Monday morning I went to work for a half a day. After work, I went to the doctor for my annual exam. Thankfully I got a clean bill of health.
After my check up, I went to Avis and I rented a car for the day so I could drive to Philadelphia to see Monday night football between the Eagles and the Carolina Panthers.
I picked up a Ford Focus and then I drove back home to pick up the King. I also arranged to meet up with my pal Eddie Pelle who wanted to go to the game as well.
We got down to the sports complex area around 6:45PM. Before we went to park the car we stopped off at Burger King for a pre game meal.
Once we were done we parked the car and we walked over towards Lincoln Financial Field. We stopped off at Holiday Inn first because Eddie had to pick up a ticket he had bought on Stub Hub. After that, we walked over to go inside to see the game. The King waited to meet up with our buddy Andrew Van Cleve who was on his way after he put his kids to sleep. They got tickets and they went in. I had a club seat with our pal Frankie Centola who I met inside.
As for the game we saw, the Eagles got the ball first and they drove down the field but their drive stalled and they wound up settling for a 36 yard field goal by kicker Alex Henery with 11:12 left to gave the Eagles an early 3-0 lead. The Panthers responded on their first drive of the night as they drove down the field 72 yards which culminated with a 24 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Cam Newton. The Panthers led, 7-3 with 6:12 left in the first quarter. After stopping the Eagles, the Panthers got the ball back and they scored again. This time Cam Newton threw a 43 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Brandon LaFell to extend the Panthers' lead to 14-3 with 3:36 left.
The Eagles took the kickoff and they went down the field but they stalled again and they settled for another field goal. This time from 41 yards out as Alex Henery split the uprights to make it a 14-6 game with 14:15 left in the second quarter. After stopping the Panthers, the Eagles got the ball back and thanks to running back Bryce Brown they got closer as he ran 65 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-12. The Eagles decided to go for two to try and tie the game but it was unsuccessful with 10:56 left until halftime. Later in the quarter with 3:20 left the Eagles took the lead, 15-14 thanks again to the right foot of Alex Henery who booted a 45 yard field goal. It stayed that way as both teams headed to the locker room.
In the third quarter, the Panthers took the kickoff to start the second half. They started at their own 5 yard line. Cam Newton drove his team down the field and he dove into the end zone to cap it off from a yard out to give his team the lead again at 21-15. The Eagles fought back again as they went back ahead with 3:30 left in the quarter as Bryce Brown scored again. This time he ran in from 5 yards out to give the Eagles a 22-21 lead.
In the fourth quarter, the Panthers got a 23 yard field goal from Graham Gano to make a 24-22 in favor of Carolina. The Panthers padded their lead with 4:40 left as Cam Newton ran in again. This time from two yards out to make the score 30-22. Graham Gano missed the extra point which gave the Eagles a glamor of hope. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't score anymore and that's the way it ended. Bryce Brown of the Eagles had a memorable night as he ran for 178 yards on the ground. Unfortunately he fumbled twice which cost his team along the way. Hope for his sake, he learns from his mistakes.
After the game, we all met at the car and I drove Andrew Van Cleve home then I took Frankie to his mother's house where he was spending the night. I dropped off Eddie at his job then I took the King and I home we got in around 2:30AM.
Tuesday morning before I went to work I went to Avis to return the car I rented. 260 miles were safely driven.
After work I came home to catch up on some much needed rest.
Wednesday night after work I went to downtown Brooklyn to see college basketball at LIU. The Blackbirds were hosting the Columbia Lions. After I went to McDonald's for dinner, I met up with the King at the Wellness Center where LIU plays its home games. We went inside and we had plenty of company. We were joined by ours pals Phil Butleman, David Sack, Vincent Ascanio, Larry Peim and Frank Anichiarico.
As for the game we saw, the Blackbirds picked up their first win of the season after losing their first four games. They won, 70-61. Julian Boyd led the way with 19 points. His teammates Jamal Olasewere and Jason Brickman added 16 points each to pace the Blackbirds. As for the Lions, Mark Cisco had 18 points in the losing cause.
Thursday night after work I went out to Jamaica, Queens to see the St. John's Red Storm play at Carnesecca Arena which is on their campus. They were hosting the Gamecocks from South Carolina in the SEC/Big East Challenge. On the way there, I stopped off at Popeye's for some fried chicken. When I was done, I got back on the bus and I met up with the King outside the arena. We got tickets and we went inside.
As for the game we saw, the Red Storm raced out to a big lead which grew as the game wore on. Guard D'Angelo Harrison led the way for the Red Storm as he poured in 26 points as they went on to blow away the Gamecocks, 89-65.
Friday after work I went to Madison Square Garden where I saw the Knicks play the Washington Wizards.
As for the game I saw, the Knicks made fast work of the lowly Wizards who finally won their first game a few nights earlier at home. On this night, it wasn't meant for the Wizards to make it two in a row. The Knicks took it to them early and often. The Knicks led by 9 after the first quarter. They were up by 11 at halftime. They pulled away in the third quarter as they went up by 21. That's how it ended as the Knicks won by 21, 108-87. Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith paced the Knicks with 20 points each.
Saturday morning I did my laundry. Later in the afternoon, the King and I took a ride on Metro North up to Bridgeport, Connecticut so we could see some AHL hockey since the NHL is still locked out.
We went to the Webster Bank Arena where we saw the Bridgeport Sound Tigers host the Worcester Sharks.
As for the game we saw, the Worcester Sharks lead 2-1 after a fight filled first period. After a scoreless and fightless second period, the Sound Tigers got the equalizer 2:51 into the third period to tie the game at two as Nino Niederreiter found the net. With 6:08 left in the third, Worcester regained the lead at 3-2 when Tim Kennedy scored his second goal of the game for the Sharks. The Sound Tigers evened the score once again with just 2:28 left in regulation time as Brock Nelson scored on a late power play. After a scoreless overtime session, the game was decided by a shootout. The Sharks wound up beating the Sound Tigers in the skills competition to give the Sharks a 4-3 victory.
Sunday the King and I met up with our friends Frank Anichiarico, Michael Abrams and Larry Peim who picked us up in Midtown Manhattan and he drove us out to MetLife Stadium where we went to see the Jets play the Cardinals.
When we got out there, we met up with Andrew Van Cleve who came up from Philadelphia and Rich Wolber aka Staten Island Rich who also came to the game.
As for the game we saw, it was a poor display of football to say the least. It got so bad that the Jet fans got their wish when head coach Rex Ryan decided to pull quarterback Mark Sanchez. He put in backup Greg McElroy in his place with 4:48 left in the third quarter with the Jets trailing 3-0. During his brief stint, he threw his first NFL touchdown pass to Jeff Cumberland from a yard out with 14:55 left in the fourth quarter to give the Jets a 7-3 lead. The Cardinals got a 35 yard field goal from former Jet kicker Jay Feely with 10:39 left to make it a 7-6 game. The Jets decided to run out the clock when they got down to the one yard line so they could preserve the ugly 7-6 victory.
After the game, Larry drove us back to Manhattan and we all went out for dinner at Jackson's Hole which is the home of the 7 ounce burger. We all enjoyed our burgers and each other's company.
With that, another week of sports travel has come and gone.
Thank you for reading and following along.
Yours truly,
Gary Herman
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