Royalty w/o 1/14 in review

Prince at Barclays Center

Monday after work I came home for some much needed rest and blog catch up since they were no local games in the area.

Tuesday after work I went to downtown Brooklyn to the Barclays Center to see the Nets take on the Toronto Raptors. Before I went into the arena, I stopped off at McDonald's in the Atlantic Center Mall which is across the street for my pre game meal. I had a McRib. It was really good. When I was done, I walked back to the arena and I went inside. I met up with the King by our seats in section 230 row 13 and we watched the game together.

As for the game we saw, the Nets and the Raptors were tied at 27 after the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Nets went ahead as they led at halftime, 54-50. In the third quarter, the Nets added to their lead as they out scored the Raptors 29-26 to take a 83-76 lead after three quarters. In the fourth quarter, both teams scored 30 points as the Nets held off the Raptors to emerge victorious, 113-106.

Brook Lopez led all scorers with 22 points and he grabbed 9 rebounds while his teammate Deron Williams had 21 points and he dished out 7 assists. Joe Johnson also added 21 points and handed 5 assists to lead a balanced attack.

Wednesday night after work I came home and I did my laundry after I made dinner.

Thursday night after work I met up with my pal Larry Peim in upper Manhattan near the George Washington Bridge. I also met the King and our friends Frank Anichiarico and Phil Butleman there as well. He drove us all to the Stratis Arena at Rothman Center in Hackensack, NJ which is the home of the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights. On this night, they were playing the LIU Blackbirds. Upon arrival we met up with our pal Bert Shoobs who does the public address announcing for the Knights. It was great to see him again.

As for the game we saw, the Blackbirds led the Knights after the first half, 36-35. In the second half, the Knights went on a 13-2 run to take a 48-38 lead. The Blackbirds came all the way back to force overtime as Brandon Thompson hit a three pointer at the buzzer to tie the game at 75. In the extra session, the Blackbirds out scored the Knights, 10-6 to win 79-75 before a sparse gathering of an announced crowd of 317. It should be the King did a head count and he came up with a total of around 200 people.

For the Blackbirds, they got 30 points and 16 rebounds from senior forward Jamal Olasewere while guard C.J. Garner added 23 points to carry them to the comeback win.

As for the Knights, Melquan Bolding scored a team high 22 points in the losing effort.

Friday night after work I went back to downtown Brooklyn to the Barclays Center. This time I saw the Nets host the Atlanta Hawks. Once again I stopped off at McDonald's for dinner. After I got done, I met up with my pal Phil Butleman outside the arena. We went inside together. After we got in, I told him I wanted to go to see the radio announcer for the Hawks before the game started. I'm referring to the legendary Steve Holman who has done Hawk games for the last 28 years. In matter of fact, on Wednesday night in Atlanta he called his 2,000th consecutive Hawk game. Ironically it was also against the Nets. This night was game number 2,001 for him. I also got to say a quick hello to him before he went on the air. He's a really nice guy and it was an absolute pleasure to see him again.

In addition, I got to see Tim Capstraw and Chris Carrino, the radio voices of the Brooklyn Nets. I got to speak to them as well. While I was doing so, I got to introduce myself to a young man who hopes to get into broadcasting himself some day. His name was Matt Cohen. It was nice to have the opportunity to meet and greet him too. I wished him luck and we exchanged contact information.

As for the game we saw, the Hawks and Nets played dead even for the first three quarters. The game was tied at 29 after the first quarter, 49 at halftime and at 75 after three quarters. In the fourth quarter, the Nets finally broke through as they out scored the Hawks, 20-15 to win the game, 94-89. It should be noted that Josh Smith of the Hawks threw down a monstrous highlight reel jam with his left hand late in the game to get the Hawks with a point but the Nets held them off and escaped with the victory in front of a sellout crowd of 17,732.

Stay tuned for some special posts that I'm going to do regarding the weekend getaway the King and I took over the Martin Luther King weekend.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman