Royalty sees a hockey doubleheader in Philadelphia & Trenton!

Prince at Wells Fargo Center

Once the NHL came back from their lockout, some minor changes were made to their schedule. Originally on Saturday, February 23rd the Devils were suppose to be home at 1PM against the Washington Capitals. Unfortunately that was changed as the Devils played in Washington at Noon instead.

With that being said, I needed to found another game to go to since staying home wasn't an option. After exhausting all the possibilities, I decided to go to Philadelphia because the Flyers were playing that afternoon at 1PM against the Winnipeg Jets. I already knew that the Trenton Titans of the ECHL were home that night as well. As a result, it made for an easy doubleheader since Trenton is only 40 miles from Philadelphia and its on the way back home.

I debated whether I should rent a car or take public transportation down there. I decided it would be more convenient & beneficial to rent a car. With that being said, I got up early and I took the MTA out to Avis where I rented a Toyota Camry for the day.

I picked up the car then I drove back home and I picked up the King and off we went to the City of Brotherly Love.

We arrived within walking distance of the sports complex at 12:35PM. We proceeded to walk over to the Wells Fargo Center for game one of our hockey doubleheader.

As for the game we saw, the Jets scored first as Evander Kane gave the Jets an early 1-0 lead 4:48 into the game. The Flyers tied it up at one with 4:42 to go in the first period when Brayden Schenn lit the lamp. In the second period, the Jets regained the lead, 2-1 2:34 in as Olli Jokinen found the net. The Jets extended their lead to 3-1 when Alexander Burmistrov scored with 8:57 left in the period. The Flyers got a break when the Jets were penalized not once but twice. As a result, the Flyers had a two man advantage. Shortly thereafter, Claude Giroux of the Flyers sliced the Jet lead in half when he buried the puck in the net to make it 3-2. I was thinking of my pal Kurt Smith who likes the Flyers and in particular, Claude Giroux. In the third period, the Flyers evened the score at three when Brayden Schenn got his second goal of the game 6:18 into the period on the power play. The Flyers cashed in again on the power play when Wayne Simmonds scored to give the Flyers a 4-3 lead 8:57 into the third period. They added an empty net goal with a fraction of a second to go to officially seal the deal as the Flyers made an impressive comeback to overtake the Jets, 5-3 much to the delight of the announced crowd of 19,933 which should be a sellout.

After the game, the King and I drove to Golden Corral to have dinner between games in Bensalem, Pennsylvania which is midway between Philadelphia and Trenton. By doing so, we were able to help ourselves to happiness.

Prince at Sun National Bank Center

Once we finished eating, we drove to Trenton, NJ and we went to the Sun National Bank Center which is the home of the Trenton Titans of the ECHL. They were hosting the Reading Royals.

As for the game we saw, the Titans scored early and often. In matter of fact, it was a one man show for the first half of the game as Stephen Schultz scored four unanswered goals to give the Titans a commanding 4-0 lead. The Titans wound up adding a few more goals in the third period as they cruised to an easy 6-0 victory as the announced crowd of 5,146 went home happy. That figure seemed a bit inflated. They had a bigger crowd than usual though which was nice to see.

After the game, I drove us back home. We got back just before midnight which allowed me to get a good night sleep.

Stay tuned for another special post that will recap the basketball doubleheader we saw on Sunday.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty sees a hockey/basketball doubleheader on Martin Luther King Day!

Prince at Sovereign Center

On the day we remembered the man behind the Civil Rights movement, the King & I and our pal Vincent Ascanio spent the day watching hockey and basketball.

After I spent another night with my parents in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, I went to Super 8 and I picked up the King & Vincent. We drove to Reading, PA aka Baseball town and we stopped off at First Energy Stadium which is the home of the newly named Reading Fightin Phils of the Eastern League to show Vincent the ballpark which we think is one of the best in the minor leagues.

We wound up going to Zabala's Sports Diner for breakfast which was located right across the street from the ballpark in right field. We had a very nice meal there which consisted of bacon, eggs, home fries and toast for $2.25 each. What a deal that was.

After we ate, we drove to downtown Reading to the Sovereign Center, home of the Reading Royals. We got to see a rematch of the teams we saw play there Saturday night. I'm referring to the Elmira Jackals who were visiting the Royals again for a special holiday matinee affair.

As for the game we saw, the Royals scored first late in the first period to take a 1-0 lead. A minute and two seconds later the Jackals tied it up at one with just 26 seconds to go in the period. In the second period, the Royals went back ahead midway through the period to take a 2-1 lead. In the third period, the Jackals score four unanswered goals including an empty netter with 2:15 to go to beat the Royals this time, 5-2 in front of a crowd of 4,253 which was slightly smaller then the one they had Saturday night..

Prince at Wells Fargo Center

After the game, we drove to Philadelphia for game two of our two sport doubleheader as we saw the Philadelphia 76ers host the San Antonio Spurs at the Wells Fargo Center.

Before the game, we stopped off at the Oregon Diner for a great pre game meal since our pal Vincent wanted to see it for himself. He had trouble finishing the two massive breaded pork chops he ordered. With that being said, he was a very satisfied customer. As for me, I had the broiled fillet of flounder that was stuffed with crab meat again. It was delicious. When we were done, we drove over to the sports complex area and I parked the car.

We proceeded to walk over to the Wells Fargo Center. Upon arrival, we headed inside to our seats in section 221A that our pal Frankie Centola arranged to get for us. Shortly thereafter, we were joined by our buddy Andrew Van Cleve and his new born son Micah. It was great to see him again.

As for the game we saw, the Spurs led the 76ers, 25-17 after the first quarter. They extended their lead to 14, 49-35 at halftime. In the third quarter, the 76ers cut the lead in half to seven, 71-64 after three quarters. In the fourth quarter, the 76ers ran out of gas as they fell short in their comeback attempt as they lost, 90-85 in front of a crowd of 15,346. I was surprised they didn't have a bigger crowd on hand. I guess since the 76ers have been struggling lately, people decided to stay home.

After the game, we drove back home as the holiday weekend getaway came to a close.

Stay tuned for the rest of my w/o 1/21 in review.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty goes to Newark, Delaware & Reading, Pennsylvania for a basketball/hockey doubleheader!

Prince at Bob Carpenter Center - Home of Delaware Blue Hens

Saturday morning I went to Avis and I rented a Chevy Cruze for Martin Luther King weekend.

After I got the car I went home and I picked up the King in Astoria. We then went into Manhattan and we picked up our pal Vincent Ascanio who joined us for the weekend getaway.

We drove to Newark, Delaware which is between Philadelphia and Baltimore. We went to the Bob Carpenter Center, which is the home of the University of Delaware Blue Hens. They were playing a college basketball game against the Northeastern Huskies.

As for the game we saw, the Huskies dominated the Blue Hens right throughout the game. They lead at halftime, 45-33. They extended their lead to as much as 17 early in the second half. The Blue Hens made a comeback but they fell short and they lost, 74-70.

Prince at Sovereign Center - Home of Reading Royals

After the game, we got back into the car and we drove 60 miles mainly on local state roads to downtown Reading, Pennsylvania where we went to the Sovereign Center, which is the home of the Reading Royals of the ECHL.

We parked the car on the street. We were only a few blocks away from the arena. We saw an Italian restaurant called the Italian Garden across the street so we decided to go in and we had dinner. We got a large freshly made pepperoni pie and a two liter bottle of Coke for a whopping $13.78. It was a royal deal and more importantly the pizza tasted really good.

After we ate, we walked over to the box office at the arena where we were planning to buy some tickets for the game. In a matter of seconds, a guy who was standing nearby gave us three free tickets. We were in the right place at the right time. We proceeded to go inside and watch the game between the visiting Elmira Jackals and the hometown Reading Royals.

As for the game we saw, the Royals scored first to take a 1-0 lead. The Jackals answered back later in the period to tie the game at one. Late in the period, the Royals regained the lead, 2-1. In the second period, the Royals added two more goals to extend their lead to 4-1. In the third period, they scored two more to put the game away as they beat the Jackals, 6-1 in front of an announced crowd of 4,513. In years past, the Royals used to draw more people.

After the game, we drove to Lancaster, Pennsylvania where I went to see my parents who live there. Since they didn't have room for all three of us, I arranged to get the King and Vincent a room at Super 8 which was right nearby. I dropped them off there and I picked them up in the morning.

Stay tuned for the special post I'm going to do about the way we spent our Sunday.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 1/24 in review‏

With my football season coming to an end, I went to Madison Square Garden after getting some sleep during the day to see the Knicks host the Washington Wizards.

As for the game I saw, the Wizards hung tough with the Knicks for most of the game then the Knicks put them away in the fourth quarter as they won 115-106!

Amar'e Stoudemire led the way with 30 points and 9 rebounds. Wilson Chandler added 25 points while Danilo Gallanari finished with 17 points.

Nick Young was the Wizards high scorer with 22 points. Recently acquired Rashard Lewis had 20 points. Rookie John Wall poured in 18 points and he dished out 9 assists.

After going back to work Tuesday I came home to rest up.

Wednesday night I braved the elements and I made the trek to Newark to see the Nets take on the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies led this one after the first quarter 32-16 then they gradually disappeared as the game wore on. They wound up losing, 93-88!

Anthony Morrow paced the Nets off the bench as he scored a team high 19 points. Brook Lopez added 17 points in the process.

As for the Grizzlies, Rudy Gay finished with 22 points and Zach Randolph had 20 points to go along with 16 rebounds in the loss.

Thursday night I went back to the Garden to see the return of the Miami Heat.

This time the Knicks emerged victorious, 93-88!

The Big Three was missing Chris Bosh. Dwayne Wade had a great game as he scored 34 points and he grabbed 16 rebounds but he missed 8 free throws which proved to be costly as the Heat came up short.

LeFraud once again heard the serenade of boos when he touched the ball. He shot only 7 for 24 and he finished with 24 points and he manage to collect 11 boards.

For the Knicks, Amar'e Stoudemire who was named one of the Eastern Conference starting All-Stars before the game. He went on to score 24 points to help the Knicks beat the Heat.

Rookie Landry Fields added 19 points, ripped down 13 rebounds and he handed out 6 assists. In the process, he became the first Knick rookie to do so since Walt Frazier did that feat way back in 1968.

Friday night I went to rest up for the busy weekend I had planned.

Saturday morning I went to Avis and I rented a car for the weekend.

I proceeded to drive to Astoria to pick up the King. After doing so, I drove into Manhattan to meet our friend Mike Carroll who joined us for the minor league hockey doubleheader we were seeing.

The first game was in Hershey, Pennsylvania at 2PM. The back to back Calder Cup Champion Hershey Bears were hosting the Charlotte Checkers.

As for the game we saw, the hometown Bears scored the only goal of the game when former NHL player Sheldon Souray lit the lamp midway through the third period to give the Bears the 1-0 victory.

After the game we drove to Reading, PA to see our second game at 7:05PM.

On the way to Reading we stopped off in Bethel, PA and we had dinner at the Midway Diner which is located conveniently right off Exit 16 on I-78.

After having a nice inexpensive full course meal we continued on to Reading.

We arrived just in time to make the opening faceoff between the visiting Greenville Road Warriors who relocated from Johnstown, PA this season and the Reading Royals on Penn State night.

To celebrate this special occasion, the Royals worn a special uniform that resembled the Nittany Lions. They had big numbers on both sides of their navy blue jerseys.

Unlike the game we saw in Hershey, the first goal came just 40 seconds into the game as the Royals took the early 1-0 lead. They added two more goals to make it 3-0 just past the midway mark of the first period.

The Road Warriors stormed back with 2 quick goals only 9 seconds apart later in the first period to get back into the game at 3-2.

After a scoreless second period, the Royals added an insurance goal early in the third period to make it 4-2. That's the way it ended as the Royals came away with the victory.

Needless to say, we all had a great time in the Keystone State.

Sunday morning the King and I picked up my good friend and big supporter of Royalty over the years, Manny Morales. It's always a pleasure to have Manny on board with us.

He saw my schedule on the blog and he contacted me so he could take a "royal" ride to Poughkeepsie, NY which is located in the Hudson Valley about 100 miles from NYC.

We went to see Manhattan College visit the Red Foxes of Marriott. On paper it wasn't the most attractive matchup since both teams are playing very bad so far this season.

As for the game we saw it was very competitive throughout the contest. Marist had a few chances to put the Jaspers of Manhattan away at the free throw line but they missed free throws down the stretch that allowed Manhattan to have a chance at an improbable win.

With just 2 seconds to play, the visiting Jaspers of Manhattan had to go the length of the court to score to tie or win the game.

Michael Alvarado dribbled the ball up to just before the halfcourt line and he threw the ball up towards the basket and it banked off the backboard and in to give the Jaspers an incredible 60-59 come from behind win.

Needless to say, the crowd was in stunned disbelief. I couldn't believe it either. What a finish we saw.

After the game we dropped Manny off in Manhattan and the King and I went to the Garden to see the Knicks play the Detroit Pistons.

I wound up returning the car to Avis before I headed to the Garden. I drove 582 miles over the weekend.

As for the Knick game, the Knicks wound up beating up the Pistons rather easily, 124-106!

Amar'e Stoudemire led the way with 33 points despite playing with a twisted ankle. Danilo Gallanari added 29 points while seldom used Timofey Mozgov came off the bench and poured in 23 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.

For the Pistons, Ben Gordon scored 35 points and Greg Monroe added 15 points to go along with his 17 boards in the defeat.

As always, thank you for reading and following the adventures of Royalty.

If and when you get tired of reading about it and you want to be part of it just let me know so I can arrange to have you join us.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty will be in the Keystone State and Wheeling, West Virginia over Thanksgiving weekend!

Here's the game plan:

I'm renting a car on Black Friday morning from Avis for the weekend.

I'm going to pick up The King and our friend Lloyd Ramsland who will we'll be joining us as we visit the Keystone State and we're taking a ride to Wheeling, West Virginia too before returning home very early Sunday morning.

Friday, November 26th Flames at Flyers 1PM

                                    Cincinnati Cylcones at Reading Royals 7:05PM

Saturday, November 27th Flames at Penguins 1PM

We're be seeing the new Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh. That will mean all three of us we'll have every current NHL arena once again.


                                       Kalamazoo K-Wings at Wheeling Nailers 7:35PM

If you're interested in going on this getaway royalty style just let me know so I can arrange to have you join us.

It's going to be a blast so why not come for a "royal" ride.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Jackals crown the Royals indoors, 3-2!

In the second game of the outdoor/indoor doubleheader, we saw the Elmira Jackals dress up in correction officer uniforms as they took on the prisoners from Reading, PA the Royals. The referee and the linesmen were in warden outfits. It was part of a promotion for this particular game.

It wound up being a SRO crowd. Fortunately for us some local people who were going to the game had some tickets they weren't using and they actually give them to us. That was very nice of them. Once again proving royalty has its privileges and rewards.

As for the game itself, the first place Jackals went on to beat the Royals, 3-2!
It was a good competitive game throughout the contest.

The best part of the visit was when I received a call that a special guest was in the house.

Our good friend and fellow roadtripper, Peter Farrell, who is one of the Buffalo guys we know from the Ultimate Sports Road Trip (USRT).

Their website was linked to a previous post previewing the Wrigley Field upcoming visit in May. Click on that post to get the link.

He grew up in Horseheads which is right outside Elmira so he was coming back to his roots when he decided to make the 2 hour drive right after work from Buffalo where he resides these days. He works for the Post Office as a letter carrier. He even did an hour overtime and he still got to the game on time. He was so proud of himself. Needless to say, so were we.

We appreciate the fact that he went out of his way to join us. That was a very nice gesture. Thanks again Pete for coming down and joining us.

As always, your company was great. Too bad, your partner Andrew couldn't make it. He was missed but he was there in spirit.

We'll be going to Buffalo and Rochester at the end of March so we'll be looking forward to seeing you both again.