Royalty is going to Delaware, Washington DC & Cleveland over the first weekend of November!

Here's the game plan:

I'm renting a car Saturday morning November 3rd from Avis for the weekend.

I'll be driving to Delaware then to Washington DC after that I'll be heading to Cleveland before returning home late Sunday night.

Saturday, November 3rd Towson Tigers at Delaware Blue Hens 12 Noon

                                     Celtics at Wizards 7PM

Sunday, October 21st Ravens at Browns 1PM

I hope to meet up with Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge as well as some other special guests from his media alliance network. If I do, it's definitely going to be a thrill.

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

Royalty w/o 10/24 in review

This was another week that started slow as far as attending live sporting events, but it did end in royal fashion when the week was all said and done.

I wound up going home after work four straight nights Monday-Thursday because they're were no local games I could get to after work. As a result, I wound up watching the World Series on TV instead.
Friday night I didn't see a game either live or on TV. I went out to Avis after work instead to pick up a car for the weekend which turned out to be a surprise preview of winter that was coming our way.

I drove 175 miles to Lancaster, Pennsylvania where my parents now live on a full time basis. After struggling to get out of NYC thanks to traffic, I finally arrived there just after midnight.

I did get to listen to the radio as the St. Louis Cardinals became World Champions again for the 11th time in their history. The most by any National League team I might add. The Texas Rangers blew that memorable Game 6. They were a strike away from winning not once but twice. It turned out to be a hard fought not necessarily a well played World Series but it did create interest as it went seven games for the first time since 2002.

Now the "off season" if you will is officially upon us. That depends on how you look at it. I don't really have such a thing. For me, now it's football season until late January, early February.

In addition, I have hockey to follow too. I like basketball but since the NBA is locked out, my options in the local area are limited as far as college goes but I plan to see some along the way as well.

In the meantime, I went to visit my parents and I got to take in some football games too. Quite amazingly, the weather felt like it was sometime in January. When I checked the calendar I didn't remember Halloween coming and going. I was right it was still a few days away. It was strange but like royalty it was true.

With winter in the air, I still decided to take an adventurous ride to Towson, Maryland which was 75 miles from Lancaster. I saw an opportunity to see some lower level football since my options in the Northeast were limited on that Saturday. I passed up a chance to go to Reading, PA for other royal treatment in the form of ECHL hockey where the Reading Royals play. I preferred to brave the elements and see a new venue, Johnny Unitas Stadium where the Towson Tigers play. On this night, they hosted the Blue Hens of the University of Delaware.

As for the game I saw, it was a rather entertaining one. Despite the less than ideal playing conditions with the wind howling and some light snow falling during the game, I thoroughly enjoyed my time outside. It turned out to be a seesaw battle as the lead changed five different times during the game. The hometown Tigers roared out to a early 10-0 lead before the visiting Blue Hens came back to take the lead, 14-10. The Tigers went back ahead, 16-14. Then the Blue Hens took over for a while building a 29-16 advantage. The Tigers once again answered by scoring a few more touchdowns to go up, 30-29. Delaware took the lead for good, 36-30 as the Tigers blew a few chances late in the game by making critical and costly mistakes. The Blue Hens pulled off the upset of their neighboring rival which is only 58 miles away in nearby Newark, Delaware.

After the game, I drove back to Lancaster and I spent the night with my parents. After getting a good night sleep and having a hearty home cooked breakfast, I said goodbye to them and I went back to Baltimore, Maryland to see the Ravens play the Arizona Cardinals in game one of my NFL football doubleheader.

I lucked out big time at the Raven game. I wound up getting myself a nice upgrade. I ended up sitting right at the 50 yard line in section 500 in the last row. I met a gentleman named Harry who said everybody knows him as "Nib". We enjoyed each other's company throughout the game. He has season tickets there and he told me to stay since one of his seats was empty. He was with his daughter and her boyfriend and some other family members. He said he's seen every Raven home game since day one when they moved to Baltimore in 1996. He's been a season ticket holder for them for 16 years now. He said he liked the Redskins but he could never get tickets for them back in the day. So instead since he's a big football fan he decided to get Ravens tickets.

As I like to say "timing is everything". On this day, I was in the right place at the right time. Nib was impressed with my score keeping. For those of you who don't know, I do keep track of the play by play when I'm at a football game live. It's fun and educational. Nib took a liking to my style. I told him I saw the Ravens play the Jets at the beginning of October and I mentioned to him I'm planning to come back for Thanksgiving night to see the 49er game. He told me I can join him and his family and friends for their massive tailgate party which starts 4 or 5 hours before kickoff. We exchanged contact information and I plan to take him up on his generous offer.

Please check back for the recap of that special occasion.

In the meantime, the game we saw was shaping up to be another nightmare for the Ravens as they fell behind the visiting Arizona Cardinals 24-3 late in the second quarter. Needless to say, the natives were restless and they started booing at halftime as the Ravens were trailing, 24-6.

The Ravens went into the locker room and they came out playing like the Ravens team I thought they were as they came back to take a 27-24 lead on the first play from scrimmage in the fourth quarter as Ray Rice ran for a 3 yard touchdown, his third of the day as the Ravens took the lead. The Cardinals later tied the score at 27 but the Ravens failed to get the game into overtime as they won it at the end of regulation with no time left as their kicker Billy Cundiff kicked a 25 yard field goal to give the Ravens a 30-27 victory. It should be noted as a result of this huge comeback I witnessed history as the Ravens overcame their largest deficit to win a game. I got to celebrate the occasion with Nib who like Ray Lewis is an original Raven. I want to personally thank Nib for enhancing my latest Raven experience. I truly had a blast.

After the game, I drove back towards NYC but I made a pit stop in Philadelphia first to see the night cap of my NFL double dip as the Philadelphia Eagles destroyed their arch division rival Dallas Cowboys, 34-7.

I got to spend the evening with our good friend Frankie Centola who goes to all the Eagle games. In addition, he arranged to get me my ticket.

Afterwards, I drove back home to get a few hours sleep then I went to Avis and I returned the car and back to work I went.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 2/21 in review‏

Upon returning from Western Canada Monday night, I was able to catch up on rest.

Tuesday I went back to work and home for more rest and clean up since there were no games to attend in the local area.

Wednesday night after work I went to Legends Night at Madison Square Garden.

In addition, the Knicks finally made a splash as they acquired Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups from the Denver Nuggets late Tuesday night.

As a result, the Garden was an electric atmosphere for the first time in a long time for the Knicks.

It reminded me of the 90's when the Garden rocked on a nightly basis.

The Melo effect has taken the City by storm. It looked like Halloween as many people changed their wardrobe overnight as they dressed up in t-shirts and jerseys with the number seven on them in support of him.

This night set the tone for many years to come at the World's Most Famous Arena as it continues to undergo its transformation into World's Most State of the Art Arena.

The Garden is known as the mecca of basketball. Now the City's game is back and so are the fans. On this night, it was packed with people wearing orange and blue.

During halftime, the Knicks honored their Legends of years past.

They did it by decade. In the 60's, they recognized Dick Barnett who was known for his fall back jumper.

In the 70's, they acknowledged the "Pearl" Earl Monroe who they acquired from the Baltimore Bullets and he arrived in time to be part of the 1973 World Championship team.

In the 80's, a local product from Queens and St. John's, playmaker Mark Jackson was honored.

In the 90's, fan favorite John Starks was introduced to the crowd to a rousing ovation. He was best known for his slam dunk over Michael Jordan in the playoffs back in the day.

In the 2000's, sharp shooter Allan Houston whose runner in the lane enabled the Knicks to beat the Heat as they went to the Finals back in 1999.

Now the Melo effect has ignited the city for many years to come.

As for his debut, he led the Knicks to victory as they beat the Bucks, 114-108!

Melo had 27 points and he grabbed 10 rebounds to help his team get the win.

Newcomer Chauncey Billups played well too.

For one night, it looked like a good move. Time will tell for sure.

The Knicks did have to part with a lot of good young talent to make this deal finally happen.

Business wise it was a no brainer. The question is will they eventually win another championship. As for an answer, we'll have to wait and see.

Thursday and Friday I went home again after work due to the lack of events in the area.

Over the weekend, I got to see a double dip on Saturday as I took a short drive to Hofstra University where the King and I saw the Pride take on the Blue Hens of Delaware on Senior Day.

As part of the festivities, the Pride retired uniform number 22 for Senior guard Charles Jenkins who's from Queens.

In his last regular game Jenkins finished scoring 21 points to lead the Pride to an easy 79-60 victory.

With less than a minute to go, Jenkins checked out for the final time and he received a standing ovation from the crowd.

The King and I were joined by our new found friend Eddie who loves attending college basketball games. In matter of fact, he went all the way to Alaska to see a game on a wild trip he made in late January as he flew out to Detroit then to Edmonton then to the Bay Area in California before he decided to brave the freezing cold weather as he went up to the last frontier. On his way back he stopped off in Minneapolis and he drove to Green Bay to see a college basketball game before he finally came back to NYC.

We were able to relate well with him since we just came back from Western Canada. We enjoyed each other's company throughout the game.

We were impressed with his excursion. He still thinks what we've done over the years is amazing.

We asked him if he wanted to join us for the Islanders/ Washington Capitals game we were attending across the street. He said he couldn't since he had other plans that he was committed to already. He did appreciate the offer though.

The King and I went to grab some dinner between games.

Afterwards we went to the Nassau Coliseum to see the second game of our convenient doubleheader.

This was my 1,500th NHL game I've seen in person. Ironically my first one was also at the Coliseum back on January 17, 1980 when the Islanders hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs.

As for this one, we saw a good one as the Islanders before a rare sellout crowd took an early 2-0 lead during the first half of the game. As the game wore on, the Islanders got worn out. They wound up giving up a goal to get the Capitals back into it at 2-1 as they headed into the third period.

In the third period, the Capitals capitalized as they eventually got the equalizer and the game winner as they went on to win, 3-2!

It should be noted that there were a number of Capital fans who made the trip up from down South to see their team play.

Needless to say, they had a happy ride home.

Sunday the King and I went to the Garden to see the Rangers play the Tampa Bay Lightning in an afternoon game. It  was kid's day.

Unfortunately for the kids, the Rangers fell short in this one, 2-1.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman