Royalty goes to Cedar Park to see Texas Stars play hockey!

Prince at Cedar Park Center

After getting a taste of baseball in the afternoon in San Antonio at the Alamodome, I drove the King and our pal Bryan Gilligan another 100 miles to Cedar Park, Texas which is located about 20 miles northwest of Austin, which is the state capital. By doing so, we got to see AHL hockey as the Texas Stars, the Dallas Stars' affiliate, were taking on the Grand Rapids Griffins, the farm club of the Detroit Red Wings which happens to be the King's favorite hockey team at the Cedar Park Center.

As for Steve Fekete, he left us and he drove back to Houston where he went to see the Rockets play the Clippers at the Toyota Center in downtown.

Before we got to the arena, we stopped off at a Whataburger that was seven miles away to have a pre game meal since we were starving from not eating much all day due to all the traveling we did since we left home early in the morning.

As for the game we saw, the Griffins scored the first goal of the game as Jan Mursak lit the lamp with 5:44 to go in the first period to make it 1-0. The Stars got the equalizer as Justin Dowling scored to tie the game at one a minute and 27 seconds later. The Stars got a late goal with just 8 seconds to go in the period to take a 2-1 lead thanks to Travis Morin who redirected a beautiful pass from Colton Sceviour to change the complexion of the game. In the second period, neither team scored. In the third period, Matt Fraser of the Stars added an insurance goal which made it a 3-1 game with 6:23 to go. That's how it ended thanks to goaltender Jack Campbell of the Stars who made 42 saves which enabled his team to emerge victorious as the sellout crowd of 6,462 went home happy.

After the game, thankfully I booked rooms at Motel 6 which was only three miles from the arena since we were all exhausted. With that being said, we were able to get a much needed good night sleep.

Please stay tuned for the special post that will detail how we spent our Easter Sunday in the Lone Star State.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 2/18 in review

My niece Taylor, my nephew Jeremy & I

Monday I was off from work because it was President's Day. After getting back late from Lewiston, Maine, I still managed to get a good night sleep. I woke up and made breakfast then I drove the King & I out to the Nassau Coliseum to see the Islanders play the Philadelphia Flyers in a matinee affair.

We arranged to meet up with our pal Larry Peim out there. When we got inside the building, we were joined by our friends Michael Abrams and Rob Pierlewski who were there too.

As for the game we saw, the Flyers struck early and often as they handed the Islanders their worst shutout loss in their history at the Coliseum. The Flyers cruised to a 7-0 win as Claude Giroux and Daniel Briere both scored twice as they embarrassed the Islanders in front of a crowd of 16,170 that was just short of a sellout.

After the game, Larry took the King back home while I decided to go visit my sister Abbey and my brother-in-law Scott as well as my adorable niece Taylor and my handsome nephew Jeremy who live in nearby East Meadow. They were all so happy to see me and vice versa.

We all wound up going out to Ruby Tuesday for dinner. We all enjoyed each other's company. When we were done eating, we said our goodbyes and I drove myself back home.

Tuesday morning I got up extra early because I had to go to Avis to return the Toyota Corolla I rented for the weekend. I wound up driving 818 miles safely.

After I dropped off the car, I went to work. After work, I went to downtown Brooklyn to see the Nets play the Milwaukee Bucks at the Barclays Center.

Before I went into the arena, I went across the street to McDonald's in the Atlantic Center Mall for a pre game meal.

When I was done I walked back over and I went inside. I met up with the King and our pals Larry Peim and Michael Abrams who were also present & accounted for. They wound up getting tickets in our section 230 on Stub Hub.

As for the game we saw, the Nets lead the Bucks, 31-24 after the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Nets added to their lead as they led the Bucks, 61-51 at halftime. In the third quarter, the Bucks came roaring back as they scored the Nets by 11 to take a one point lead, 81-80 after three quarters. In the fourth quarter, the Nets tied the game at 105 after regulation time. With that being said, the game went into overtime. The Nets emerged victorious as Joe Johnson hit the game winning shot as time expired in the extra session as the Nets escaped with a 113-111 win to send the announced crowd of 17,334 home happy.

Legends Night at St. John's University

Wednesday night after work I went out to Queens with my co-worker and St. John's alumni Jayson Castillo to see the St. John's Red Storm play the South Florida Bulls at Carnesecca Arena on Legends night. In addition, they gave away Lou Carnesecca bobblehead dolls to the first 4,000 fans who entered the building.
Jayson and I had a blast. I want to personally thank him for getting me a ticket for this historic occasion.
They had a ceremony at halftime that Jayson was part of. He was amongst the many alumni that they honored on this special night. They brought back a number of former players such as Malik Boothe, Wille Glass and Greg "Boo" Harvey to name a few. They all lined up around the sidelines of the court.
The ceremony reached its pinnacle when legendary coach Lou Carnesecca stood at center court and he did a moving speech as he thanked all of the alumni for making St. John's basketball what it is today. It was a thrill to be a part of it.

As for the game we saw, the Red Storm raced out to an early 14-2 lead and they didn't look back. They led, 33-17 at halftime. In the second half, the Bulls made a comeback attempt but the Red Storm held them off as they beat them, 69-54 in front of a capacity crowd of 5,602.

Jayson introduced me to a friend of his, Michael Varga who also graduated from St. John's too. Michael is an up and coming sports traveler. He also loves doing sports trivia. We got to chat for a little while as they the game was winding down. We exchanged contact information so we can help each other out in the future. That was the icing on the cake on this festive night out.

Thursday night after work I came home and I made dinner. After dinner I went out and I did my laundry.

Friday after work I went back to downtown Brooklyn to see the Nets play the Houston Rockets at the Barclays Center as Linsanity returned to NYC.

I went to McDonald's again to have my pre game meal. Upon entry to the arena, I went up to my seat with the King in section 230 to watch the game.

As for the game we saw, the Rockets lead 34-31 after the first quarter. The Rockets extended their lead to 8, 61-53 at halftime. In the third quarter, the Rockets added another point to their lead as they went by 9, 84-75. In the fourth quarter, the Rockets maintained their lead as they went on to knock off the Nets, 106-96.

As for Linsanity, he was rather ordinary on this night as he finished the game with 9 points and he dished out 6 assists. His teammates Carlos Delfino and James Harden scored 22 points each to carry the Rockets to the road win. As for the Nets, Brook Lopez scored a game high 27 points in the losing effort.

Stay tuned for some special posts that will recap the hockey and basketball doubleheaders we saw over the weekend.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty sees an unexpected basketball doubleheader in Philadelphia!

Michael Spatz & I

As I wrote on my schedule for the w/o 1/7, I was planning to see just the 76ers play the Houston Rockets on Saturday, January 12th. The main reason for that was the King & I were hoping to go to pay our respects to one of the old time baseball fans that we knew. Our friend John Oriole as we called him had passed away in early December. We were informed that there was going to be a Memorial service for him in North Philadelphia that morning. Unfortunately I couldn't rent a car from Avis until 9AM that day. I did my best to drive to the funeral home in hopes of getting there for it anyway. Much to our chagrin, it didn't work out. Before we even got there, the service was over. Our friend Frankie Centola who was there kept calling to let us know what was going on.

John was a good man. He loved the game of baseball but he hated how much it had changed from when he grew up. As a result, John never stepped foot in Citizens Bank Park not even one time. He was from the Philadelphia area but he always hated the Phillies. He was a big Oriole fan back in the 60's & 70's when they had great teams and we're a real joy to watch at old Memorial Stadium. Their starting pitchers went nine innings almost every time out. In addition, home runs were rare to see not like they are today. That was the main reason he never went to a game at Citizens Bank Park. He said it was too easy to hit a home run there. That totally turned him off from going there. It's a shame that we lost him. He was only 62. He will be missed.

When I was at the car rental, I got a call from our friend Manny Morales who was wondering why we weren't going to see a college basketball game during the day. He told me LaSalle was home at 2PM. In addition, our pal Andrew Van Cleve text me & he said he was going there too. Once our original plan didn't work out we altered it with plan B. With that being said, we wound up driving to Tom Gola Arena which is the home of the University of LaSalle Explorers. They were playing the University of Richmond Spiders that day.

With that being said, we wound up seeing an unexpected basketball game that afternoon. Furthermore, we got to meet up with Andrew who couldn't make the 76er game that night. We made the best of the situation. It turned out to be a great day for us after all.

As for the game we saw, the LaSalle Explorers beat the visiting Richmond Spiders rather easily, 71-59 before an announced crowd of 2,282. That figure was about right for the people who showed up and they were into the game right throughout.

After the game, we went to meet up with Kurt Smith, the author of Ballpark E-Guides, for dinner. Stay tuned for the special post that I'm going to do regarding that.

After we ate, the King & I went over to the Wells Fargo Center to see the 76ers play the Rockets like we originally planned to do.

During the week, I got in touch with Michael Spatz, who covers the Mid-Atlantic region for Stadium Journey which does reviews of all the different venues around the country and the world. Michael told me he was going to the 76er game and he was going to do an updated review for the website. With that being said, I told him I would love to meet & greet him at the game.

We had exchanged contact information and we got in touch when we were at the arena. He told me he got a complimentary ticket from the 76ers in section 103 downstairs. As for me, I was sitting with the King in section 221A. We got hooked by our friend Frankie Centola who has season tickets there. I asked Michael if he could come upstairs at halftime so we could meet up. I told him I would come down but they will give me a hard time because I didn't have a ticket for downstairs. With that being said, Michael told me he'll gladly come up. True to his word, he did. I was very grateful and I told him so. He wound up watching the rest of the game with me.

Michael & I spoke and we watched the game together. He was taking notes and I was scoring the game. I gave him some helpful hints so he can enhance the reviews he writes. He's done a great job so far and I told him to keep up the good work. I hope to see him again at another game in the near future.

As for the game we saw, the 76ers beat the Rockets, 107-100. Jrue Holiday of the 76ers scored a game high 30 points and he handed out 9 assists to lead the way. As for the Rockets, James Harden scored 29 points and 9 rebounds while former Knick Jeremy Lin had a rough night as the 76ers bottled him up throughout the game. He scored only 7 points on just 2 for 13 shooting in the losing effort.

After the game, the King & I drove back home to NYC.

Stay tuned for the special post I'm going to do regarding a very special and memorable visit to NYC by our fellow roadtripper buddies from Buffalo, Andrew Kulyk & Peter Farrell that Sunday.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 12/17 in review

Monday morning after returning from Toronto at 4:30AM, I went to sleep for five hours or so. I got up and I went to Avis to return the car I rented. I wound up driving 1,063 miles safely. After I got done, I went to work for the afternoon.

After work, I went to Charley's Subs in Penn Station for my pre game meal before I went upstairs to Madison Square Garden. It was the return of Linsanity to NYC for one night since Jeremy Lin is now a member of the Houston Rockets. The King and I saw him play in Toronto the day before like I mentioned in my previous post. Lin didn't play well north of the border. I thought he was looking ahead to coming to New York to shine on the big stage. Apparently I was right because he reverted to the form he brought to the Knicks when he made a name for himself last season. He scored 22 points and he handed out 8 assists to lead his new team, the Rockets to a easy 109-96 win over the Knicks. The score wasn't totally indicative of the Rocket dominance on this night. They lead by as many as 27 points early in the fourth quarter. It was nice to experience another installment of Linsanity at the World's Most Famous Arena regardless of the outcome.

The Knicks played without Carmelo Anthony who was recovering from an injury. Chris Copeland picked up the slack by scoring 29 points all in the second half in his absence.

Tuesday night after work I met up with our pal Peter Agnew from Baltimore who was visiting NYC for the holidays. He told me he was coming a few months ago and he said he wanted to see the Barclays Center for the Brooklyn Nets. With that being said, I arranged to get him a ticket so he could join the King and I. I wound up meeting Peter at my office when I got out of work at 5:30PM. We both took the subway to downtown Brooklyn where the Barclays Center is located.

When we got outside we went across the street to the Atlantic Center Mall where we had dinner at AppleBee's since we had some spare time before the game started. As a result, we got to take advantage of their two for $20 dinner deals. Peter got a 7 ounce sirloin steak and I had the riblets. We also got mozzarella sticks as an appetizer and we had vegetables too. It was a hearty and worth wild investment.

After we ate, we walked back over to the arena and we went inside. Peter got to take a quick look around the concourse before we went up to our seats where we met up with the King.

As for the game we saw, the Nets were hosting the Utah Jazz. The Nets got off to a good start as they lead the Jazz, 24-20 after the first quarter. They extended their lead to 13 at halftime, 57-44. In the third quarter, the Jazz made a comeback as they closed the gap to 4, 74-70. In the fourth quarter, the Jazz went ahead late in the game. The Nets blew some golden opportunities to tie or take the lead but time ran out as they came up short as they fell to the Jazz, 92-90.

After the game, Peter took the train with us. He got off in Midtown where he was staying. The King and I said our goodbyes and we headed home. It was nice to see Peter again. Hopefully we'll see him again when we go to Baltimore.

Wednesday at work we had a Christmas party in the office in the afternoon. After I left, I went back to the Garden for the Battle of the Boroughs as the Brooklyn Nets were visiting MSG for the first time since they moved to Brooklyn. The two teams have split their first two meetings at the Barclays Center.

This time the Knicks got Carmelo Anthony back after he missed a few games due to injury. He wound up leading the way with 31 points as the Knicks pulled away from the Nets in the second half to come away with a 100-86 victory.

Thursday night after work my boss took our team out for dinner for the holidays. We had a nice get together. It worked out well since no local teams in the area were home so I didn't have to miss a game to go.
Friday night after work, I went back to MSG. On the way there, I met up with the King for dinner at Popeye's. We had some good fried chicken before we headed to the Garden to see the Knicks play the Chicago Bulls.

The Bulls were playing without their superstar point guard Derrick Rose who's still recovering from a knee injury. He should be back soon.

As for the game we saw, the Bulls raced out to a big lead. They lead 30-23 after the first quarter. They went into the locker room at halftime with a 54-39 lead. In the third quarter, they added to their bulge as they lead, 83-61 after three quarters. In the fourth quarter, the Knicks lost their cool. J.R. Smith fouled out of the game with 7:09 left. With 6:45 left in the game, Carmelo Anthony picked up his second technical foul which resulted in an automatic rejection. Head coach Mike Woodson followed Anthony to the locker room with 5:22 to go when he got his second technical. It got worse as Tyson. Chandler and Joakim Noah got double technicals as they were also thrown out of the game. It was an ugly night for the Knicks who got whipped by the Bulls. The Knicks made a run down the stretch to make the score appear more respectable than it really was as the Bulls beat the Knicks, 110-106.

Saturday marked the 10th anniversary of the King and I getting to all the venues in all four major sports which included visits to Vanderbilt Stadium in  November 1998 when the Tennessee Oilers played there and as well as Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois when the Bears played there in November 2002.

When I got up in the morning, I did my laundry. The King and I decided to pass up an opportunity to see a bunch of local college basketball games. Instead we decided to take Metro North up to Bridgeport, Connecticut to see some minor league hockey at the Webster Bank Arena as the Sound Tigers were hosting the Adirondack Phantoms, the Philadelphia Flyers farm club. As a result, I got to meet up with my pal Greg Venuto who joined us. It was great to see him again.

As for the game we saw, it was a touching night because the Sound Tigers' players were wearing jerseys that had the names of the victims who were killed in that horrific scene at Newtown Elementary school on December 14th. In addition, they had a moment of silence to remember those who for no good reason are no longer with us. It was a nice tribute for an unfortunate day that occurred unexpectedly.

As for the game we saw, the Phantoms and Sound Tigers came out swinging at each other. Just 51 seconds into the game, the tempers flared & the gloves were dropped. At 2:07 into the period, another fight broke out as Brett Gallant and Zack Fitzgerald went off for five minutes. Things settled down for the rest of the period as far as fighting went. The Phantoms did get the lone goal of the period when Sean Couturier scored on a bad angle but the puck wound up in the net as Sound Tigers' goalie Anders Nilsson failed to make the save.

Matthew Ford of the Phantoms made it a 2-0 lead as he buried one 7:49 into the second period. At 11:37 of the period, another fight took place as Brett Gallant of the Sound Tigers and Zack Fitzgerald went at it again. Zack Fitzgerald continued to throw punches with his jersey over his head, as a result he got an additional ten minute misconduct for doing so.

In th third period, just 38 seconds in Eric Wellwood of the Phantoms scored while both teams were playing four on four to make it a 3-0 game. The Sound Tigers finally scored with 6:21 left in the game to break the shutout. They scored again 27 seconds later with 5:54 left to get within one at 3-2. Unfortunately for them they couldn't get the equalizer as time ran out.

Sunday afternoon the King and I went out to MetLife Stadium to see the Jets host the Chargers in a battle of two disappointing franchises.

As for the game we saw, the Jets' first drive of the game stalled. They punted the ball to the Chargers. Punt returner Micheal Spurlock ran it back 63 yards for a touchdown with 13:01 left to give the Chargers a 7-0 lead. The Jets got the ball back and they marched down the field 83 yards that ended with a one yard touchdown run with 9:20 left by running back Shonn Greene to tie the game at 7. With 4:13 left, Greene scored again as he ran in from a yard out to give the Jets a 14-7 lead.

In the second quarter, the Chargers got a 51 yard field goal from kicker Nick Novak to pull the Chargers within four at 14-10 with 8:32 left. The score stayed that way at halftime.

In the third quarter, the Chargers took the opening kickoff and they drove 81 yards that culminated with a 37 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Phillip Rivers to wide receiver Danario Alexander with 11:11 left to give the Chargers the lead, 17-14. Phillip Rivers hooked up with tight end Antonio Gates on a 34 yard touchdown pass with 1:34 left to extend the Charger lead to 24-14.

In the fourth quarter, the Chargers got a 27 yard field goal with 14:07 to go from Nick Novak to make it a 27-14 game. The Jets got a 40 yard field goal from kicker Nick Folk to get the Jets within ten, 27-17 with 11:08 left. Unfortunately for the Jets, that's the way it ended as their disappointing season took another step in the wrong direction.

It was a long day for quarterback Greg McElroy who made his first NFL start in place of Mark Sanchez who was benched. He got sacked 11 times which made it difficult for him to succeed.

After witnessing the Jet debacle, I went to the Garden to see the Knicks play the Minnesota Timberwolves.
As for the game I saw, the Knicks trailed the Timberwolves, 29-22 after the first quarter. They were behind at halftime, 55-46. In the third quarter, they sliced into the Timberwolves' lead as they got within two, 73-71 after three quarters. In the fourth quarter, the Knicks hung tough. They finally took a lead late in the game and they held off the Timberwolves, 94-91 when it was all said and done.

Carmelo Anthony led the way again for the Knicks with 33 points while J.R. Smith added 19 to carry them to the victory.

As for the Timberwolves, Nikola Pekovic had 21 points and he ripped down 17 rebounds in the losing effort.

With that another week of sports travel is in the books.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty goes to Toronto for basketball & football with USRT!

Prince at Rogers Centre for NFL Football

After spending the night at Super 8 in the Buffalo area, the King and I and our pal Frank Anichiarico met up with our road tripping buddies, Andrew Kulyk and Peter Farrell aka the Ultimate Sports Road Trip, USRT if you will.

I want to take a moment to congratulate these guys on their 10th Anniversary of seeing all the venues in all four major sports that being MLB, NFL, NBA & the NHL that culminated back on December 15, 2002 at Ford Field in Detroit.

Please see the link below that acknowledges their accomplishment and what they've done since then and what their future holds as it appeared in Artvoice which is a local publication that these guys write articles for.

http://blogs.artvoice.com/avdaily/2012/12/14/artvoices-farrell-and-kulyk-mark-a-usrt-anniversary/

The King and I and our friend Frank Anichiarico met them at the Royal Restaurant which is located across the street from the Super 8 we stayed at for breakfast. We all indulged in a hearty breakfast together.

After we ate, they left their cars near the restaurant and they joined us as I drove us all to Toronto for the day. It was quite a collection of sports travelers. As always, we reminisced about the different places and adventures we've taken together over the years. Quite amazingly, the King and I have had a lot more luck than Andrew and Peter. Those guys always seem to have a problem when they go places. For example, Andrew went into detail about a trip they took down to Florida to see the then Devil Rays over Labor Day weekend back in 2004. They left Buffalo where it was surprisingly warm in the 80's temperature wise they said to go to the Tampa-St. Petersburg area to see baseball and Florida Gator football in Gainesville. It sounded like a great trip on paper until mother nature decided to interfere. With the luck these guys have, a hurricane hit the area and they were grounded for the weekend in Florida while people they know at home we enjoying Florida like weather. Go figure.

Thankfully the royal company made sure this day was a successful one.

Andrew told me to go over the Lewiston Bridge into Canada which turned out to be a good choice. We got through customs relatively easily which isn't always the case. We continued on to Toronto which has grown leaps and bounds the last 10-15 years. The skyline from the distance is barely visible these days and there are more cranes around as more construction is taking place.

We finally arrive in the vicinity of the Rogers Centre which is the home of the Toronto Blue Jays. It also is the home of the Canadian Football League Toronto Argonauts. On this day, it was the home field of the Buffalo Bills who have played a home game there each of the last five seasons. Today the Bills were hosting the Seattle Seahawks at 4:05PM. Stay tuned for further details.

Before that game the Toronto Raptors who play at the Air Canada Centre which is a short walk from the Rogers Centre, were home against the Houston Rockets at 1PM. With that being said, it made for an easy two sport doubleheader.

Mind you the King and our friend Frank Anichiarico hadn't seen the Bills play in Rogers Centre before. In fact, this was Frank's first time to Toronto. He's been to different places over the years including Montreal but he never got to Toronto for whatever reason. I was thrilled to have the honor of getting him there finally.
As for me, I saw the Raptors and Bills play in the same scenario back on December 7, 2008 with Andrew & Peter. We were also joined by another roadtripper named Adam Goldstein from England who was in the midst of a monster football trip at the time.

Then in 2009, I met them for a Bill game on a Thursday night with the Jets there as well. The King wasn't able to join us. With that being said, I made sure this time he made it that was the primary purpose of this excursion initially.

As for the basketball game we saw, the Raptors got off to a fast start but they still trailed 28-26 to the Rockets after the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Raptors fought back to even the score at 49 at halftime.

In the third quarter, the Raptors started to pull away again as they took a six point lead, 77-71 after three quarters.

In the fourth quarter, they maintained their lead and they held off the Rockets to win the game, 103-96.
Guard Jose Calderon of the Raptors was the star of the game as he posted a triple double. He scored 18 points, he handed out 14 assists and he pulled down 10 rebounds. His teammates Alan Anderson and DeMar DeRozan added 24 and 19 points respectively to help lead the Raptors to victory.

As for the Rockets, they got a game high 28 points from James Harden while former Knick Jeremy Lin had a bad day as he finished the game with just 7 points and 2 assists in the losing effort.

After the game, we all went over to the Rogers Centre to see the Bills take on the Seahawks. It was raining lightly outside but thankfully it was nice and comfortable inside. Mind you I'm not a big fan of seeing baseball and/or football games in dome stadiums but sometimes it's beneficial to do so. This was one of those days.
As for the game we saw, the Bills got lit up early and often as rookie quarterback Russell Wilson of the Seahawks ran circles around the Bills' defense. On the first drive of the game, Wilson scored the first of his three rushing touchdowns to give the Seahawks an early 7-0 lead with 10 minutes to go in the first quarter with a 14 yard scamper. With 5:46 to go, Wilson ran in from 25 yards to make it a 14-0 game. The Bills fought back as running back C.J. Spiller got the Bills on the scoreboard with a 14 yard touchdown run with 34 seconds left in the first quarter to make it a 14-7 contest.

In the second quarter, the Seahawks extended their lead to 17-7 as kicker Steven Hauschka booted a 19 yard field goal with 12:03 left until halftime. That drive was highlighted by a beautiful flea flicker from Russell Wilson to wide receiver Golden Tate that covered 44 yards. The Seahawks got the ball back again and this time they got into the end zone as Russell Wilson hit tight end Zach Miller on a 4 yard touchdown pass to make it a 24-7 score. With 5:31 left, Russell Wilson got the hat trick if you will as he ran in from 13 yards out to pad the Seahawks' lead to 31-7. The Bills staged a comeback as quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick threw a 20 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Stevie Johnson with 1:10 to go to make it 31-14. The Bills wound up getting the ball back before the half ended and they capitalized on the opportunity as kicker Ryan Lindell split the uprights from 41 yards out as the half ended. The Bills trailed, 31-17 at the intermission.

It should be noted that during the intermission, the crowd was treated to a performance by international star, Psy who did his song Gangham Style on a stage that was set up at mid field. It was entertaining to say the least.

If you want to listen to the performance, please click on the link below:
rtsp://v3.cache5.c.youtube.com/CjYLENy73wIaLQmPp99FAfDRPRMYJCAkFEIJbXYtZ29vZ2xlSARSBXdhdGNoYIagh6WTq7z4Tww=/0/0/0/video.3gp

In the third quarter, the Bills got the opening kickoff. They were riding the momentum they had before the half ended but that quickly fizzled when Ryan Fitzpatrick threw a costly interception that dampened the hopes of the Bill fans who also made the trek north of the border. I felt bad for our pal Peter Farrell who's a die hard Bill fan, he knew that was going to happen. Much to his chagrin, he was right. The Seahawks took advantage as former Bill Marshawn Lynch scored on a 13 yard touchdown run to make it 37-17 after the point after was blocked. For the Bills' sake, it was too little too late. With 7:29 to go in the third quarter, Steven Hauschka made it 40-17 with a 33 yard field goal. It got worse in a hurry as Ryan Fitzpatrick threw another interception. This one was a pick 6 by free safety Earl Thomas who ran it back 57 yards to make it 47-17.

In the fourth quarter, the Seahawks tacked on a 23 yard field goal with 9:17 to go to make the score, 50-17. The drive was prolonged by a fake punt as head coach Pete Carroll showed no mercy for the hopeless Bills. That's the way it finally ended. As a result, the Bills were officially eliminated from the postseason again.

After the game, we walked back to the car. We wound up driving back over the Rainbow Bridge which is right by Niagara Falls. It was a nice scenic view as we made our way back to the States.

After we got through customs with relative ease once again, we drove Andrew and Peter back to their cars.

We then followed them to one of their favorite local hangouts, Jim's Steakout for a post game meal before we drove back home overnight.

We all had a great time reuniting together again. I want to personally thank Andrew and Peter for joining us for the day.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty is heading back up to Western New York & Toronto to visit some special people in the middle of December!

Here's the game plan:

I'm renting a car Saturday morning from Avis for the weekend.

The King and I be driving up to Western New York & Toronto before returning home early Monday morning.

Saturday, December 15th Toronto Marlies at Rochester Americans 7:05PM

Sunday, December 16th Rockets at Raptors 1PM

                                     Seahawks at Bills 4:05PM at Rogers Centre

We'll be meeting up with our road trip buddies from Buffalo, Andrew Kulyk and Peter Farrell of the Ultimate Sports Road Trip aka USRT.

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.

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

Royalty w/o 3/28 in review

After work Monday I went to Madison Square Garden as the Magic came back to play the Knicks for the second time in 5 days. This game wasn't originally scheduled but back on November 2, 2010 the game was postponed due to an asbestos scare. As a result, it was rescheduled for this night instead.

The Knicks came home in a downward spiral. The last time they played each other the Magic beat the Knicks, 111-99. This time the Knicks played better but they blew a 6 point lead late in the last minute of regulation. The game wound up going into overtime. The Knicks managed to overcome the letdown and they went on to beat the Magic going away, 113-106.

Tuesday night I went out to Newark, NJ with the intention of seeing the Nets play the Houston Rockets at the Prudential Center.

As it turned out, my plan of action didn't turn out as expected.

Stay tuned for a special post that will describe what happened on this particular night. If you've been there you'll know what I'm talking about. If not, this will give you reason to reconsider if it's worth the hassle or not to go there.

Wednesday I decided to take the night off so I could recharge the batteries and brace for the beginning of the new baseball season.

After working a half a day I went up to Yankee Stadium to start the baseball season. Please feel free to see the live post I did from my season seat in Section 420B row 7 seat 3.

As for the game, the Yankees opened the new season with a victory. They beat the Tigers, 6-3. Mark Teixeira hit a three run home run to open the scoring for the Yankees after the Tigers took a 1-0 lead. The Tigers came back to tie the game at 3. Former Tiger Curtis Granderson came back to haunt his former team when he hit a home run in the 7th inning. The "Grandy Man" delivered off former Yankee pitcher Phil Coke. With that being said, Curtis had a "Coke" and a smile.

The Yankees added a few insurance runs before Mariano Rivera closed it out in the ninth inning 1,2,3. It should be noted Granderson made a nice running catch to get the second out.

After the game, the King and I went to the Nassau Coliseum to see the Islanders play their crosstown rivals, the Rangers.

It was a playoff like atmosphere as these two teams battled it out.

The Rangers scored the first goal of the game but the Islanders went on to score the next six before the Rangers squeezed one more by former Ranger Al Montoya who thought he had it.The Islanders won, 6-2. As a result, many Ranger fans who were in attendance stormed out of the building.

As for the weekend which started early for me on Friday, stay tuned as I'll be writing a special post that recaps the adventurous getaway we had.

As always, thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Rockets comeback late & win, 116-112!

The Houston Rockets made their only visit to the Garden Sunday afternoon.

They trailed by as many as 17 late in the first quarter, 32-15.

They proceeded to score 45 points in the second quarter to pull within 2, 64-62 at the half.

The deficit remained 2 points after the third quarter as well, 94-92.

In the 4th quarter, the Knicks opened the lead up to 8, 92-84. The lead shrunk to 3, 110-107 with just over a minute to go in the game.

That's when Aaron Brooks of the Rockets took over. He scored 7 straight points to give the Rockets a 114-110 advantage with 56.9 seconds left in the game.

They wound up winning the game as the Knicks couldn't finish down the stretch.

Friday night's hero, Toney Douglas was called for 3 late fouls in the last minute.

Kevin Martin was the high scorer for the Rockets, he had 28 points. Jordan Hill, the former Knick who was traded along with Jared Jeffries in the Tracy McGrady trade added 13 points.

For the Knicks, David Lee returned and scored 27 points and he grabbed 20 rebounds but it was wasted in the loss.