Royalty is hitting the road again to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Buffalo, Cleveland, & Pittsburgh over Memorial Day Weekend!

Here's the game plan:

I'm renting a car from Enterprise Rent A Car on Friday morning to start Memorial Day weekend off right.

I'll be driving up North of the Border to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Buffalo, Cleveland & Pittsburgh to see some Major League Baseball games before returning to NYC early Monday morning. My pal Mike Carroll aka Sabre Mike as we call him is joining me as is my pal John Newkirk. In addition, I plan to see our pals Andrew Kulyk & Peter Farrell aka USRT who live in Buffalo along the way either in Toronto and/or in Buffalo for dinner Saturday night. Furthermore, due to a change in plans, another sports traveler, Paul Nieuwland who lives in Mississauga, Ontario which is a suburb of Toronto won't be able to join us now. Moreover, Sunday we'll be joined by our pal, Scott Bultman who's driving from Indianapolis to spend the day with royalty in Cleveland & Pittsburgh. 
             
Friday May 26th Columbus Crew at Toronto FC 7PM

Saturday May 27th Rangers at Blue Jays 1:07PM                                  

Sunday May 28th Royals at Indians 1:10PM

                              Mets at Pirates 8:05PM

Monday May 29th Brewers at Mets 4:10PM
           
If you're interested in going on this exclusive getaway royalty style just let me know so I can arrange to have you join Mike, John & I as well as the rest of the very special guests we're meeting along the way.

It's going to be a blast so why not come for a "royal" ride.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty meets up with USRT as they invade NYC to see the Knicks at Transformed Madison Square Garden!

Andrew Kulyk, me, the King & Peter Farrell at MSG 

After I returned the car I rented for the day from Avis Sunday morning, I took public transportation to midtown Manhattan & Madison Square Garden where I met up with the King and our fellow roadtripping buddies from Buffalo, Andrew Kulyk & Peter Farrell aka USRT who were visiting NYC. They decided when the NBA schedule came out back in late July, that Sunday January 13th would be the day they returned to NYC to see some NBA basketball.

The Knicks were hosting the New Orleans Hornets at Noon and the Brooklyn Nets were playing the Indiana Pacers at the Barclays Center at 6PM.

With that being said, I arranged to accommodate these guys so their latest visit would be as painless as possible. As it turned out, it was.

These guys have seen the Knicks play nine times together over the years and quite amazingly their record was 0-9 in those games. As this day got closer, I was hoping that the Knicks would find a way to win for these guys.

With that being said, all good things and in this case bad things have to come to an end I said to myself. Please let this be that day.

Before the game even started, these guys were raving about the transformation of the World's Most Famous Arena which is done with phase two now. There is still one more phase to go. That will occur after the basketball season is over.

As for the game we saw, the Knicks fell behind early, 29-22 after the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Knicks roared back as they out scored the Hornets, 27-12 to take a 49-41 lead at halftime. In the third quarter, the Hornets sliced into the deficit as they trailed by only five, 71-66. In the fourth quarter, the Knicks pulled away as they went on to defeat the Hornets by a score of 100-87.

With that being said, the USRT curse was lifted. These guys finally saw the Knicks win a game together. The King & I were so happy for them.

After the game, we all went on the subway to go to Brooklyn. On the way there, we got off the Q train we were on at DeKalb Avenue which is one stop from the Barclays Center. It should be noted it's also a ten minute walk from there as well.

The main reason we got off there was because we went to have dinner at a Brooklyn institution. I'm referring to Junior's Restaurant. Stay tuned for the special post I'm going to do about that.

In addition, I'm going to write a special post about the USRT's official visit to the Barlclays Center.

Please stay tuned for all the details.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty returns to Toronto to see baseball at the Rogers Centre with fellow roadtrippers!

Rogers Centre formerly known as Sky Dome

After spending the night in the Buffalo area, the King and I got up and we arranged to meet up with fellow roadtripper Andrew Kulyk from the Ultimate Sports Road Trip aka USRT. His travel partner, Peter Farrell was stuck working so he couldn't join us for the afternoon festivities North of the Border.

Before we left we ate breakfast together at a place that was perfect for the King and I. I'm referring to the Royal Restaurant as it's called which is right across the street from the Super 8 we stayed at. We ate there once before on a previous trip to Buffalo back in November 2011 so it was replay time.

After we ate, I drove Andrew and the King up to Toronto where we were meeting up with more fellow roadtrippers. We got to see our pal Bryan Gilligan who was there, along with Sean MacDonald who just moved to Singapore from Japan, his buddy Peter Sharp who he knows from Ottawa where he grew up, Eddie Pelle and Fredy Sanchez were present and accounted for and I got to meet up with another ballpark chaser named Bob Deal who was from Albany, NY. He was kind enough to meet us in section 525 which is behind home plate. I want to personally thank Bob for coming up since he had a seat with his friend on the lower level. It was an absolute pleasure to meet and greet another fellow sports fan. He happens to be a big Met fan. He plans to see some games at Citi Field when he comes down to visit his family on Long Island he said. We got to talk for a few innings. Bob has a great resume of sports travel under his belt. He said he prefers going to minor league and college baseball games. In matter of fact, in June he said he's going to see baseball played in the state of Utah for the very first time. He said and I quote "that's the last state that I haven't seen a baseball game in." Bob appeared to be a little older than me. It's always great to have the opportunity to cross paths with people who share the same interest and desire to do what we love to do.
I plan to see Bob more often in the future. He's just another example why it's always worth taking a ride to a ballpark because you never know what or who you're going to see on a given day or night.

As for the game we saw, most of us being Met fans it didn't turn out for the way we hoped it would. On the other hand though, as baseball fans we saw a dominant performance by Blue Jays' pitcher Brandon Morrow who shut the Mets down. He threw a complete game three hit shutout as the Blue Jays blanked the Mets, 2-0. More importantly, he did so in a very timely fashion. The game lasted a mere two hours and twelve minutes which gave us plenty of time to get back to Buffalo for the night cap if you will at Coca Cola Field in downtown Buffalo which is the home of the Buffalo Bisons, the Triple A affiliate of the Mets.

Stay tuned as I recap the next installment of this epic roadtripper reunion of Superfans as recently acknowledged by ESPN.com.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty is heading back up to Western New York, Toronto and Cleveland to visit some special people in a few weeks!

Here's the game plan:

I'm renting a car Friday morning from Avis for the weekend.

I'll be heading up to Western New York, Toronto and then I'll be continuing West through Erie, Pennsylvania en route to Cleveland, Ohio before returning home late Sunday night.

Friday, May 18th Louisville Bats at Rochester Red Wings 7:05PM

Saturday, May 19th Mets at Blue Jays 1:07PM

                                Indianapolis Indians at Buffalo Bisons 7:05PM

I'll be meeting up with our roadtrip buddies from Buffalo, Andrew Kulyk and Peter Farrell of the Ultimate Sports Road Trip aka USRT as well as Sean MacDonald and his pal Peter Sharp.

Sunday, May 20th Marlin at Indians 1:05PM

I plan to meet up with Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge as well as some other special guests from his media alliance network for a memorable breakfast. What a way to start a day.

In addition, I look forward to seeing our friend Bessanne who lives in Cleveland. She's planning to join me for the game as well.

If you're interested in going on this exclusive getaway royalty style just let me know so I can arrange to have you join me.

It's going to be a blast so why not come for a "royal" ride.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

The Prince sets a record for football games attended during the 2011 season!

After having a monster 2010 season of seeing 36 total football games (27 NFL and 9 College), I managed to surpass that in total in 2011. After all, living in the Northeast has its privileges.

In 2010, I saw more quality if you will and almost as much quantity.

I went to more venues and other parts of the country in 2010 which in some ways is much more impressive in my eyes.

In 2011, once the NFL lockout was officially over, I was able to follow through on my game plan. I knew I could see as many as 25 regular season NFL games. I usually shoot for 20 depending on how the schedule works out.

Thanks to many of the Northeast teams getting prime time exposure, I was able to take full advantage of the opportunity. I saw four NFL doubleheaders and I went to ten prime time games five on Sunday, four on Monday and one Thursday night during my recording shattering season.

In addition, I got to see four playoff games as well. One Wild Card, two Divisional Playoffs and the AFC Championship Game.

By doing so, I was able to keep my playoff streak of attending at least one every year since 1997 alive. I now have seen 38 total.

14 WC/15 DP/7 Championship Games/1 Super Bowl (Giants/Ravens) and 1 Pro Bowl.

Furthermore, I tied my 2010 record total of nine college football games too.

Here's the breakdown by home team and/or school:

NFL (29)
8 Jets
6 Eagles
5 Giants (Wild Card Game)
4 Ravens (Divisional Playoff)
3 Patriots (Divisional Playoff and AFC Championship Game)
1 Redskins
1 Browns
1 Vikings

College (9)
Kansas State
Temple
Columbia
Penn
Towson
Navy
Princeton
Buffalo
Pinstripe Bowl

Based on the NFL opponents for 2012, it looks like a tall order for me to break it again. I'll wait and see what happens.

When it comes to football, I'm the King.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty and company visit Western NY and Cleveland over the weekend Part Two!

National Anthem at Sabre Game

Saturday morning after spending the night sleeping at Super 8 in the Buffalo area, we started our day in typical royal fashion.

We ate a hearty breakfast at the Royal Restaurant which was conveniently located up the block from the hotel we stayed at.

What a perfect way to start another day. It got better as the day wore on as we got to meet up with part of the Ultimate Sports Road Trip aka USRT as our pal Andrew Kulyk joined us for the college football game we were attending as the University of Buffalo Bulls hosted the Akron Zips in a MAC conference game. Mind you both of these teams had horrible records.

As for the game we saw, the Bulls whipped up on the Zips by a score of 51-10. The Bulls took the opening kickoff back 93 yards to the Akron one yard line. Moments later, they scored a touchdown to make it 7-0 which set the tone for the remainder of the afternoon. The Zips almost got zipped as the Bulls tossed them a beatdown.

After the game, Andrew arranged to have us go to a place called Vizzi's Bar and Restaurant which is located in Kenmore, NY which wasn't far from the hotel we stayed at.

As for Vizzi's, they have been labeled as having the best burgers in Western New York. Needless to say, we decided to try it out to see if it lived up to its reputation. It sure did. They refer to them as monster burgers which come with fries for a mere $6.95. The burger was a massive chunk of meat that was served on a bun.

In addition, we had some "naked" wings if you will. That's the only way the King can handle them since he's such a picky eater. With that being said, Andrew and his partner Peter Farrell who was working showed up to join us, cringed at the plate of wings that was on the table. After all, Buffalo is notorious for their wings that are decorated in all kinds of sauce.

After we finished our great meal and drinks, we all headed over to Downtown Buffalo to see the Buffalo Sabres take on the Phoenix Coyotes at the newly named First Niagara Center formerly the HSBC Arena.
This was a big thrill for our friends Mike Carroll aka Sabre Mike and Frank Anichiarico who were seeing this building for the very first time.

It was especially a real big deal for Sabre Mike because the Sabres are his favorite hockey team. The King and I told him in the past we were going to take him there some day. Well that day finally came.

Unfortunately for him the final result wasn't what he hoped for as the Coyotes beat the Sabres, 4-2. He now has a good reason to come back some time in the future. If he does, hopefully the Sabres will win for him.

After the game, we said goodbye to the Buffalo Boys who as usual rolled out the red carpet and they treated us royally. They arranged to buy us our tickets to the game so we could all enjoy the game together. It's always a pleasure to see their guys and catch up on our travels past, present and future.

Speaking of that, please stay tuned for the final installment from this amazing weekend as I will write another post that will go into further detail regarding that and then some.

Trust me it will be worth the wait.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty is heading up to Western New York and Cleveland to visit some special people in a few weeks!

Here's the game plan:

I'm renting a car Friday morning from Avis for the week.

I'm going to pick up The King, our friend Frank Anichiarico and Mike Carroll aka Sabre Mike and we'll be heading up to Western New York and then we'll be continuing West through Erie, Pennsylvania en route to Cleveland, Ohio before returning home late Sunday night.

Friday, November 18th Hershey Bears at Syracuse Crunch 7:30PM

Saturday, November 19th Akron Zips at Buffalo Bulls 12 Noon

                                        Coyotes at Sabres 7PM

We'll be meeting up with our roadtrip buddies from Buffalo, Andrew Kulyk and Peter Farrell of the Ultimate Sports Road Trip aka USRT.

Sunday, November 20th Jaguars at Browns 1PM

I plan to meet up with Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge as well as some other special guests from his media alliance network for a memorable breakfast. What a way to start a day.  

In addition, I look forward to seeing our friend Bessanne who lives in Cleveland. She's planning to join us for the game as well.

If you're interested in going on this exclusive getaway royalty style just let me know so I can arrange to have you join us.

It's going to be a blast so why not come for a "royal" ride.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman