Royalty w/o 1/9 in review

View from the West Balcony

I basically spent my week at Madison Square Garden after work Monday-Thursday.

I took turns watching the Knicks on Monday and Wednesday nights and the Rangers on Tuesday and Thursday nights.

Here's how the games I saw went:

Monday night the Knicks hosted the Charlotte Bobcats. The Knicks played them the week before and they lost to them. I didn't go to that one. This time it was payback as the Knicks returned the favor as they beat the Bobcats, 91-87.

I did get to see Kemba Walker play as a pro for the first time. He played college ball at UCONN and he's from the Bronx. He came off the bench and he scored 10 points.

Tuesday night I saw the Rangers play the Phoenix Coyotes. I sat in the newly added West Balcony which is located upstairs behind the goal. It's a great aerial view of the action.

As for the game, it was scoreless after two periods. In the third period, both teams scored a goal which forced overtime. Neither team was able to score in the extra session so the game had to be decided in a shootout. This one took six rounds until the Rangers finally emerged victorious as Derek Stepan lit the lamp to give the Rangers the 2-1 victory in the skills competition.

Wednesday night I saw the Knicks take on the red hot Philadelphia 76ers who had won six in a row. The Knicks came to play as they held off the tired Sixers who played the two nights in a row prior to coming to the Garden. The Knicks won the game, 85-79.

Thursday night I saw the Rangers entertain the Ottawa Senators. Once again I sat up in the West Balcony. This time I wound up meeting a guy named Evans Longacre who was at the game with his co-workers. We spoke to each other during the game which enhanced my game experience on this night. I hope to see Evans down the road again.

As for the game, the Rangers had an off night as they failed to score a goal as they fell to the Senators, 3-0. Jason Spezza of the Senators scored two goals to lead the way. I'm a big fan of his since I remember seeing him play back in 1999 in Junior hockey. He has had himself a nice career with the Senators.

Friday night after work I came home and rested since there were no games of interest in the local area for me to attend.

More importantly, I had to do my wash and get ready for my busy weekend getaway for some playoff football and then some.

Stay tuned for the special post I'm going to do that will recap all the festivities of this classic weekend. It was very royal to say the least.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 11/1 in review

After resting up Monday night, I was planning to go to see the Knicks play the Magic at Madison Square Garden Tuesday night but the game was postponed due to an asbestos scare due to the on going construction of the latest renovation.

Wednesday night I went to the Prudential Center to see the Nets take on the Charlotte Bobcats.

The Nets appeared to be headed to another home victory but they blew a 10 point lead midway through the fourth quarter and they lost 85-83.

Boris Diaw lead all scorers with 24 points and Gerard Wallace poured in 20 to pace the Bobcats.

Devin Harris had 19 points while Brook Lopez added 17 in the losing effort. Rookie Derek Favors had 11 points.

After another night off Thursday, I went to the Garden Friday night where they deemed it safe to play.

The Knicks hosted the Washington Wizards who have John Wall, the number one pick in the draft who was making his NBA debut at the Garden.

As for the game, the Knicks won easily, 112-91.

The Knicks were lead by Toney Douglas who had 19 points. Amaure Stoudemire contributed 18 of his own in the win.

As for the Wizards, Andray Blatche lead them with 22 points and Gilbert Arenas had 19.

As for John Wall, he was erratic in his debut. He wound up scoring 13 points and he dished out 7 assists but he committed costly turnovers as the Wizards tried to back in the game. He's got a bright future. He's only 19 so in time he'll learn from his mistakes.

Saturday morning the King and I and our friend Frank went to Motown for the weekend.

Please stay tuned as I go into further detail regarding the getaway.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman