Royalty goes to the Lone Star State to see baseball & hockey over Easter weekend!

After I went to see the Knicks beat up the Bobcats at Madison Square Garden Friday night, I came home to get some sleep. By the time I got myself packed and ready for our getaway to the Lone Star State, the King came home from Philadelphia just before midnight. Our friend Bryan Gilligan drove him there & back. Luckily they saw a very fast game which allowed them to get back so quickly. Despite that, the King decided he wasn't going to go to sleep. While he stayed up, I went to my room to get a few hours. He woke me up shortly after 3AM so we could get to LaGuardia Airport to catch our 5:30AM Eastern time flight to Houston, Texas on United Airlines.

We walked over to the bus stop which is about a mile or so from where we live in Astoria. We didn't want to risk waiting a while for the N train to go two stops to Astoria Blvd. Shortly thereafter, we caught the M60 bus that took us to the airport. It worked out well as we got to the gate after going through security with plenty of time to spare. We met up with our pal Bryan Gilligan who joined us for this royal roadie. He wound up leaving his car at Newark Airport in New Jersey because he was flying back there on Monday morning. Stay tuned for further details in a later post as I recap the rest of our adventurous weekend.

Thanks to United Airlines we got in earlier than scheduled. We arrived around 20 minutes early at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston around 8:10AM Central time. With that being said, we had some margin for error. Based on the tight game plan I made, we needed any break we could get in order for this journey to be a complete success.

Once we got off the plane and into the terminal we walked around for a while following the signs to ground transportation, we finally got the shuttle bus to the car rental center which is located just outside the airport area. Upon arrival, I proceeded to go to Alamo to pick up the car I reserved for the weekend. I went right to the kiosk so I could serve myself because there were a few people on line waiting to see an agent for assistance. I didn't want to waste the time we made so I took matters into my own hands. A few minutes later, we walked out to the area where the cars were and I got to pick out a mid size car. I decided to take a Chrysler 200 that was available. It worked out well since it only had 898 miles on it. In addition, it was equipped with a Sirius satellite radio which was a royal treat.

Once we left the airport area, we proceeded to drive just over 200 miles to San Antonio where we were going to see an exhibition baseball game at the Alamodome. The Texas Rangers were hosting what they called Big League weekend as they were playing the San Diego Padres in a few preseason games. They played Friday night and Saturday afternoon. By doing so, it gave us a reason to take a three hour ride to see a baseball game even if it was indoors. We arrived within walking distance of the Alamodome around Noon. We proceeded to drive around the vicinity to see if we could find a place to park for free. After riding around a short time, we achieved our goal. We passed a number of parking areas that were charging $20 to park. Thankfully we lucked out on the street.

After we parked the car, we walked over to the Northwest gate area and we wound up meeting up with our pal Steve Fekete aka the Padre Punk. Steve was already in San Antonio because he flew in from his home in Anaheim, California earlier in the week so he could see a slew of sporting events all week long in the Lone Star State.

Derek Holland delivers first pitch at Alamodome

As always it was great to see him again. We all got tickets outside and then we proceeded to inside to see the game and the first pitch which was delivered by Derek Holland of the Rangers at 1:07PM local time.

Ironically the last time the King and I went to the Alamodome was back on April 3,1999 when the Spurs played the Clippers while they were waiting for their new arena to be built. Quite amazingly, it was part of Easter weekend that year too. After that game, we drove back to Dallas so we could catch a flight to Monterrey, Mexico Sunday morning where the King & I started the baseball season as the San Diego Padres opened up playing the Colorado Rockies who had the late Darryl Kile on the mound that night. Unfortunately we didn't know Bryan or Steve at the time. We also flew back to Dallas that Monday morning so we could go to Arlington to see the Texas Rangers play the Detroit Tigers on Opening Day. By doing so, we saw the first National League and first American League game of the season. That was a very memorable weekend to say the least.

This time around was memorable as well. You'll see how it unfolded as I continue to write a few more special posts that will sum it up.

As for the game we saw in San Antonio, the Rangers wound up beating the Padres much to Steve's chagrin, 5-2. Like Steve said it doesn't count, it's exhibition. Third baseman Jeff Baker gave the Rangers an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning with a two run double to right center. The Rangers extended their lead to 5-0 in the fourth inning when second baseman Leury Garcia hit a three run home run to right field which was only 285 feet away down the line due to the configuration of the building. Outside of that, the dimensions were very major league like. The Padres broke the shutout in the top of the fifth inning when lead off hitter Chris Denorfia hit a solo home run to right center with two out to make it a 5-1 game. He also lead off the eighth inning with a solo shot this time to right to round out the scoring in front of an impressive crowd of 40,569 which was slightly more than the 34,000 plus they announced Friday night for the first game. With that being said, this Big League weekend idea turned out to be a huge success.

Stay tuned for the next segment of our excursion as we drove another 100 miles to see a minor league hockey game in Cedar Park, Texas.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 3/25 in review

Prince at MSG for Knicks & Grizzlies

Monday night after work I went home since they were no local games going on in the area. It was nice to be home so I could make myself dinner and relax.

Tuesday night after work I wound up meeting up with the King, his mother, Bryan Gilligan, Frank Anichiarico, Phil Butleman and Al Linderman for dinner at Donovan's Pub. Since there were no games again in the area we all decided to meet up so we could do our annual baseball picks. We all took turns reading off our division winners for all of the six different divisions, three in each league. In addition, we all ranked how we thought the American League East and National League East divisions would finish at the end of the season. Furthermore, we all picked the team we thought will win the World Series.

As for me, I showed off my Natitude. With Stephen Strasburg ready to go the full season this year with no restrictions, I firmly believe the Nationals have a realistic chance of getting back to the post season in October. In addition, I expect my boy Gio Gonzalez to continue his climb to stardom like he did last year. He finished his first season as a National with a league leading 21 wins. I don't think he'll duplicate that this year but he should win his fair share to help the team reach their ultimate goal. We'll see how it plays itself out over the next six months.

Wednesday night after work I went to Charley's Subs in Penn Station for dinner before I headed upstairs to Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks host the Memphis Grizzlies who were making their only appearance at the World's Most Famous Arena this season.

With that being said, I got to catch up with my pal Eric Hasseltine who is the play by play announcer for the Grizzlies and he has been for every game since they moved to Memphis back in 2001. He was joined by former NBA player Elliot Perry who was does some of the games as the color commentator. Ironically it was the night before Elliot's birthday. I told him I hope the Grizzlies win so he gets an early birthday present. He said that would be nice. Socks as he was known during his playing days, is a great guy. I got to speak to both of them for a short time before they went on the air to call the game back in Memphis on 92.9 ESPN Radio. That station is also the home of the Eric Hasseltine Show which airs M-F 2-4PM Central time. In the Eastern time zone I tune in online from 3-5PM. I've become a regular listener since the beginning of January once I figured out that I could tune in and listen to him online at work. Eric does a tremendous job. He has me hooked every afternoon in the office. It truly is the best two hours of my work day. I try my best to pay close attention to the show hoping that my work load isn't too distracting for me because Eric really knows his stuff. I'm not just trying to toot his horn. I'm a tough critic. When I really like something, I like to give credit where it's due. I sincerely love his show. When I spoke to him I told him how much I enjoy it from his opening introduction with his producer Ben Hogan aka @notthegolfer on Twitter, the Analyst Tuesday segment each week to the rapid fire that he does in the last segment to end each show. In between, he usually has a number of guests that come on and when time allows he takes calls and he reads off tweets from his followers on Twitter. To follow him, go to @EricHasseltine. As for Socks, he can be found at @ElliotPerry34. Tune in for yourself and I think you'll become an avid listener like me.

As for the game we saw, the Grizzlies played with Marc Gasol who was a late addition to the line up. Unfortunately he didn't inspire his teammates who got off to a 3-0 lead but it was all down hill from there as the Knicks shot the lights out from all over the court especially from behind the three point arc where they made 13 treys for the game. Most of them came in the first half when they scored 69 points to go into halftime up by 28, 69-41. The Grizzlies were literally blown out of the building. Their grit grind style of basketball didn't exist in the first 24 minutes. In the second half, they finally woke up but by then it was too little too late as the Knicks escaped with a 108-101 victory. The Grizzlies cut the lead to 5 late in the game but they just couldn't overcome the hole they dug for themselves as they split the season series with the Knicks. The King and I were at the FedEx Forum back in November for that Grizzlie win. This was payback time for the Knicks.

J.R. Smith led the scoring assault as he lead all scorers with 35 points. Carmelo Anthony added 22 of his own. It should be noted that Iman Shumpert was the real difference maker especially early in the game as he hit six treys as he finished with 16 points that was pivotal in setting the tone for the night for the Knicks. It helped that the Grizzlies' defense couldn't keep up with the Knicks who had one open shot after another.

As for the Grizzlies, Mike Conley had a team high 26 points while Jerryd Bayless had 24. It should be noted Tony Allen played well in the lackluster team performance. Marc Gasol playing due being hurt finished with 13 points.

Eric Hasseltine & Elliot Perry doing post game show

After the game, I said my farewell to Eric & Elliot after the disheartening loss. Eric said they have trouble playing well on the road.

Thursday night after work I came home again. The timing was good because I needed to get ready for my weekend getaway.

Friday night after work I went back to the Garden to see the Knicks take on the Charlotte Bobcats. The King and our pal Bryan Gilligan drove down to Philadelphia. They went to see the Phillies play the Blue Jays in an exhibition game at Citizens Bank Park.

Bryan said and I quote "this was probably the best game I'll see all year." It's funny since the regular season hadn't even started yet. It's hard to argue with him. They saw a 1-0 Blue Jay win that took a mere 2 hours and 5 minutes to play even with numerous changes.

As for the game I saw, the Knicks played a game that was eerily similar to the game they played against the Grizzlies. This time they put up 69 points again in the first half as they lead by 22 at halftime, 69-47. They only made nine shots from beyond the arc for the game this time. In the second half, the Knicks slacked off as they knew they had the game in hand since the Bobcats aren't nearly as good as the Grizzlies. They were right as it turned out. The Knicks went on to beat the Bobcats, 111-102.

Once again J.R. Smith led all scorers. This time he poured in 37 points. Carmelo Anthony contributed 32.
As for the Bobcats, Gerald Henderson led the way with 35 points. Kemba Walker who's from the Bronx had 16 points in his homecoming.

Stay tuned for the special posts I'm going to do regarding our Easter weekend getaway. Please bear with me as I try to find time to do them.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 12/24 in review

Monday on Christmas Eve, I went to work until 1PM. I decided to hang around the office so I could catch up on some personal things since I had some free time to do for a change.

I was starting to look ahead for what 2013 has in store. For me, spare time is so hard to find. So I need to take advantage of any opportunity that I'm presented with.

After I left the office, I came home to get things together in the house. After I was home a short time, the King said he was going to see his mother. He said I'm welcome to join him. So I did. Unfortunately his mother hadn't been feeling well. However we did spend some time with her but it wasn't easy seeing her the way she was. After spending some time with her, we went back home for the night. I made dinner and I got to catch up on things I needed to do in the house.

Tuesday on Christmas Day, the King and I went to Brooklyn to the Barclays Center where the Nets were hosting the Boston Celtics in a matinee affair. It was the first of five NBA games to be played on the holiday. In years past, the Knicks have hosted a number of games on Christmas Day. Most recently, last season they played the Celtics which turned out to be the opening game of the season due to the lockout which delayed the start of the season.

Back in 2010, the Knicks played the Chicago Bulls on a Saturday afternoon on Christmas Day. After the game, I took a flight to Chicago to see the Jets play the Bears on Sunday and the Blackhawks played the Columbus Blue Jackets that night. It was memorable because I got to meet up with some fellow roadtrippers who were living there at the time. I'm referring to Andrew Van Cleve and Bob DeVries who was with his fiancé at the time Charlie. It should be noted they're now happily married. They made my visit well worth it. We had a great time together while I was there.

As for this Christmas Day, the Nets led the Celtics, 24-22 after the first quarter. After that, the Celtics took over as they had a big second quarter. They out scored the Nets, 34-18 to take a commanding 56-42 lead into the locker room at halftime. In the third quarter, the Celtics added to their lead slightly as they led, 73-58 after three quarters. In the fourth quarter, the Celtics maintained their lead and they beat the Nets, 93-76. Like the King said and I quote "this game had no continuity to it, it was horrible start to finish." I agreed with him. The Nets shot poorly all game especially at the free throw line where they missed twelve shots. If they made some of them they could have made the Celtics sweat a little.

Little did we know a few days later that we saw Avery Johnson's last game as head coach of the Nets. He was fired surprisingly on Thursday. Assistant coach P.J. Carlesimo was named interim head coach for the time being.

Wednesday after work I came home and I continued to play catch up at home. Thankfully I did. By doing so, I was able to go out the next night.

Thursday after work, I came home for a short time after I went shopping. When I got in the house, the King called me and he said his mother is in the hospital. He told me that our friend Bryan Gilligan was going to pick me up around 8:30PM or so because we were going to go out for dinner at Donovan's Pub. In the meantime, the King was with his mother at the hospital. Bryan came by the house to get me. We then went to the hospital which is nearby to pick up the King so he could join us. On the way over to Donovan's, we picked up our friend Frank Anichiarico who also joined us. We all went to have a nice dinner together. Since we didn't have any local games in the area, we arranged to get together. In turned out to be a great night out. Unfortunately for the King his mother is still sick.

Friday after work I went back to downtown Brooklyn to see the Nets host the Charlotte Bobcats at the Barclays Center. I stopped off at McDonald's for a pre game meal in the Atlantic Center Mall first. Before I left work, the King informed me that he was going to have to pass up on going away for the weekend. He said he didn't want to take a chance going away with his mother not feeling well. I thought he made the right decision. I would have liked to have had his company but the situation dictated that he was better off staying home just in case.

As for the game we saw, the Nets who were playing their first game under interim coach P.J. Carlesimo got exactly what they needed, a visit from the lowly Bobcats who were losers of 16 straight games coming in. They left making it 17 in a row as the Nets raced out to a big lead early and they never looked back as they went on to a 97-81 win making P.J. Carlesimo's debut as Net coach a successful one.

Stay tuned for the special posts I'm going to write that will recap the way I closed out 2012. Please bear with me as I try to find time to do it. Trust me it will definitely be worth the wait.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 11/22 in review

After a wild weekend, another crazy week followed. Here's how it went:

Monday night after going to work tired I still saved up enough energy to go to Newark, NJ to see the Devils play the Capitals at the Prudential Center. The Capitals failed to show up literally. The Devils scored early and often as they shut down Alex Ovechkin and the Caps, 5-0! Johan Hedberg playing for the injured Martin Brodeur recorded the shutout.

Tuesday night after work I went to Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks host the Charlotte Bobcats. The Knicks played well on their West Coast road trip. On this night they were trying to continue their winning ways. It appeared for most of the game that the Knicks were in control until late in the game when the Bobcats tried their best to overtake the Knicks but their attempt came up short as the Knicks hung on for a 110-107 victory.

Toney Douglas lead the Knicks with 22 points but it was a balanced attack as six players finished with double figure point totals.

D.J. Augustin had 24 points and Gerald Wallace added 20 in the losing effort for the Bobcats.

Wednesday night after getting out of work early at 3PM I went to see the Devils entertain the Calgary Flames.

The Devils outlasted the Flames as they beat them in a shootout, 2-1!

Ilya Kovalchuk of the Devils scored the only goal in the shootout which gave the Devils the extra point in the standings in this one.

Thursday after spending the day with the family for Thanksgiving, I went to see the Jets play the Bengals in prime time at the New Meadowlands Stadium.

The Jets came out slow in this one. They struggled in the first half. After returning from the locker room to start the second half, they played like a team that was ready to take over. On their first drive, Brad Smith ran a reverse for a 53 yard touchdown to set the tone for the rest of the game.

Later in the third quarter he ran a kick back for 89 yards for a touchdown which helped seal the deal as the Jets wound up winning 26-10!

Friday morning I rented a car from Avis for a few days so I could drive to Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
I proceeded to pick the King up from work at the Post Office at Grand Central Station. After that, I drove by Madison Square Garden where I picked up our friend Lloyd Ramsland who joined us for this excursion.

We continued through the Lincoln Tunnel as we made our way to Philadelphia to see the Flyers play the Calgary Flames in a Black Friday traditional matinee game at 1PM at the Wells Fargo Center as it's now called.

The Flames beat the Flyers, 3-2 in a shootout.

After the game, we went to Reading, PA to see a minor league hockey game between the Reading Royals and the Cincinnati Cyclones.

The hometown Royals were trailing 3-1 after two periods but they managed to tie the game at three and they forced overtime. They wound up winning the game 4-3 with a goal in the extra session.

After the game I drove to Somerset, PA so we could get some sleep before we continued on to Pittsburgh.
We arrived at the Consol Energy Center, the new home of the Pittsburgh Penguins around Noon for a 1PM start.

We were all there for the first time as we needed to catch up to say we've been to every current NHL rink once again.

In addition, we got to visit our friends Mike & Alicia Irr who live in Pittsburgh. They have half season tickets for the Penguins. They helped us with advice in order for us to get our tickets so we could see their new hockey home. It's located right next to their old one, the Igloo as it was known in downtown Pittsburgh.

As for the game we saw, the Penguins beat the Flames, 4-1! Sidney Crosby lead the Pens as he scored a hat trick. It was the first one in the new building. Early in the game, he was awarded a penalty shot but he failed to score. He did have an even strength goal, a power play goal and a shorthanded empty net goal to finish his hat trick though. Needless to say, he was the star of the game.

After the game, we drove 60 miles to Wheeling, West Virginia to see another minor league hockey game between the Wheeling Nailers and the Kalamazoo K-Wings.

More importantly, our friend Lloyd had never seen a game there so we made sure we got him there.

The King and I were there one time back in January 1998 after a Penguin game at the Igloo.

The Nailers wound up winning the game, 3-1!

After the game, I drove us all home overnight. I dropped off Lloyd at his house in Oradell, NJ at 5:10AM after driving 422 miles.

Lloyd said and I quote "you did a terrific job driving".

I proceeded to take the King home then I finally went home. I arrived at my house at 6:15AM.

I laid down for a few hours then I went to Avis and I returned the car I rented. I drove 977 miles in 2 days.

I went back to my car which was parked across the street from the car rental and I drove to the subway. I then took the train to the Port Authority Bus Terminal where I caught the bus to go the New Meadowlands Stadium to see the Giants play the Jacksonville Jaguars at 1PM.

The Giants like the Jets started slow. They trailed 17-6 at halftime. After getting a wake up call and a pep talk in the locker room, the Giants went to work for real.

It culminated when Eli Manning threw a 32 yard touchdown pass to Kevin Boss with 3:15 left in the game to give the Giants a 24-20 victory.

After the game, despite being exhausted the King and I took the NJ Transit train to Secaucus where we connected for the train to Newark so we could see the Nets play the Portland Trailblazers at 7PM at the Prudential Center.

The Nets beat a struggling Trailblazer team 98-96! This was a closely contested game throughout.
Devin Harris lead the Nets with 25 points.

Wesley Matthews paced the Trailblazers with 25, Brandon Roy had 21 while LaMarcus Aldridge added 20 in the loss.

That sums up another crazy and tiresome week in the life of Royalty.

Thank you for reading and following along my adventurous path.

If you want to experience a sample for yourself all you have to do is let me know.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Bobcats spoil farewell, beat Nets 95-85!

It was a very sad night personally for me witnessing the last basketball game ever played at the IZOD Center.

That arena was like a second home for many winters over the last 20+ years.

The Nets who are finishing up a dreadful season fitting ending their era in the Meadowlands with a loss.

They started the game with a 6-0 lead but that was short lived.

They were down 28-20 after the first quarter. Terrance Williams aka "T-Will" beat the buzzer with a flying slam dunk.

The Bobcats extended their lead to 15 at the half, 59-44!

The Nets came out in the third quarter like a team possessed. They stormed right back.

With 3:11 left in the third quarter, they took a very brief lead at 74-73. The Bobcats in a matter of seconds regained the lead.

The Nets trailed 81-77 at the end of 3 quarters.

The Nets continued to let this one get away early in the fourth quarter hence they went on to lose again.

Stephen Jackson led 7 Bobcats in double figures with 17 points.

As for the Nets, Devin Harris was their high scorer with 22 points and "T-Will added 21 in the defeat.

Interesting note was that Larry Brown, the Bobcats head coach was also the Nets head coach in the first ever game played in that arena back on October 30, 1981.