Royalty Tours USA

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Royalty enjoys the return of the NBA at MSG on Christmas Day!

Andrew and Dylan Van Cleve with the King and I
Like the NFL, the NBA decided to finally return to business as usual. The only difference is the NBA season didn't start on time.

With that being said, the NBA season started on Christmas Day with five games on tap.

The first one being at Madison Square Garden at Noon as the Knicks were hosting the Boston Celtics.
The last time I saw the Knicks play the Celtics on Christmas Day was back in 1985 when the Knicks trailed the Celtics by 25 points in the third quarter before they miraculously came back to win the game in double overtime. I remember it being called the "Miracle on 34th Street."

On this day, the King and I were joined by the Ultimate Sports fan Andrew Van Cleve and his son Dylan aka the Ultimate Sports Baby.

It was great to see them again as the Knicks wound up winning a thriller as Kevin Garnett missed the last shot as the Knicks won the game, 106-104.

The Knicks were lead by Carmelo Anthony who led the way with 37 points.

The Garden is once again the place to be to see NBA basketball.

These days tickets are hard to come by. Hopefully royalty can work some magic so you can experience it for yourself when the time comes.

If so, please let me know and I'll see what I can do for you.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty sees the latest Battle of New York on Christmas Eve!

Jets and Giants in Battle of NY
The one and only time I saw the Jets play the Giants in a regular season game was way back on November 1, 1981. On that day, the Jets tossed the Giants a beating as they sacked Phil Simms nine times as they won the game, 26-7.

This time things were different in more ways than one.

First and foremost, this time the game was played in a different stadium that being MetLife Stadium which is shared by both teams. This game was a designated "home" game for the Jets.

In 1981, the Giants were the home team. The game was played at old Giants Stadium that day. The Jets were still playing their home games at Shea Stadium then.

This time the result was different as well. The Jets with their coach Rex Ryan opening his big mouth early in the week got beat on the field as the Giants showed Rex who owns this town and it's not his Jets. The Giants whipped the Jets, 29-14 as they made life miserable for Jet quarterback Mark Sanchez who wound up throwing 59 passes in the defeat. Thanks to the Giant defense that was led by Jason Pierre Paul and Justin Tuck who made Sanchez feel very uncomfortable most of the afternoon.

The win set the Giants up to possibly win their division if they beat the Dallas Cowboys in their season finale Sunday night in prime time.

The Jets on the other hand, have to beat the Miami Dolphins and they'll need three other teams to lose just to get in the playoffs as a wild card team.

On the bright side, the King and I did get a special visit from Steve Cirvello who's from the FDH Lounge. Steve is Rick Morris' business partner. It was great to see him again.

It was frustrating to watch the Jets lose a game they really needed to win but being able to see Steve softened the blow.

In reality, both teams don't deserve to make the playoffs but the bottom line is the Giants have the bragging rights in the area for the time being.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 12/19 in review

After work Monday night I went to Brooklyn to see some local college basketball. I saw the Terriers of St. Francis take on the Great Danes of the University of Albany. I wasn't alone. I was joined by the King and our court. On this night, the royal court consisted of our friends Phil Butleman, Doc Lombardi and Michael Longo who was with his parents. Michael was rooting on the Great Danes since he just started going to school at Albany in September.

As for the game we saw, the Great Danes raced out to a big lead in the first half. In the second half, the Terriers came roaring back as they took a brief lead with five minutes left in the game. They apparently ran out of gas as the Great Danes turned it back on as they beat the Terriers, 76-64 in front of a packed house on Opening Night.

Tuesday night after work I wound up going bowling with my co-workers as our boss took us out for our Christmas party at Lucky Strike. I hadn't bowled in a very long time. Quite amazingly, the first two balls I threw were strikes then the rust finally showed as I struggled to maintain a consistency the rest of the night. My co-workers were impressed with my form however. Regardless of the results, I had a nice time.

After work I went home Wednesday and Thursday night. I was able to rest up and recharge the batteries.
Friday after work I met up with my friend Peter Agnew from Baltimore who was in NYC visiting. We went to the Prudential Center out in Newark, NJ to see the Devils play the Washington Capitals, who happen to be Peter's team. He has season tickets for the them. It was Peter's first visit to the "Rock". It worked out well that the Capitals were playing that night. I arranged to get Peter a ticket for the game. It was nice to return the favor since Peter also gives the King and I and our friends the royal treatment whenever we go to visit him.

As for the game we saw, the Devils dominated the first two periods of the game as they took a 3-0 lead. The Capitals looked awful. But in the third period they finally woke up. They came back to tie the game at three. The game went into overtime but neither team scored in the extra session. The game was decided by a shootout as the Devils outlasted the Capitals in the skills competition as they emerged victorious, 4-3.

Stay tuned for the special posts I'm going to do about the Battle of NY on Christmas Eve and the return of NBA basketball on Christmas Day.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Official review of MetLife Stadium - Home of the Jets and Giants


Here's my official review of MetLife Stadium,  home of the Jets and Giants. If you happen to be going to see the Giants play the Cowboys Sunday night, I strongly suggest you read what I wrote. It will be beneficial for you to do so.

http://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/metlife-stadium-s63/

I officially joined forces with my buddy Paul Swaney as a Special Correspondent by doing reviews for him when time allows me to do so. I also plan to contribute to great team of writers who cover different sports venues in the United States and other parts of the World.

His website, Stadium Journey is on my blog list. Here's the link: www.stadiumjourney.com/

Please feel free to check out his amazing site which will educate you greatly if and when you decide to take a road trip to see a new venue or if you're just curious how life is in other parts of the country and/or the world.

When it comes to sports travel knowledge, I have plenty but I don't have the time to go in depth like his site does. Regardless you can always feel free to e-mail me and pick my brain.

I'm a team player so whenever I can help somebody else, I indirectly help myself too. I think if you follow my blog, you should do the same.

Life is short. Play hard. I do, I believe you should too.

I hope you enjoy my evaluation.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Royalty schedule w/o 12/26

Here's the game plan:

Monday December 26th Connecticut Whale at Bridgeport Sound Tigers 7PM

Tuesday December 27th Hawks at Nets 7:30PM Home Opener

Wednesday December 28th Sabres at Devils 7PM

Friday December 30th Rutgers vs. Iowa State at Yankee Stadium 3:20PM Pinstripe Bowl

Saturday December 31st Oilers at Islanders 1PM

Sunday January 1st Redskins at Eagles 1PM

Check back to see how it turned out.

Hope all my readers and followers have a great week.

Happy & Healthy New Year to all!

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

Stay tuned for my w/o 12/19 in review as well as a few special posts about the Battle of New York and Christmas Day at MSG.

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, December 22, 2011

Gio Gonzalez has a new home in our Nation's Capitol, the Washington Nationals capitalized on the opportunity to get him!

Gio Gonzalez is heading to Washington DC which means I have a chance to see him pitch more often. For all the details, click below.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111222&content_id=26227592&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb 

The A's loss is the Nationals' gain.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Royalty meets up with fellow roadtrippers Andrew Van Cleve and Kurt Smith in the City of Brotherly Love!

Andrew Van Cleve, Kurt Smith, The King and I
The King and I arrived in Philadelphia around 1PM on Sunday as we planned to meet up with some special people.

I'm talking about Andrew Van Cleve aka the Ultimate Sports fan who just moved to the City of Brotherly Love after spending the last 17 years of his life in Chicagoland. He spent the last ten years up the block from Wrigley Field.

He was forced to move because his lovely wife Nicole aka the Ultimate Sports wife got a job as a professor at Temple University.

Andrew is also the proud father of Dylan Salvatore aka the Ultimate Sports baby who has the unique distinction of seeing his first sporting event at Wrigley Field at a mere three days old. He's been to over a hundred live games since.

We were also joined by Kurt Smith, the author of ballpark e-guides. Kurt felt like he was out of his league because he doesn't have the time to attend nearly as many live sporting events as the rest of us. He was privileged and honored to be sitting at a table at Jon's Bar & Grille which is located a few blocks from Andrew's new home with us sports travel legends. He deemed it a Kodak moment.

Kurt has a baby on the way who's due to arrive in February so that will further prevent him from going to games live.

Regardless Kurt is a great guy who has to continue to find a way to support his latest family addition. With that being said, he has his side business of writing and selling ballpark e-guides which are tremendous sources of information for sports travelers as well as people in general. He has put lots of time and effort into producing these which he sells for a mere $5. I strongly suggest that if you haven't gotten one for your local team that you do so. He has done a number of them. Believe me, you can't go wrong and you'll be supporting a good cause in the process.

It was great to see Kurt again. He came in special from his home in South Jersey to meet up with us. Even though he couldn't make the football game, we still got to spend some quality time together. I want to thank him for giving us some of his precious time.

As for the football game, the King and I drove Andrew there with us.

We wound up working some royal magic as we met up with our good friend Frankie Centola who lives in Philadelphia. We all got to see the game from the club level, royal treatment indeed. We showed Andrew some of our own Brotherly Love.

With Andrew relocating to the Northeast, I fully expect to see him more often.

As for the game we saw, the Eagles raced out to a 28-0 lead over the Jets with 9:57 still left in the second quarter. The Jets cut into the lead as they trailed, 28-13 at halftime. They got the ball first in the second half but they continued to make costly mistakes which prevented them from pulling off another miraculous comeback on the road. They wound up losing to Eagles, 45-19.

Andrew decided to depart a little early since the game was over for all intent and purposes. By doing so, he was able to get back home to see Nicole and Dylan.

I want to thank Andrew for spending the rest of the afternoon with the King and I. As always it was an absolute pleasure to see him again.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 12/12 in review

Ceremony for Scott Niedermayer #27
This week was rather slow compared to the week before but occasionally it's nice to have a few nights off so I can catch up on things and recharge the batteries.

With that being said, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday were my nights off after work.

Tuesday night I went to Madison Square Garden to see the Rangers play the Dallas Stars. It was a scoreless game until defenseman Trevor Daley broke through with 5:01 left in the third period to give the Stars' the 1-0 victory. Rookie goaltender Richard Bachman stopped 34 shots as he earned his first NHL shutout in his second career start.

Friday night I went out to the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ where the Devils were hosting the Dallas Stars who were in the midst of a massive coast to coast road trip.

More importantly, the Devils honored former defenseman Scott Niedermayer by raising his number 27 to the rafters. His number was the third to be retired by the Devils. The others were Scott Stevens number 4 and Ken Daneyko number 3. All three of them were part of their three Stanley Cup winning teams in 1995, 2000 and 2003.

In addition, Scott Niedermayer won a fourth Stanley Cup as a member of the Anaheim Ducks in 2007. He also won the Conn Smythe Trophy which is given to the playoff MVP.

Mike "Doc" Emrick, a hockey broadcasting legend was the Master of Ceremonies which made the night even more memorable. Doc is a true professional in every sense of the word.

As a hockey fan, I was thrilled to be part of this special occasion.

As for the game that followed, the Devils capped off the night with a 6-3 win to send the sellout crowd home very happy.

Saturday morning I woke up early so I could go to Avis to pick up a car for the weekend.

The King and I took a ride to Lancaster, Pennsylvania where my parents live. We went to Hershey which is nearby to see a minor league hockey game while we were there.

The Hershey Bears, the Washington Capitals affiliate were hosting the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the NY Islanders farm team on this night at the Giant Center. We were joined by our friend Michael Abrams who was spending the weekend in the area with his lady friend Angelina. It was nice to see them again. Michael happens to be a Bear fan for over 30 years even though ironically he's an Islander fan.

As for the game, the Bears didn't let Michael down as they cruised to a 5-0 decision. Long time minor league goaltender Dany Sabourin got credit for the shutout.

After the game, the King and I spent the night at my parents' condo. Late in the morning, we said goodbye to them and we headed to Philadelphia to see the Jets play the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.

Stay tuned for the special post regarding the pre game festivities as we caught up with some very special people while we were there.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Official review of Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Maryland


Here's my official review of Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Maryland, home of the Towson Tigers.

http://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/johnny-unitas-stadium-s1025/

I officially joined forces with my buddy Paul Swaney as a Special Correspondent by doing reviews for him when time allows me to do so. I also plan to contribute to great team of writers who cover different sports venues in the United States and other parts of the World.

His website, Stadium Journey is on my blog list. Here's the link: www.stadiumjourney.com/

Please feel free to check out his amazing site which will educate you greatly if and when you decide to take a road trip to see a new venue or if you're just curious how life is in other parts of the country and/or the world.

When it comes to sports travel knowledge, I have plenty but I don't have the time to go in depth like his site does. Regardless you can always feel free to e-mail me and pick my brain.

I'm a team player so whenever I can help somebody else, I indirectly help myself too. I think if you follow my blog, you should do the same.

Life is short. Play hard. I do, I believe you should too.

I hope you enjoy my evaluation.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Monday, December 19, 2011

Royalty schedule w/o 12/19

Here's the game plan:

Monday December 19th Albany at St. Francis (NY) 7PM

Friday December 23rd Capitals at Devils 7PM

Saturday December 24th Giants at Jets 1PM

Sunday December 25th Celtics at Knicks 12 Noon Opening Day

Check back to see how it played out.

Hope all my readers and followers have a great week.

Happy Holidays to all!

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

Stay tuned for my w/o 12/12 in review and a special post about sports travelers we met up with.

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

Friday, December 16, 2011

Royalty is proud of Jason Grilli - he's living proof that hard work pays off!

Please see the link below.

Jason's is a hometown hero in his own way.

He's an inspiration to hard workers like myself.

http://mobile.syracuse.com/advsyra/pm_103258/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=theoVSou

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Royalty w/o 12/5 in review

Monday morning the King and I flew back from the Twin Cities on American Airlines. We arrived at NY-LaGuardia airport at 12:20PM which was 10 minutes early. As a result, we had a little more time to recuperate from our incredible weekend getaway.

The final numbers were as follows:

1,095 miles driven over the three days. It cost a mere $37.83 for the car we rented for the weekend from Alamo. Needless to say, we got our money's worth.

Three games, three days, two sports, two states and one province in two different countries.

We replenished our energy as we went to Madison Square Garden to see the Rangers play the Toronto Maple Leafs.

With our pal Sean MacDonald, who currently lives in Japan was there in royal spirit as we saw his favourite hockey team hold on to beat the Rangers by a score of 4-2. They added an empty net goal with just five seconds left after they held a 3-0 lead midway through the game.

Tuesday I went back to work. Afterwards I went back to the Garden. This time for the Jimmy V Classic. I saw a college basketball doubleheader with my friends Phil Butleman and Frank Anichiarico while the King went out to the Nassau Coliseum to see the Islanders play the Tampa Bay Lightning.

We saw the tenth ranked Missouri Tigers of the Big 12 play the Villanova Wildcats of the Big East. The Tigers maintained a comfortable cushion throughout the game as they cruised to a 81-71 victory. They were led by guard Marcus Denmon who finished with 28 points to lead all scorers. Teammate Ricardo Ratliffe added 17 points and he grabbed 11 rebounds to pace the Tigers.

In the second game, we saw the eleventh ranked Golden Eagles of Marquette of the Big East defeat the Washington Huskies of the PAC 12, 79-77. Jae Crowder hit a game winning three pointer with just 6.3 seconds to give the Golden Eagles the win. This was a tightly contested and entertaining game.

Wednesday night I met the King and we went up to Riverdale, NY where we saw the 104th "Battle of the Bronx" as the Jaspers of Manhattan College hosted the Rams of Fordham.

As for the game, it didn't turn out to be much of a battle as the Jaspers blew away the Rams, 81-47 in front of a packed house at the Draddy Gymnasium. Our friend Bryan Gilligan was very happy to hear the good news because he graduated from Manhattan College.

Thursday night after work I went out to Newark, NJ to see the Devils play the Ottawa Senators. The Devils fell behind 3-0 in this one then they rallied to take a 4-3 lead midway through the third period. The Senators forced an overtime session by scoring to tie the game at four with a shorthanded goal no less with just five seconds to go in regulation time. Neither team scored in the extra session.

The Devils wound up outlasting the Senators in a four round shootout to win the game, 5-4.

After work Friday night, I had a much needed night off as I prepared for a busy weekend in the local area. It didn't stop the King and I and our friends Bryan Gilligan and Frank Anichiarico as we went to Donovan's Pub for dinner and drinks.

Saturday morning after I did my wash, I trekked back out to Newark, NJ to see the Devils take on another team from Canada, this time they hosted the Montreal Canadiens. A number of buses came down from north of the border to see their team play on the road. They picked the right game to attend as the Canadiens held off the Devils as they beat them by a score of 2-1.

After the game, our friend Dennis Barbera gave the King and I some royal treatment as he drove us out to the Nassau Coliseum where we all saw the Islanders play the Pittsburgh Penguins. We met up with our buddy Eddie Pelle who was also present and accounted for at the game.

As for the game we saw, it turned out to be a wild one. The Islanders took an early 2-0 lead but the Penguins tied it up at two. The Islanders went back up by a goal at 3-2 but the Penguins came back again to tie it at three then they pulled away by scoring three more unanswered goals to escape Long Island with a 6-3 decision.

Sunday was another local double dose of sporting events as the King and I went out to MetLife Stadium to see the Jets battle the Kansas City Chiefs with our pal Richie Wolber aka Staten Island Rich. It turned out to be scalping as the Jets whipped up on the depleted Chiefs. They beat them, 37-10.

After the game, the King and I headed back to the Garden where we saw the Rangers play the red hot Florida Panthers. The Rangers cooled them off as they blew them away, 6-1.

With that, another busy week is in the books. I hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as I enjoyed writing about it.

Remember if you want to take part in the royal experience in the future please get in contact with me so I can arrange to make it happen for you.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty returns to Minneapolis to see the Vikings play after a brief stay in Winnipeg!

Opening Kickoff
The King and I enjoyed our return visit to Winnipeg. It wound up being a short stay but a sweet one just the same.

We took care of "business" if you will by visiting the MTS Centre which brought us back up to date with all the current NHL rinks.

We left Winnipeg around 10PM Saturday night. We dodged the local traffic from the game and the downtown area as we made our way back to the States. We were only a mere 460 miles from our next destination of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

We got to the border around 11:30PM. In a matter of minutes, we were back in our country. The lady at customs asked us some easy questions and we responded accordingly so another visit to Canada was a success for us.

We proceeded to drive back to Super 8 in West Fargo, North Dakota to get some sleep. I was originally counting on a real good night sleep but once I found out the game time of the Viking game was changed to Noon central time, I was forced to adjust my game plan to account for the late change. I did know in the back of my mind it was a possibility so it didn't catch me by surprise. I made the necessary adjustments and thanks to help from mother nature we achieved our goal.

As a result, the King and I settled for three less hours of sleep. We ate a quick breakfast at the hotel and on the road we went back to the Twin Cities.

We arrived in Minneapolis just before 11AM Sunday morning. We drove around the somewhat slippery downtown area to see what parking options we had. After driving for a short period of time, we finally found a free spot within a mile and a half of Mall of America Field as it's known these days. It used to be called the Metrodome for those who still refer to it that way.

The King and I rounded up a few tickets and inside the building we went. It was officially Tebow Time as the Vikings were hosting Tim Tebow and the red hot Denver Broncos. We barely got in on time but in royal fashion, we saw the opening kickoff and the final play of the game.

As for the game we saw, it was very entertaining from start to finish.

From an early safety to the game winning field goal. This was a great game to be at. It gave the Packers and Giants a run for the money as it turned out to be an amazing prelude to that game on Fox thanks to flex scheduling. This game was originally supposed to be on CBS but NBC changed the Sunday night game they were showing. As a result, Fox became the benefactor. As for the King and I, the exciting game keep us awake despite the fact we lacked some additional sleep that we really could have used.

The Vikings looked good despite their horrible record. In particular, their rookie quarterback Christian Ponder, who was a surprise early first round pick in the April draft out of Florida State. He threw for a Viking rookie record 381 yards passing but instead of padding his record he threw his second interception of the game which led to the game winning field goal by Matt Prater who made a 23 yard field goal at the final gun to give the Broncos another improbable victory, 35-32. As for Tim Tebow, he did what he's does best. He started slow but as the game wore on, he made one big play after another to put his team in position to win. Like him or hate him, he's been very intriguing to watch. One moment he looks awful, the next moment he looks a force to be reckoned with. Keep the faith, Bronco fans I think you've found your quarterback of the future.

After we saw the Tebow show, the King and I went back to the car and we took Natalie Kaess' advice as we took a ride out to Woodbury, Minnesota where the Machine Shed she told us about was located. It was slightly out of the way but it was well worth making the trip there.

After we had a hearty dinner in salute to the American farmers, we took another joy ride this time to Welch, Minnesota where we killed some time at the Treasure Island Casino since we weren't going home until Monday morning.

Stay turned for the w/o 12/5 in review for the final details of this classic weekend getaway and the rest of the week as it unfolded.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Monday, December 12, 2011

Royalty returns to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to see the "new" Jets play hockey!

Winnipeg Jet Hockey is Back 
The King and I continued our memorable weekend getaway in the upper Midwest as we departed St. Paul, Minnesota after the Wild game against the Devils Friday night.

We proceeded to drive 470 miles to Winnipeg to see the return of the Jets. After a 15 year absence, one of the smallest markets in Canada finally got its beloved hockey team back. They were welcomed with open arms to say the least.

I'll elaborate more in a moment.

On our way up north of the border, we decided to drive halfway there. We spent the night in West Fargo, North Dakota at Super 8 where got some sleep before we continued on to Winnipeg.
When we got up in the morning, we had a hearty royal style breakfast at a local diner called Kroll's, where they say and I quote "sit down and eat." We were more then happy to do so. We stumbled across another great eatery by accident. I'm very glad we did. The food and service was excellent. If you know my style, you know I'm not lying.

If you happen to be out in that part of the country sometime, stop in and see for yourself.

While you're there you make want to visit the Roger Maris Museum which is located right nearby in Fargo, North Dakota. More importantly, the price is right. Admission is free. Due to time constraints, the King and I couldn't go there and see for ourselves. We'll keep it in mind if and when we get to go back there some day down the road.

We got back on the highway and we drove up towards Winnipeg. We did make a quick stop at a "Hockey Palace." I'm referring to the University of North Dakota where the Fighting Sioux play. Our pals from Buffalo, Andrew Kulyk and Peter Farrell have seen a game in this unique venue. I hope we get back some time so we can too.

We got back on the road and off to Canada we went. We got across the border thankfully with minimal hassle and delays.

The next stop was the MTS Centre, home of the new Jets, in downtown Winnipeg. We arrived there at 4:30PM. We paid a dollar to park by a meter a few blocks from the arena. We had plenty of time to grab dinner outside before we headed over to the arena for the 6PM local time start.

We saw the Devils again as their road trip continued in Winnipeg. For our purposes, it worked well that the Devils were out there. We secured single tickets from Ticketmaster the week before.

Tickets for a Jet game aren't cheap at the box office. Since they're in such high demand, the secondary market prices are outrageous to say the least. That's if you can find any. Stub Hub only has a very limited number for sale each game. In other words, it's a very tough ticket. Please feel free to consult me for advice.

This was a must see for us because we needed to maintain our royal status of having seen a hockey game in all the current NHL rinks. This one notwithstanding.

Unless another team decides to relocate somewhere we're safe for the time being for hockey.

As for the game we saw, it was a seesaw battle but when it was all said and done, the Devils dropped another game on their dreadful road trip as they fell to the Jets, 4-2.

After the game, the King and I drove back to West Fargo, North Dakota to get some sleep which was cut short thanks to the NFL flex scheduling. We planned to go back to Minneapolis to see the Vikings play the Denver Broncos at 3:05PM but the time was changed to 12 Noon central time instead.

Did that prevent us from getting there on time? Check back and see as I recap the rest of the weekend that we spent out in the Twin Cities.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 12/12

Here's the game plan:

Tuesday December 13th Stars at Rangers 7PM

Friday December 16th Stars at Devils 8PM

Scott Niedermayer Night

Saturday December 17th Bridgeport Sound Tigers at Hershey Bears 7PM

Sunday December 18th Jets at Eagles 4:15PM

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 12/5 in review and the rest of the special posts from the epic Minnie and Winnie getaway.

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

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Royalty enjoys long awaited return to St. Paul for Wild hockey!

Opening Face Off at Xcel Energy Center 
Late Friday morning the King and I departed NYC from LaGuardia airport on American Airlines. We arrived in the Twin Cities early in the afternoon as we gained an hour since their in the central time zone.
We proceeded to rent a car from Alamo for the weekend. We got an upgrade since they didn't have any more mid size cars available so they gave us a full size car instead. We got a Chevy Impala. I've rented a number of those in the past so I was used to the controls.

After we left the car rental, we proceeded to the St. Paul area since we were going to see the Minnesota Wild play the NJ Devils that night.

Since we were hungry and we had some extra spare time, we decided to go to a familiar place to see to eat. I'm talking about Shamrock's. We were introduced to this place the last time when we went to Target Field in July 2010.

Shamrock's is a local bar and grill. For more details, see the special post under my restaurant reviews section.

After we had another great meal, we headed to the Xcel Energy Center which was only a few miles away. I wouldn't recommend walking there from Shamrock's though. I was told that by Natalie Kaess, who works for the Minnesota Wild and was kind enough to arrange to get the King and I tickets for the game. I spoke to her during the week and I gave her my credit card number and she charged up the tickets for us. An assist goes to Josh Morozowski, my Devils ticket representative who helped by getting one of his co-workers named Chris involved who had meet her in Nashville at a conference recently.

Upon arriving at the arena, I went to will call and I picked up the tickets. When I went inside I went over to the guest services booth located at section 105 where Natalie said she would be working that night. I had the privilege of meeting her and we chatted for a little while. I thanked again for arranging to get us the tickets without a hassle. In addition, she told me about a restaurant in Woodbury, Minnesota which was about 15-20 minutes East of St. Paul heading towards Wisconsin.

I'm referring to the Machine Shed. I ate there on my way to Des Moines, Iowa back in September. I'll be talking about this restaurant again in another post. Please stay tuned.

As for Natalie, she was very helpful and if indeed you decide to go to Minnesota to see the Wild play, I'll make sure that I get you in contact with her so she can treat you royally.

As for the game we saw, the Devils struck first early to make it 1-0 but the Wild answered back fast and furiously as they chased future Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur after they scored three quick goals just 8:17 into the first period.

The Devils got within one at 3-2 but they blew numerous scoring chances throughout the game as the Wild added an empty net goal late to win the game, 4-2.

Stay tuned for the next installment from this memorable journey.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty returns to the Twin Cities and Winnipeg over the first weekend in December!

Prince outside Target Field upon arrival
The last time the King and I went to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area was in the summer of 2010. That time we visited Target Field, the new home of the Minnesota Twins. We met up with other sports travel legends, Andrew Kulyk and Peter Farrell from Buffalo as well as Sean MacDonald who came in from Japan to join us along with his good friend, Peter Sharp aka Sharpie who still lives in Ottawa where Sean is originally from. The King and I were joined by our friends Bryan Gilligan and Lloyd Ramsland.

This time around, it was just the King and I as we returned to see hockey and football in the Twin Cities.
After almost an eleven year absence, we got to see the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul again. That's the home of the Minnesota Wild.

Back in 1989, when the State of Hockey as it's called, had a team called the North Stars who played at the Met Center. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to see a game there against the Pittsburgh Penguins who had Mario Lemieux at the time. Now that team is long gone as they moved to Dallas hence the Dallas Stars back in 1994.

In 2000, the NHL came to their senses and they decided to bring hockey back where it belonged in the State of Minnesota.

As a result, the King and I saw a Wild home game for the first time in February 2001.

This past summer the NHL decided that the team that was located in Atlanta needed to be relocated. They decided to bring back hockey north of the border this time. That's how the new Winnipeg Jets returned to the NHL to begin play in October.

With that being said, the King and I had to figure out a way to return to Winnipeg to see the new Jets play a home game. The first and last time we went to Winnipeg was back in March 1996 when we saw the old Jets play a few games in their old barn in the suburbs near the airport.

This time we went to downtown Winnipeg where the MTS Centre, home of the new Jets and former home of the Manitoba Moose of the AHL is located.

In addition, we returned to the Metrodome aka Mall of America Field as it's now known in Minneapolis which is the home of the Minnesota Vikings and former home of the Twins to see football.

Stay tuned for all the details of this amazing revisiting getaway to the Upper Midwest.

I'll be writing separate posts highlighting this epic excursion for your reading pleasure and educational needs.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Royalty w/o 11/28 in review

LIU Basketball
After the busy Thanksgiving weekend, I got some much needed rest.

I went home after work Monday night, Tuesday night and Wednesday night.

Thursday night after work I went to see some college basketball in downtown Brooklyn at Long Island University (LIU). They played a local rival from Staten Island, the Wagner Seahawks.

Wagner came into the game with a record of 6-1. After they left Brooklyn, they were 6-2. The Seahawks lost to the Blackbirds of LIU, 78-73. The score didn't indicate the domination. The Blackbirds played really well from start to finish in beating up the Seahawks.

It was a nice night out thanks to the company of our friends Eddie Pelle, Phil Butleman and Frank Anichiarico who were also there with the King and I.

Friday morning the King and I left for our big trip to Minneapolis-St. Paul and Winnipeg.

Stay tuned as I'm going to be doing some special posts recapping that memorable weekend getaway.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Monday, December 5, 2011

Royalty schedule w/o 12/5

 Here's the game plan:

Monday December 5th Maple Leafs at Rangers 7PM

Tuesday December 6th Missouri vs. Villanova 7PM

                                    Marquette vs. Washington 9PM

                                    Jimmy Valvano Classic at MSG

Wednesday December 7th Fordham at Manhattan 7PM

Thursday December 8th Senators at Devils 7PM

Saturday December 10th Canadiens at Devils 1PM

                                       Penguins at Islanders 7PM

Sunday December 11th Chiefs at Jets 1PM

                                     Panthers at Rangers 7:30PM

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 11/28 in review and the special posts from the epic Minnie and Winnie getaway.

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

Friday, December 2, 2011

Royalty makes the most of the long Thanksgiving weekend!

Me on the Zamboni 
After I returned the car I rented at Avis, I took a few buses out to the Nassau Coliseum where I met up with the King and our friend Bryan Gilligan who drove out there.

We saw the Islanders take on their cross river rival the NJ Devils in a mid afternoon tilt on Black Friday.
Apparently the game started too early for the players because goals were few and far between. In matter of fact, there was only one goal scored in this game. The Devils were the team that found the net as they beat the Islanders, 1-0.

After the game, we all went back to Donovan's Pub and we had a nice post game dinner.

Saturday afternoon the King and I went to Newark, NJ to see the rematch of the Islanders and Devils in the back end of their home and home series.

We were joined by my Cousin Andy who wanted to get another sample of royal treatment. He always enjoys our company and this day was no different.

This time he got to see me ride the Zamboni before the game as they resurfaced the ice. I got to do so because I renewed my Devil season tickets early so I was given this special perk. It was really cool being able to take a joy ride around the ice. I would like to personally thank Josh Morozowski who is my ticket representative for arranging to make this happen.

As for the game we saw, this time more goals were scored but the Devils came up short as they lost, 3-2. With 2.1 seconds left, a goal was disallowed because it was directed in by Zach Parise's skate in front of the net.

After the game, the King and I said goodbye to my Cousin Andy who went home and we took a NJ Transit train down to Trenton, NJ to see a minor league hockey game in the ECHL. We saw the Trenton Titans play the Chicago Express.

We saw a good battle as the Titans built a 2-0 lead which they held going into the third period. The Express managed to comeback and they forced an overtime session. Just past the midway point of the overtime, the Titans lit the lamp as they came away with a 3-2 victory.

After the game, we took a NJ Transit train back to NYC.

Sunday the King and I wrapped our busy sports weekend by going to MetLife Stadium where we saw the Jets take on division rival, the Buffalo Bills.

As for the game, it wasn't a pretty one but I was satisfied with the end result as the Jets squeaked by the Bills, 28-24. Luck once again was on their side. As a result, they kept their playoff hopes alive.

After the game, we went home and rested up after running around all weekend.

We had a great time but it did take its toll on our bodies so the needed rest came in handy.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman