This week started off slow as I was able to catch up on needed rest on Monday and Tuesday after going to work following another great weekend getaway in Buffalo and Cleveland.
Wednesday night after work I went out to the Nassau Coliseum for the first time this season to see the Islanders try to break their losing streak against the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Islanders fell behind 2-0 in this game until they finally scored late in the second period to get back into the game at 2-1. It stayed that way until late in the third period when the Lightning struck again to make it 3-1. 21 seconds later the Islanders answered to make it a one goal game again with a minute and 8 seconds to go in regulation time. The Lightning added an empty net goal with 16 seconds left to seal the Islanders fate. Hence their losing streak continued.
After another night off Thursday night I was able to rest up for another busy weekend in the Northeast.
After working a half a day, I went to Avis to rent a car for the weekend. I proceeded to pick up the King and off to Boston we went.
We had to dodge the brutal Friday traffic as we headed North to Beantown as we were going to the TD Garden to see the Boston Celtics host the Oklahoma City Thunder at 7PM. I did my very best to get us there on time but given the circumstances we had to work with that was humanly impossible.
We wound up arriving in the second quarter. Thanks to our good friend and long time buddy James Gabriele who arranged to provide royal treatment for the King and I. He was able to score us a pair of incredible seats 16 rows up from the court near the free throw line. What a view we had.
As for the game, we were listening to the beginning of it as we were driving there. It was disappointing to hear that the Thunder were playing without their top superstar Kevin Durant. That just made a bad rough ride rougher.
We did our best to enjoy the game regardless. The Thunder even without Durant managed to beat the hometown Celtics, 89-84! It was tightly contested game right throughout but in the end the Celtics couldn't make enough shots as the Thunder hung on to win.
Saturday we went to Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts to see the Boston College Eagles take on the Virginia Cavaliers at Noon.
We wound up meeting up with a fellow road tripper by the name of Matt Veitas. Matt is a partner of my buddy, Paul Swaney who runs the website Stadium Journey. Stadium Journey is the place to go if you need to find out information beforehand of what to expect when you attend a live sporting event at a particular venue. Their site has in depth analysis so you can get a taste of what goes on ahead of time. Matt told me they're in the midst of revamping their site to make it more interactive and better. As far as I'm concerned they do a great job. Please feel free to check it out at
http://www.stadiumjourney.com/.
As for the game we saw at Alumni Stadium, Boston College squeaked past the Cavaliers, 17-13! With the victory, the Eagles become bowl eligible for the 12th straight season. Way to go, BC.
After the game, the King and I went back to the TD Garden in Boston to see the Boston Bruins take on the LA Kings at 7PM. The bruins fell behind early in this one. They gave up three goals and they trailed the Kings 3-0 early in the second period. They fought back and they eventually tied the game at three. It stayed that way in overtime. In order to break the tie, they went to a shootout to declare a winner. A shootout normally goes three rounds to decide a winner unless neither team outscores the other then they continue until they do.
In this case, the shootout lasted six rounds with the King's Michael Handzus scoring the only goal but it was the decisive one that gave the Kings the 4-3 victory.
After the game we drove home to get some sleep as we got ready for a rare NFL doubleheader. The rarity was that we got to see the Jets and the Giants play in the same day in two different Stadiums.
Stay tuned because I'm going to do a special post recapping this amazing day.
Thank you for reading and following along.
Yours truly,
Gary Herman
