Royalty gets to go to Big East Tournament Semi Finals at MSG!

Thursday night just before I was getting ready to leave work, I got a text message from a friend of mine, JeanAnn Harrison. She asked me if I had any plans for Friday night. I wrote her back and said no. She replied and asked me if I wanted to go to the Big East Semi Finals at Madison Square Garden. She said she was going to drive down from Nashua, New Hampshire where she currently lives. Without hesitation, I said yes. She told me she was getting tickets on Stub Hub. She told me she wanted to treat me. I was in a state of shock. Shortly thereafter, she sent me an e-mail confirmation. She asked me if I could go to the Stub Hub office here in Manhattan and pick them up. I said absolutely. I went during my lunch break on Friday.

After work, I wound up meeting the King for dinner at Popeye's before I met up with JeanAnn outside the Garden. The King came with me so he could say a quick hello.

JeanAnn and I proceeded to go into the building to see the college basketball doubleheader.

In game one we had the final meeting between the Syracuse Orange who JeanAnn is a huge fan of and the Georgetown Hoyas as members of the Big East Conference. This was a historic occasion. Thanks to JeanAnn I got to take part in it.

As for the game we saw, Syracuse played well early as they were up 29-20 at halftime. In the second half, the Hoyas battled back as they forced overtime as the score was tied at 51 after regulation. What a way to end a storied rivalry. In the extra session, the Orange prevailed, 58-55 as the rivalry was officially closed as a fan in the stands held up a sign acknowledging that fact.The crowd was filled with plenty of Orange and Hoya fans who were into the game from start to finish. It was an electric evening at the Mecca.

In game two, the Louisville Cardinals were hosting the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. The winner was going to meet Syracuse for the Big East Championship Saturday night.

As for the game we saw, the Cardinals led the Irish, 32-25 at halftime. In the second half, the Cardinals extended their lead as they cruised to an easy 69-57 victory.

Unlike the first game some of the sellout crowd of 20,057 were long gone which made for a more subdued atmosphere. Regardless we saw one of the best teams in the country play.

After the game, we arranged to meet up with the King who met us outside the Garden around midnight. We wound up going to Stout NYC which is on 33rd Street between 6th & 7th Avenue to hang out. We got to eat, drink and we were merry catching up while JeanAnn was staying over for the weekend.

After spending a few more hours with JeanAnn, the King & I went home. We arrived home at 3AM.

Stay tuned for the special post that I'm going to do regarding how we spent our Saturday afternoon.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty goes to see Fordham to play college football against Georgetown!

Fordham Rams Football

Last Saturday afternoon the King and I were joined by our pals Frank Anichiarico and Vincent Ascanio as we all went up to the Bronx to see Fordham Rams football.

The only other time I've been to Fordham was back in November 2008 when I saw a college basketball game at the Rose Hill gym which is located right next to Jack Coffey Field, the home of their football team.
Fordham has a beautiful campus. Thanks to my sports travel network, I met a guy last year named Greg Venuto who went to college at Fordham back in the day. He now lives in Norwalk, Connecticut with his wife and two young kids so it's not easy for him to get out a lot. His weekends have been dedicated to his kids lately. I've had the privilege and honor of meeting him on a few occasions this year. He's a big fan of my blog too. For that, I'm very grateful.

As for the game we saw, it turned out to be a exciting one. Both teams battled it out all afternoon long. Fordham got on the scoreboard first as they kicked a 30 yard field goal thanks to their kicker Patrick Murray who made it 3-0 with 10:46 left in the first quarter. The Hoyas of Georgetown answered the Rams' drive with a touchdown of their own as running back Kevin Macari scored on a 4 yard run to make it 7-3 with 6:42 left. The Rams' responded with a touchdown as Greg Wilson caught a 19 yard touchdown pass as the Rams regained the lead, 10-7 with 3:26 left.

In the second quarter, the Hoyas tied the game at 10 with a 19 yard field goal by their kicker Matt MacZura with 12:07 left. Fordham came by adding a 44 yard field goal with 9:43 left to go back up 13-10. They extended their lead to 16-10 as they added a 43 yard field goal as time expired to end the first half.

In the third quarter, the Rams padded their lead as they scored a touchdown as running back Carlton Koonce ran in from 44 yards out with 11:59 left. The Hoyas came back to get within six points again as they scored a touchdown thanks to Kevin Macari who caught a 2 yard pass with 7:49 left. The Hoyas scored again to go ahead by one, 24-23 as Nick Campanella caught a 5 yard touchdown pass with 5:03 left. Fordham came roaring back as they scored a touchdown on a 25 yard pass to Blake Wayne with 1:25 left. They tied the game at 31 as they went for two and they got it as tight end Dan Light caught a pass for the conversion.

In the fourth quarter, the Rams went back ahead 38-31 as they got another touchdown run from a yard out from Carlton Koonce with 9 minutes to go in the game. It looked like we were going to head to overtime but the Rams' defense were up to the test as they managed to prevent the Hoyas from getting into the end zone from the one yard line. They made an incredible goal line stand as they stopped them four times to preserve the 38-31 victory.

Stay tuned as I'm going to write another special post about the football game I saw on Sunday.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman