

The Devils scored the first and only goal of the five round shootout as they outlasted the Admirals, 6-5!

Bob Kelly who joined the King and I had a blast. So did we.

We look forward to seeing each other again during the baseball season at Citi Field.

After the game, we parted ways. The King and I went towards Washington D.C. We stayed in Fredericksburg, Virginia which is 55 miles from our Nation's Capitol.

Stay tuned as I recap our visit there in a special post.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Royalty w/o 3/14 in review‏

After work Monday night I went to Newark, NJ to see the Eastern Conference Champion Boston Celtics visit the Prudential Center to play the Nets.

There were plenty of New Englanders in the sold out building to see their Celtics play on the road.

The last time the King and I saw the Nets play the Celtics was in Boston on February 27, 2010. We managed to see the Nets get a rare win too.

Ironically on this night the Nets did it again. This time they hung tough most of the game and they pulled away late to escape with a 88-79 victory.

Those who came in special for the game had a very long ride home.

Tuesday night after work I went back to the "Rock". This time to see the red hot Devils host the Atlanta Thrashers as the playoff push continued.

This game was similar to the one we saw in Edmonton last month with the Thrashers. They took a 2-0 lead and they went on to blow it as the Devils scored four unanswered goals including an empty net one with hardly any time remaining. Just before that the Thrashers almost tied the game but after looking at the replay it was confirmed the puck was knocked in with a high stick.

Wednesday night I went home after work to catch up on rest since they were no games in the area to attend.

Thursday night I went to Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks entertain the Memphis Grizzlies.

More importantly, I was able to visit my buddy Eric Hasseltine, the radio announcer for the Grizzlies. Stay tuned because I'm going to do a special post about him.

As for the game, since it was St. Patrick's Day the crowd was rather rowdy. I had a few idiots who stood up most of the night for no good reason.

Luckily the game was one sided so I was able to tolerate the distraction for the most part.

The Knicks easily cruised to the 120-99 win. The Grizzlies came in clinging to the eighth seed in the Western Conference.

They played without their best player, Rudy Gay.

Friday night I went back to Newark to see the Devils play. It was cool because they wore their old retro jerseys from their inception in NJ back in 1982.

Unfortunately for the Devils they played like the teams that wore those sweaters on a regular basis.

The Devils wound up getting shut out by the surging Washington Capitals 3-0 despite having a sellout crowd.

We did get treated because for this special occasion they brought back their original public address announcer, Bob Arsena.

It was great to hear his voice again behind the mic. He was the voice of the Devils from 1982-2005.

Stay tuned as I'll go into detail regarding our getaway to Norfolk, Virginia and Washington D.C. over the weekend.

I'll be doing some special posts so please bear with me.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Monday, March 21, 2011

Prince of Royalty Tours Interviewed in the FDH Lounge on Internet TV with Rick Morris

January 18, 2011 marked the four year anniversary of Rick Morris' Great American Radio Show live Internet TV called the FDH Lounge, "Where nothing is off-topic".

On that night, I had the privilege and honor of being one of his special guests. Please feel free to have a listen of what I had to say.

Rick does his weekly show live on Tuesday nights 7-10PM so you can always tune in to the FDH Lounge if you have time.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman


Royalty schedule w/o 3/21‏

Here's the game plan:

Monday March 21st Celtics at Knicks 7:30PM

Wednesday March 23rd Magic at Knicks 8PM

Friday March 25th Bucks at Knicks 7:30PM

Saturday March 26th Flyers at Islanders 7PM

Sunday March 27th Kings at 76ers 12 Noon

Bruins at Flyers 7PM

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 3/14 in review.

In addition, I'll be doing some special posts as well.

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

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Royalty w/o 3/7 in review

After work Monday I went to Madison Square Garden to see the new look Knicks take on the new look Utah Jazz.

The last time I saw the Jazz play in January in Newark they had Deron Williams aka "D-Will". Since then he was traded to the Nets right before the trading deadline for Devin Harris and rookie Derrick Favors. In addition, they picked up Al Jefferson from the Timberwolves.

The Jazz lost to the Nets and on this night they got blown away by the Knicks, 131-109!

The Garden was once again packed with the arrival of Carmelo Anthony. Needless to say, the atmosphere is different these days.

Tuesday after work I went out to Newark to see the red hot NJ Devils play the lowly Ottawa Senators.

The King and I met up with our friend Frank and my cousin Andy who always loves our company.

We all had a great time together at the game.

As for the game we saw, it turned out to be a good one. The King and I thought for sure the Devils weren't going to lose and they did.

The Senators played well and they edged the Devils, 2-1 as Erik Condra scored the game winning goal with 2:13 left in regulation to give the Sens the victory.

Wednesday night I went back to Newark to see the Nets play the Golden State Warriors.

Newly acquired Deron Williams aka "D-Will" was missing due to his wife giving birth to their fourth child.

The Nets managed to win the game without him, 94-90! This was a closely contested game throughout but late in the game the Nets were able to pull through and they emerged victorious.

Despite the absence of "D-Will", his teammates stepped up to their third straight game in a row which included two wins overseas in London.

Since the trade, the Nets have improved. As a result, the crowd was bigger too.

Thursday after work I got a much needed night off to rest and recharge the batteries.

Friday night after work I went back to Newark to see the Nets host Blake Griffin and the LA Clippers.

My cousin Andy joined the King and I again. He had a blast. He couldn't thank us enough for getting him a ticket for this game.

As for the game, it turned out to be an exciting one. The Nets who trailed by 20 points in the third quarter came back and forced overtime as Blake Griffin missed one of two free throws at the end of regulation time.

In the extra session, the Nets behind Jordan Farmar who filled in for Deron Williams who missed a second game scored all 24 of his points in the second half and four in overtime to help secure the victory for the Nets.

The victory sent the near capacity crowd home happy.

Saturday night I went back to Newark to see the Devils play the Islanders again.

Sunday at the Nassau Coliseum the Devils outlasted the Islanders in a shootout.

This time the Devils needed overtime to secure the extra point as their defenseman Annsi Salmela scored his first goal of the season with 1:51 left in the extra period to give the Devils another dramatic win much too the delight of the sellout crowd except for the Islander fans who were on hand.

It should be noted that Devils forward Jacob Josefson scored his first NHL goal that opened the scoring in the first period.

Sunday I went to Madison Square Garden to see the Indiana Pacers play the Knicks.

The crowd was disappointed as the Pacers outshot the Knicks and they beat them, 106-93!

Tyler Hansbrough scored a career high 29 points to lead the way.

I saw him back in December 2007 when he starred at the University of North Carolina. I knew he was going to be a star in the NBA someday.

Hopefully this performance is just one of many memorable games he has in his NBA career.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Monday, March 14, 2011

Royalty schedule w/o 3/14

Here's the game plan:

Monday March 14th Celtics at Nets 7PM

Tuesday March 15th Thrashers at Devils 7PM

Thursday March 17th Grizzlies at Knicks 7:30PM

Friday March 18th Capitals at Devils 7PM

Saturday March 19th Albany Devils at Norfolk Admirals 7:15PM

Sunday March 20th Nets at Wizards 1PM

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 3/7 in review.

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

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Royalty w/o 2/28 in review

After work Monday I went to Newark to see the home debut of Deron Williams aka "D-Will" in a Net uniform.

The Nets were playing the Phoenix Suns. Thanks to the addition of "D-Will" the attendance was higher than usual.

They gave out t-shirts with his name and number on them as you walked into the building. As a result, many fans put them on and there were plenty of number eights in the house.

As for the game, the Nets hung tough as they wound up forcing overtime before they eventually came up short, 104-103!

In the battle of two of the best point guards in the NBA, "D-Will" finished with 13 points and 18 assists while his counterpart Steve Nash had 10 points and 15 dishes.

The Net basketball experience has been enhanced now and hopefully for many years to come.

Tuesday night I went home after work.

Wednesday night after work I went to Madison Square Garden to see the new look Knicks take on the New Orleans Hornets.

This game started off exciting but it fizzled fast as the Hornets disappeared. The Knicks raced off to an easy 107-88 victory.

It was Carmelo Anthony's second home game as a Knick. Unlike the first one the crowd wasn't as electric but the Melo effect has made a difference. There were plenty of t-shirts and jerseys with his name and number on them. In addition, they occasionally chanted his name.

Thursday night after work I went to Downtown Brooklyn to see the Long Island University (LIU) Blackbirds play the St. Francis (PA) Red Flash in the first round of the Northeast Conference tournament.

The Blackbirds wound up cruising to a 90-75 victory. It was their first step in trying to secure a bid in the NCAA tournament.

We had some company at the gym as our friends Eddie, Phil, Larry, Frank and Mike were on hand for the festivities.

Friday night after work I went back to Madison Square Garden as the Knicks hosted the lowly Cavaliers.

Despite their horrible record the Cavaliers have beaten the Knicks a few times this season already.

Most recently the Friday before in Cleveland.

For the second straight Friday night the Knicks were victimized by the Cavaliers again.

This time the Knicks led the game until the last minute when the pesky Cavaliers took their first lead and they held off the Knicks as they beat them again, 119-115.

Saturday I went to the Nassau Coliseum to see the Islanders play the St. Louis Blues in an afternoon game.

It was a great day for people with families to take their kids to a game.

Our friend Joe Rossi did just that as he brought his three and a half old daughter Grace to the game.

Grace had a great time while she was there. Daddy bought her a Sparky doll. Sparky is the Islanders mascot. I got to sit next to them for a period so I know they had a blast.

The King and I had a good time also as we met up with some other familiar faces at the game as well.

As for the game we saw, the Islanders build a 3-0 lead and they wound up cruising to an easy 5-2 win.

Sunday we went back to the Coliseum, this time the Devils were visiting the Islanders.

Unlike Saturday the crowd was close to a sellout, there were plenty of Devil fans who came across the river to see their Devils play on the road.

Speaking of the Devils, they've been the hottest team in hockey the last few months.

They have managed to get themselves back into the playoff picture.

They've been using the mentality one game at a time. So far it's working wonders as they just keep winning games.

Sunday they continued their winning ways as they won the game 3-2 in a shootout.

With each win they're inching closer to a playoff spot.

It's going to be interesting down the stretch to see if they can actually pull it off.

We'll wait and see.

That puts a wrap on another week in the life of royalty.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Monday, March 7, 2011

Royalty schedule w/o 3/7

Here's the game plan:

Monday March 7th Jazz at Knicks 7:30PM

Tuesday March 8th Senators at Devils 7PM

Wednesday March 9th Warriors at Nets 7PM

Friday March 11th Clippers at Nets 7PM

Saturday March 12th Islanders at Devils 7PM

Sunday March 13th Pacers at Knicks 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 2/28 in review.

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

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Friday, March 4, 2011

Royalty is heading down South to Norfolk, Virginia and Washington D.C in a few weeks!

Here's the game plan:

I'm renting a car from Avis for the weekend.

I'm going to pick up The King and we'll be heading down to Norfolk, Virginia. We'll be taking the scenic route through Delaware and we'll eventually go over the Cheaspeake Bay Bridge Tunnel that goes right into the Norfolk area. We'll be stopping in Washington D.C. Sunday afternoon before returning home late Sunday night.

Saturday, March 19th Albany Devils at Norfolk Admirals 7:15PM

We'll planning to meet up with Bob Kelly, who lives in the area. We originally met his brother Dennis and his wife Sue when we saw the Mets in Japan in 2000. As for Bob, we saw him at Citi Field last June. In December, we met him on a plane to Cincinnati by surprise. He was returning from a business trip. We told him we're planning to come down to Norfolk in March. The time is almost here.
 
Sunday, March 20th Nets at Wizards 1PM

We plan to see our friend Peter Agnew who has arranged to get us Wizards tickets for that game. Afterwards, we'll probably have dinner together with his wife Carmen in Baltimore.

In addition, I'm looking forward to possibly meeting another fellow roadtripper, Charles Stephenson who lives in the Washington D.C. area.

If you're interested in going on this getaway royalty style let me know so I can arrange to have you join us.

It's going to be a blast so why not come for a "royal" ride.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Royalty w/o 2/21 in review‏

Upon returning from Western Canada Monday night, I was able to catch up on rest.

Tuesday I went back to work and home for more rest and clean up since there were no games to attend in the local area.

Wednesday night after work I went to Legends Night at Madison Square Garden.

In addition, the Knicks finally made a splash as they acquired Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups from the Denver Nuggets late Tuesday night.

As a result, the Garden was an electric atmosphere for the first time in a long time for the Knicks.

It reminded me of the 90's when the Garden rocked on a nightly basis.

The Melo effect has taken the City by storm. It looked like Halloween as many people changed their wardrobe overnight as they dressed up in t-shirts and jerseys with the number seven on them in support of him.

This night set the tone for many years to come at the World's Most Famous Arena as it continues to undergo its transformation into World's Most State of the Art Arena.

The Garden is known as the mecca of basketball. Now the City's game is back and so are the fans. On this night, it was packed with people wearing orange and blue.

During halftime, the Knicks honored their Legends of years past.

They did it by decade. In the 60's, they recognized Dick Barnett who was known for his fall back jumper.

In the 70's, they acknowledged the "Pearl" Earl Monroe who they acquired from the Baltimore Bullets and he arrived in time to be part of the 1973 World Championship team.

In the 80's, a local product from Queens and St. John's, playmaker Mark Jackson was honored.

In the 90's, fan favorite John Starks was introduced to the crowd to a rousing ovation. He was best known for his slam dunk over Michael Jordan in the playoffs back in the day.

In the 2000's, sharp shooter Allan Houston whose runner in the lane enabled the Knicks to beat the Heat as they went to the Finals back in 1999.

Now the Melo effect has ignited the city for many years to come.

As for his debut, he led the Knicks to victory as they beat the Bucks, 114-108!

Melo had 27 points and he grabbed 10 rebounds to help his team get the win.

Newcomer Chauncey Billups played well too.

For one night, it looked like a good move. Time will tell for sure.

The Knicks did have to part with a lot of good young talent to make this deal finally happen.

Business wise it was a no brainer. The question is will they eventually win another championship. As for an answer, we'll have to wait and see.

Thursday and Friday I went home again after work due to the lack of events in the area.

Over the weekend, I got to see a double dip on Saturday as I took a short drive to Hofstra University where the King and I saw the Pride take on the Blue Hens of Delaware on Senior Day.

As part of the festivities, the Pride retired uniform number 22 for Senior guard Charles Jenkins who's from Queens.

In his last regular game Jenkins finished scoring 21 points to lead the Pride to an easy 79-60 victory.

With less than a minute to go, Jenkins checked out for the final time and he received a standing ovation from the crowd.

The King and I were joined by our new found friend Eddie who loves attending college basketball games. In matter of fact, he went all the way to Alaska to see a game on a wild trip he made in late January as he flew out to Detroit then to Edmonton then to the Bay Area in California before he decided to brave the freezing cold weather as he went up to the last frontier. On his way back he stopped off in Minneapolis and he drove to Green Bay to see a college basketball game before he finally came back to NYC.

We were able to relate well with him since we just came back from Western Canada. We enjoyed each other's company throughout the game.

We were impressed with his excursion. He still thinks what we've done over the years is amazing.

We asked him if he wanted to join us for the Islanders/ Washington Capitals game we were attending across the street. He said he couldn't since he had other plans that he was committed to already. He did appreciate the offer though.

The King and I went to grab some dinner between games.

Afterwards we went to the Nassau Coliseum to see the second game of our convenient doubleheader.

This was my 1,500th NHL game I've seen in person. Ironically my first one was also at the Coliseum back on January 17, 1980 when the Islanders hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs.

As for this one, we saw a good one as the Islanders before a rare sellout crowd took an early 2-0 lead during the first half of the game. As the game wore on, the Islanders got worn out. They wound up giving up a goal to get the Capitals back into it at 2-1 as they headed into the third period.

In the third period, the Capitals capitalized as they eventually got the equalizer and the game winner as they went on to win, 3-2!

It should be noted that there were a number of Capital fans who made the trip up from down South to see their team play.

Needless to say, they had a happy ride home.

Sunday the King and I went to the Garden to see the Rangers play the Tampa Bay Lightning in an afternoon game. It  was kid's day.

Unfortunately for the kids, the Rangers fell short in this one, 2-1.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman