Royalty sees U2 The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 at MetLife Stadium!

MetLife Stadium

Last night I got to witness one of my favorite Rock bands, U2, perform live in concert at MetLife Stadium. Let it be known it wasn't the first time I've seen them live. It was my third time, a real charm too. In fact, the very first time I saw them was back on September 14, 1987 at old Giants Stadium when the first did their original Joshua Tree Tour. This was the 30th Anniversary of that legendary album. Where has the time gone. One thing hasn't changed for me during that time frame though, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. For that matter, I'm still searching for Where the Streets Have No Name. However, I'm still in God's Country. In between these tours almost 30 years apart, I did see them do their 360 Tour back on September 24, 2009 which also took place at Giants Stadium. That show was Magnificent.

The Joshua Tree Tour 2017

As for last night's performance, they started the show with one of their many classics from the early days in 1983, Sunday Bloody Sunday. They followed that with another one, New Year's Day. They went on with a version of Bad from 1984 which included a snippet of America by Simon & Garfunkel. After that, they sung Pride (In The Name of Love).

View from Section 327

Waiting for U2 to come out in Section 341 row 3

U2 Doing Sunday Bloody Sunday

After Bono told the massive crowd how they first played the Ritz in NYC in front of 25 people then he changed it to 75, they continued the show by honoring their 30th Anniversary of their earth shattering Joshua Tree album that ultimately put them on the commercial map by playing all the tracks & cassettes which detailed American culture. It was like a trip down memory lane for the U2 faithful & a tribute to our great country.

After a brief break, they came back out for more which included later hits, Beautiful Day or Beautiful Night which Bono sang which indeed it was. When I bought my ticket back in January, I was hoping mother nature would cooperate for me. Did she ever. They continued to arouse the crowd with Elevation & Vertigo. Before the show ended we all came together as "One." It was a touching moment to say the least. They proceeded to close the show with their newest song from their latest LP Songs of Experience, The Little Things That Give You Away.

As you can see, I was thoroughly entertained for just over two hours. If you like U2, I highly recommend you go see them live.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman   

 

Royalty sees the latest Battle of New York on Christmas Eve!

Jets and Giants in Battle of NY

The one and only time I saw the Jets play the Giants in a regular season game was way back on November 1, 1981. On that day, the Jets tossed the Giants a beating as they sacked Phil Simms nine times as they won the game, 26-7.

This time things were different in more ways than one.

First and foremost, this time the game was played in a different stadium that being MetLife Stadium which is shared by both teams. This game was a designated "home" game for the Jets.

In 1981, the Giants were the home team. The game was played at old Giants Stadium that day. The Jets were still playing their home games at Shea Stadium then.

This time the result was different as well. The Jets with their coach Rex Ryan opening his big mouth early in the week got beat on the field as the Giants showed Rex who owns this town and it's not his Jets. The Giants whipped the Jets, 29-14 as they made life miserable for Jet quarterback Mark Sanchez who wound up throwing 59 passes in the defeat. Thanks to the Giant defense that was led by Jason Pierre Paul and Justin Tuck who made Sanchez feel very uncomfortable most of the afternoon.

The win set the Giants up to possibly win their division if they beat the Dallas Cowboys in their season finale Sunday night in prime time.

The Jets on the other hand, have to beat the Miami Dolphins and they'll need three other teams to lose just to get in the playoffs as a wild card team.

On the bright side, the King and I did get a special visit from Steve Cirvello who's from the FDH Lounge. Steve is Rick Morris' business partner. It was great to see him again.

It was frustrating to watch the Jets lose a game they really needed to win but being able to see Steve softened the blow.

In reality, both teams don't deserve to make the playoffs but the bottom line is the Giants have the bragging rights in the area for the time being.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Deja Blue: Royalty relives Giant Sackfest on 9/30/07

If you saw and read my post regarding the Giants/Bears game on Sunday night then you'll understand and appreciate this follow up post.

I was tipped off by false reporting on a sports radio station yesterday.

I forgot who said it but in passing I heard a comment that the Giants/Bears game Sunday night reminded them of a "Monday night" Giants/Eagles game in the past.

I thought to myself I was probably there. Sure enough it hit me, I was.

Unlike the paid professionals, I knew they didn't play on a Monday night against the Eagles at Giants Stadium.

Being an astute observer of the game of football, I realized they meant a Sunday night game back in 2007.

Ironically, I was right and they were paid to be wrong. As the song goes, "that's just the way it is, some things will never change". The paid media always makes blatant mistakes. Who edits their work?

I'm human too but Royalty doesn't post false information. I do my best to research the facts if necessary to give you the right detail when I write a post.

With that being said, I decided to check back on week four in 2007.

As I thought, the Philadelphia Eagles played the Giants in primetime that night. The Giants wound up sacking Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb 12 times that night which tied an NFL record. The Giants won, 16-3!

Quite amazingly, Osi Umenyiora had half of them. In addition, he forced two fumbles.

Go to my post from this past Sunday night in week 4 and you'll read about Osi Umenyiora who had a mere 3 sacks and two forced fumbles.

How's that for a flashback? Here's some interesting notes from week 4 in 2007 & 2010.

They are as follows:

The Jets were in Buffalo both times too. In 2007, the Bills won that one, 17-14! This time the Jets won, 38-14!

The Monday night football game in 2007 that week was between the New England Patriots and the Cincinnati Bengals. The Pats won, 34-13! Last night on MNF, the Patriots squished the Fish, 41-14!

Donovan McNabb is still playing these days but he has a new team, the Washington Redskins who went to Philadelphia to haunt the Eagles, 17-12!

Combine those with the Giants "sackdown" and you have some amazing stories to tell on paper and on the field.

Is there anybody in the media getting paid to tell you that?

When you want the best service and information sources you know where to go.

Royalty is always here waiting for you when you're ready to react.

I just wanted to share this sports knowledge with the football fans who read my blog.

Even if you don't like sports, you can still appreciate the kind of effort and know how I bring to the table.

I write and speak from my unique experiences. I love to take trips that go back down memory lane.

Going forward, I think you should consult me so you can look back in time at the memories I helped provide.

Word to the wise, start saving up your money now so in the future you can get a taste of Royalty firsthand.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty sees Giants play "First Game" at New Meadowlands Stadium

Giants vs. Panthers

Royalty was in the House

Today was the "First Game" at the New Meadowlands Stadium between the Giants and the Carolina Panthers.

Ironically these two teams played against each other in "Last" Giant game that was played at

Giants Stadium back on December 27, 2009.

Yours truly had the privilege of seeing that game as well. In matter of fact, that was the third time I saw the Carolina Panthers finish the home schedule at Giants Stadium. The Giants lost all three of those games as follows:

On December 28, 2003 the Panthers beat the Giants, 37-24!

On January 8, 2006 the Panthers shut out the Giants in the Wild Card game, 23-0! 

On December 27, 2009 the Panthers closed Giants Stadium for the Giants by embarrassing them, 41-9!

 Was today going to be different with me in the house? 

The answer is yes. A new building and a different result. The Giants opened their new digs in victorious fashion though it wasn't pretty, 31-18!

This was a very sloppy turnover and penalty filled game. The bottom line the Giants defense rose up as the game wore on. As a result, the Giants overcame Eli Manning's 3 interceptions and they lost their tight end Kevin Boss on the first drive of the game shortly after he caught the first pass of the season on the Giants first play from scrimmage for 11 yards and a first down. He wound up being carted off the field a few plays later and he didn't return to the game.

On the bright side for the Giants, their wide receiver Hakeem Nicks caught 3 touchdown passes of 26, 19 and 5 yards respectatively.  

As for the Carolina Panthers, quarterback Matt Moore threw 3 interceptions of his own. All of them were caught in the end zone for touchbacks. Deon Grant, Terrell Thomas and Kenny Phillips got credit for those INT's.

In addition, in the second half of the game he was running for his life as the Giant defense forced him into a number of sacks and pressures. 

Furthermore, both punters had a rough day in this game too.

Jason Baker of the Panthers couldn't even punt the ball thanks to a botched snap that resulted in the Giants getting the ball back with great field position with 4:30 left in the 3rd quarter when the Panthers were still hanging around only down by one point, 17-16. That drive ended with the Giants scoring another touchdown that put the game out of reach for the Panthers. 

Matt Dodge of the Giants had a punt blocked that wound up going through the end zone resulting in a safety for the Panthers late in the game to cut the lead from 15 to 13. That's the way it remained as the Giants won ugly, 31-18!

As for the game experience, I always prefer to see a sporting event live. In the past, I've taken the bus from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan to the Meadowlands for $10 round trip.

Today I decided to give the NJ Transit train service a try. By doing so, that way was $10.50 round trip to go from New York Penn Station to Secaucus Junction where you need to transfer to the train to the game which leaves from track H and takes you right to the Met Life gate where I needed to enter today to get to my seat. 

My seat was located in section 225B row 5 seat 23 which was in the end zone as you can see in the picture above. So by taking the train to the game everything worked out well for me.

I saw my co-worker Brian LaMotta who was at the game a few sections away in 224B. It was nice to see a familar face in the crowd.

In addition, I did get to go upstairs before the game to visit a friend, Jess Geller, whose a long time Giant season ticket holder. Jess sits in section 319 row 21. He said he loves going to the game because of the crowd and more importantly he gets to reunited with his family and friends that sit in his section. 

I told him that's the best part of going these days. In this day and age, it's all about the money. Real fans are being priced out. That's where royalty comes in and I try my very best to make sure that I'm not left out in the street. The same goes for those who want to deal with me.

If you have the will, royalty will help you find the way.

If and when you need my assistance, please let me know.

Thank you for reading. 

Yours truly,

Gary Herman