Royalty and company enjoy AFC Divisional Playoff Games in Foxboro and Baltimore!

Prince is in the house tonight

During the week leading up to the divisional playoff games, I got a call from Steve Fekete aka the Padre Punk who lives in Anaheim, California. He told me he wanted to come East for some royal treatment. He prides himself on seeing quality as he likes to say.

Once the matchups were set for the divisional playoffs, he booked a flight to come to NYC. We went back and forth during the week to coordinate his surprise visit.

Our friend Vincent Ascanio decided he wanted to make a royal road trip for the first time with me.
So with that being said, I had already booked a car rental from Avis anticipating going away for that weekend. Now the King and I had some additional company too.

Here's how it turned out. I woke up early Saturday morning and I went to Avis to pick up the car. I wound up getting a Crown Victoria which was perfect for this getaway.

After I got the car, I went near JFK airport to pick up Steve who flew in late Friday night. I went to his hotel and picked him up. I proceeded to go back home to Astoria to get the King. Then we drove to Queensbridge where we met Vincent.

With everybody in the car, we went on our way towards Foxboro. We arranged to have an appetizer if you will. We stopped off at the University of Rhode Island which is located in Kingston, Rhode Island. We went to the Thomas Ryan Center for the very first time to see the Rams of URI play the Dukes of Duquesne University.

What a beautiful arena it was. It was a perfect way to pass time on our way to see the New England Patriots play the Denver Broncos in prime time.

As for the game we saw, the Rams lost to the Dukes, 78-71.

After the game, we drove to Cranston, Rhode Island which was about 25 miles away going towards Foxboro. We went there because I arranged to meet a guy named Rick Forcino who I got in contact with on Craigslist earlier in the week. He had a pair of extra tickets so he was kind enough to sell them to me. It worked out perfectly as the King and I used them. They were located on the upper level halfway up at the 35 yard line.

Steve and Vincent were able to secure tickets through Ticketmaster so it worked out well for all of us.
We arrived in Foxboro shortly after 6PM. We parked the car in the $20 lot which is the cheapest you'll found in the area. We proceeded to walk towards Gillette Stadium.

We stopped off at Papa Gino's to have some pizza on the way before we braved the elements to watch the game.

We all indulged in a hearty meal. We then continued about a mile to get to the Stadium.

We all went in and picked a place to meet after the game.

As for the game we saw, it was over early for all intent and purposes, the Patriots scored a touchdown on the first drive of the game. It took them a mere 1:51 to drive down the field to take the early 7-0 lead. That drive set the tone for the rest of the evening as the Broncos couldn't get out of their own way.

The Patriots' defense stifled them the whole night. Tim Tebow wound up getting hurt in the second quarter but he showed heart and he continued to battle through it but his team proved to be no match for the Pats on this night. The Patriots cruised to an easy 45-10 victory as they will host the AFC Championship Game against the winner of the Ravens and Texans.

It should be noted that the King hinted that we could leave early but he knew that was going on deaf ears as I had no intention of checking out early despite the lopsided score.

As a result, we got to see Tom Brady even punt the ball late in the game.

We met up with Steve and Vincent after the game and we all walked back to the car together.

We pulled out of the parking lot at 12:14AM as we headed towards Baltimore which was 400 miles away where we were going to see the Baltimore Ravens play the Houston Texans at 1PM Sunday afternoon.

We arrived in Aberdeen, Maryland at a Super 8 at 6:14AM where we got some sleep. We checked out at 10:45AM and we continued the drive to Baltimore which was 30 miles away.

Everybody was amazed that I was able to stay awake overnight to drive us all safely to our destination.
I made sure I got enough sleep and rest during the week so I would be up to the task. Thankfully I was.
We parked the car on the street in the neighborhood upon arrival in Baltimore. We then walked over to M&T Bank Stadium which was nearby. We all went to the will call window where we picked up the tickets we ordered during the week from Ticketmaster.

In addition, we met up with our pal, Andrew Van Cleve who took the train down from Philadelphia. It was great to see him again.

After the game, we went out to eat with Andrew and we drove him home on our way back to NYC.
Before the game, I went upstairs to section 500 so I could say hello to my friend, Nib Pirrung who's been a Raven season ticket holder since day one when they moved to Baltimore. It was great to see him again as well.

As for the game we saw, the Ravens fell behind 3-0 as their defense clamped down after the Texans got a nice return on the opening kick off.

The Ravens proceeded to take the lead. The Texans battled back all day but they couldn't get over the hump as the Raven defense came up big when they needed to as the Ravens escaped with a 20-13 victory to advance to the AFC Championship Game in Foxboro.

After the game, we all ate in Baltimore then I dropped Andrew off in Philadelphia at 9PM. We drove back to Brooklyn where Vincent lives. I dropped him off at 11:15PM.

Then I took Steve, the King and I back to Astoria. We arrived there a few minutes before midnight. Steve spent the night with us.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty sees Jets fall short in Pittsburgh!‏

After the Jets shocked the Patriots in Foxboro, the King and I set our sights on going to Pittsburgh again. This time for the AFC Championship Game.

We stopped off at a Wendy's in Warwick, Rhode Island to get something to eat on our way home.

Surprisingly, we weren't alone. In fact we had a bunch of Jet fans who arrived there around the same time as us. After we ordered and started eating more came in. It was quite a scene.

We all started talking to each other. One guy in particular exchanged contact information with me. His name was Brian Moffett. Brian told me he has a house on Staten Island and a place in Manhattan. The King and I said we were from Queens.

We said we're going to Pittsburgh next Sunday. I was planning to rent a car. Brian responded you don't have to, I'll drive my wife's car there.

After communicating back and forth all week, we arranged to meet up by the King's place in Astoria Sunday morning.

All we had to do next was secure tickets for the game.

By Tuesday night, I had a deal in place through Craigslist with a guy named Rob Jones who lived in the Pittsburgh area.

Thanks to our friend Mike Irr who lives in Pittsburgh we were able to pull off the transaction.

After work I spoke to Rob and I told him the situation. He seemed reluctant to overnight the tickets.

After I heard the horror stories he had to deal with because a few other people told him they wanted the tickets before I spoke to him, I couldn't blame him.

I personally knew what it was like since it's happened to me on a number of occasions too.

With that being said, I managed to convince Rob that he wouldn't have a problem dealing with me.

I proceeded to have our friend Mike Irr go to meet him at a mall that was convenient for both of them so they could make the exchange.

By Wednesday morning, the deal was finalized. Rob got his money and Mike got our tickets.

All we had to do was meet Mike in Pittsburgh to get them. Since the weather forecast was going to be so brutal, Mike didn't want to attend the game.

In the meantime, Brian found another person on Craigslist who wanted a ride to the game.

His name was Nick Pallas.

Nick was an interesting young man. He's only 26 and he's been over the world already he told us. This is partly due to being a military veteran since he spent 3 years with the US Marines.

In addition, he has his own photography business where he does weddings and other special events all around the world.

For further details, please feel free to check out his website, http://www.nickypallas.com/.

Nick met us in Astoria as well and we all went to see the Jets play the Steelers at Heinz Field.

Before getting there we had to make a pit stop in Crafton, Pennsylvania which is located about 12 miles West of Pittsburgh to meet our friend Mike Irr who had our tickets.

We gave him the money he laid out for us and he gave us the tickets for the game.

We went back to the downtown Pittsburgh area so we could get ready for the big game.

We wound up circling around the area to find a parking spot. We ironically wound up parking on the same street that we did for the Winter Classic on New Year's Day night.

After we parked the car, we all finished layering up and then we walked over to Heinz Field to witness history. The winner was going to Dallas to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.

As for the game we saw, we came with high hopes and we left with disappointment.

The Jets decided that like most games this season they would play a partial game and they thought they would rely on another miracle finish to get them to the Super Bowl in Dallas.

This time their luck ran out. They dug too deep a hole in the first half to overcome their lackluster start.

It started when they won the coin toss and they decided to defer their possession to the second half.

By doing so, they put their defense on the field first. Their defense was awful in the first half, they couldn't stop the Steelers offense especially running back Rashard Mendenhall who ran wild as the Steelers built a 24-3 lead at half time.

In the second half, it was a different story. The Jets finally woke up. Unfortunately they appeared to have a chance to mount a comeback and possibly win the game but the Steeler defense stuffed them at the goal line as time kept ticking away.

The Jets wound up coming up short for the second year in a row as they lost 24-19!

On the bright side, they have a potential legend in the making at quarterback in Mark Sanchez.

After getting blind sided by Ike Taylor late in the second quarter that led to the ultimate winning touchdown, Mark came back in the second half and he was magnificent.

He put the Jets in position to win but once again the defense couldn't give him one last chance to engineer another miracle finish.

His time will come. Time will tell. He's a very special talent. We'll wait and see if in due time he does indeed get over the hump.

Despite the tale of two halves, I still found a way to enjoy myself throughout the day and night.

First we got to meet and greet Brian and Nick then when we were at the game I got to talk to a few young guys who were from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

They were Joseph D'Urso and his friend Angelo. I had a great time being able to meet and greet them too.

Joseph was attending first ever NFL game. Since he's from Canada that's makes a lot of sense.

Angelo said he liked the Packers but he was there because his brother and cousin were going and they were big Steeler fans. They wound up sitting in a different location.

Luckily for me, Joseph and Angelo were right next to me so we were able to enjoy each other's company.

We exchanged contact information so I hope to cross paths with them again in the future.

Despite the Jets coming up on the short end of the score, it was well worth the time and money it took to be there live.

On the other hand, if I stayed home none of this would have happened.

That's what life's all about. Everyday is a gift and a potential adventure.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman