A Royal Birthday Celebration for the Prince!

Prince at the Pavilion

After I got out of work Friday night it was time to start the royal celebration.

I met my parents in Astoria where I now live and we went out for dinner at Romano's Famous Pizza and Gyro. They serve Greek cuisine. It was a great way to reunite with my parents and I got to have a nice meal too.

Afterwards I went home to rest up for the busy weekend I had lined up.

I got up Saturday morning which was my birthday and I took public transportation out to where I used to live so I could go to Avis to pick up a car for the weekend. I did get treated to some royal treatment as the MTA didn't let me wait too long for the buses and trains I needed to take in order to get there.

I wound up renting a Crown Victoria which had plenty of room. I got in touch with my pal Eddie Pelle who was on his way to the Philadelphia area via public transportation from Long Island. He was also going to Villanova, Pennsylvania to see the Wildcats play the Cincinnati Bearcats in a college basketball game. The King and I were doing the same.

I called Eddie when I got into the car. He said he was in Queens so I arranged to meet him after I went back home to pick up the King. It worked out well as we got him by the entrance to the Queensboro Bridge and away we went.

We arrived in Villanova around 1:40PM which gave us enough time to get ready for the 2PM tip off.
We also met up with Andrew Van Cleve aka the Ultimate Sports Fan and his son Dylan aka the Ultimate Sports Baby.

I love seeing the "USB" if you will. He's adorable and he's getting so big.

Ironically we were all visiting the Pavilion, which is the home of the Villanova Wildcats' basketball team on campus for the first time. They play a handful of games there. They play the rest at the Wells Fargo Center where the Flyers and 76ers play.

It was a thrill to finally see a game there. It was very intimate since it only holds 6,500 people. The seating area is comprised of mainly benches that are very close to the action.

As for the game we saw, it was a competitive one right throughout. The Wildcats who are having a bad season wound up coming up short as the Bearcats of Cincinnati beat them, 72-68.

After the game, we said goodbye to Andrew and Dylan. They went home. Eddie, the King and I continued on to Washington DC where we went to see the Wizards play the Cavaliers at 7PM.

We stopped off in Baltimore first so we could pick up our friends Peter and Carmen Agnew. We got them just after 6PM. Thankfully Peter had a parking pass for the garage that's connected to the Verizon Center since we had no margin for error as we arrived right at game time. In addition, Peter arranged to get us all free tickets for the game. He always asks us to come down so I looked at the schedule once the lockout ended and this was the perfect time to go there.

As for the game we saw, the Wizards they've had a horrible season so far but on this night they found a way to win, 101-98. It worked out well for our friend Eddie who said this was the first time he had ever seen the Wizards win live. I was glad to help arrange for him to join us.

After the game, we drove Peter and Carmen back home. They live right near Looney's Pub, where we went to get a late dinner since we were all very hungry. The burger and chicken wings we had we tremendous as usual.

After we ate we dropped Eddie off at the Amtrak station because he wanted to get back home to see some college basketball in NYC on Sunday.

The King and I drove 30 miles to Aberdeen to Super 8 where we spent the night. We arrived there around 2:30AM.

We got some sleep then we got up in the morning and we drove back to Baltimore to have breakfast with Peter and Carmen at another of our favorite eateries in the area, Eichenkranz Restaurant which is located in a local neighborhood.

We were served by Rose, who loved my accent. Needless to say, the food, the service and the company were priceless and well worth driving the extra miles for.

After we parted ways with Peter and Carmen, we headed towards Philadelphia where we were seeing the 76ers play the Bulls at 7PM.

Since we had plenty of time to kill, we decided to stop off at the Hollywood Casino which was conveniently on the way in Perryville, Maryland off exit 93 on I-95.

We spent a few hours there pressing our luck on the slot machines. I had some luck but the King didn't. Regardless it was entertaining experience.

We got back in the car and we drove to the City of Brotherly Love. We arrived there around 4:30PM. It worked out well because we got to meet up with our friend Rich Wolber aka Staten Island Rich who took a Chinese bus from NYC to join us for the 76er game. We went to the bus terminal and we picked him up.

On the way to the Wells Fargo Center, we stopped off at the Oregon Diner to have dinner before the game.
I thoroughly enjoyed my meal there. You can't beat the value you get there. I had broiled flounder with crab meat stuffing which came with two sides and a small cup of soup along with rolls and cornbread for a mere $9.99. They have a nice variety of food items for that price that they offer everyday.

After I stuffed my belly, we drove over to the arena which is right nearby.

We met up with our friend Frankie Centola who got us tickets for the 76er game. We also were joined by Andrew Van Cleve who got a ticket outside on the lower level from a buddy of Joakim Noah, who plays center for the Bulls.

At halftime, I got a royal upgrade as I went down to sit with Andrew who had a few empty seats by him.
As for the game we saw, the 76ers led into the fourth quarter but the Bulls led by their superstar guard Derrick Rose who had 35 points and 8 assists held off a late 76er push to win 96-91. Joakim Noah had 11 points and 18 rebounds to help the cause.

After the game, I drove Rich back home to Staten Island. I got him back just before midnight. I proceeded to drive the King to work at the Post Office at Grand Central Station. I got him there at 12:40AM so he had plenty of time to relax and unwind since he starts at 2AM.

I finally arrived home just before 1AM. I went to sleep and I returned the car in the morning.

I want to thank everybody who remembered my special day. I had a blast all weekend long.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 11/29 in review

After an exhausting Thanksgiving weekend where I saw 7 games in 4 days, I came home to rest and to catch up on lost sleep after work Monday night.

Tuesday night after work I went to Madison Square Garden to the new look Knicks try to continue their winning ways against their crosstown rival, the New Jersey Nets.

As for the game, the Knicks fresh off a successful road trip beat up the Nets, 111-110!

Their big free agent signing, Amar'e Stoudemire led the way scoring 35 points. Wilson Chandler added 27 while newcomer Raymond Felton poured in 21 of his own.

For the Nets, Brook Lopez was a monster he scored 36 points in the losing effort. Unfortunately he had no supporting cast on this night.

Wednesday night after work I went to the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ to see the Nets take on the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Just like a few weeks ago when the King and I went to Boston to see the Thunder play, their superstar forward KD aka Kevin Durant wasn't playing.

Despite that the Thunder won the game again. This time they needed three overtimes to do so as they overcame the Nets.

Anthony Morrow of the Nets forced the game to go into overtime initially when he hit a three pointer at the buzzer to tie the game.

In the overtimes, it appeared the Nets were going to win the game but they finally fell short in the third one and they lost, 123-120!

Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green paced the Thunder with 38 and 37 points respectatively.

The Nets were lead by Brooks Lopez and Jordan Farmar who each had 28 points. Anthony Morrow contributed 25 and he forced the game to go into overtime.

Thursday I left work early at 3:30PM so I could go back to Queens and pick up the car I rented from Avis before I went to work that morning.

I went down to Philadelphia to see the Eagles play the Houston Texans at 8:20PM.

More importantly, I arranged to meet a fellow roadtripper named Kurt Smith who lives in the area.
Kurt is a great guy. We had been e-mailing each other back and forth exchanging a variety of information and stories of things we have in common.

Kurt recently started a business selling "e-guides" to a handful of ballparks such as Citi Field, Yankee Stadium, Citizens Bank Park and Fenway Park. He has a website dedicated to this. For more information, check out his site that's listed on my blog list.

The guides cost only $5.00 and they will be a steal of a deal when you utilize his ways of saving money.
Speaking of saving money, Kurt was kind enough to get to the Stadium area early so he could hold a parking spot for me.

Once I got there he pulled out and I pulled in. Now that's teamwork.

Since he couldn't join me for the game, we planned on going out for dinner that way we could talk face to face for the first time.

After dinner, Kurt drove me back near the Linc so I could get to the game on time which I did.
Thanks to my friend, Frankie Centola who arranged to get me a Club seat for the game which made my life real easy. I got the royal treatment as a result.

The Club entrance is separate from the regular entrance which was mobbed with late arriving fans.

With the help of other kind hearted people like myself, my visit to the Linc was a success.

As for the game, the Eagles went on to beat the Texans, 34-24. The Texans fell behind early but they stormed back to take the 27-24 late in the third quarter only to see the Eagles comeback and overtake them in the end.

It was another heartbreaking loss for the Texan fans.

Friday I was tired again since I drove home right after the Eagle game and I returned the car and went to work.

After work, I went home to rest up for the big weekend I had planned to the Queen City of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Just before I left work at 5:30PM Friday night my cell phone rang.

I answered it and it was Jake Cain, another roadtripper who lives in Cincinnati who I was planning to see over the weekend. He also has a website called Ballpark Savvy which you can also find on my blog list. Please feel free to check it out. It's to your advantage to do so.

I did that's how I got in contact with Kurt Smith.

He called me to tell me he's going to Texas for the weekend due to change in plans. I thought it was going to be a total missed opportunity. It wasn't thanks to Jake's brainstorming. He knew the King and I needed tickets for the University of Cincinnati Bearcat game Saturday at Noon. Jake and his father Dale have season tickets and a parking pass. Since Jake was going to be away he told me he was going to arrange to leave the tickets and the parking pass for us to use free of charge. That was very nice and thoughtful of him.

He said he would e-mail me the plan. When I woke up early Saturday morning the e-mail was on my Blackberry.

I proceeded to drive to the airport to catch my flight on Delta Airlines. I met the King there. After we got through security we went to the gate to get ready to board the plane. We finally get on the plane and a person in first class looks at us like he knew us. Yes, indeed he was right. The person we saw was Bob Kelly. Bob's brother Dennis and his wife Sue met us when we went to Japan in  March 2000 to see the Mets play the Cubs. Bob was flying home to Norfolk, Virginia via Cincinnati from a business trip. What timing that was.

I told Bob we have plans to go to Norfolk in the middle of March. He said we can have dinner at his house. That was very nice of him. He took a picture of the King and I and he sent it to his brother Dennis who lives in Irvine, California. What a small world it is we said. We saw Bob at Citi Field back in June when he came to New York to see the new stadium for the first time.

After arriving in Covington, Kentucky where the airport is located, I wound up meeting  up with Jake's father, Dale in Downtown Cincinnati and he gave me the tickets and the parking pass. He told me Merry Christmas and I said same to you and I mentioned that Christmas came early. The King and I were very grateful.

We proceeded to dodge the snow flurries and we went to Nippert Stadium to see the Pitt Panthers play the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Ironically last year I was in Pittsburgh to see these two teams play for the Big East Championship game. The Bearcats won a thriller, 45-44!

This time the Panthers returned the favor as they won 28-10 but the Big East Championship was not on the line.

It was an amazing experience watching a game in this old time venue. Mother nature helped enhance the experience by adding to the setting. I strongly suggest that if you haven't been to Nippert yet that you go there.

If you need any assistance, Jake Cain is there for you. Just get in contact with him so he can guide you along.

After the football game, the King and I went to see the Cincinnati Cyclones play the Florida Everblades in an ECHL minor league hockey game at the US Bank Arena.

The Everblades won,5-3!

Sunday we went to Paul Brown Stadium to see the "Who" Bowl. The hometown Bengals are referred to as " Who Dey" and the visiting Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints are known as "Who Dat".

As for the game, the Saints came marching in and they marched out of the 'Nati with the W. The Bengals who I saw play the Jets on Thanksgiving night beat themselves. They've had a rough season and this game was indicative of that fact.

The Saints blew a lead and came back to beat the Bengals, 34-30!

After the game, I drove the King to the airport so he could catch his 7PM flight home. He had to get to work.

On the other hand, I was flying home Monday morning.

A former co-worker of mine, Melissa Vierling got a job at the ABC affiliate WHAS-TV in Louisville, Kentucky as an account executive in late October.

I told her before she left that I'll come visit her and we can go out for dinner.

True to my word, after I dropped the King off at the airport I proceeded to drive 100 miles to meet Melissa for dinner at Joe's Crab Shack in Downtown Louisville right by the ballpark where the Louisville Bats play home of the Triple A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds.

I spend a few hours catching up with "Sweet Melissa". She's such a nice person. We enjoyed each other's company in the "Ville".

I would want to personally thank Melissa for making the time to see me. That was very thoughtful of her.

Another incredible week is now in the books.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman