Royalty w/o 2/11 in review

Tim Capstraw & Chris Carrino

Monday night after work I came home and I ate dinner then I went out and I did my laundry.

Tuesday night after work I went out to Newark, NJ to see the Devils play the Carolina Hurricanes at the Prudential Center. I wound up having a pulled pork sandwich at the arena for dinner. I decided to take it up to my seat in section 226 row 6 where I met up with the King and our pals Frank Anichiarico, Vincent Ascanio and Dennis Barbera who were at the game too. We were one big happy family amongst the sellout crowd.

As for the game we saw, the Devils broke through first with 4:01 left in the first period when Ilya Kovalchuk scored on the power play to make it 1-0 Devils. In the second period, the Hurricanes got even as Jussi Jokinen beat Devils' goaltender Johan Hedberg 1:36 into the period to make it a 1-1 also on the power play. Later in the period with 1:31 to go, the Hurricanes took the lead, 2-1 as Patrick Dwyer lit the lamp. In the third period, the Devils got the equalizer as Ryan Carter beat Hurricanes' netminder Cam Ward just 1:34 into the period on a giveaway in front of the net to tie the game at two. The Hurricanes broke the tie again 7:25 into the period when Jiri Tlusty scored to give the Hurricanes a 3-2 lead. He also added an empty net goal with 26 seconds left to seal the deal as the Hurricanes beat the Devils, 4-2.

Wednesday night after work I went to downtown Brooklyn to see the Nets play the Denver Nuggets. By doing so, I've now seen every NBA basketball team play at once this season.

Before I went into the Barclays Center I stopped off at McDonald's in the Atlantic Center Mall across the street to have my pre game meal.

When I was done I went into the arena. Before I went to my seat in section 230, I stopped off by the radio broadcasting booth which is located by section 110 and I said hello to the Nets radio team of Tim Capstraw and Chris Carrino. After talking to them briefly before they did the Nets' inside look, I went upstairs and I met up with the King and our pal Harry Schwartz who was in attendance. It was nice to catch up with him again.

As for the game we saw, the Nuggets led the Nets, 26-23 after the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Nets scored a season high 39 points to take a 62-57 lead at halftime. In the third quarter, the Nets continued to pull away from the Nuggets as they opened up a 14 point lead, 95-81. In the fourth quarter, the Nets got out scored 27-24 by the Nuggets who failed to come all the way back as the Nets went on to beat them, 119-108.

The Nets played without Deron Williams who was inactive due to an injured ankle. In his place, C.J. Watson scored a season high 25 points and he dished out 6 assists.

Thursday night after work I came home and I made dinner and I relaxed for a change.

Friday night after work I went back out to Newark, NJ to see the Devils play their division rival, the Philadelphia Flyers.

As for dinner, I got a spinach stromboli and a slice of pizza at the arena. I met up with the King and my friend Lloyd Ramsland who was joined by a long time buddy of his who lives out in Denver, Colorado, Dick Harding. I arranged to get them tickets for the game so they could join us. It was great to see both of them again. We see Lloyd from time to time. As for Dick, we've met him a number of times over the years either here or when we've gone to the Rocky Mountain state thanks to Lloyd.

As for the game we saw, the Devils scored first just 40 seconds into the game as Travis Zajac made it 1-0 Devils. The Flyers got even and then some midway through the period as they score three unanswered goals in a 2 minute 36 second stretch to take a 3-1 lead. In the second period, Alexei Ponikarovsky who the Devils had reacquired got the Devils back within a goal just 26 seconds into the second period. Later in the period with 4:20 left, the Devils tied the game at three as Patrik Elias scored. In the third period, the Devils took the lead, 4-3 as David Clarkson found the net with 9:17 remaining in the game. The Devils' Steve Bernier added an empty net goal to give the Devils a 5-3 victory.

Stay tuned for some special posts that I'm going to do regarding our educational and adventurous weekend in New England.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty finally sees the Jets win in Denver, 24-20!



I'm in the building at 5,280 feet



It took three tries but I finally saw the Jets knock the Broncos off their horse.

Back on 11/8/92, the King and I saw the Jets there for the first time at Old Mile High Stadium. Browning Nagle was the Jets quarterback that day. Needless to say, they lost.

On 1/19/99, they had a 10-0 lead at halftime, then came the endless third quarter when they totally collapsed with a trip to the Super Bowl awaiting the winner. Even on John Elway's worst day as a pro he still found a way to win. He completed only 13 out of 34 passes that day.

Now with the Broncos in their new stadium, Invesco Field at Mile High which opened in 2001, we saw the Chargers play there in 2002 but it was time to see the Jets there.

In Broncos Country on this day, it was Orange Sunday. They told everybody to wear Orange. I was going to see the Orange get crushed.

In the end, I finally got my way much to the chagrin of the natives who were on hand.

Unlike Carlos Beltran, Alex Rodriguez or Ryan Howard, the Jets survived a scare and found a way to win the game in my third visit to Denver to see them play. It made their record 5-1 which is nice but it didn't earn them a trip to the Super Bowl just yet.

As for the game, it was a see saw battle through out. This game had some history to it as Nick Folk of the Jets kicked a team record 56 yard field goal. Matt Prater of the Broncos booted one from 59 yards out. That was the longest field goal I've ever seen in person. The altitude helps when you're a mile high.

With the Jets down 20-17 late in the fourth quarter, Mark Sanchez marched the Jets down the field with possible help from the officials but he was able to scramble and buy time as Santonio Holmes was able to get in position to catch a pass at the 2 yard line. Holmes missed the pass but the yellow flag flew out indicating there was pass interference on the Broncos.

Earlier in the game, the Jets were called for three pass interferences.

With the ball at the Bronco 2 yard line, a familiar foe and former Charger, LaDainlian Tomlinson got the ball and he put the Jets ahead as he scored a touchdown with 1:13 remaining.

The Broncos had the ball near midfield with 43 seconds to go. They called a timeout. The next play their quarterback Kyle Orton couldn't handle a bad snap and the Jets recovered the ball to preserve the 24-20 victory. What a sigh of relief that was.

The monkey was finally lifted off my back.

What a way to end a great weekend.

It should be noted before the game I was able to meet up with a friend of ours, Dick Harding, whose from the Denver area. He came to the game with some friends so he couldn't join me for a post game dinner this time. It was still nice to be able to meet and greet him.

Another great weekend adventure is in the memory bank.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman