Royalty w/o 11/7 in review

After enjoying a memorable weekend in Annapolis and Washington DC, I went back to work Monday. I left early so I could go back to the car I rented. I met the King and we drove down to Philadelphia to see the Eagles play the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football.

We met up with our friend Frankie Centola in Philly who arranged to get us tickets for the game.

As for the game we saw, it was a good one. The Eagles and Bears battled it out but when it was all said and done, the Bears escaped the City of Brotherly Love with a big win, 30-24.

As a result, our friends from Chicago, the Van Cleves were thrilled and relieved that their Bears' rose to the occasion on enemy territory. Nicole, Andrew and Dylan aka the Ultimate Sports Wife, Fan and Baby were there with us in spirit.

After the game, I drove the King to the Post Office at Grand Central Station here in NYC where he started work at 2AM. I then took myself home. I got some sleep then I had to go to Avis and return the car before it was my turn to go back to work.

Tuesday night after work tired and all I went to the Prudential Center in Newark to see the Devils play the Carolina Hurricanes. We wound up seeing a decent game as the Devils came out on top as rookie Adam Henrique scored the game winning goal with 3:19 left in third period to give the Devils the 3-2 decision in regulation time.

Wednesday and Thursday after work, I got to catch up on rest which was much needed after the busy weekend and start to the week I had.

Friday night after work I arranged to meet my Cousin Andy who joined me, the King and our friend Bryan Gilligan for the Devil game against the Washington Capitals. It was great to see him again. He always enjoys our company and the royal treatment we provide.

As for the game we saw, the Devils broke through first as they scored the first goal of the game when rookie Adam Larsson scored his first NHL goal to give them the early lead. The Devils were shut out the rest of the night as the Capitals turned it up a notch. They scored the equalizer late in the second period when their superstar Alex Ovechkin put the biscuit in the basket to tie the game at one.

In the third period, the Capitals' got a shorthanded goal early from Jason Chimera to take the lead for good. They added an insurance goal as they won the first game of the home and home weekend series, 3-1.

Saturday morning I woke up early and I went back to Avis to rent another car for the weekend.

I drove back and I picked up the King and we drove to Princeton, NJ for a college football game as the Yale Bulldogs were visiting the Princeton Tigers.

The King and I had company as we got to see some of the many sports fans we know. I'm talking about Steve Tepperman aka Princeton Steve as we call him. In addition, we also had our pal Pat Gorman there as well as Richie Iannotta who happened to be present too. Last but not least we got to see a guy from Philadelphia we know as Sleepy Bob, who we haven't seen in a very long time. We all enjoyed each other's company.

As for the game we saw, the Yale Bulldogs held on this time as they beat the Princeton Tigers, 33-24 unlike when we saw them lose to Penn last month. The one bright spot for the Tigers was that we got to see history as their true freshman running back Chuck Dibilio ran for 178 yards on the ground and he scored three touchdowns. By doing so, he got himself into the history book as he became the first true freshman player in the history of the Ivy League to rush for over 1,000 yards.

After the game, the King and I drove down to Washington DC so we could the back end of the Devils and Capitals home and home series at the Verizon Center where tickets these days are hard to come by.

Thankfully our good friend Peter Agnew who has Capital season tickets was able to accomodate us. Since he was going to see Notre Dame play Maryland in a college football game at FedEx Field that night, his club seats were available. With that being said, the King and I decided to buy them from him.

It was our first time seeing a game there on the club level. It was a treat as we had a great view of the action. This time the Devils fell behind early 2-0 in the first period. They came back and tied the game at two after two periods. They played a scoreless third period and overtime.
The game was decided by a shootout which lasted four rounds before the Devils outlasted the Capitals, 3-2 to split the weekend series.

After the game, we drove to Aberdeen, Maryland where we spent the night.

Sunday morning we stopped off at the Waffle House for breakfast before we went to Philadelphia to see the Eagles try to keep their season alive. After losing to the Bears Monday night, the Eagles couldn't afford to lose again. This time they were hosting the Arizona Cardinals who I saw a few weeks prior in Baltimore where they blew a 21 point lead as they lost to the Baltimore Ravens.

This time the Cardinals fell behind by a touchdown early. They fought hard all game long despite their place kicker Jay Feely missing a few field goals. They persevered and when it was all said and done, the Cardinals delivered the knockout punch as they beat the Eagles, 21-17.

After the game, the King and I drove back up to MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands to see the Sunday night game between the Jets and their division rival, the New England Patriots.

The Jets' place kicker Nick Folk followed former Jet Jay Feely's lead as he missed a field goal on the Jets' first drive of the game after they went down the field like it was nothing. That miss set the tone for the evening as it turned out. The Patriots came into the game looking like they were beatable but the Jets couldn't find a way to beat them.

The Jets' hung tough in the first half. The second half proved to be a different story as the Patriots' made the necessary adjustments as they exploited the Jets on their way to a 37-16 triumph over their nemesis who knocked them out of the playoffs back in the middle of January. As a result, it appears the Jets hopes of winning the AFC East are a long shot now at best.

With that another royal week is in the books for the King and I.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty took the long way home from "Sweet Home Chicago"!‏

After spending the Sunday after Christmas in Chicago watching the Bears and the Blackhawks play with great company, the real adventure was about to start.

Thanks to mother nature, my flight on Southwest Airlines that Monday from Chicago to New York was cancelled. When I tried to rebook the flight they told me the next available flight was on Friday.

They said I could get a refund since the weather caused the flight to be cancelled.

Before I decided to take the refund, I looked into my other options.

First I called to inquire about renting a car so I could drive myself home. After getting ridiculous quotes, I decided to contact an old friend, Greyhound that is. As they say, "You can leave the driving to us."

In the early days of Royalty, that's the way the King and I got places.

In the late 1980's, the King and I took many bus rides to the Midwest to see our sporting events.

For the first time in a long time, I got to relive the memories as I decided that taking Greyhound made the most sense for me to get home in a timely and cost effective fashion.

I called Greyhound and I found out that the bus was leaving Chicago 4PM Central time on Monday. It would arrive in New York Port Authority Bus Terminal at 10:25AM Tuesday morning.

It wound up costing me a few dollars less than Southwest Airlines so I decided that was the way to go.

I proceeded to call Southwest and they gave me a credit on my credit card.

I checked out of the Travelodge and walked over to the Greyhound Bus station which was less than a mile away.

I charged up a one way fare so I could get home ASAP.

In the end, it worked out well. I got to make a stop in Cleveland where we connected before continuing to NYC. We also stopped in Newark, NJ too which thanks to the horrible weather in the area and the slow traffic we wound up arriving at the Port Authority Bus Terminal at 11:07AM.

Upon arrival, I walked downstairs to the subway and I took the E train back to Queens where I picked up the Q46 bus which took me within 3 blocks of my house.

After walking down the streets that weren't plowed yet, I finally got outside my house at 12:40PM.

Unfortunately I needed to shovel my way into the house since the snow was so deep. We did get 20 inches.

I decided to knock on a neighbor's door and they took my bags and put them inside their house for me.

In addition, they let me borrow a shovel and off to work I went.

It took me two hours to finally clear the snow. I got into the house at 2:40PM.

What a long strange trip it was.

But wait it wasn't over yet. I still had to get my car home which was parked on the street by LaGuardia Airport.

Last night I finally got to go there and lucky for me the snow was melted so all I had to do was get in and drive it home.

Mission accomplished!

Another successful road trip was in the books.

This is just another example of how royalty finds ways to make things happen.

When life throws you for a loop, you need to be prepared to react accordingly.

In this case, I did my best to solve the problem.

Stay tuned as the rest of the royalty week of 12/27 in review awaits.

When I get a chance I'll go into all the details.

2010 ended on a high and 2011 is off to a surprising start.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 9/27 in Review

Monday night after a rough day at work thanks to a lack of sleep I got a blessing in disguise thanks to mother nature. I was on my way to Citi Field when the King called me to tell me the Met game was postponed and rescheduled for a 4:10PM doubleheader Wednesday.

With that being said, I went home to catch up on some much needed rest.

Tuesday night I went to Citi Field to see the Mets play the Brewers who were making their first visit to Citi Field since April 2009 when the ballpark opened.

The Brewers like the Mets were wrapping up a disappointing season.

As for the game I saw, the starting pitchers Randy Wolf of the Brewers threw 7 good innings giving up just 2 runs. For the Mets, Mike Pelfrey pitched well giving up 3 runs in 7 and a third innings of work.
Neither starter got a decision in this one though as the bullpens took over and they wound up deciding the outcome.

The Mets were trailing 3-2 going to the bottom of the ninth inning when they made a rare dramatic comeback at Citi Field. Ike Davis led off with a double, after Nick Evans struck out, Josh Thole singled hard to left field advancing Ike Davis to third base. Second baseman Ruben Tejada wound up being the hero when he delivered a game winning double to left center field as Davis and pinch runner Luis Castillo scored all the way from first base with the winning run.

The Mets won, 4-3!

Wednesday night I arrived at Citi Field in time for the second game of the doubleheader since I was working until 5:30PM.

After a wild and long first game which the Brewers won, 8-7, I had plenty of time to relax for a change and I had dinner before arriving at Citi Field for the 8:16PM first pitch.

In the nightcap, the Brewers wound up winning again. This time by a 3-1 score.

The Brewers starter Dave Bush pitched six shutout innings to earn the victory. For the Mets, R.A. Dickey pitched well allowing one run over seven innings when Mets moronic manager Jerry Manuel decided to pinch hit for him.

In the end, the all time saves leader, Trevor Hoffman, came in to get the last three outs in the ninth inning to notch his 601st career save. Royalty doesn't put much stock in saves.

Astute baseball observers like myself know that as long as you need a "closer" these days, the best in the business is Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees.

Thursday night with mother nature potentially causing havoc again, I went back to Citi Field hoping she would cooperate and this time she did.

The Mets continuing to play out the string of their disappointing season, they secured another losing season when as they lost to the Brewers, 9-2!

Friday night which marked the start of the final weekend at Citi Field was a memorable one as the Mets once again won in their final at bat.

This time catcher Josh Thole was the man in the spotlight as he hit a game winning home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Mets a thrilling 2-1 victory over the visiting Washington Nationals.

Saturday afternoon I was back at Citi Field for a short visit knowing that our friend Bryan Gilligan was going to drive the King and I 200 miles south to Baltimore, Maryland afterwards so we could see another baseball game at Camden Yards at 7:05PM.

With that being said, we wound up leaving Citi Field at 3:33PM after the Nationals batted in the top of the seventh inning. The game was tied at 2 when we left the building.

When we got into the car and started to make our way down south, the Mets took the lead 5-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning when David Wright hit a three run homer.

In the eighth inning, pinch hitter Chris Carter hit a two run home run to extend the lead to 7-2 and that's the way it ended.

Thanks to Bryan's great driving we arrived in Camden Yards just in time for the 7:06PM first pitch.

We decided to sit downstairs to get a "birds eye" view of this one. I've been to Camden Yards at least once every year since it opened back in 1992. It was the original retro ballpark model. It's like a modern day Wrigley Field. If you haven't had the privilege of going there yet to see a baseball game I strongly suggest that you do so in 2011. Needless to say, if you need any assistance in order to make it happen, Royalty is here for you when you're ready to do so. Just say the word.

As for the game, we saw a nice fast well pitched one between the visiting Detroit Tigers and the hometown Baltimore Orioles.

Both teams were playing out the string and we still saw a good crisp ballgame which I thoroughly enjoyed.

The Tigers took an early 1-0 lead when third baseman Brandon Inge hit a solo home run.
The Orioles tied it up when right fielder Nick Markakis blasted a solo shot of his own.
Catcher Matt Wieters added a long sacrifice fly to give the Orioles the lead which they didn't relinquish.
The Orioles won, 2-1! The game ended two hours after it started at 9:06PM.

On the other hand, we only saw 6 and a half innings in two hours and 22 minutes at Citi Field.

Sunday I went back to Citi Field for the last time in 2010 as the Mets and Nationals took 4 hours and 14 minutes before they decided enough was enough.

Mets manager Jerry Manuel who was managing his last game waited until the 14th inning to make his smartest decision of the day. He decided to get the game over with. He brought in seldom used and highly overpaid pitcher Oliver Perez who hopefully has seen his last game as a Met despite the fact they owe him 12 million dollars for next year.

With the game tied at 1, Ollie proceeded to hit a batter and walk three others to eventually force in the winning run to give the Nationals the 2-1 victory in 14 innings.

Thank you Ollie for all the fond memories!

After spending a long windy day at Citi Field, the King and I were finally off to the New Meadowlands Stadium to see the Giants smother the Bears, 17-3 in primetime!

For all the details of that game, please check back. I'll be doing a special post.

As always, thank you for reading and following along.

I hope in the future you'll be part of the story. If you want to be, you just need to let me know and I'll make it happen.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty will be in Chicago for Christmas night and weekend!

Here's the game plan:

Christmas Day

Chicago Bulls at New York Knicks at Noon Eastern Time

5:55PM flight from NY LaGuardia on Southwest Airlines arriving in the Second City at 7:15PM Central Time

Plan to spend some quality time with Andrew Van Cleve and his family.

Here's the link to his great website and blog:

http://www.anygame-anywhere.com/ 

Sunday December 26th

Jets at Bears Noon Central Time *assuming the game time doesn't change*

Columbus Blue Jackets at Chicago Blackhawks 6PM

Monday December 27th

I fly home.

Flight leaves Midway Airport at 9:45AM Central Time and arrives at NY LaGuardia at 12:50PM Eastern Time

This is just a quick sample how fast Royalty reacts to taking care of business.

When you're ready for a taste you know who to contact.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman