Royalty is returning to Atlanta in the middle of September!

Mercedes-Benz Stadium - New Home of the Atlanta Falcons

Here's the game plan:

I'm flying to Atlanta Hartsfield Airport on Southwest Airlines. I leave New York LaGuardia Airport on Friday, September 15th at 10AM Eastern Time, I arrive in Atlanta at 12:40PM if I'm not delayed for any reason. Upon arrival, I'm renting a car from Alamo for the weekend. I plan to see some baseball & football while I'm there. I fly back home Monday morning. My flight departs Atlanta at 8:55AM. I'm scheduled to land at 11:05AM at LaGuardia Airport if all goes according to plan.    
   
Friday September 15th Mets at Braves 7:35PM

Saturday September 16th Samford Bulldogs at Georgia Bulldogs 7:30PM
                   
Sunday September 17th Mets at Braves 1:35PM

                                 Packers at Falcons 8:30PM 1st Regular Season Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium

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. If you live in the area and/or happen to be there that weekend & you want to meet up let me know. As I like to say, teamwork makes the dream work. 

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

A Royal return to Nashville, Tennessee in August!‏

Last October I went to Nashville aka Music City to see the Tennessee Titans play at LP Field. This time after spending the night in East Memphis, I drove to Nashville with the intentions of seeing the Nashville Sounds, the Triple A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers play‎ at Herschel Greer Stadium which is notorious for its unique guitar shaped scoreboard in left field. After playing 37 years of hits, this was the last year they were playing there hence the slogan, Last Cheer at Greer. With being said, I purposely made this trip with that in mind. Ironically the Titans were home for a preseason game against the Green Bay Packers as well. 

Me outside Pringles Park in Jackson, Tennessee

After having a royal breakfast at Baymont Inn & Suites, I drove across middle Tennessee. I stopped off in Jackson which is the home of the Double A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, the Jackson Generals. I drove a short distance off the highway & I made a quick stop to go see their ballpark which is called Pringles Park. After I walked around for a short time, I got back in the car & I continued on. I wound up getting to the Nashville area around 3:30PM. I decided to take a ride to the ballpark to check it out before I ate dinner at a highly recommended restaurant called Monell's in Germantown. Since dinner wasn't being served until 5PM, I had some spare time. The ballpark was a few miles away from the downtown area.

Monell's in Germantown

Monell's where you feel right at home

When I got back to Monell's, I parked the car & I waited with bunch of other people until it was time for dinner. It was quite an experience. I wound up sitting at a table with 14 other people. We got to pass around food the table until our hearts were content. Among the different people who were there, a couple came all the way from Poland to visit our country & they also got to experience life in the South. 

My dinner at Monell's

As they say there, we show your mouth to the South. Did they ever? I wound up having plenty of great food which consisted of southern fried chicken, catfish, corn pudding, biscuits & gravy, turnips, mashed potatoes, pulled pork & macaroni & cheese. It was Southern Hospitality at its finest. 

First Tennessee Park - New Home of the Nashville Sounds

I want to personally thank fellow ballpark chaser Steven Burke for the amazing suggestion. When I walked out, I was stuffed. If I get to go back someday, I can go to see the new ballpark that's being built for the Sounds. It's scheduled to open for the 2015 season. It's right near downtown within walking distance of Monell's. It will be called First Tennessee Park.

Me outside the Greer before I ate dinner at Monell's

37 Years of Hits

Guitar scoreboard in left field

Official stamp showing I was physically there

Tarp covering the field

I'm not happy after the game was rained out

I proceeded to drive back to Herschel Greer Stadium. I parked the car & as I approached the ballpark, ‎I noticed the skies didn't look good. I knew trouble in the form of rain was on the way. Sure enough, right after I walked into the ballpark, the skies opened. The rain came pouring down on my parade. I wound up sitting under cover behind home plate. The field was covered but the outfield was drenched with puddles everywhere. With that being said, I knew they had no chance of playing the game. A little kid who was sitting next to me was so upset. As for me, I was too but there was nothing I could do about it. I just had to accept the fact I wasn't going to get to see a game played there. However I did get my minor league passport book stamped to prove I was in the ballpark. After they waited a while, they made the announcement that the game was rained out. In retrospect, it was probably a blessing in disguise. I did have a long ride ahead of me. I got back to the car & I drove to Chattanooga, Tennessee where I spent the night at Super 8. In the process, I lost an hour due to the time zone change.

Stay tuned for another special post that will go into detail about the last day of the getaway.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly‎,

Gary Herman

Royalty witnesses history at MetLife Stadium!

1st Ever Playoff Game at MetLife Stadium

Sunday afternoon the NY Giants who won the NFC East Division got to host a playoff game at MetLife Stadium. It was the first ever playoff game played there as the Giants played the fifth seeded Atlanta Falcons in the Wild Card game.

This time the King and I avoided any hassles by buying tickets which were available during the week on Ticketmaster. Our friend Rich Wolber aka Staten Island Rich was there as well. I arranged to get all the tickets for us.

Our friend Andrew Van Cleve came up from Philadelphia so he could be part of history too. Since he moved to the Northeast at the beginning of December, we've seen each numerous times. It's always a pleasure to see him.

As for the game we saw, the Giants fell behind 2-0 as the Falcons forced Giant quarterback Eli Manning into an intentional grounding in the end zone as he was trying to avoid the sack which gave the Falcons a safety. That's the only points the Falcons got the rest of the afternoon as the Giants defense totally shut them down.

The Giants' offense was slow to get started as they led by a score of  7-2 at halftime. In the second half, the offense got into high gear as they ran the ball well with their running backs Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw. In addition, their three wide receivers emerged. Victor Cruz was double covered most of the time so that gave his teammates Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham a chance to shine and they did.
Nicks scored a touchdown that covered 86 yards in the third quarter that for all intent and purposes put the game away. As a result, the crowd went crazy. The building felt like it was shaking literally. What a moment it was to be a Giant fan.

The Giants went on to win the game, 24-2. They go to Green Bay this weekend to play the Packers in the Divisional Round at Lambeau Field. It won't be an easy task but they won there on their way to winning the Super Bowl back in 2007. We'll wait and see what happens this time.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 1/31 in review

Monday night after work I went to Newark, NJ to see the Nets play the Denver Nuggets.

For some reason, when I see the Nuggets play in person they usually don't play well. This was yet another example. They fell to the Nets, 115-99.

The lone bright spot for the Nuggets was Carmelo Anthony who was showcasing his talent.

Melo as he's known was rumored to be possibly coming to New Jersey in a trade until a few weeks ago when the Nets decided to stop pursuing him.

He scorched them for 37 points and he pulled down 9 rebounds in his cameo appearance.

Needless to say, he heard the boos from the announced crowd of 14,039 which didn't seem nearly that big. Despite the Nets trying their best to discount their more expensive tickets in hope of attracting more people.

The NBA in particular has a propensity to fudge their attendance figures.

As for Melo, the latest rumors have him coming to the Knicks instead. If that happens, I'll see him play regularly at the Garden where the atmosphere is second to none when the team plays well.

Tuesday night after work I went back to the Prudential Center to see the Devils host the Ottawa Senators.

It was a nice peaceful evening at the "Rock" as the Devils came away with a 2-1 win.

Wednesday night I was at the Garden as the Knicks played host to the visiting Dallas Mavericks.

The Knicks hung around for the first half. In the second half, the Mavericks went on to pull away and they cruised to a 113-97 victory.

The result was much to the delight of my former co-worker, Justin Huff, who I arranged to get tickets for. I know Justin was a big Jason Kidd fan so I made sure I accommodated his need to see him play live. He was grateful for the opportunity to do so.

That's just another example of how Royalty satisfies others needs and wants.

After having a night off on Thursday, I wound up back in Newark on Friday night as the Devils entertained the Florida Panthers.

Unlike Tuesday's game against the Senators, this game featured more scoring and some unusual breaks.

The Devils got an early goal as the puck took an odd bounce off the side board and they took advantage as Panthers goalie Tomas Vokoun was out of position. They  lead 3-2 in the third period when the Panthers got the equalizer with just over 7 minutes left in regulation as Mike Santorelli lit the lamp with a shorthanded goal. The score remained tied at the end of regulation time.

Rostislav Olesz of the Panthers got the game winning goal exactly two minutes into overtime to give the Panthers the extra point as they left Newark with a 4-3 come from behind win.

Saturday I wound up getting an unexpected night off due to the fact I needed to dig my car out of the snow and ice. By the time I finally got it out I was exhausted and sore. I decided to use my brain for a change and I passed up on the Islanders/Senators game at the Nassau Coliseum.

Sunday the King and I had given our Knick tickets to our friend Frankie Centola from Philadelphia who wanted to see his 76ers play at the Garden.

We were going to go to Newark to see the Nets and Pacers instead.

At the last minute, Frankie called us and he said he couldn't make it so he mailed the tickets back to us and we wound up going there.

After the Knicks lost a heartbreaker in Philadelphia on Friday night, they came home and returned the favor in front of a sellout crowd as they went on to beat the 76ers convincingly, 117-103!

Amar'e Stoudemire tied his season high as he poured in 41 points while rookie of the year candidate Landry Fields added a career high 25 points to go along with 10 boards.

As a result, it turned out to be another exciting afternoon at the mecca of basketball.

After the game, the King and I went to our good friend Frank Anichiarico's place to watch the Super Bowl. Frank's lovely wife, Tina did the cooking and provided the hospitality as we watched the Green Bay Packers do what our Jets couldn't do. They beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Big D, 31-25!

With that being said, another eventful week was in the books.

Just so you know I expanded my followings on Twitter so please feel free to follow @royaltytoursusa. 

As always, thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 1/3 in review‏

Monday night I came home after work to catch up on lost sleep and I geared up for the week ahead.

Tuesday I went to Madison Square Garden after work to see the NBA's best team, the San Antonio Spurs take on the Knicks. The Spurs came in with a 30-4 record.

The new and improved Knicks made them look rather ordinary on this night. They used their fast pace style to perfection as they ran the Spurs off the court. They beat them, 128-115. It was an exciting game to watch for a change.

The Knicks were lead by Wilson Chandler who had 31 points. Amar'e Stoudemire and Raymond Felton added 28 points each.

As for the Spurs, Tony Parker scored 26 points in the losing effort.

Wednesday night I went out to Newark, NJ to see the Nets host the Chicago Bulls.

The Nets held off the Bulls in this one and they won 96-94. Sasha Vujacic hit the game winning shot with 5.3 seconds to go to give the Nets the victory.

This game was close in the first half. In the third quarter, the Nets opened up a big lead. In the fourth quarter, the Bulls stormed back to tie it but the Nets were fortunate to make the last shot to come out with the win.

Kris Humphries had 20 points and 11 rebounds while Devin Harris finished with 18 points and he dished out 11 assists to pace the Nets.

Derrick Rose was the high scorer for the Bulls with 21 points.

Late in the game I got a text message from my new found traveling friend, Eddie. He said he was at Rutgers and he asked me if I wanted a lift home. I wrote him back and I told him that would be fabulous.

The Net game looked like it may go overtime which would have helped since I wound up waiting a short time for him to come at Newark Penn Station.

Despite that, thanks to Eddie's kindness and thoughfulness I got home 35-40 minutes earlier than I would have if I took public transportation.

Needless to say, I was very grateful to receive that text message.

Thursday night I was back in Newark for the Devils and Flyers.

The Devils have had a dreadful season thus far. On this night their nightmare continued as the Eastern Conference Champion Flyers beat the Devils, 4-2!

Daniel Briere and Scott Hartnell each scored two goals to lead the way for the Flyers.

After a night off on Friday night, I went back to Newark Saturday night. I would have loved to have been in Indianapolis for the Jets but unfortunately I can't afford to go everywhere.

Instead of staying home and watching the Jet game on TV, I decided to get the best of both worlds.

I got to see the Nets and Bucks at the Prudential Center live and I followed the Jet game on my phone so I was well aware of what was happening.

As for the Net game, they got blown out by the Bucks, 115-92!

Former Net, Chris Douglas-Roberts aka CDR scored a game high 24 points. Ersan Ilyasova poured in 22 points and grabbed 13 boards and Corey Maggette added 20 points for the victorious Bucks.

As for the Nets, Kris Humphries had 22 points and Jordan Farmar finished with 20 points and 10 assists in the defeat.

Sunday the King and I and our friend Rich Wolber aka Staten Island Rich went down to Philadelphia to see the Eagles play the Packers in the Wild Card game.

It should be noted that Rich was making his first visit to the "Linc" aka Lincoln Financial Field and Royalty made sure he got there finally.

In addition, we met up with our good friend Frankie Centola who lives in Philadelphia at the game.

By going to the Eagle game I was able to extend my playoff game attending streak. I've now seen at least one playoff game every year since 1997.

As for the game, the Eagles fell short 21-16! Michael Vick threw an interception in the end zone on the Eagles last drive that sealed their fate and ended their season.

The Eagles were fortunate to get a number of breaks throughout the game but they tried to force the issue and they came up short in the end.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 10/25 in review

After catching up on rest Monday and Tuesday night after work, I was ready for basketball to start.

Wednesday night after work I went out to Newark, NJ to see the Nets play their first game at their new temporary home, the Prudential Center. It was the 56th NBA arena that I've seen a game in.

As for the game, the Detroit Pistons were playing the Nets on Opening Night.

This was a closely contested game throughout. In the end, Anthony Morrow hit the winning shot as the Nets came from behind to get into the win column first with a 101-98 win.

Last season the Nets didn't win their first game for a few months.

Brook Lopez led all scorers with 25 points and Devin Harris added 22. For the Pistons, Tayshaun Prince, Rodney Stuckey and Charlie Villanueva each had 14 points in the loss.

After another night off Thursday, I returned to the Prudential Center Friday night after work.

The Sacramento Kings were in town to play the Nets. This game was similar to Wednesday night.

The Net hung tough and came back to win again. This time they won 106-100.

Brook Lopez had 29 points and Devin Harris poured in 21 to lead the way. For the Kings, Francisco Garcia and Tyreke Evans added 18 points each in the losing effort.

Stop the season, the Nets are 2-0!

Saturday I drove up to New Haven, Connecticut to see the Columbia Lions play the Yale Bulldogs at the Yale Bowl with the King.

It was a perfect opportunity for us to see the Yale Bowl for the first time.

We've previously seen games in the Ivy League at Princeton and Penn.

Speaking of Princeton, when we arrived in the seating area we heard a few people get our attention. We weren't alone.

We saw a few members of our crew in the house, they were Steve Tepperman aka "Princeton Steve" and Pat Gorman.

They were sitting near midfield so we went up and joined them.

As for the game, Yale raced out to a 31-7 lead at halftime. In the second half, Columbia came roaring back to cut the lead to 3, 31-28. Unfortunately for them, that's the way it remained as the Bulldogs hung on for the narrow victory.

Saturday night we drove back to NYC to see the new look New York Knicks play the Portland Trailblazers in their home opener at Madison Square Garden.

The Knicks with a revamped roster which included newcomers Amaure Stoudemire, Raymond Felton, Timofey Mozgov and Landry Fields still weren't able to hold an eight point lead with 5 minutes to go.

They wound up losing the opener 100-95 in front of a sellout crowd.

The fan base seemed to be back at least on this night.

Brandon Roy lead the way for the Trailblazers with 29 points, LaMarcus Aldridge added 20 points and Andre Miller chipped with 19 to blaze the trail to victory.

For the Knicks, Wilson Chandler scored 22 points off the bench. Amaure Stoudemire had 18 points in his home debut.

Sunday I went to the New Meadowlands Stadium looking a treat on Halloween. I would had been better off staying home. I could have knocked on some doors and looked for candy instead.

The Jets thought it was Easter as they laid an egg. After having an off week, the Jets should have came out ready to play but they didn't.

The weather conditions were brutal. The wind was gusting and whipping up throughout the game. The Jets game plan left a lot to be desired in this one. They should have been running the ball more especially against the Packers defense who's not good against stopping the run.

The Jets wound up throwing the ball a lot more than expected. Mark Sanchez didn't have a good game. The Jet defense played well but the offense got shut out by the Packers who won the game, 9-0!

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Perfect "10" witnessed by Royalty on 10/10/10 at FedEx Field as Redskins win in OT, 16-13!



The Prince is in the house



















When the NFL schedule came out back in the middle of April I knew I needed to see one more Washington Redskin game at FedEx Field to make double figures. I looked at their schedule and I knew the only game that would work was against the Green Bay Packers in October. I was willing to potentially miss a baseball postseason game if necessary.

I didn't realize right away that the game that conveniently fit my busy schedule fell on 10/10/2010. Once that hit me I said to myself that's a perfect opportunity to see my 10th football game at FedEx Field which happens to be arguably the best football stadium in the NFL by royalty standards now that they've upgraded their scoreboards in both end zones to wide HD ones. That puts this place over the top. In addition, this venue has a real grass surface and it holds 91,000 people which includes a ring of honor and it has plenty of luxury boxes that blend in with the regular hard plastic team colored seats.  I know others may beg to differ but that's what distinguishes royalty from the rest.

Thankfully the Yankees swept the Twins so I was spared missing a potential Game 4 Sunday night in the Bronx. If they played so be it. I can't be everywhere. After all, royalty is human and doesn't have special powers to overcome reality. It is what it is. I didn't get a break during the week like the King did but I got one over the weekend instead.

With that being said, after the Yankee game the King and I took the long walk to the car and off we went down South. After getting a little less than six hours of sleep I was fresh as a daisy as I drove the King and I from Aberdeen, Maryland to Landover, Maryland where FedEx Field is located.

Thanks to my past experience traveling there, I knew exactly where I could park in a neighborhood for free and walk to the stadium which included walking through the nearby overpriced $40 Copper lot to get to the Stadium. Royalty not only cuts cost but gets exercise too. How can you beat that. I wound up parking the car around 11:25AM.

Our next order of business was to secure tickets to get into the game. We got to the outside of the gates to the stadium around 11:55AM. Shortly after noon, we were into the building.

Yours truly, wheeled and dealed and I got us two single tickets for $30 each. The face value of each was $79. I did real good.

It would have been perfect to pay just $10 given the uniqueness of the day but that wasn't meant to be.

As for the game we saw, we definitely got our money's worth. It was worth every penny we paid an then some.

The hometown Redskins wound up winning 16-13 in overtime, Hail Yeah!

The Green Bay Packers should have buried them but they missed out on numerous opportunities to capitalize in the Nation's Capitol so the Cheeseheads got melted instead.

Former Eagle quarter back Donovan McNabb lead the comeback as the Redskins overcame a 10 point deficit in the fourth quarter when he hit wide receiver Anthony Armstrong for a 48 yard touchdown pass to make it a three point game with 11 minutes and 35 seconds to go in the 4th quarter. Place kicker Graham Gano tied the game with 1:07 left when he kicked a 45 yard field goal to send the game into the extra session.

In overtime, with 8:06 left don't you know Graham Gano delivered again with the game winner from 33 yards out to give the Redskins the come from behind win! What a game it was.

A perfect ending to a perfect day.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman             

Royalty w/o 10/4 in review

This wasn't an eventful week during the week as expected but there was an indirect surprise.

I did secure a sheet of paper that the King used to get into Game 1 of the NLDS at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Wednesday afternoon.

The rest is history as they say.

After a very busy month of September, October is off to a slow start event attending wise for me.

With the Yankees not finishing in first place I had no extra games to add to my schedule during the week.

On the other hand, the King was blessed with the opportunity to see history.

After catching up on needed rest Monday-Thursday nights, it was time for to see hockey return on Friday night.

I went to the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey for Opening night between the NJ Devils and the Dallas Stars.

I'll go into further detail in a separate post.

Saturday I rented a car for the weekend then I rested and cleaned up during the day as I waited patiently until it was time to go back to the Bronx for postseason baseball.

I'll write a special post describing that experience.

After the Yankee game that ended just before midnight, the King and I drove 183 miles towards Washington D.C. to be in position to get to FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland to see the Green Bay Packers play the Washington Redskins at 1PM.

We stayed over at a Super 8 in Aberdeen, Maryland which put us only 65 miles from our final destination in Landover. We checked in to the hotel at 3:15AM.

We got a 9:30AM wake up call.

We left the hotel at 10:15AM.

I'll do a special post that will show you exactly how royalty rolls.

Please stay tuned as another adventurous weekend was put in the books.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman