Royalty Tours USA

Monday, October 31, 2011

Royalty schedule w/o 10/31

Here's the game plan:

Monday October 31st Sharks at Rangers 7PM

Wednesday November 2nd Maple Leafs at Devils 7:30PM

Thursday November 3rd Ducks at Rangers 7PM

Saturday November 5th Troy at Navy 3:30PM

Sunday November 6th 49ers at Redskins 1PM

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 10/24 in review.

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 always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Royalty w/o 10/17 in review

Legendary Franklin Field
Monday I worked a half a day because I had to go to the doctor for my annual exam in the afternoon. Thankfully I got a clean bill of health. I took off some weight too. Even with my rigorous lifestyle, I still find time to take care of my body. I avoid eating at ballparks and arenas at all cost. I rather save money on the outside and eat well whenever possible. In addition, when I drive to a game I always try to park on the street that way I can cut cost and get exercise to burn off the junk food that I eat on a regular basis like ice cream and cake.

My doctor is a great guy. I told him I was going to the Jet game, he said and I quote "we have to get you out of here so you can get to the game." I have a good rapport with him so it's nice to fill him in on my whereabouts. In matter of fact, he had a young man training to become a doctor there with him. He told him when he introduced us that I go to more live sporting events than anybody. I told him my friend goes to more but he neglects eating well and seeing a doctor. Word to the wise, don't abuse your body. Make sure you get checked out once a year like I do.

After the doctor told me I'm in good shape, I went on my way to MetLife Stadium to see Monday Night Football as the Jets were hosting their hated division rival Miami Dolphins.

Back on October 23, 2000, the Jets fell behind the Fish 30-7 early in the fourth quarter. They wound up coming back and they forced overtime and they beat the Dolphins that night, 40-37. That particular game is referred to as the Monday Night Miracle. Offensive lineman Jumbo Elliott, who was an eligible receiver caught the touchdown pass that tied the game at 37 forcing overtime. John Hall added a 40 yard field goal to complete the improbable comeback. What a memorable ending that was.

This time around it wasn't quite as dramatic. The Jets did get off to a slow start as the Dolphins drew first blood as they kicked a field goal to lead 3-0. They were looking for more when Brandon Marshall ran the wrong way as Darrelle Revis intercepted a pass at the goal line. He took it back 100 yards for a touchdown to give the Jets a 7-3 lead. The Dolphins kicked another field goal to pull within one at 7-6. The Jets behind Mark Sanchez stepped up and took over from there. They added another touchdown as Sanchez ran one in himself to give the Jets a 14-6 lead at the half.

During halftime, the Jets got more inspired as the team welcomed back four former players by inducting them into their Ring of Honor. The class of 2011 consisted of running back Freeman McNeil who played for the Jets from 1981-1992. He was one of my favorite Jets when I was growing up. He was a class act I might add. Another one was wide receiver Al Toon who had his career cut short due to too many concussions. He played for the Jets from 1985-1992. There were two others who played before my time. They were linebacker Larry Grantham who played from 1960-1972 and Gerry Philbin, a defensive end who played from 1964-1972.

After the ceremony honoring these special people the 2011 Jets went back to work and they made sure they were no miracles needed on this night. The Jets cruised to a 24-6 victory over the winless Dolphins.

After resting up Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night it was back to Newark, NJ after work Friday night for me. The Devils were entertaining the San Jose Sharks who were visiting the East coast.

The Sharks gave the Devils all they could handle as they scored late in regulation with 33 seconds left to tie the game at three. After a scoreless overtime session, the Sharks outlasted the Devils in a shootout as they left the Prudential Center with a 4-3 win.

Saturday morning the King and I and our friend Frank Anichiarico decided to take a bus from Chinatown here in NYC to Philadelphia for the day.

We had a football/hockey doubleheader in the City of Brotherly Love.

First we went to Franklin Field, which opened in 1895 and is the oldest venue still in use today. The Philadelphia Eagles called this home from 1958-1970. In the early 1980's, the Philadelphia Stars of the USFL played there.

We saw the University of Pennsylvania play there back in 2007. This time we went back in time again. What a great place to see a game. Things have changed dramatically here in the 21st century but going back in time is a good thing. It's a reminder of how life was back in the day. I strongly suggest and highly recommend if you haven't gotten to experience football at Franklin Field that you make time to do so before it's too late. I don't foresee this legendary venue closing its doors anytime soon but you never know for sure.
As for the game we saw, the Penn Quakers came back to beat the Yale Bulldogs, 37-25. The Quakers trailed 20-10 in the third quarter but they rallied to come back and snatch the victory.

After the game, we met up with our friend Frankie Centola for dinner at the Landmark Bar & Grill which is a favorite of his. It was my first time there. After enjoying a good meal and his company we parted ways as he went home and we headed to the Wells Fargo Center for the second game of our doubleheader.

We saw the Philadelphia Flyers take on the St. Louis Blues. Just like in baseball, the Blues followed the Cardinals lead by beating up the Flyers, 4-2.

After the game we hopped on the subway and we went back to Center City where we caught the Chinese bus back to NYC.

Sunday the King and I went back to MetLife Stadium to see the Jets play the San Diego Chargers. The last time we saw these two teams play was back in January 2010 in the Divisional Playoffs out in San Diego. The Jets emerged victorious that day, 17-14. This time the Jets needed to win so hopefully they can play well in January and beyond.

After a sluggish start, they were able to storm back to overtake the Chargers again. They trailed 21-10 in the third quarter but Mark Sanchez made key decisions and plays unlike his counterpart Phillip Rivers who didn't as the Jets came away with a big 27-21 triumph. The Jets were very lucky as they seemed to get some breaks on different penalty calls that appeared to go their way.

Regardless I'll take the W. They need to play a full 60 minute game on a regular basis in order to achieve their ultimate goal.

Stay tuned as the season progresses because I'll be seeing them a number of times in the near future.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Royalty schedule w/o 10/24

Here's the game plan:

Saturday October 29th Delaware at Towson 7PM

Sunday October 30th Cardinals at Ravens 1PM

                                  Cowboys at Eagles 8:20PM

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 10/17 in review.

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 always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Royalty meets up with USRT at MetLife Stadium!

Peter Farrell and Andrew Kulyk
The King and I have been to all the current venues in the four major sports in this country. Those being baseball, football, basketball and hockey.

That will become official again in December when we have a return trip to Winnipeg planned to see the new Jets team that has relocated there from Atlanta in the off season.

We found out back in January 2003 that we weren't alone in that department.

We met up with two other guys from Buffalo. They were Andrew Kulyk and Peter Farrell aka USRT. In other words, the Ultimate Sports Road Trip as they refer to themselves. Since then, we've met up with them a number of times over the years.

These guys were in town over the weekend because last year they weren't able to go the new Stadium in the Meadowlands twice. They did come to see the Jets but technically speaking they needed to return to see the Giants play a "home" game too. By doing so, they got to see the Stadium with its new corporate name. It's now called MetLife Stadium.

Well when the schedule came out in April they decided that this past Sunday would be the perfect time to do so since their hometown Buffalo Bills were making a rare appearance against the Giants.

Thankfully the lockout was resolved and these guys were finally able to take the asterisk off their list.

As for the game we saw, the surprising Bills gave the Giants all they could handle as they tied the game at 24 with 8:57 left in the fourth quarter. The Bills eventually succumbed as Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes booted a 23 yard field goal with 1:32 left to lift the Giants to a 27-24 victory. It appeared the USRT karma was going to work its magic again. In addition, Peter had his lucky scarf that he bought in London last October when they were there. Unfortunately their luck ran out as did the clock on the Bills as they came up short in this one.

As always it was great to see Andrew and Peter again. They just came back from Germany and Finland where they opened the hockey season watching their Buffalo Sabres play. They said and I quote "it was the best trip they've ever taken." I can imagine what a unique experience it must have been. For all the details and highlights, please check out their website which is on my blog list.

The King and I are planning to see them next month when we take a ride up to Buffalo to see the Sabres play.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Royalty w/o 10/10 in review

Abbey, Jeremy, Taylor and Scott
It was a slow start to the week for me as I went home after work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night.
Thursday night I broke the string of eventless days as I met my Cousin Andy out in Newark, NJ. We met up for dinner at Subway then we went over to the Prudential Center to see the New Jersey Devils play the Los Angeles Kings. We were joined by the King who met us there.

As for the game we saw, there was a lot of action throughout the night despite a lack of goal scoring. The game's only scoring came in the first period as Simon Gagne drew first blood for the Kings 1:47 into the game. The Devils' Patrik Elias answered later in the period to even the score at one.

After playing two scoreless periods and an overtime session, the game was decided by a shootout as the Devils prevailed, 2-1. Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise scored the only goals in the shootout as the Devils came away with the extra point.

My Cousin Andy was so grateful for the opportunity to join us again. He wrote me an e-mail the next day thanking me for treating him like royalty. It's always a pleasure to have his company. He doesn't get to get out that often so when he does I always like to make sure I go over the top so he can take in the full royalty experience. His appreciation makes me feel like I did a good deed. It's a great feeling when somebody takes advantage of my willingness to help out. That's what life's all about.

We parted ways after the game at the train station and we said we look forward to doing it again next month.

Friday night was another night off for me. After getting some more rest, I was ready for my busy weekend ahead.

Besides going to sporting events on a regular basis, I do take good care of my health as well. With that being said, I went to the dentist for a check up and a cleaning. Everything checked out well. As usual, the dentist said and I quote "you have good teeth." I work very hard to maintain them on a daily basis so I'm happy to hear it's paying off.

After I got done with the dentist, I went out to Long Island to visit my sister Abbey, my brother-in-law, Scott and my adorable niece Taylor and my nephew Jeremy who just turned six years old on Tuesday. Abbey was having a birthday party for him so I went to join in the festivities. It was nice to see the family again and especially the kids who are getting so big so fast.

After the party, I met up with the King at the Nassau Coliseum as the New York Islanders were hosting their arch rivals, the New York Rangers. As usual, it was a feisty and heated affair with a playoff like atmosphere. The game was very entertaining to watch. The arena was jam packed with fans of both teams.

The game itself went back and forth. The Islanders emerged victorious 4-2 as John Tavares scored the empty netter to seal the deal late in the third period. By doing so, he completed the hat trick as he scored his third goal of the game sending the Islander fans home happy.

Stay tuned as I'll be doing a special post describing the game we saw Sunday afternoon with two great roadtrippers who were in town for a special return visit.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Royalty schedule w/o 10/17

Here's the game plan:

Monday October 17th Dolphins at Jets 8:30PM

Friday October 21st Sharks at Devils 7PM

Saturday October 22nd Yale at Penn 12 Noon

                                      Blues at Flyers 7PM

Sunday October 23rd Chargers at Jets 1PM

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 10/10 in review.

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 always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Gio Gonzalez has an emerged as a solid starter for the Oakland Athletics!

Gio and I at Citi Field
When I first saw Gio pitch for the Reading Phillies in Norwich, Connecticut back in April 2006, I knew he had major league potential.

In May 2009, I saw him signing autographs on the concourse at a table in Sacramento, California before a River Cat game we were at. I got to speak to him for the first time. He had a great attitude. I knew it was only a matter of time before Gio got his chance to prove he's a major leaguer.

After making his debut with the Oakland Athletics in August 2008, he wound up going back down to Sacramento in 2009. As a result, that turned out to be a blessing because I had the privilege of meeting him in person.

Since then, I've kept close tabs on him. He finally got back to the major leagues later in 2009.

In 2010, he proved that he deserved to stay by having a breakout season. He finished his first full season in the majors with a 15-9 record and a 3.23 ERA.

This year Gio built on his 2010 campaign. He started off the season very well.

On June 21st, I got to see him before the game at Citi Field when the Athletics came to play the Mets in an interleague matchup during batting practice. The next night I got to see him pitch in person at the major league level for the first time. After always missing him by a day in Yankee Stadium, Cleveland and Kansas City, my opportunity finally presented itself. Like Gio, I'm a preserver. Gio pitched well for 7 innings but he left the game with the score tied at one. The Mets eventually won in extra innings. Gio didn't disappoint me.
With his performances improving as the season went on, he was selected to be a member of the American League All-Star team. He got to appear late in the game and he recorded a strikeout in his cameo appearance. I was so happy for Gio. He has worked so hard to get where he is today.

After the All-Star break, Gio did hit a bad stretch where he didn't pitch well. That's part of the maturation process. Gio proved it was a fluke because down the stretch, he pitched lights out to finish the season strong.

In matter of fact, the last game of the season he was on the mound in Safeco Field while the Red Sox and Braves were choking their seasons away. My eyes were focused on Gio who was busy dominating the Mariners. Gio continues to fly under the radar screen. It's only a matter of time before he becomes the center of attention.

With that being said, that could happen at the end March 2012 when the Oakland Athletics go to Japan to play the Seattle Mariners to open the season.

Gio compiled an impressive 16-12 record with a 3.12 ERA in 2011. He threw 200 innings and he struck out 202 batters.

The King and I saw the Mets and the Cubs open the season in Tokyo back in March 2000.

I would welcome the opportunity to go back to Japan. I would not only get to see Gio pitch more than likely but we could also see our friend Sean MacDonald who lives there. We didn't meet him until 2003.

I don't know what's going to happen for us in 2012 just yet but I expect Gio to continue to climb the ladder to stardom in the major leagues.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Royalty w/o 10/3 in review

Hockey's Back!

Now that baseball regular season is over, my schedule has been changed dramatically for the time being.
I had high hopes for the Phillies and Yankees just because it would have meant a chance to see some more baseball games this year.

After going home after work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night it was finally time to see another game up in the Bronx Thursday night after work.

The Yankees managed to force a deciding game in their American League Division Series with the Detroit Tigers.

The winner moved on to play the Texas Rangers in the ALCS and the loser went home for the winter.
Well the Tigers got two solo home runs on back to back pitches in the first inning off Yankee starter Ivan Nova to give the Tigers an early 2-0 lead. Don Kelly and Delmon Young did the honors.

The Tigers tacked on another run to make it 3-0 before the Yankees sliced the lead to 3-2. Unfortunately for the Yankees they were unable to get the big hit they needed to tie the game against the Tiger bullpen as they fell short as Alex Rodriguez strike out swinging to end their season and mine for that matter.

It was my 160th baseball game I attended in 2011. My lowest total since 2002 when I saw a mere 162. It was a tough year for me between the schedule and things at home which restricted me from seeing more. Given the circumstances, I did well all things considered.

After going home from work Friday night, I shifted gears on Saturday.

The King and I and our friends Frank Anichiarico and Bryan Gilligan went to see the Columbia Lions play the Sacred Heart Pioneers in Upper Manhattan at Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence Wien Stadium.
The winless Lions stayed that way as the Pioneers beat them in a shootout, 34-25. The Lions' place kicker Luke Eddy missed two point after touchdowns and he had another one blocked.

After the game, the King and I said goodbye to Frank and Bryan then we headed out to Newark, NJ to go to the Prudential Center to see hockey as the New Jersey Devils play the Philadelphia Flyers on Opening Night.

The Devils inability to put the puck in the net reared its ugly head again. The Devils got shut out by the Flyers, 3-0.

It could be a long year for the Devils. I'm hoping it was just an aberration and hopefully they'll get their offense in gear sooner than later. Time will tell. Stay tuned to my blog to see if indeed the Devils can get it going since I plan to see a lot of Devil games in the winter months ahead.

Sunday the King and I and our friend Rich Wolber aka Staten Island took a bus ride from the Port Authority Bus Terminal to MetLife Stadium to see the Giants play the visiting Seattle Seahawks. The Giants came in to the game riding high with a 3-1 record. The Seahawks were the opposite at 1-3.

As for the game we saw, the Giants didn't look like they came to play. They let the Seahawks hang around throughout the game. The Giants had taken a lead at 22-19 in the fourth quarter as second year wide receiver Victor Cruz from UMASS who the King and I saw play in November 2009 made an acrobatic catch deflecting the ball in double coverage and catching it with one hand as he took it into the end zone for the go ahead score.

The Seahawks came back and tied the game at 22. The Giants we took the lead, 25-22. The Seahawks once again came back thanks largely in part to back up quarterback Charlie Whitehurst who we saw play in college at Clemson in 2005. Whitehurst replaced starter Tavaris Jackson who left early in the third quarter with an injury. The Seahawks regained the lead 29-25. The Giants appeared to be on the verge of scoring the winning touchdown but this time Victor Cruz couldn't hold on to the ball as it popped up in the air and was intercepted by Brandon Browner who returned it 94 yards for a touchdown that sealed the deal for the Seahawks as they came away with a 36-25 victory.

Stay tuned for the special post I'm going to do about Gio Gonzalez who had a solid season for the Oakland Athletics.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Monday, October 10, 2011

Royalty shares road trip stories in the FDH Lounge!

Sports travel expert Gary Herman of Royalty Tours USA shares his stories in The FDH Lounge!

Click on the link to see and hear for yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_VHGniP6Dk

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Royalty schedule w/o 10/10

Here's the game plan:

Thursday October 13th Kings at Devils 7PM

Saturday October 15th Rangers at Islanders 7PM

Sunday October 16th Bills at Giants 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 10/3 in review.

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 always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty enjoys a weekend getaway for post season baseball and football in Philadelphia and Baltimore!

Last Saturday morning I woke up early and I went out to Avis to rent a car for the weekend. I drove back to Astoria and I picked up the King and we went on our way.

We drove down to the City of Brotherly Love to see a college football game at Lincoln Financial Field which is the home of the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Temple Owls were hosting the Toledo Rockets at Noon. The King and I had to go near the Philadelphia airport first to meet our friend Frankie Centola who arranged to get us tickets for the Phillie game against the St. Louis Cardinals which was Game 1 of the National League Division Series. First pitch was scheduled for 5:07PM.

Despite the detour which cost us a half hour, I still managed to get us to the football game on time. In classic royalty fashion, we barely made it but we did and that's all that matters. I found a way to make it happen.

We wound up parking the car on the street for the day. We walked over to the box office and took advantage of the $5.00 deal they had if you showed a Phillie ticket.

We proceeded to go inside and we watched the game. As for the game we saw, the Owls got beat up, 36-13.

After the game, we walked back to the car and we dropped off some stuff. Once we got ourselves set, we walked back to Citizens Bank Park and got ready for some post season baseball. It was a rare time that we arrived early enough to watch batting practice there.

As for the game we saw, Phillies ace Roy Halladay started. He got touched up for three runs in the first inning as Lance Berkman smacked a three run home run off him. He settled down and he retired 21 straight batters before he departed after pitching 8 solid innings. The Phillies chipped away after they were shut down for five innings by Cardinals' starter Kyle Lohse. They finally got to him in the sixth inning and they hit him very hard as they scored six times on their way to a 11-6 victory.

After the game, we waited out the traffic and we drove over to one of our favorite restaurants in the area, the Oregon Diner. After we enjoyed a hearty dinner, we went to the Sugar House Casino in nearby North Philadelphia which was located right off I-95. In years past, we would have driven to Atlantic City instead.

After we spent a few hours there we called it a night. We drove over the Betsy Ross Bridge to Mt. Laurel, NJ where we got some sleep.

We woke up in the morning and we drove up the road a mile and a half and we had breakfast at another royalty staple, Cracker Barrel. As usual, we weren't disappointed in our great meal.

After we ate, we drove back to the Sports Complex in South Philadelphia. We had the Philadelphia Eagles hosting the San Francisco 49ers at 1PM.

Ironically back in 1991, I saw my first football game at Old Veterans Stadium and the Eagles played the 49ers that day with a quarterback named Joe Montana. The 49ers won, 24-7.

On this day, we saw Michael Vick of the Eagles lead the way as the Eagles took a 23-3 lead with 9 and a half to go in the third quarter. Unfortunately that lead disappeared thanks to the Eagles failure to run the ball which would have helped kill the clock. Instead the Eagles let the 49ers hang around. With three minutes to in the game, the 49ers completed the comeback as their running back Frank Gore ran into the end zone with what turned out to be the winning score. The 49ers came back to win in improbable fashion, 24-23.

After the game, the King and I parted ways temporarily. He stayed in Philadelphia and he went to Game 2 of the NLDS at Citizens Bank Park.

I went back to the car and I took a hundred mile drive South down I-95 to Baltimore, Maryland to see the Jets play the Baltimore Ravens in Sunday night football at 8:20PM.

I stopped off at McDonald's in Delaware quickly so I could have some dinner in the car since I didn't have too much time to burn on my way to Baltimore.
I parked the car on the street within walking distance of M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Ravens. I proceeded to get myself in position to get a ticket despite having to deal with a mob of people who were trying to enter the Stadium.

I finally rounded up a ticket after looking for a short time. I managed to get into the Stadium relatively fast considering what a mess it was. I got situated and I went upstairs to get ready for some football.

As for the game I saw, the Jets came out looking over matched. The Ravens came out ready to play. They were lead by Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, the anchors of their ferocious defense who gave Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez all he could handle and then some. On the Jets' opening possession of the game, Ed Reed blind sided Sanchez and he forced a fumble that lead to a touchdown to give the Ravens an early 7-0 lead which set the tone for the rest of the night.

Despite Joe McKnight of the Jets returning the ensuing kickoff a team record 107 yards to tie the game, the Jets didn't stand a chance.

They did briefly in the third quarter as the trailed 27-17 when they got a turnover but on the first play Mark Sanchez threw the ball in the flat and the Ravens returned it 73 yards to seal the deal, 34-17. That's the way it ended as the Jets had no response for the Ravens' Super Bowl like performance.

After the game, I went back to the car. I got going at 12:21AM. SIx minutes later I got on the highway and I drove towards Philadelphia where I went back to pick up the King who was waiting for me.

I avoided a potential delay getting out of Baltimore. I noticed a construction area where two lanes were closed and traffic was backed up. I wisely got off the exit just before the mess and I found an alternate route which saved me plenty of time.

I met up with the King at 2AM. I drove him back to the Post Office at Grand Central Station in Manhattan where he works. I dropped him off at 3:47AM. I proceeded to drive home so I could get an hour of sleep before I went to return the car.

I wound up driving 518 miles then I went to work dead tired and all. With that being said, another adventurous weekend getaway was in the books.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Royalty w/o 9/26 in review

Post Season in the Bronx
This was the last week of the baseball season. The regular season that is. For the fifth consecutive season the Mets were playing out the string. It was another up and down season for the Metropolitans. They started the season 5-13. From that point on, they played .500 ball the rest of the way.

In years past, the season normally ended on a Sunday but this year was different. The season ended on a Wednesday. The reason being they didn't want the World Series to be extended into November again.
Much to my chagrin, the Mets played an afternoon game in the closing game. Unfortunately, I had to work.
I did see them wrap up with the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night and Tuesday night though.

Monday night they battled it out with the Reds before they lost, 6-5.

Tuesday night was my grand finale at Citi Field for this year and it was a fun night up in the stands as the King entertained the crowd who was sitting around us with his unique strikeout call. Some nights are better than others. It depends on the pitcher on the mound and the people in the stands. On this night, he had a very captive audience and they thoroughly enjoyed his act. In addition, we had some surprise guests. They were the King's father, Miguel and his half brother Charlie. We also had our good friend James Gabriele and his son Andrew too. Their company added to the atmosphere which was very festive.

One person in particular, Phillip Poeta who I believe I've seen in the past near where we sit up in section 516/517 depending on the size of the crowd was on hand.

I decided to reach out to him and we enjoyed each other company during the game. He said he comes to around 20 games a year. He does live in New Jersey so that's not bad all things considered. He said he likes to travel. I told him about all the places the King and I have gone. He said he's been to seven different ballparks this year. I told him that's great. He said he went to Pittsburgh for the first time. He also mentioned Chicago and Milwaukee. He sounds like an up and coming ballpark chaser.

I told him to check out my blog so he can get a more in depth overview of what royalty is all about. I plan to stay in touch with him. That way if and when he needs my expert advice on getting from ballpark to ballpark and/or place to place, he knows I'm here if and when he needs me.

As for the game we saw, it was a long one. The Mets eventually lost to the Reds again, 5-4 in 13 innings as Drew Stubbs laid down a beautiful squeeze bunt to end this marathon. The Mets' bullpen collapsed again in this one causing the game to go into extra frames. It was prolonged agony in what may have been the last time I saw Jose Reyes wear a Met uniform. If that's the case, at least Jose gave me a lasting memory. He hit two home runs in the losing effort.

Like they say, wait till next year. For us Met fans that's all we can do. With or without Jose Reyes, I plan to be back at Citi Field on April 5th for Opening Day against the Atlanta Braves.

I wound up going home after work Wednesday and Thursday night. Friday night after work I went up to Yankee Stadium after stopping off at Donovan's Pub for dinner in Queens first to see post season baseball but after the Yankees played an inning and a half against the Detroit Tigers, mother nature unexpectedly got in the way for a change. After waiting until around 10:30PM they suspended the game. They were planning to resume Saturday night at 8:37PM.

Stay tuned for the recap of our adventurous weekend. Just so you know we didn't return to Yankee Stadium. We went out of town instead as planned.

In addition, I plan to write a special post about my boy Gio Gonzalez of the Oakland Athletics who had a solid season on the mound.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Monday, October 3, 2011

Royalty schedule w/o 10/3

Here's the game plan:

Thursday October 6th Tigers at Yankees  8:07PM ALDS Game 5

Saturday October 8th Sacred Heart at Columbia 12:30PM

                                  Flyers at Devils 7PM Opening Night

Sunday October 9th Seahawks at Giants 1PM

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 9/26 in review.

I'll be doing special posts recapping my epic weekend getaway too.

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 always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman