Royalty w/o 10/28 in review

After work on Monday I came home to rest up from the exhausting weekend I wound up taking to the Buckeye State. 

Tuesday night after work I met up with my Cousin Andy at Newark Penn Station. We walked through the Gateway Center & we stopped off at Subway to have dinner together. After we ate, we continued walking over to the Prudential Center where we saw the Devils play the Tampa Bay Lightning. We were joined by the King when we got up to our seats in section 226 row 6.  My Cousin was so happy to see us. Unlike us, he doesn't get to go out that often so it's a real treat for him when he meets up with us. We always have a great time together.

As for the game we saw, the Devils beat the Lightning, 2-1. As a result, my Cousin was thrilled. He couldn't thank me enough for getting him the ticket for the game.

Wednesday night after work I went to the completely Transformed Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks open their new season against the Milwaukee Bucks. 

First & foremost, I want to mention all the additions in the final phase of the three year transformation process. Upon entry to the building, you'll notic the newly designed lobby & box office area which is more spacious than it was in the past. They've also added a team store so you can pick up souvenirs before and/or after the game. When you go inside I strongly suggest that you take a ride up to the tenth floor. That way you can check out the new Chase bridges that they've added which are connected to the West Balcony on the 8th avenue end of the building. The seating on the bridges is like the West Balcony. In other words, they have a few rows of seats that are protected by very thick glass as well as a row of bar stool seats behind them that have a ledge for you to put food and/or paperwork like I do when I sit at one of them. As long as you're not afraid of heights, you'll love the aerial view these seats have to offer. The Bridges are made so you feel like you're right on top of the action. They overlook the court for basketball & the ice for hockey. These seats are pricey & they're not sold on a season ticket basis. I recommend that if you have some money to burn that you try to get a seat up there. By doing so, you'll appreciate what they did to transform the building. The other change they made that stands out was they added a new massive HD scoreboard which hangs over the court and/or the ice. If you happen to be sitting on the side on the 200 level in the higher rows, the scoreboard is partially blocked. But they wisely added big screens on the side of the Bridges so you can see whatever you miss. Overall, I think they did a nice job in transforming the building. This may be a short lived process though since I've heard that in ten years they may be forced out of Penn Station which is built below the Garden. If you want to see the building as it is now, you should get there sooner than later.

As for the game I saw that night, the Knicks got off to a fast start. They lead by 25 points at halftime, 56-31. The Bucks fought back in the second half but the Knicks were able to hold them off as they went on to win their first game of the season, 90-83. Carmelo Anthony lead the way as he scored a game high 19 points & he grabbed 10 rebounds. Raymond Felton added 18 points.

Thursday night after work I spent my Halloween night doing my laundry after I made myself dinner.

Friday night after work I met up with the King at the Barclays Center where we saw the new look Brooklyn Nets open their home slate with a nationally televised game against the defending two time World Champion Miami Heat.

As for the game we saw, the Nets wound up beating the Heat in a drawn out game that took nearly three hours to play. The Nets won, 101-100. The Nets got 19 points from former Celtic Paul Pierce while Kevin Garnett aka KG who was also acquired in the same deal had just 6 points. Joe Johnson helped the Nets' cause by scoring 19 points as well. As for the Heat, LeBron James lead the way with 26 points but he didn't do anything exciting on this night as his team came up short.

Saturday afternoon the King & I took a ride via subway, Ferry & bus to see a college football game on Staten Island as the Wagner Seahawks were hosting the Blue Devils of Central Connecticut at Hameline Field. We were joined by our pal Eddie Pelle who met us there.

As for the game we saw, the Blue Devils beat the Seahawks, 52-17. The game actually was 24-17 with 13:09 to go but the Seahawks fell apart as they gave up four unanswered touchdowns as running back Rob Hollomon lead the charge for the Blue Devils. He finished the game with 147 yards rushing & he scored four touchdowns.

After the game, the King & I went out to the Prudential Center to see the Devils take on the Flyers. Eddie couldn't join us since he needed to take care of things at home. It was nice to see him again. 

As for the game we saw, the Flyers scored the only goal of the game in the first period. They held on to beat the Devils, 1-0.

Sunday the King & I went into Midtown Manhattan where we met up with our pal Larry Peim who drove us out to MetLife Stadium where we saw the Jets host the New Orleans Saints.

As for the game we saw, the Jets surprised the Saints as they beat them, 26-20. They were lead by former Saint Chris Ivory who ran for a game high 139 yards on the ground.

After the game, Larry drove us back to into Midtown. I went to see the Knicks play the Timberwolves at the Transformed Garden while the King decided to go home. 

As for the game I saw, the Timberwolves  played well & they beat the Knicks, 109-100. They got a monster performance out of Kevin Love who scored 34 points & he pulled down 15 rebounds. Kevin Martin added 30 points to help lead the charge for the Wolves. As for the Knicks, Carmelo Anthony poured in 22 points & he grabbed 17 boards while Metta World Peace finished with 17 points in the losing effort.

Stay tuned as I continue to attempt to play catch up.

Thank you for reading & 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 w/o 11/5 in review

Prince in Section 230 at Barclays Center

Monday morning I woke up early so I could return the Crown Victoria I rented from Avis for the weekend. I wound up driving 1,134 miles safely over the two days I had the car.

I went to work afterwards tired and all. I survived the day and after work I took the subway to downtown Brooklyn where the new Barclays Center is located. It's the home of the Brooklyn Nets who moved from New Jersey. On this night, the Nets were hosting the Minnesota Timberwolves. It should be noted that they were missing two of their key players, Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio who were inactive due to injuries.

Even though I saw the Barclays Center during the preseason, this was my first official visit if you will. It was my 58th NBA arena which includes all the current ones.

Before I went inside I stopped off a Subway restaurant for my pre game dinner. It was conveniently located in the Atlantic Center Mall which is right across the street from the arena. When I finished I proceeded to go into the building to see some NBA basketball.

When I got to my seat in section 230, I met up with the King and our pal Vincent Ascanio who was also there.

As for the game we saw, it started well for the new team in town. The Nets got off to a fast start as they lead by four, 31-27 after the first quarter. They extended their lead to 15 at halftime, 62-47. They lead by as much as 22 along the way. After three quarters, they lead, 86-75. In the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves finally awoke. Did they ever, they stormed back and they blew past the Nets as they dominated down the stretch making one shot after another. The Timberwolves outscored the Nets, 32-10 over the last twelve minutes to come away with an improbable 107-96 victory.

The Timberwolves rallied without their two star players. They got a game high 21 points from center Nikola Pekovic. In addition, forward Chase Budinger came off the bench and he added 16 many of which came during their late surge as they stunned the Nets. In the losing effort, Deron Williams had 18 points to go along with 13 assists.

Tuesday night after work I went out for dinner with my Aunt Joan and Uncle Mort who were in Manhattan for the day. We went to Ben's Deli. We had some good food and we got to catch up at the same time. It was really nice to see them again. I want to personally thank them for meeting me.

Wednesday night after work I went home to relax as it was snowing believe it or not. If Hurricane Sandy didn't do enough damage, we got a Noreaster on top of it which produced some wet and slushy snow.
Thursday night after work the snow disappeared thanks to some warmer weather. As a result, I was able to do my laundry when I got home.

Friday night after work I went to Charley's Subs for dinner in Penn Station. When I was done, I went upstairs to Madison Square Garden. I saw the undefeated Knicks take on the visiting Dallas Mavericks who were playing without their superstars Dirk Nowitzki and Shawn Marion.

As for the game I saw at the Transformed Garden, the Knicks and Mavericks battled it out. The Knicks lead by two after the first quarter, 25-23. In the second quarter, the Mavericks went ahead as they lead at halftime, 57-55. In the third quarter, the Knicks started to take over the game as they took the lead at 84-78 after three quarters. In the fourth quarter, the Knicks maintained their lead as they beat the Mavericks, 104-94 to stay unbeaten at 4-0 on the young season. Once again, Carmelo Anthony led the way for the Knicks as he scored a game high 31 points while teammate J.R. Smith added 22. For the Mavericks, O.J. Mayo paced them with 23 points.

Stay tuned for some special posts that I'm going to do that will recap my latest getaway weekend from NYC.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 1/30 in review

Quick Change

Monday after work I had a night off from attending a game so I used my free time wisely and I did my laundry.

Tuesday night after work I went out to the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ to see the Devils host their Hudson River rivals, the NY Rangers with the King.

As for the game we saw, it turned out to be a good action packed match. Both teams battled and fought hard all night exchanging goals. The Devils wound up getting a lucky bounce off the boards as the puck caromed to David Clarkson in front of the net who buried the equalizer with just 48 seconds left in regulation time to tie the game at three. After a scoreless overtime session, the game was decided in a shootout. The Devils came away with the extra point as they won the skills competition. As a result, they were 4-3 winners.

Wednesday night after work I went back to the "Rock". This time to see basketball. The NJ Nets took on the Detroit Pistons.

As for the game I saw, the Nets and Pistons played in a closely contested game. The Nets managed to pull out the victory by a score of 99-96.

I was joined by the King and our friend Vinny Ascanio. As usual, we all enjoyed each other's company.
Thursday night after work I went to Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks entertain the Chicago Bulls.
The Knicks were able to hang around with the Bulls most of the game but in the end, the Bulls came away with a 105-102 win. They were lead by their young superstar point guard Derrick Rose. Rose had a MVP like performance as he sliced and diced his way through the Knicks defense throughout the game as he scored 32 points including 15 in the critical fourth quarter. He also dished out 13 assists to carry his team to the narrow victory in front of an electric atmosphere at the World's Most Famous Arena.

In addition, during the halftime intermission, the crowd was treated to an act called "Quick Change." These people have been doing this routine for many years. Every time I see it, I still don't believe it. They change what their wearing numerous times right before your eyes. It's truly amazing.

Friday night after work I went back to Newark, NJ to see the Nets play the Minnesota Timberwolves who have Ricky Rubio, the point guard from Spain. The Timberwolves drafted him a few years ago but he had to fulfill his obligations in Spain before he was allowed to come to the United States. With his arrival in the Twin Cities, the Timberwolves have improved drastically thus far.

This was the first time I got to see him play live in person. Needless to say, he didn't disappoint. In matter of fact, he put on quite a show. He scored 10 points, handed out 10 assists and he stole the ball 6 times. In the process, he made his teammates better. In particular, Nikola Pekovic, who finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds and Kevin Love who added 20 points and 10 boards as the Timberwolves came out on top, 108-105. For the Nets, Anthony Morrow had a career high 42 points in the losing effort.

Saturday morning the King and I took a bus from Chinatown here in NYC to Philadelphia to see the Flyers take on the NJ Devils in a matinee affair at the Wells Fargo Center . We were joined by our pal Andrew Van Cleve and his son, Dylan aka the Ultimate Sports Baby.

We saw a wild game. The Devils raced out to a 6-0 lead after two periods. The Flyers finally woke up but it was too little too late as they managed to get within a few goals at 6-4 late in the game but they couldn't come all the way back as they lost by that score. At least they made it interesting for us and those who stayed and didn't leave early.

After the game, the King and I took a Chinese bus back home so we could go to Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks play their cross town rivals, the NJ Nets.

As for the game we saw, the Knicks in need of a victory in the worst way after losing to the Bulls then they went to Boston and lost there as well. So despite playing for the third night in a row thanks to the lockout, they needed to find a way to win. On this night they sure did. The Nets fresh off a tough loss to the Timberwolves were beat up by the Knicks by a score of 99-92.

The Knicks found a way to win by calling on a recent undrafted free agent pickup. I'm talking about a guy named Jeremy Lin who graduated from Harvard and was let go by the Houston Rockets. Lin played one game in the Developmental League before the Knicks had him join the team. Based on his heroic performance, he instantly became a fan favorite. Lin brought the energy the Knicks' so desperately needed. He scored 25 points and added 7 assists to go along with 5 rebounds in his Knick debut. What a way to make a splash.

Super Bowl Sunday the King and I didn't spend it in Indianapolis as many thought we might have.
Instead we went out to the Prudential Center to see the Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins play some hockey. It was my 100th Devil game there. The Devils fresh off their 6-4 win over the Flyers, came out strong again as they whipped up the Penguins, 5-2.

After the game, the King and I went back to Queens to our friend Frank and Tina's place to watch the Super Bowl on TV. It's become a tradition the last so many years for us to do so.

I would like to thank Frank and Tina for their fine hospitality as usual.

As for the Super Bowl, we weren't happy with the outcome but since we have no control, there's not much we can do about it. It was a good competitive game at least as the Giants beat the Patriots again, this time 21-17.

It capped off a great football season for me. With that being said, please stay tuned for the special post I'm going to do regarding my record breaking season of attending live football games.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman