Royalty w/o 12/3 in review

Dave Block & I  

Monday night after work I came home and relaxed. I got to watch a rare football game on TV as the Giants were playing the Redskins at FedEx Field on Monday night football. I would loved to have been there in person myself but I can only do so much with the limited time and money I have to work with. I was thinking of my pal Charles Stephenson who has Redskin season tickets.

As for the game, it was a thriller. The Redskins beat the Giants, 17-16. RG3 lead the way. He's so much fun to watch. As long as he can stay healthy, he's going to be a joy to watch for many years to come.

Tuesday night after work I went to downtown Brooklyn to see the Brooklyn Nets host the Oklahoma City Thunder. I got to see my pal Dave Block aka the Gratitude Guy who flew in from San Diego. He told me at the last minute late Monday morning that he was coming in. With such short notice, I wasn't able to find a way to get him a ticket for the game. He decided to come in anyway. I knew he was making a mistake. He wound up not getting in. I helped him look outside for a while but we couldn't even get an offer. I went inside and I met up with the King by our seats in section 230 row 13.

As for the game we saw, the Thunder led, 31-28 after the first quarter. They extended their to 13 at halftime, 61-48. In the third quarter, the Nets woke up and they came back. They cut the Thunder lead down to four, 90-86 after three quarters. In the fourth quarter, the Thunder maintained their slim lead as they hung on for a 117-111 win.

The dynamic duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook led the way for the Thunder as they scored 32 and 25 points respectively. As for the Nets, Deron Williams scored a game and season high 33 points in the losing effort.

After the game, we met up with Dave Block who decided to wait for us. He wound up taking the subway with us. We went home and he went to LaGuardia Airport.

It was great to see Dave again but it would have been really nice if he could have gotten into the game too. I told him next time to give me some notice. I can only do so much. I felt bad but it was his fault. He admitted that. He said it won't happen again. He said the trip wasn't a totally waste of time because he got to spend some precious time with the King and I.

Wednesday night after work I went out to Jersey City, NJ on the Path train to see college basketball. I went to the Yanitelli Center which is the home of the St. Peter's Peacocks who play in the MAAC conference. They were hosting the Iona Gaels.

On my way to the gym, I stopped off at Blimpie's and I had my pre game meal. It was a beautiful thing. When I was done, I walked over to the gym where I met up with my pals Manny Morales and Pat Gorman who were also there. I enjoyed their company especially Manny who I sat with for the whole game.
As for the game we saw, the Peacocks of St. Peter's trailed 31-21 at halftime. In the second half, they roared back and they made it a game thanks to guard Desi Washington who knocked down three treys to help stage the comeback. Late in the second half, they tied the game and they took a brief lead. As a result, the game went down to the wire. The Peacocks pulled out an improbable victory when guard Blaise Ffrench hit the eventual game winning basket that broke a 62-62 tie with 4.5 seconds left as the Peacocks escaped with a 64-62 win. Ffrench finished with 17 points. The Gaels made a last gasp effort but they missed badly as time expired.

Thursday night after work I came home and rested up since there were no local games to go to in the area. It worked out well because I was able to prepare for my busy weekend getaway to Florida.

Friday night after work I went back to the Barclays Center to see the Nets host the Golden State Warriors.
I got in early and I met up with my buddy Phil Butleman who was at the game. It was nice to see him again.
As for the game we saw, the Nets got off to a good start as they led by seven after the first quarter, 31-24. They continued to lead at halftime, 63-55. Unfortunately for them, the second half was a different story. The Warriors came back and they led after three quarters, 84-82. In the fourth quarter, they extended their lead and they left Brooklyn victorious, 109-102.

It was a homecoming of sorts for Warriors' head coach and former Knick Mark Jackson who played his college ball at St. John's in Queens which isn't far from where he grew up in St. Albans. He shined many nights as a player at Madison Square Garden back in the 90's. This time he returned to a different borough and his team won the game. In addition, another former Knick David Lee came back to give New Yorkers a glimpse of what they used to see on a regular basis at the Garden. Lee scored a team high 30 points and he ripped down 15 rebounds to pace the Warriors to the victory. Teammate Stephen Curry shot well and he finished the game with 28 points. Furthermore, another local product, Charles Jenkins who was born in Brooklyn, played his college ball at nearby Hofstra had four points in very limited action.

As for the Nets, Joe Johnson led all scorers with 32 points while Andray Blatche clogged the middle pouring in 22 points and snatching 15 boards in the loss in the absence of center Brook Lopez.

Stay tuned for some special posts that will recap the royal weekend getaway that the King and I took down to Florida.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman