Royalty Tours USA

Monday, January 31, 2011

Royalty is heading to Western Canada for the Heritage Classic!

It's going to February tomorrow, Royalty will be spending some time North of the Border over President's weekend in Western Canada.

The game plan is as follows:

The King and I are going to fly to Calgary, Alberta, Canada for the first time since March 1998. The primary purpose is to see the 2011 Heritage Classic at McMahon Stadium. It's another outdoor hockey game as the Calgary Flames host the Montreal Canadiens. In addition, we also have a few other games planned while we're there.

Friday, February 18th we have a flight booked on Delta Airlines that departs NY LaGuardia Airport at 7:57AM Eastern Time and it's scheduled to land in Calgary at 1:33PM Mountain Time after we make a stop in Minneapolis first.

Upon arrival, I'll be renting a car and we're going to see a minor league hockey game as the Abbotsford Heat of the AHL play the Oklahoma City Barons at the Saddledome home of  the Flames at 7PM local time.

Saturday, February 19th the Atlanta Thrashers visit the Edmonton Oilers at 1:30PM.. Afterwards, we'll be driving to Red Deer to see a Junior hockey game at 7PM. Red Deer is located right between Edmonton and Calgary which makes for a convenient doubleheader.

Sunday, February 20th, we'll be at the main event, the Heritage Classic at 4PM.

We'll be flying back home on Monday, February 21st. Our flight on Delta Airlines departs Calgary at 8AM Mountain Time and lands at LaGuardia at 4:43PM Eastern Time. Once again we get to lay over in Minneapolis.

Please feel free to check back for all the details of how this adventure turned out.

If you want to join us, please let me know so I can arrange to make it happen.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 1/31‏

Here's the game plan:

Monday January 31st Nuggets at Nets 7PM

Tuesday February 1st Senators at Devils 7PM

Wednesday February 2nd Mavericks at Knicks 7:30PM

Friday February 4th Panthers at Devils 7PM

Saturday February 5th Senators at Islanders 7PM

Sunday February 6th Pacers at Nets 12 Noon

Check back to see how it turned out.

Hope all my readers and followers have a great week.

As always, if you need assistance don't hesitate to ask for it.

Stay tuned for my w/o 1/24 in review.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Royalty sees Jets fall short in Pittsburgh!‏

After the Jets shocked the Patriots in Foxboro, the King and I set our sights on going to Pittsburgh again. This time for the AFC Championship Game.

We stopped off at a Wendy's in Warwick, Rhode Island to get something to eat on our way home.

Surprisingly, we weren't alone. In fact we had a bunch of Jet fans who arrived there around the same time as us. After we ordered and started eating more came in. It was quite a scene.

We all started talking to each other. One guy in particular exchanged contact information with me. His name was Brian Moffett. Brian told me he has a house on Staten Island and a place in Manhattan. The King and I said we were from Queens.

We said we're going to Pittsburgh next Sunday. I was planning to rent a car. Brian responded you don't have to, I'll drive my wife's car there.

After communicating back and forth all week, we arranged to meet up by the King's place in Astoria Sunday morning.

All we had to do next was secure tickets for the game.

By Tuesday night, I had a deal in place through Craigslist with a guy named Rob Jones who lived in the Pittsburgh area.

Thanks to our friend Mike Irr who lives in Pittsburgh we were able to pull off the transaction.

After work I spoke to Rob and I told him the situation. He seemed reluctant to overnight the tickets.

After I heard the horror stories he had to deal with because a few other people told him they wanted the tickets before I spoke to him, I couldn't blame him.

I personally knew what it was like since it's happened to me on a number of occasions too.

With that being said, I managed to convince Rob that he wouldn't have a problem dealing with me.

I proceeded to have our friend Mike Irr go to meet him at a mall that was convenient for both of them so they could make the exchange.

By Wednesday morning, the deal was finalized. Rob got his money and Mike got our tickets.

All we had to do was meet Mike in Pittsburgh to get them. Since the weather forecast was going to be so brutal, Mike didn't want to attend the game.

In the meantime, Brian found another person on Craigslist who wanted a ride to the game.

His name was Nick Pallas.

Nick was an interesting young man. He's only 26 and he's been over the world already he told us. This is partly due to being a military veteran since he spent 3 years with the US Marines.

In addition, he has his own photography business where he does weddings and other special events all around the world.

For further details, please feel free to check out his website, http://www.nickypallas.com/.

Nick met us in Astoria as well and we all went to see the Jets play the Steelers at Heinz Field.

Before getting there we had to make a pit stop in Crafton, Pennsylvania which is located about 12 miles West of Pittsburgh to meet our friend Mike Irr who had our tickets.

We gave him the money he laid out for us and he gave us the tickets for the game.

We went back to the downtown Pittsburgh area so we could get ready for the big game.

We wound up circling around the area to find a parking spot. We ironically wound up parking on the same street that we did for the Winter Classic on New Year's Day night.

After we parked the car, we all finished layering up and then we walked over to Heinz Field to witness history. The winner was going to Dallas to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.

As for the game we saw, we came with high hopes and we left with disappointment.

The Jets decided that like most games this season they would play a partial game and they thought they would rely on another miracle finish to get them to the Super Bowl in Dallas.

This time their luck ran out. They dug too deep a hole in the first half to overcome their lackluster start.

It started when they won the coin toss and they decided to defer their possession to the second half.

By doing so, they put their defense on the field first. Their defense was awful in the first half, they couldn't stop the Steelers offense especially running back Rashard Mendenhall who ran wild as the Steelers built a 24-3 lead at half time.

In the second half, it was a different story. The Jets finally woke up. Unfortunately they appeared to have a chance to mount a comeback and possibly win the game but the Steeler defense stuffed them at the goal line as time kept ticking away.

The Jets wound up coming up short for the second year in a row as they lost 24-19!

On the bright side, they have a potential legend in the making at quarterback in Mark Sanchez.

After getting blind sided by Ike Taylor late in the second quarter that led to the ultimate winning touchdown, Mark came back in the second half and he was magnificent.

He put the Jets in position to win but once again the defense couldn't give him one last chance to engineer another miracle finish.

His time will come. Time will tell. He's a very special talent. We'll wait and see if in due time he does indeed get over the hump.

Despite the tale of two halves, I still found a way to enjoy myself throughout the day and night.

First we got to meet and greet Brian and Nick then when we were at the game I got to talk to a few young guys who were from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

They were Joseph D'Urso and his friend Angelo. I had a great time being able to meet and greet them too.

Joseph was attending first ever NFL game. Since he's from Canada that's makes a lot of sense.

Angelo said he liked the Packers but he was there because his brother and cousin were going and they were big Steeler fans. They wound up sitting in a different location.

Luckily for me, Joseph and Angelo were right next to me so we were able to enjoy each other's company.

We exchanged contact information so I hope to cross paths with them again in the future.

Despite the Jets coming up on the short end of the score, it was well worth the time and money it took to be there live.

On the other hand, if I stayed home none of this would have happened.

That's what life's all about. Everyday is a gift and a potential adventure.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Royalty w/o 1/17 in review

Monday was Martin Luther King Day and thankfully I was off from work.

I went to Madison Square Garden for the traditional MLK Day game as the Knicks played host to the Phoenix Suns.

The Knicks had beaten the Suns on their recent West Coast road trip so the Suns were looking to return the favor.

On this afternoon, they did just that as they beat the Knicks, 129-121 in an entertaining affair.

Despite getting a season high 41 points from former Sun Amar'e Stoudemire, the Knicks still came up short. Wilson Chandler added 23 points in the defeat.

As for the Suns, newly acquired Vince Carter led the way with 29 points while teammate Grant Hill had 25 points. Former Knick Channing Frye finished with 18 points for the victorious Suns.

Tuesday night after work turned out to be a historical night for myself and Royalty in general as I was interviewed on Internet TV.

I had the privilege and honor of sharing some time with Rick Morris in the FDH Lounge on the night of the 4th anniversary of his great show.

I was given an opportunity to scratch the surface by giving Rick and his audience a brief overview of how Royalty rolls.

I look forward to talking to Rick in the near future to keep him abreast of our whereabouts. The King was unable to join me because he was getting his nightly sporting event fix so he can continue to live up to his name.

I do hope that the next time he can make himself available so he can elaborate on the amazing partnership we've had for the last 25 years.

I plan to get my interview linked up so please stay tuned for that.

If you couldn't listen live you will be able to listen at your convenience once it's up and running.

If you want to become a regular listener to the FDH Lounge please feel free to tune in on Tuesday nights from 7-10PM.

Rick is a super guy and I know you won't be wasting your time.

Wednesday night after work I went out to Newark to see the Nets play the Utah Jazz.

A co-worker of mine, Bart DiNardo told me a few weeks prior that he was going to the game too. He said his mother works out at the gym with C.J. Miles of the Utah Jazz. He said that C.J. hooked his mother up with courtside seats for the game.

Bart is a good kid and proud follower of my whereabouts. He approached me and he asked me how do I get to the game. I responded and told him to come with me. True to my word, he did just that. I got him out there with no problem. He had to meet his parents at the arena.

When I saw him the next day at work he told me what an amazing time he had. He got to go into the Jazz locker room after the game. What a thrill it was for him.

I'm happy I was able to make sure he got to the arena without a hassle.

As for the game, the Nets surprised the Jazz, 103-95!

The Nets were led by Brooks Lopez who had 20 points. Sasha Vujacic poured in 15 of his own.

As for the Jazz, Al Jefferson led all scorers with 21 points while Deron Williams had 20. C.J. Miles finished with 13 in the loss.

Thursday night I was back in Newark this time for the Devils as they hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Penguins were missing their two superstars, Sidney Crosby and Evengi Malkin.

As a result, they got shut out by the Devils, 2-0!

Martin Brodeur notched his 114th career shutout which extended his own record for most shutouts by a goaltender.

On my way home, I was contacted by a guy named Dave Swanson who recently started a business selling posters. They have a map of the country which allows you to mark off the different NFL stadiums that you have visited. I think it's a cool idea.

As a result, I added his website to my expanding blog list for your viewing pleasure. Please feel free to check it out. If you're a football fan, you'll appreciate it. If not, it will give you motivation to become one.

Friday night after work I went to Newark to see the Nets play the Detroit Pistons.

I arranged to have my Cousin Andy join us. It was great to see him again. As usual, he enjoyed seeing the King and I.

As for the game, the Nets wound up winning again. This time they won, 89-74!

Brook Lopez led the way for the Nets with 15 points. Devin Harris scored a dozen.

For the Pistons, Tayshaun Prince finished with 16 points and Rodney Stuckey poured in 14.

Saturday night I wrapped up going to Newark for a fourth straight night when I saw the Dallas Mavericks visit the Nets.

This was a seesaw battle most of the night. The Nets had a lead in the fourth quarter but with 6 seconds to go, the Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki was able to rattle a shot in as it bounced around the rim and it finally fell in to give the Mavericks the win, 87-86!

The Nets had a final shot but they missed the basket badly as they came up short.

Stay tuned as I'll be doing a special post detailing the trip to Pittsburgh for the AFC Championship Game.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Monday, January 24, 2011

Royalty schedule w/o 1/24

Here's the game plan:

Monday, January 24th Wizards at Knicks 7:30PM

Wednesday, January 26th Grizzlies at Nets 7PM

Thursday, January 27th Heat at Knicks 8PM

Saturday, January 29th Charlotte at Hershey 2PM
 
                                    Greenville at Reading 7:05PM

Sunday, January 30th Manhattan at Marist 12 Noon

                                  Pistons at Knicks 7:30PM

I hope all my followers and readers have a great week. If you need my help you know I'm here for you so feel free to to e-mail or text me. If you have a Blackberry we can BBM each other too.

Life is too short, make sure you're well connected that's the key to prolonging and ultimately enjoying life despite the bumps you may hit along the way. Don't take NO for an answer.
 
Please stay tuned because I have some great material that I'm going to post when I get  a chance. I'll be doing a historical week in review plus I'll be doing a special post regarding the AFC Championship Game.

Furthermore, my record breaking football season will be revisited. What a year it was. I talked the talk from start to finish and then some. Check back and you'll see.

Thank you all for your continued support. Without you this blog would be nothing. Keep your head up and your dreams will be realized it's only a matter of time.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman    

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Royalty debuts on the FDH Lounge on Internet TV!‏

Last night was a first for Royalty as I was interviewed live on Internet TV.

I want to personally thank Ira Lieberfarb aka Ira from Staten Island for ultimately making this happen.

Back on November 14, 2010 the King and I were in Cleveland to see the Jets play the Browns.

Before we went to our seats we stopped off to say hello to Ira.

It should be noted that Ira has seen the Jets play all their home and away games for the last 5 seasons which includes the pre season and the post season.

Ira is a great guy and lifelong Jet fan who doesn't go out of his way to be recognized like Fireman Fraud.

Ira's claim to fame is that he calls all the local sports talk radio stations in the area.

For example, on Saturday he called ESPN radio 1050 in NY. He told the hosts that the Jets were going to beat the Patriots. The hosts sounded like Ira was crazy based on the reaction I heard from them. Ira was right on Sunday. He wasn't crazy after all.

Apparently he calls other parts of the country as well.

When we saw Ira from a distance he got our attention and he rapidly waved us up. We were in the right place at the right time.

Ira was speaking to a gentleman named Rick Morris. He proceeded to introduce the King and I to him. We briefly told him about our adventures. Upon hearing a few stories, Rick was left in awe. Before we parted ways, we exchanged contact information. He told me he hosts a talk radio show on the internet. He said I want to put you guys on my show.

Last night marked the four year anniversary of his Great American Radio Show live on Internet TV which is called the FDH Lounge, "Where nothing is off-topic".

The last few months I've been in contact with Rick e-mailing him my current schedule and past credentials to prove we weren't making this stuff up.

The King caught his attention when he told him about the time he saw the Washington Capitals and the Tampa Bay Lightning play a home and home series on a Friday and Saturday night back in the day I believe in 1997 or 1998. Rick was left speechless when he heard that story.

Unfortunately last night the King was unable to join me because it was in Philadelphia watching the Capitals play the Flyers. It should be noted he's a Red Wing fan. Our friend Frankie Centola called him late last week to tell him he had an extra ticket for him so off he went to see yet another sporting event. The countdown to 400 is on again.

As for me, I came home from work after finalizing a deal for a pair of tickets for the Jets/Steelers AFC Championship game on Sunday in Pittsburgh.

After I got home I had to eat and get ready for my for 30 minutes of fame thanks to Ira and Rick.

As I told Rick on the air I cherished the moment from the bottom of my heart.

I look at this as only the beginning of better and better things to come for Rick and Royalty.

I want to personally thank Rick for giving me the opportunity to "scratch the surface" of what Royalty is all about.

In addition, I want to thank those who were able to get access to the show on the internet. Those who couldn't I know you were there in spirit.

I did my best to acknowledge a number of people who I've been blessed to meet in my life who have made my lifestyle what it is today. Without them, this blog would have never happened.

I said 2010 was a great year but 2011 is going to be even better.

So far I look like I know what I'm talking about and the year has just started. I can only imagine what the future holds.

Please keep abreast with me and my blog so you know what's going on in the Life of Royalty.

If and when you want to meet and greet me just let me know so I can arrange to make it happen. Hopefully the King will be around as well. If not, he could be at a game near you.

Thank you for your continued support in the past, present and future.

I hope you enjoyed Rick's show. If so, you can tune in every Tuesday night from 7-10PM. I plan to be apart of a future show.

I want to thank everybody for spending their precious time on me.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Royalty hits the airwaves tonight!‏

Please see the link below for all the details:

http://thefdhlounge.blogspot.com/2011/01/fdh-lounge-131-january-18-2011.html

My buddy Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge is celebrating the 4th anniversary of his show and he arranged to have me on board tonight at 9:05PM EST to discuss how royalty rolls.

Please go online to hear me live.

Here's the link:

www.sportstalknetwork.com

It's going to be a very memorable night indeed.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Monday, January 17, 2011

Royalty witnesses the 2011 Boston Massacre‏ in Foxboro!


I'm in the house

After seeing the Jets get embarrassed back on December 6th against the New England Patriots it was time for a payback.

The King and I found our way into the building with a little help from my good friend James Gabriele who was there with his son.

I was able to get us one ticket for the game on Ticketmaster when they went on sale.

We still needed another ticket so we both could be in.

James went out of his way to do whatever he could to accomodate us. At the last minute, he called us and he said his NBC station, WHDH, in Boston had an extra ticket. I wound up getting in touch with Marcy and Chris who had the ticket. I met them by the gate and I went into the building.

The King wound up sitting upstairs and I lucked out into a seat just 14 rows from the field behind the Jet bench by the 25 yard line.

What a view I had. I can't thank James, Marcy and Chris for making this happen. Needless to say, I'm very grateful.

During the week, Jets coach Rex Ryan talked all week long and on Sunday night his team executed his game plan to perfection as the Jets got their revenge on the Patriots.

For the second year in a row, Royalty was in the house to lock the doors on Gillette Stadium.

Last year the King and I saw the Baltimore Ravens and Ray Rice run all over the Patriots as they ended their season.

This time the Jets confused Tom Brady most of the game after he started out on fire. Then David Harris picked off a pass and put the Jets in position to score.

Unfortunately Nick Folk missed a 31 yard field goal that would have gave the Jets the early lead. The Patriots came down the field and had to settle for a field goal after Alge Crumpler missed a pass in the end zone for a touchdown.

After that the Jets went to work, they pressured Tom Brady a number of times and they sacked him 5 times. He was forced into making bad passes. In addition, he didn't seem in sync with receivers on a number of occasions. His receivers went one way and the ball went another.

Rex Ryan wrote a masterful blueprint that the Patriots couldn't figure out.

On offense, Quarterback Mark Sanchez was brilliant. He had no turnovers and he got everybody involved.

There were great catches by Jerricho Cotchery, Braylon Edwards and Santonio Holmes.

In addition, there were timely runs by LaDainlian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene which enabled the Jets to control the clock as they dominated the line of scrimmage.

It was an amazing performance as they beat the best in the business in their own building.

Next stop: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for the AFC Championship Game

To quote Jets coach Rex Ryan "Same Old Jets".

It's going to be the Jets year. After seeing all those miracle wins, they're destined to win it all.

We'll wait and see.

One step at a time.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman


Royalty w/o 1/10 in review‏

This week started slow and finished very strong.

Monday night I went home after work to rest up.

Tuesday night I went to the Nassau Coliseum to see the Islanders take on the league's best, the Vancouver Canucks.

It was a great game to watch. There was action up and down the ice all night long. It was an exciting seesaw battle as both teams traded goals in regulation which ended up in a 3-3 tie. It stayed that way after a five minute overtime session.

The Canucks finally emerged victorious in the shootout, 4-3!

Wednesday night I went home again after work. Thanks to mother nature I had some shoveling to do as well.

Thursday night I was planning to go back to the Nassau Coliseum but mother nature cost me the opportunity to do so. My car was plowed in so I couldn't get there after work.

Friday night I went to Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks play the Kings.

The Knicks played awful in this one as the Kings, the worse team in the league embarrassed the Knicks, 93-83!

Beno Udrih led the way for the Kings as he scored 29 points. He was a force from start to finish. His teammate, DeMarcus Cousins, a rookie from Kentucky, who was drafted fifth overall in the 2010 draft added 16 points and had 10 rebounds.

For the Knicks, Amar'e Stoudemire finished 25 points and 13 boards in the losing effort.

Saturday night I went back to the Nassau Coliseum to see the Islanders play the Buffalo Sabres.

The Islanders cruised to a 5-2 victory as they broke open a 1-0 game in the second period as their future star and former number one pick in the 2009 draft, John Tavares scored three straight goals which is known as a natural hat trick. I don't remember the last time I saw that. It was probably when I saw Wayne Gretzky play back in the day.

Sunday I was in Foxboro for the Boston Massacre. Stay tuned as I write a special post detailing this adventurous day.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 1/17‏

Here's the game plan:

Monday January 17th Suns at Knicks 1PM

Wednesday January 19th Jazz at Nets 7PM

Thursday January 20th Penguins at Devils 7PM

Friday January 21st Pistons at Nets 7PM

Saturday January 22nd Mavericks at Nets 7PM

Sunday January 23rd Jets at Steelers 6:30PM AFC Championship Game

Check back to see how it played out.

Hope all my readers and followers have a great week.

As always, if you need assistance don't hesitate to ask for it.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Friday, January 14, 2011

Royalty can explore the rest of the World again!

On New Year's Eve the King and I went to the Post Office in Brookville, Pennsylvania to get our passports renewed.

When I came home last night I got my new passport. They tell you it takes 4-6 weeks to process. For me, it took only 13 days. Now that's royal treatment.

We initially got our passport so we could go to Japan in March 2000 to see the Mets play the Cubs.

Nowadays just to go to Canada you need a passport or an enhanced driver's license.

We decided that renewing our passports was a worthy investment for now and in the future.

We're North American specialists but eventually we need to see how the rest of the world lives.

In addition, my blog has attracted so many people from other parts of the world. Hopefully someday I'll get to meet some of these special people who have spent some of their precious time reading about me.

It's a new year and we have new dreams to fulfill.

If you need my assistance please feel free to ask for it.

If and when I decide it's time to move about the world, I'll need help too.

Team work makes the dream work. Let's all work together to achieve our goals.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Royalty w/o 1/3 in review‏

Monday night I came home after work to catch up on lost sleep and I geared up for the week ahead.

Tuesday I went to Madison Square Garden after work to see the NBA's best team, the San Antonio Spurs take on the Knicks. The Spurs came in with a 30-4 record.

The new and improved Knicks made them look rather ordinary on this night. They used their fast pace style to perfection as they ran the Spurs off the court. They beat them, 128-115. It was an exciting game to watch for a change.

The Knicks were lead by Wilson Chandler who had 31 points. Amar'e Stoudemire and Raymond Felton added 28 points each.

As for the Spurs, Tony Parker scored 26 points in the losing effort.

Wednesday night I went out to Newark, NJ to see the Nets host the Chicago Bulls.

The Nets held off the Bulls in this one and they won 96-94. Sasha Vujacic hit the game winning shot with 5.3 seconds to go to give the Nets the victory.

This game was close in the first half. In the third quarter, the Nets opened up a big lead. In the fourth quarter, the Bulls stormed back to tie it but the Nets were fortunate to make the last shot to come out with the win.

Kris Humphries had 20 points and 11 rebounds while Devin Harris finished with 18 points and he dished out 11 assists to pace the Nets.

Derrick Rose was the high scorer for the Bulls with 21 points.

Late in the game I got a text message from my new found traveling friend, Eddie. He said he was at Rutgers and he asked me if I wanted a lift home. I wrote him back and I told him that would be fabulous.

The Net game looked like it may go overtime which would have helped since I wound up waiting a short time for him to come at Newark Penn Station.

Despite that, thanks to Eddie's kindness and thoughfulness I got home 35-40 minutes earlier than I would have if I took public transportation.

Needless to say, I was very grateful to receive that text message.

Thursday night I was back in Newark for the Devils and Flyers.

The Devils have had a dreadful season thus far. On this night their nightmare continued as the Eastern Conference Champion Flyers beat the Devils, 4-2!

Daniel Briere and Scott Hartnell each scored two goals to lead the way for the Flyers.

After a night off on Friday night, I went back to Newark Saturday night. I would have loved to have been in Indianapolis for the Jets but unfortunately I can't afford to go everywhere.

Instead of staying home and watching the Jet game on TV, I decided to get the best of both worlds.

I got to see the Nets and Bucks at the Prudential Center live and I followed the Jet game on my phone so I was well aware of what was happening.

As for the Net game, they got blown out by the Bucks, 115-92!

Former Net, Chris Douglas-Roberts aka CDR scored a game high 24 points. Ersan Ilyasova poured in 22 points and grabbed 13 boards and Corey Maggette added 20 points for the victorious Bucks.

As for the Nets, Kris Humphries had 22 points and Jordan Farmar finished with 20 points and 10 assists in the defeat.

Sunday the King and I and our friend Rich Wolber aka Staten Island Rich went down to Philadelphia to see the Eagles play the Packers in the Wild Card game.

It should be noted that Rich was making his first visit to the "Linc" aka Lincoln Financial Field and Royalty made sure he got there finally.

In addition, we met up with our good friend Frankie Centola who lives in Philadelphia at the game.

By going to the Eagle game I was able to extend my playoff game attending streak. I've now seen at least one playoff game every year since 1997.

As for the game, the Eagles fell short 21-16! Michael Vick threw an interception in the end zone on the Eagles last drive that sealed their fate and ended their season.

The Eagles were fortunate to get a number of breaks throughout the game but they tried to force the issue and they came up short in the end.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Monday, January 10, 2011

Royalty starts 2011 with an added surprise!‏



Prince at Youngstown State

Prince at Winter Classic











 











When we were in Columbus, Ohio on New Year's Eve we found out that the Winter Classic in Pittsburgh was moved from 1PM to 8PM due to mother nature. Rain was in the forecast mainly during the afternoon.

As a result, we received a call from our friend, Manny Morales, who informed us that there was a college basketball game at Cleveland State at 2PM.

Shortly thereafter our friends Mike & Alicia Irr from Pittsburgh told us that there was a college basketball game at Youngstown State at 1:05PM.

I quickly figured out the distances of both places and I decided that since we were staying in Washington, Pennsylvania that Youngstown State was the way to go.

By doing so, we got to see a rare Penguin doubleheader.


First we saw the Youngstown State Penguins play the Ramblers from Loyola of Illinois.

When we arrived at the arena, the King and I were already to pay $8.00 to get in the building. The lady said here you go it's free today. She proceeded to give us tickets and we walked in.

What a way to start the New Year. We got to attend another sporting event and the price was right. What a pleasant surprise.

Based on the Penguin's performance, we got our money's worth. The Ramblers wound up blowing away the Penguins, 83-53.

After we got back to the car, I called our friends Mike & Alicia Irr in Pittsburgh who were attending the Winter Classic at Heinz Field too.

We wound up meeting them at McKees Rocks, which is located right outside of downtown Pittsburgh for dinner at Eat' N Park. We passed through Neville Island for the first time in order to get there.

After dinner we made our way over to Heinz Field to see the Washington Capitals take on the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Thankfully mother nature was cooperative enough that they were able to get the whole game in without any stoppages.

It was rather warm and it did manage to rain a little bit in the third period but the show still went on. 

The NHL did a tremendous marketing job once again making this special event possible. Royalty was happy to be part of it for the third time in four years. We saw the first Winter Classic in Buffalo in 2008. Last year we were in Fenway Park. This year was Heinz Field. Now the question is where will the next one be. We hope it's right in our backyard. We'll have to wait and see.


As for this one, the Capitals and the Penguins put on a nice display of hockey outdoors. The NHL has find a way to get people to watch hockey by having this unique event.

It was a festive atomosphere as the tickets were divided up evenly. It appeared like the fans of each team were sitting together in every other section. In other words, one section had mostly Penguin fans and the next section was mainly Capital fans and so on around the building.

We sat among many Capital fans since our friend Peter Agnew who lives in Baltimore, has season tickets for the Capitals. Back in the summer, the Capitals gave him an opportunity to purchase tickets for this unique event. He decided to pass on going to the game. As a result, he asked us if we wanted to buy the tickets. Needless to say, we gladly said yes. Our only concern was the weather. Luckily it worked out in the end.

I want to thank Peter for taking care of us. Peter and his lovely wife Carmen are good people. We always try to get down to Baltimore and/or Washington D.C. so we can spend some quality time with them. On the other hand, they love to come up to NYC because they're big fans of the Opera. When they do, we always make time to see them.

As for the game we saw, the Capitals wound up winning 3-1 before a crowd of 68,111!

The league's two superstars Sidney Crosby of the Penguins and Alex Ovechkin of the Capitals didn't even score a point.

As a result, other players such as Eric Fehr of the Capitals who scored two goals was the hero. Semyon Varlamov made 32 saves in goal for the Caps. The Penguins only goal was scored by Evgeni Malkin.

It was a bad day and night to be a Penguin.

After the game, we drove back home so we could attend the Jet game against the Bills at the New Meadowlands Stadium at 1PM.

I wound up dropping the King off at 7:15AM. I got home at 7:40AM. Since I was planning to return the car around 10AM I decided not to go to sleep.

I unpacked my stuff, took a shower and I ate breakfast before I returned the car.

After that I took the bus to the subway to the Port Authority Bus Terminal to go to the game.

The Jets decided to rest many of their key players in this one. It seemed more like a preseason game. The Jets went on to whip the Bills, 38-7!

After the game, I went back by LaGuardia Airport to pick up my car that I had left when I went to Chicago the week before.


I got home at 6:45PM. I ate dinner then shortly thereafter I went to sleep so I could catch up.

What a way to start 2011.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 1/10‏

Here's the game plan:

Tuesday January 11th Canucks at Islanders 7PM

Thursday January 13th Senators at Islanders 7PM

Friday January 14th Kings at Knicks 7:30PM

Saturday January 15th Sabres at Islanders 7PM

Sunday January 16th Jets at Patriots 4:30PM AFC Divsional Playoff

Hope all my readers and followers have a great week. If you need my assistance for anything please feel free to contact me.

Stayed tuned for the recap from New Year's Day weekend and the w/o 1/3 in review.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Royalty 2010 Year in Review‏

What a year it was. Here's a brief summary of the highlights that took place for Royalty in 2010.

First and foremost, the totals of the sporting events I saw live.

Baseball 178
Football 35 (26 NFL and 9 College)
Basketball 67
Hockey 58

If you do the math that's 338 altogether.

In addition, I went to 77 different venues including 8 that I saw two different sports and/or teams in.

Furthermore, I went to 27 different states.

As for the King, he saw 418 total sporting events. 399 of which were professional if you will.

He saw 243 baseball games. It was the 15th straight year he has seen 230 or more.

Now for some of the January highlights:

The King and I started 2010 in "classic" fashion on New Year's Day. We went to Fenway Park to see the Winter Classic between the Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers. We also went to Providence that night for a minor league hockey game too.

That Sunday we saw the last football game played at Giants Stadium. The Jets played the Cincinnati Bengals in prime time needing a win to make the playoffs. They got it.

The next weekend we went to Foxboro to see the Baltimore Ravens knock out the New England Patriots from the playoffs in the wild card round.

Over Martin Luther King weekend we wound on the West coast in Southern California. We saw a doubleheader at the Staples Center. The Kings and Clippers were home that Saturday. We were joined by our friend Jean Ann Harrison who drove up from San Diego to spend the day with us. We went to the ESPN Zone between games for dinner.

That Sunday the King and I went to San Diego to see the Chargers play the Jets in the divisional playoff game. We met our friend Jimmy Lieberfarb there. We all went out to dinner to celebrate the Jet victory.

Thanks to that Jet win, I got to make another unexpected trip. This time I went to Indianapolis with my brother-in-law, Scott who wanted to get a sample of royal treatment.

We wound up going to Cincinnati on Saturday night for a minor league hockey game. On Sunday morning we went to see the Indianapolis 500 per his request.

In the afternoon, we went to see the Jets play the Colts in the AFC Championship game. The Jets looked good for almost a half but they collapsed and lost to the Colts.

We closed out January with a trip to Philadelphia, Reading and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We saw the King's favorite hockey team in Pittsburgh, the Detroit Red Wings. It was our farewell to the Civic Arena aka the Igloo as well.

We were joined by our friend and fellow roadtripper, Sean MacDonald who was born and raised in Ottawa, Canada but he nows lives in Japan. Sean was visiting the States on a sports road trip. He was in Atlanta. He knew we were going to be in Pittsburgh that Sunday the 31st so he decided to meet up with us. It was his first and only visit to the Igloo. After the game, we drove him to the airport so he could get back to Atlanta to finish his journey.

During our brief gathering, Sean give me the final push I needed. When I returned home I decided to finally start my blog.

The rest is history as my blog has been drawing more attention as time goes on.

As a result, I've gotten to meet many other people who share a similar interest.

Please feel free to explore my expanding blog list. I just added a guy named Charles Stephenson who's on a mission to see every football gridiron in the NFL and in the NCAA Division 1. Please feel free to go to his site called "Field Goal" to read about his story.

Besides these other great roadtrippers, I got to see other familar faces home and away.

For example, we saw Mike and Alicia Irr in Pittsburgh in January and July.

In May, I met fellow roadtripper Andrew Van Cleve who lives up the block from Wrigley Field in Chicago.

In June, Bob Kelly who lives in Norfolk, Virginia came up to Citi Field for the first time. We meet his brother Dennis and his wife Sue in Japan in 2000 when we saw the Mets play the Cubs. In December, we saw him on our flight to Cincinnati. He was going home from a business trip.

In July, we saw Bessanne and her son Dustin in Cleveland who we also met in Japan.

Also in July we said hello to Target Field for the first time. We were joined by Sean MacDonald and his buddy Peter Sharp as well the Buffalo Boys, Andrew Kulyk and Peter Farrell aka USRT.

Our friend Steve Fekete, Bryan Gilligan and Lloyd Ramsland made the trip with us.

We also spent some time in the Show Me State and we met up with Don Steiger and his son Donnie who live in St. Louis.

In addition, we saw Dot and her Mom while we were in Kansas City. In late December we saw them again as they returned the favor by coming to the Pinstripe Bowl to see their Kansas State Wildcats.

In August, I had the privilege of meeting a family from a small town in Oregon called Burns. These people were visiting NYC for the very first time. Needless to say, we've been in touch ever since.

The Feist family sent me a beautiful Christmas that had pictures from their memorable visit.

There was Kevin along with his wife Toni and their three kids, Caleb, Austin and Carli. They also were joined by their in-laws from Nevada.

I got Kevin's attention because he was wearing an Oregon Ducks shirt.

Since I was planning to be at the Ducks first game over Labor Day weekend, I wanted to see if you knew what time that game was starting since it had still said TBA.

As a result, I wound up talking to him and his family the rest of the game. I took them back to their hotel in Midtown Manhattan since I had some rare time on my hands.

I wound up meeting his son Caleb who was with some friends at the Oregon Duck game when I went there.

Furthermore, Kevin told where I can park and take a shuttle bus to the game.

On my trip to the Northwest in September, I met up with Joey Kraft, who lives in Seattle. I met Joey back at the 2009 World Series in Philadelphia on Halloween night.

Joey and I saw a few Mariner games together and he showed me around the City too.

In October, I went to Denver to see the Jets and Wyoming. I was planning to meet up with fellow roadtripper, Danielle Granquist but unfortunately she told me she had a family commitment in Chicago that weekend.

I did see our friend Dick Harding at the Bronco game though.

In the middle of November we went up to Buffalo to see the Sabres and the Buffalo Boys. We had some other roadtrippers who came from Detroit for the weekend to see their Lions play the Bills. They were Jim Vegeant and his buddy Bob Kelly a different one from the one I mentioned earlier.

On that Sunday, we went to the Cleveland Browns game against the Jets where we see saw our friend Jimmy Lieberfarb's Cousin Ira. He introduced us to a guy named Rob Morris who has a sports talk show on the internet. He was blown away by the accomplishments of the King and I. For more details about his show, please check out his website that's listed on my blog list.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, our friend Lloyd Ramsland joined the King and I as we all got to go to the new hockey arena in Pittsburgh, the Consol Energy Center. We also met up with Mike and Alicia Irr who were at the game too since they have half season tickets for the Penguins.

In December before the Philadelphia Eagle game on a Thursday night, I met up with another roadtripper,  Kurt Smith who lives near Philadelphia for dinner. He recently started a business selling e-guides to different ballparks which will help you save money if and when you decide to take in a baseball game.

Please feel free to check out his website that's on my blog list for all the details.

A few days later over that weekend, the King and I went to Cincinnati to see Nippert Stadium, home of the Cincinnati Bearcats. We were planning to meet up with another road tripper, Jake Cain who couldn't make it due to a last minute change in plans.

Jake still was able to help us by hooking us up with his season tickets for the Bearcat game that he couldn't use. I wound up meeting his father who give me the tickets. Needless to say, we were very grateful.

If you want to find out more about Jake, please check out his website that's on my blog list.

In the middle of December, the King and I went down to Florida to see the new basketball arena for the Orlando Magic, the Amway Center. In addition, we got to spend some quality time with the King's brother Henry who put us up for the night.

Christmas weekend I was in Chicago and I met up with Andrew Van Cleve again and roadtripper Bob DeVries and his fiance Charlie Cahill.

On New Year's Eve, the King and I closed out 2010 in Columbus, Ohio watching the Blue Jackets play.

I look forward to reuniting with some of these people in 2011 as well as meeting up with others that I got in contact with during this past year. I hope to meet some more newcomers as well.

Thank you for reading along with my year in review. Without you, none of this would have been possible.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Royalty says goodbye to 2010 in Columbus, Ohio!

The King and I left Yankee Stadium after the Pinstripe Bowl and we headed towards Columbus, Ohio to say farewell to another amazing year.

We drove to Brookville, Pennsylvania to spend the night.

Before we departed for Columbus we stopped off at the local post office in town. With our trip to Calgary coming up over President's weekend we needed to get our passports renewed in order to get across the border. Thankfully we found a little time to do so. After we finished we were both relieved.

Next stop Columbus, Ohio which was 260 miles away.

We drove just under four hours and we arrived in Columbus shortly after 4PM which put us in position to secure a pair of $10 tickets that were going on sale at 5PM.

The Blue Jackets put 250 tickets on sale 2 hours before every game. This time we were able to take advantage of this tremendous promotion.

The Blue Jackets were playing the Ottawa Senators to close out the calendar year.

It should be noted the first Blue Jacket game we saw was ten years ago against the Devils on New Year's Eve as well.

This was our fifth visit to Nationwide Arena, which happens to be a great place to see a game.

If you have been there yet I strongly suggest you get there. The arena is conveniently located right in downtown off the highway.

As for the game we saw, the Blue Jackets build a 3-0 lead until late in the second period when the Senators finally got on the scoreboard to make it 3-1.
In the third period, the Senators continued to apply the pressure and they wound up tying the game at three. They forced overtime. In the overtime session, they kept bringing the pressure but they missed out on their opportunities to win the game and then the Blue Jackets got a break and they went down the other end and they lit the lamp to come away with a 4-3 victory.

What a way to end the year.

Stay tuned as I recap our change in plans to start the New Year on New Years' Day.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Royalty has company at the Pinstripe Bowl!‏

The King, Mom, Dot and I 
Back in the middle of July, when we went to the Show Me State, we visited some people from Kansas. They were Dorothy Straney and her Mom.

These people are very special to us. The King and I met Dorothy aka "Dot" back in August 1993 at a souvenir store near Wrigley Field.

We've been in contact ever since. Over the years we've taken turns visiting each other.

In July, Dot told me that she was planning to come to NYC if her Kansas State Wildcats made it to the Pinstripe Bowl.

Early in December it become official Kansas State was coming and so were the Straneys.

When she called and told me the news I was tickled purple.

She planned to come in on Tuesday, December 28th but luckily she changed her plan to arrive on Christmas night.

She called me up that Monday from her hotel room to tell me she was in New York.

Ironically I was in a hotel room in Chicago at the time.

Mother nature did her best to mess up our plans but we still found a way to meet up at Yankee Stadium for the Pinstripe Bowl.

Dot told me she was sitting in section 309 row 7. The King and I wound up sitting there too.

It should be known we weren't alone. Our friend Larry Peim was there too.

In addition, my new found friend Eddie who drove me to Avis meet us there also.

During the game, I got a surprise visit from a former co-worker of mine, Kim Reznicek.

She is an absolute sweetheart. She made going to work something I looked forward to. It hasn't been the same since she left back in January 2010.

As for the game we saw, it was a thrilling affair. It was a seesaw battle throughout. Syracuse took the lead for good in the fourth quarter after K-State scored to go ahead by one, 28-27. The Wildcats were down by 8, 36-28 then they scored a touchdown to pull within 2 but they were called for a controversial celebration penalty that was accessed on their 2 point conversion attempt. As a result, they failed to convert giving the Orange a hard fought 36-34 victory in the inaugural Pinstripe Bowl.

Marcus Sales, wide receiver of the Orangemen led the way catching three touchdown passes as their offense exploded which enabled them to emerge as the winner in the end.

Our friend Dot who was all dressed up in purple, her mother and the rest of the Wildcats fans who sat in our section were left with an empty feeling. They had a long ride back to Manhattan, Kansas that is.

Despite the outcome, we all had a great time. It's always a pleasure to see our friends from the heartland.

Stay tuned for the closing of 2010 and the beginning of 2011 royalty style.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Royalty w/o 12/27 in review‏

I survived an unexpected adventure getting home from Chicago due to the blizzard in the Northeast.

As a result, I wound up missing the Nets game against the Magic on Monday night.

Tuesday night was a scheduled night off. As things turned out I was thankful it was. I had a lot of catching up to do at home.

Wednesday it was back to business as usual. I went back to work and afterwards I went out to Newark, NJ to see the Devils host their cross town rival, the Rangers.

The Devils have had a horrible season thus far. On this night the Rangers added to their misery as they beat the Devils, 3-1!

Thursday I worked a half a day so I could attend my first ever college bowl game, the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium at 3:30PM.

In addition, I went to Avis to rent a car for the weekend first.

I want to personally thank a guy named Eddie who got in contact with me through my blog a few weeks ago. It turned out that Eddie lives nearby. What a small world it is.

We had been e-mailing each other back and forth. Quite amazingly, he got stuck out in Southern Colorado with a few friends during the blizzard. They wound up driving 30 hours to get back to New York.

Eddie found out at the last minute he was off from work and he planned to go to the Pinstripe Bowl as well.

I told him my plan of action.

He said since he was going to be out in the City that he would pick me up after work at my office and drive me back to Avis on Long Island so I could pick up the car rental instead of me taking public transportation to get there.

I couldn't thank him enough for being so thoughtful and caring.

I plan to hook up with him often in the future. We have similar interests and we can help each other out.

Stay tuned as I go into further detail regarding the Pinstripe Bowl.

It was a very memorable day for Royalty.

In addition, I'll be writing some special posts regarding the ending of 2010 and the opening of 2011 on the road.

It was a weekend for the ages.

Furthermore, I plan to do a 2010 year in review when I get a chance.

Thanks to you 2010 was incredible. I expect 2011 to be even better for all of us.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Please always remember I'm here for you if and when you need my assistance.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Monday, January 3, 2011

Royalty schedule w/o 1/3‏

Here's the game plan:

Tuesday, January 4th Spurs at Knicks 7:30PM

Wednesday, January 5th Bulls at Nets 7PM

Thursday, January 6th Flyers at Devils 7PM

Saturday, January 8th Bucks at Nets 7PM

Sunday, January 9th Lightning at Devils 5PM OR Packers at Eagles 4:30PM

I hope all my readers and followers have a great week.

If you want to go somewhere please talk to me so I can make it happen.

It's 2011 time to return to heaven.

Please stay tuned for the w/o 12/27 in review.

In addition, I plan to do some special posts which will include the 2010 year in review.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty took the long way home from "Sweet Home Chicago"!‏

After spending the Sunday after Christmas in Chicago watching the Bears and the Blackhawks play with great company, the real adventure was about to start.

Thanks to mother nature, my flight on Southwest Airlines that Monday from Chicago to New York was cancelled. When I tried to rebook the flight they told me the next available flight was on Friday.

They said I could get a refund since the weather caused the flight to be cancelled.

Before I decided to take the refund, I looked into my other options.

First I called to inquire about renting a car so I could drive myself home. After getting ridiculous quotes, I decided to contact an old friend, Greyhound that is. As they say, "You can leave the driving to us."

In the early days of Royalty, that's the way the King and I got places.

In the late 1980's, the King and I took many bus rides to the Midwest to see our sporting events.

For the first time in a long time, I got to relive the memories as I decided that taking Greyhound made the most sense for me to get home in a timely and cost effective fashion.

I called Greyhound and I found out that the bus was leaving Chicago 4PM Central time on Monday. It would arrive in New York Port Authority Bus Terminal at 10:25AM Tuesday morning.

It wound up costing me a few dollars less than Southwest Airlines so I decided that was the way to go.

I proceeded to call Southwest and they gave me a credit on my credit card.

I checked out of the Travelodge and walked over to the Greyhound Bus station which was less than a mile away.

I charged up a one way fare so I could get home ASAP.

In the end, it worked out well. I got to make a stop in Cleveland where we connected before continuing to NYC. We also stopped in Newark, NJ too which thanks to the horrible weather in the area and the slow traffic we wound up arriving at the Port Authority Bus Terminal at 11:07AM.

Upon arrival, I walked downstairs to the subway and I took the E train back to Queens where I picked up the Q46 bus which took me within 3 blocks of my house.

After walking down the streets that weren't plowed yet, I finally got outside my house at 12:40PM.

Unfortunately I needed to shovel my way into the house since the snow was so deep. We did get 20 inches.

I decided to knock on a neighbor's door and they took my bags and put them inside their house for me.

In addition, they let me borrow a shovel and off to work I went.

It took me two hours to finally clear the snow. I got into the house at 2:40PM.

What a long strange trip it was.

But wait it wasn't over yet. I still had to get my car home which was parked on the street by LaGuardia Airport.

Last night I finally got to go there and lucky for me the snow was melted so all I had to do was get in and drive it home.

Mission accomplished!

Another successful road trip was in the books.

This is just another example of how royalty finds ways to make things happen.

When life throws you for a loop, you need to be prepared to react accordingly.

In this case, I did my best to solve the problem.

Stay tuned as the rest of the royalty week of 12/27 in review awaits.

When I get a chance I'll go into all the details.

2010 ended on a high and 2011 is off to a surprising start.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman