Royalty w/o 4/8 in review

Monday night after work I came home I ate dinner and relaxed for a change. Thanks to the baseball schedule makers, the Mets and Yankees were both on the road this week after they both opened the season together at home during opening week. As a result, I got an early break from baseball. The King on the other hand, rented a Toyota Corolla from Avis for 15 days so he could drive around the Northeast to see as many baseball games as possible.

Tuesday night after work I went to the Barclays Center for the last time this season since I didn't get the playoff tickets because the King & I prefer to go to see baseball instead. In addition, the prices for the playoff tickets were too pricey for our liking so we passed up the opportunity to get them.

I wound up going to McDonald's at the Atlantic Center Mall for dinner before the game. I ran into my pals Harry Schwartz and Dennis Barbera who were eating there too. Once we got done, we all walked across the street and we went into the arena to see the Nets host the Philadelphia 76ers. When I got to my seat in section 230 row 13 I met up with my friend Frank Anichiarico who was using the King's ticket. Frank is a 76er observer if you will.

As for the game we saw, the Nets made fast work of the 76ers as they built a big lead early and they never looked back as they defeated the 76ers, 104-83 much to Frank's chagrin.

Reggie Evans scored 17 points and he grabbed 24 rebounds while his teammate Brook Lopez added a game high 29 points and he pulled down 11 rebounds as the Nets cruised past the 76ers who had a disappointing season.

Wednesday night after work I went out to Newark, NJ to see the Devils take on the Boston Bruins at the Prudential Center for the last time this season. I was joined by Vincent Ascanio and Frank Anichiarico who were also there. I decided to get an Angus burger that came with Nathan's fries for dinner at the arena per Vincent's recommendation. It tasted really good.

As for the game we saw, the Bruins raced out to an early 4-0 lead 3:06 into the second period. I was thinking of my pal Eric Hasseltine who happens to be a big Bruin fan. I updated him throughout the game. It appeared that it was going to be an easy win for his Bruins. It turned out not to be the case as the Devils finally awoke as they scored three unanswered goals to get within a goal 4-3 with 14:02 left in the third period. The Bruins responded right back as they added an insurance goal with 12:27 to go up 5-3. It turned out to be a huge goal because the Devils fought back and finally cut the lead to 5-4 with 37 seconds to go. Fortunately for Eric and the number of Bruin fans that were part of the sellout crowd of 17,625, the Bruins were able to hang on as they escaped the swamp land with a win. As a result, it hurt the Devils slim playoff hopes.

Thursday night after work I came home and I made myself dinner. Once I got done I went out and I did my laundry around the block.

Stay tuned as I'm going to do some special posts that we'll recap the memorable weekend I had. Please bear with me as I try to continue to find time to catch up.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty goes to Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts!

Prince at Basketball Hall of Fame

Saturday morning I went to Avis and I rented a Toyota Corolla for President's Day weekend.

When the hockey and basketball schedules came out back in June and July, I noticed that the NBA was going to have its All-Star Break this weekend. With the NHL having a lockout, I decided that this weekend would be a perfect time to finally get to the Basketball Hall of Fame. I was planning to go to see a minor league hockey game in Springfield, Massachusetts. With that being said, this was the appropriate time to enhance our knowledge of the game of basketball.

After I picked up the car, I drove back home to get the King and off to New England we went. We arrived at the Basketball Hall of Fame around 2:30PM which gave us a few hours to explore this historic shrine.
The Hall of Fame is conveniently located near downtown Springfield right off I-91. There's plenty of free parking in the parking lot where the museum is located. In addition, they have some different restaurants right there in case you decide you need to have something to eat while you're there.

As for the hours of operation, the Hall of Fame is open throughout the year but the hours are subject to change. I recommend that you double check their website before you go to make sure it's open that particular day.

As for admission, they charge $19 for adults and $15 for senior citizens. If you belong to AAA, show your card and you'll save $2 like we did.

Upon entry into the museum, you'll start by going up to the third floor which is called "The Honors Ring." This is where you'll find plagues, artifacts and biographies of over 300 individuals and teams who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. In addition, you'll find an audio enhanced video timeline of world & basketball history since the game's invention in 1891 by James Naismith who was from Ontario, Canada.
On the second floor, they have five different galleries. They're called The Game, Players, Media, Coaches & Teams. These galleries bring the museum to life. In each gallery, you'll find interactive exhibits, memorabilia and artifacts that literally put you in the game.

It was fascinating to check out these galleries as we took a ride down memory lane. We got to relive the memories of the different legends who have played, coached and/or have called the games.

We got to see the plague of the Lakers' late owner, Dr. Jerry Buss who passed away Monday after we were there. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010. It was sad to see him leave us. He played an instrumental role in bringing Showtime to the City of Los Angeles right after he bought the Lakers back in 1979.

Prince overlooking Center Court

After taking in this educational experience, we got to go down to the ground floor which is called Center Court. This is a full size basketball court that's open to the public to shoot on while they visit the Hall of Fame. They also have an area with over a half dozen different hoops to shoot at which chronicle the evolution of the basket.

The King and I decided to get a workout by shooting hoops on the court. It was a great way to wrap up this very worth while experience.

If you happen to like the game of basketball or you're a sports fan, I strongly suggest that you make some time to go to Springfield, Massachusetts some day to experience this for yourself. Trust me it will be time and money well spent.

Stay tuned for some more special posts that will recap the rest of the adventurous weekend we had.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman