Royalty w/o 2/27 in review

This was another week where I just fell short of having a royal week of Stadium Travel.

The week started rough because I had to starve all day Sunday into Monday morning so I could be ready for a colonoscopy that I had scheduled for Monday morning. I could only drink liquids. With that being said, I didn't go to work.

I wound up meeting my sister Abbey who took me to the doctor's office. I needed her to take me home because I wasn't allowed to leave on my own.

As for the colonoscopy, I got an injection that put me into the twilight zone so I didn't feel a thing during the procedure. When it was all said and done, I checked out with a clean bill of health. Due to family history, I was told to take the necessary precautions just in case so I wisely listened to that advice. I'm good for another three to five years now in that regard.

Despite the fact I've been everywhere there's no need to let up yet so I don't want to suddenly have a health issue if I can do something to prevent it. Unlike many people I know, I incorporate visits to the doctor when it's deemed necessary into my rigorous work and play schedule. For example, I always go for a yearly check up. By doing so, I increase the chances that I can live longer and enjoy what life truly has to offer.

In order to have a full life barring a freak incident along the way, you need to make your health your top priority. In that case, my lifestyle needs a break once in a long while so I can continue on for the long haul I hope.

After starving for so long, I took my sister out for a late breakfast on the way back home. After I rested up during the afternoon, I went on my way back to living the life of royalty.

I went to Madison Square Garden that night to see the NY Rangers play their cross town rival, the NJ Devils. The game itself was rather boring. Both teams barely had any shots on the goal throughout the game. The Rangers got an early goal which proved to be the difference as they added an empty net goal late to beat the Devils, 2-0 as their goaltender Henrik Lundqvist recorded his eighth shutout of the season.

Since it was a rivalry matchup, tempers flared during the match as the Rangers' Mike Rupp, who used to play for the Devils and the Devils' David Clarkson both were in and out of the penalty box for causing havoc on the ice a number of times during the game.

Tuesday I went back to work and afterwards I came home to relax since there were no sporting events in the area to attend.

Wednesday night after work on "Leap" day I went back to Madison Square Garden for another dosage of Lin-Sanity as the Knicks were hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Before the game, I treated myself royally as I indulged in a huge corned beef and pastrami sandwich on rye bread from the Carnegie Deli stand at the Garden. I know how to get the both of all worlds when I have the time and money to do so.

After enjoying my meal, I went to my seat to enjoy the game.

As for the game, I got to see Lin-Sanity as he paced the Knicks with 19 points and 13 assists. Steve Novak came off the bench to drain five three point baskets in the second half to help sink the Cavaliers who had a twelve point lead at halftime. The Knicks went on to over take the Cavaliers as they raced off with a 120-103 victory.

I did get to see rookie Kyrie Irving, the Cavaliers number one draft pick out of Duke play for the first time live. He was impressive as he scored 22 points. Unfortunately the Cavaliers ran out of gas in the second half. It should be noted that the officials didn't help their cause either. That's the way it is in the NBA when you're the road team.

Thursday night after work I went to downtown Brooklyn to see LIU aka Long Island University Blackbirds play the Pioneers of Sacred Heart in the Northeast Conference quarterfinals.

I was there with the King and our friends Frank Anichiarico and Larry Peim who graduated LIU back in the day.

As for the game we saw, the Blackbirds managed to beat the Pioneers, 80-68 to advance to the next round.
Stay tuned for a special post that I'm going to do that will recap my royal birthday celebration weekend.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 10/10 in review

Abbey, Jeremy, Taylor and Scott

It was a slow start to the week for me as I went home after work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night.
Thursday night I broke the string of eventless days as I met my Cousin Andy out in Newark, NJ. We met up for dinner at Subway then we went over to the Prudential Center to see the New Jersey Devils play the Los Angeles Kings. We were joined by the King who met us there.

As for the game we saw, there was a lot of action throughout the night despite a lack of goal scoring. The game's only scoring came in the first period as Simon Gagne drew first blood for the Kings 1:47 into the game. The Devils' Patrik Elias answered later in the period to even the score at one.

After playing two scoreless periods and an overtime session, the game was decided by a shootout as the Devils prevailed, 2-1. Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise scored the only goals in the shootout as the Devils came away with the extra point.

My Cousin Andy was so grateful for the opportunity to join us again. He wrote me an e-mail the next day thanking me for treating him like royalty. It's always a pleasure to have his company. He doesn't get to get out that often so when he does I always like to make sure I go over the top so he can take in the full royalty experience. His appreciation makes me feel like I did a good deed. It's a great feeling when somebody takes advantage of my willingness to help out. That's what life's all about.

We parted ways after the game at the train station and we said we look forward to doing it again next month.

Friday night was another night off for me. After getting some more rest, I was ready for my busy weekend ahead.

Besides going to sporting events on a regular basis, I do take good care of my health as well. With that being said, I went to the dentist for a check up and a cleaning. Everything checked out well. As usual, the dentist said and I quote "you have good teeth." I work very hard to maintain them on a daily basis so I'm happy to hear it's paying off.

After I got done with the dentist, I went out to Long Island to visit my sister Abbey, my brother-in-law, Scott and my adorable niece Taylor and my nephew Jeremy who just turned six years old on Tuesday. Abbey was having a birthday party for him so I went to join in the festivities. It was nice to see the family again and especially the kids who are getting so big so fast.

After the party, I met up with the King at the Nassau Coliseum as the New York Islanders were hosting their arch rivals, the New York Rangers. As usual, it was a feisty and heated affair with a playoff like atmosphere. The game was very entertaining to watch. The arena was jam packed with fans of both teams.

The game itself went back and forth. The Islanders emerged victorious 4-2 as John Tavares scored the empty netter to seal the deal late in the third period. By doing so, he completed the hat trick as he scored his third goal of the game sending the Islander fans home happy.

Stay tuned as I'll be doing a special post describing the game we saw Sunday afternoon with two great roadtrippers who were in town for a special return visit.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman