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| Gio Gonzalez in his first Spring start |
By doing so, I got to see a special treat on television. During the day, I saw on Twitter that the Mets were playing the Washington Nationals at 6:10PM. More importantly, my boy Gio Gonzalez was making his first start of the spring. With the accusations of performance enhancing drugs behind him, he set his sights on getting ready to build on the great season he had last year when he went 21-8. In addition, he was tuning up for the upcoming World Baseball Classic. He'll be pitching for the United States.
When I knew he was starting the game, I made sure I got home in time to see him. He wound up pitching two innings. He got off to a rough start because his shortstop made an error on the first batter he faced. He proceeded to walk the next batter. Luckily he worked out of the jam and he got the Mets out without allowing a run to score. In the second inning, he got the Mets in order. He looked like the Gio I know and love. He finished his brief outing walking one and striking out three. The Nationals scored a few runs for him so he got credited with the win as they held on to win the game, 6-4.
It was great to see him even if it was just on television. I can't wait to see him again in person at Citi Field when the Nationals come to town in April.
Tuesday night after work I went to Charley's Subs for a pre game meal in Penn Station before I headed upstairs to Madison Square Garden to see the Rangers play the Winnipeg Jets. I want to personally thank my pal Alan Gimpel who had an extra ticket and he was kind enough to sell it to me. As a result, I got to see a hockey game at the Garden. Ranger tickets are hard to come by. I wound up sitting upstairs in section 211 row 17 which is right at center ice so I had a great view of the action.
As for the game we saw, the Rangers and Jets played a scoreless first period. In the second period, the Jets broke through as they got a goal from Olli Jokinen with 14:05 left in the period to take a 1-0 lead. A minute and seven seconds later the Jets scored again. This time Evander Kane got the goal to make it 2-0 Jets. The Rangers got on the board with 10:32 to go when Ryan Callahan buried one to slice the Jets' lead in half at 2-1. With 5:12 left in the period, Olli Jokinen lit the lamp again to give the Jets a 3-1 lead. In the third period, with 10:43 to go, the Rangers got within a goal at 3-2 when Taylor Pyatt scored. 20 seconds later, Evander Kane of the Jets answered right back to make it 4-2 with his second goal of the game. The Rangers got back within a goal 53 seconds later when Anton Stralman found the net to get the Rangers within a goal again at 4-3. Despite their hard work the last ten minutes of the game, the Rangers fell short as the Jets held them off, 4-3.
Wednesday after work I went back to the Garden this time to see the Knicks play the Golden State Warriors. Before I went there, I stopped off at Popeye's for dinner.
When I was done I arranged to meet my pal Sean MacDonald outside the Garden so I could give him the ticket I was able to get for him. Since the game was on ESPN, it started at 8PM which gave him more time to get there since he was working. Since I missed seeing him on Monday night, I'm glad he was able to join me again.
We went inside and he got to see the new additions to the Garden since his last visit back in 2008. He was impressed with the new main concourse on the 100 level he said. For his whole take on the transformation please see his blog where he keeps track of his various sports travels. Since he lives abroad, he's done plenty of international traveling. He takes nice pictures and he gives excellent detail on his excursions. Take a look you may learn some things.
As for the game we saw, the Knicks got off to a fast start. They led the Warriors who were playing without former Knick, David Lee who got suspended for a fight that broke out in Indiana the night before. As a result, the Knicks led, 27-18 after the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Warriors closed the gap to three as the Knicks led, 58-55 at halftime. In the third quarter, both teams scored 26 points so the Knicks continued to lead by three, 84-81. In the fourth quarter, the Knicks held off the Warriors who took a late lead but they collapsed down the stretch as they fell to the Knicks, 109-105.
It was an historic night as the Warriors' Stephen Curry scorched the Knicks for a career high 54 points. He shot 11 for 13 from the behind the three point line to keep the Warriors in the game.
As for the Knicks, they got 35 points from Carmelo Anthony and 16 points from Tyson Chandler who also grabbed a career high 28 rebounds to carry the Knicks to the win.
Friday night after work I went to downtown Brooklyn to see the Nets play the Dallas Mavericks at the Barclays Center.
Before the game, I stopped off at McDonald's for dinner.
After I ate, I went inside the arena and I met up with the King by our seats in section 230 row 13.
As for the game we saw, the Mavericks led the Nets, 22-21 after the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Nets out scored the Mavericks by two to take a one point lead, 49-48 at halftime. In the third quarter, the Mavericks pulled away as they took a 77-63 lead. In the fourth quarter, the Nets tried to make a comeback but they came up short as the Mavericks won, 98-90.
Dirk Nowitzki and former Net Vince Carter each scored 20 points to lead the Mavericks. Deron Williams added a game high 24 points in the losing effort for the Nets.
Stay tuned for some special posts that I'm going to do about our weekend getaway.
Thank you for reading and following along.
Yours truly,
Gary Herman
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