Royalty Tours USA

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Royalty w/o 10/28 in review

After work on Monday I came home to rest up from the exhausting weekend I wound up taking to the Buckeye State. 

Tuesday night after work I met up with my Cousin Andy at Newark Penn Station. We walked through the Gateway Center & we stopped off at Subway to have dinner together. After we ate, we continued walking over to the Prudential Center where we saw the Devils play the Tampa Bay Lightning. We were joined by the King when we got up to our seats in section 226 row 6.  My Cousin was so happy to see us. Unlike us, he doesn't get to go out that often so it's a real treat for him when he meets up with us. We always have a great time together.

As for the game we saw, the Devils beat the Lightning, 2-1. As a result, my Cousin was thrilled. He couldn't thank me enough for getting him the ticket for the game.

Wednesday night after work I went to the completely Transformed Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks open their new season against the Milwaukee Bucks. 

First & foremost, I want to mention all the additions in the final phase of the three year transformation process. Upon entry to the building, you'll notic the newly designed lobby & box office area which is more spacious than it was in the past. They've also added a team store so you can pick up souvenirs before and/or after the game. When you go inside I strongly suggest that you take a ride up to the tenth floor. That way you can check out the new Chase bridges that they've added which are connected to the West Balcony on the 8th avenue end of the building. The seating on the bridges is like the West Balcony. In other words, they have a few rows of seats that are protected by very thick glass as well as a row of bar stool seats behind them that have a ledge for you to put food and/or paperwork like I do when I sit at one of them. As long as you're not afraid of heights, you'll love the aerial view these seats have to offer. The Bridges are made so you feel like you're right on top of the action. They overlook the court for basketball & the ice for hockey. These seats are pricey & they're not sold on a season ticket basis. I recommend that if you have some money to burn that you try to get a seat up there. By doing so, you'll appreciate what they did to transform the building. The other change they made that stands out was they added a new massive HD scoreboard which hangs over the court and/or the ice. If you happen to be sitting on the side on the 200 level in the higher rows, the scoreboard is partially blocked. But they wisely added big screens on the side of the Bridges so you can see whatever you miss. Overall, I think they did a nice job in transforming the building. This may be a short lived process though since I've heard that in ten years they may be forced out of Penn Station which is built below the Garden. If you want to see the building as it is now, you should get there sooner than later.

As for the game I saw that night, the Knicks got off to a fast start. They lead by 25 points at halftime, 56-31. The Bucks fought back in the second half but the Knicks were able to hold them off as they went on to win their first game of the season, 90-83. Carmelo Anthony lead the way as he scored a game high 19 points & he grabbed 10 rebounds. Raymond Felton added 18 points.

Thursday night after work I spent my Halloween night doing my laundry after I made myself dinner.

Friday night after work I met up with the King at the Barclays Center where we saw the new look Brooklyn Nets open their home slate with a nationally televised game against the defending two time World Champion Miami Heat.

As for the game we saw, the Nets wound up beating the Heat in a drawn out game that took nearly three hours to play. The Nets won, 101-100. The Nets got 19 points from former Celtic Paul Pierce while Kevin Garnett aka KG who was also acquired in the same deal had just 6 points. Joe Johnson helped the Nets' cause by scoring 19 points as well. As for the Heat, LeBron James lead the way with 26 points but he didn't do anything exciting on this night as his team came up short.

Saturday afternoon the King & I took a ride via subway, Ferry & bus to see a college football game on Staten Island as the Wagner Seahawks were hosting the Blue Devils of Central Connecticut at Hameline Field. We were joined by our pal Eddie Pelle who met us there.

As for the game we saw, the Blue Devils beat the Seahawks, 52-17. The game actually was 24-17 with 13:09 to go but the Seahawks fell apart as they gave up four unanswered touchdowns as running back Rob Hollomon lead the charge for the Blue Devils. He finished the game with 147 yards rushing & he scored four touchdowns.

After the game, the King & I went out to the Prudential Center to see the Devils take on the Flyers. Eddie couldn't join us since he needed to take care of things at home. It was nice to see him again. 

As for the game we saw, the Flyers scored the only goal of the game in the first period. They held on to beat the Devils, 1-0.

Sunday the King & I went into Midtown Manhattan where we met up with our pal Larry Peim who drove us out to MetLife Stadium where we saw the Jets host the New Orleans Saints.

As for the game we saw, the Jets surprised the Saints as they beat them, 26-20. They were lead by former Saint Chris Ivory who ran for a game high 139 yards on the ground.

After the game, Larry drove us back to into Midtown. I went to see the Knicks play the Timberwolves at the Transformed Garden while the King decided to go home. 

As for the game I saw, the Timberwolves  played well & they beat the Knicks, 109-100. They got a monster performance out of Kevin Love who scored 34 points & he pulled down 15 rebounds. Kevin Martin added 30 points to help lead the charge for the Wolves. As for the Knicks, Carmelo Anthony poured in 22 points & he grabbed 17 boards while Metta World Peace finished with 17 points in the losing effort.

Stay tuned as I continue to attempt to play catch up.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

No comments: