Royalty Tours USA

Royalty schedule w/o 1/30

2012-01-29T20:57:00.001-05:00

Here's the game plan:

Tuesday January 31st Rangers at Devils 7PM

Wednesday February 1st Pistons at Nets 7:30PM

Thursday February 2nd Bulls at Knicks 8PM

Friday February 3rd Timberwolves at Nets 7:30PM

Saturday February 4th Devils at Flyers 1PM

Nets at Knicks 7:30PM

Sunday February 5th Penguins at Devils 1PM

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.

Stay tuned for my w/o 1/23 in review.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty returns to Foxboro for the AFC Championship Game!

2012-01-26T21:20:00.001-05:00

Patriots win , 23-20!

Early Sunday morning I went to Avis to rent a car for the day so I could drive the King and I back to Foxboro to see the New England Patriots play the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game.

The winner will be represent the AFC in the Super Bowl in Indianapolis.

On the way, we stopped off in Providence, Rhode Island where we picked up our pal Andrew Van Cleve aka the Ultimate Sports Fan who left his wife Nicole and their baby Dylan there while he went to the game with us. Nicole got to take Dylan to the Children's Museum so they were entertained too.

We all needed tickets for the game but once we arrived at the Stadium we went right to the box office and they had some tickets available so we were able to buy them there surprisingly.

Everything worked out well for all of us. We all proceeded to go inside and we saw the game and history in the making.

As for the game, it reminded me of a heavyweight fight as the Patriots and Ravens slugged it out on the gridiron.

It was a close game all the way through. The Patriots led, 23-20 with time running out in regulation. The Ravens were forced to try a field goal attempt after wide receiver Lee Evans dropped what appeared to be the go ahead touchdown in the end zone.

So the Ravens trotted their kicker Billy Cundiff onto the field to attempt a 32 yard field goal to tie the game and send it into overtime. Unfortunately, Cundiff hooked the ball wide left with 11 seconds left which enabled the Patriots to survive another scare as they held on to win and they earned a trip back to the Super Bowl for the fifth time in the last 11 years.

Since we arranged to meet up with Nicole and Dylan aka the Ultimate Sports Baby back in Providence, we didn't need overtime because we all had a long drive home.

Regardless of the outcome, we saw a great game and we were part of history.

Unfortunately, somebody had to lose. I feel for Billy Cundiff. That was a hard way for the Ravens to end their season.

As the Lamar Hunt Trophy which is given to the AFC Champions was presented to the Patriots after the game, quarterback Tom Brady said and I quote "I really sucked today." He's lucky that Cundiff & Evans sucked more as it turned out.

We went back to the car after the game and we drove back to Providence where we met up with Nicole and Dylan for dinner at a Greek restaurant called Andreas by Brown University.

We all enjoyed a great meal together. It was very royal as Nicole made a sound decision. It was nice to see the Ultimate Sports wife as Andrew calls her and the Ultimate Sports Baby, Dylan who's always so playful when we've seen him.

After we ate, we said our goodbyes and we all went on our way home.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Washington Nationals show loyalty & royalty as they introduce Gio Gonzalez!

2012-01-26T13:20:00.001-05:00

The Washington Nationals recently traded for Gio Gonzalez. They showed him the long term commitment and stability he deserves by signing him to a five year extension.

For all the details, please see the video below as they introduced him to the media.

Congratulations, Gio! You definitely earned it with your positive attitude and your perseverance. You're truly a class act and those in DC will find that out real fast.

Nats introduce Gio

Nationals welcome Gio to DC

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=20072363
Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 1/16 in review

2012-01-25T08:06:00.001-05:00

Nuggets win in double overtime, 119-114

Upon returning from Baltimore at midnight Sunday night, I had to get up earlier than the King and Steve Fekete aka the Padre Punk who stayed over with us because I had to return the car I rented to Avis by 10AM Monday morning.

Thankfully I didn't have to go to work so to speak because it was Martin Luther King Day.

I did so successfully as I safely drove 897 miles over the weekend. I might add the King was amazed how I was able to handle all the driving by myself despite getting so little sleep. He raved to people we know how I was a machine behind the wheel. I appreciate the kind words. I plan ahead so I'm ready to handle the task at hand. With plenty of years experience, I was able to follow through on my game plan which was executed perfectly.

After I returned the car, I went to the Omega diner near where I used to live to have breakfast before I took public transportation out to the Nassau Coliseum to see the Islanders play the Nashville Predators that afternoon.

As for the Steve and the King, I arranged for them to meet our friend Larry Peim who picked them up in Astoria and he drove them out there. Our friend Frank Anichiarico also went with them.

Everything worked out beautifully for all of us.

As for the game we saw, the Islanders looked like they were sleeping walking on the ice. They fell behind 3-0 in the first period. That proved to be the game in a nutshell. They scored a goal late to break the shutout as they lost, 3-1.

After the game, Larry was kind enough to not only drive us home but he took Steve to the airport too. Since Steve's flight wasn't leaving until 9:35PM. We decided to go to the Apollo diner which is located in East Meadow, a few miles from the Nassau Coliseum to have dinner since we were all hungry. Needless to say, the food was tremendous as was the company. A royal gathering indeed. Steve got plenty of royal treatment during his brief visit to the Northeast.

Tuesday after work I went out to the Prudential Center in Newark to see the Devils play the new Winnipeg Jets. The one and only time I saw these two teams play was back in early December in Winnipeg. That night the Jets beat the Devils, 4-2. On this night, the Devils returned the favor as they whipped the Jets, 5-1.

Wednesday night after work I went to Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks host the Phoenix Suns. It turned out to be a lower scoring game then I had anticipated. The Suns were lead by their great point guard Steve Nash who guided them to a 91-88 victory.

Thursday night after work I went back to Newark to see the Devils play the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins for the second time in 15 days.

This time I arranged to have my Cousin Andy join the King and I for the festivities. My Cousin wasn't feeling well but he still managed to enjoy himself. He always loves to see us and we made sure he wasn't disappointed. In addition, my pal Vincent Ascanio was there as well.

As for the game we saw, the Devils looked good for the first two periods as they had a 1-0 lead. In the third period, the Bruins came to play. They crashed the net and they scored two goals in less than a minute to take the lead early on in the period. They continued to apply the pressure as they added a few more goals to beat the Devils again, 4-1.

Friday night after work I went back to Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks play the Milwaukee Bucks. It turned out to be another nightmare for the Knicks as Brandon Jennings of the Bucks lead the way as the Bucks got passed the Knicks, 100-86.

Saturday afternoon I was going to stay home and catch up on things but my buddy Vincent Ascanio told me he had an extra ticket for the St. John's/Villanova game at the Garden so I decided to take him up on it. He actually gave me the ticket which was very nice of him. Royal treatment indeed.
The King went out to Newark to see the Devils play the Philadelphia Flyers. I gave my ticket to our friend Frankie Centola from Philadelphia who needed it for someone he knew. For all the times he's helped us out, it was nice to return the favor.

As for the game I saw with Vincent, St. John's blew a 10 point lead with just under six minutes to go in regulation. The game wound up going into overtime. The Wildcats of Villanova pulled away as they topped the Red Storm of St. John's, 79-76.

After the game, I went shopping and then I ate dinner at home before I went back to the Garden for the night cap of my basketball doubleheader.

The Knicks were playing again. This time against the Denver Nuggets who they made the big trade with last February to get Carmelo Anthony.

Former Knicks Danilo Gallanari, Al Harrington and Timofey Mozgov all shined in their return to the Garden as the Nuggets outlasted the Knicks, 119-114 in double overtime. What a game it was.

Stay tuned for the special post I'm going to do regarding my return to Foxboro and the AFC Championship Game.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 1/23

2012-01-23T08:44:00.001-05:00

Here's the game plan:

Tuesday January 24th Sabres at Devils 7PM

Friday January 27th Boston University at Stonybrook 9PM

Saturday January 28th Delaware at Drexel 2PM

St. Joseph's at Temple 4PM

Pistons at 76ers 7PM

Sunday January 29th Raptors at Nets 6PM

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.

Stay tuned for my w/o 1/16 in review as well as my special post about our return visit to Foxboro. Please bear with me.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty and company enjoy AFC Divisional Playoff Games in Foxboro and Baltimore!

2012-01-22T08:35:00.001-05:00

Prince is in the house tonight

During the week leading up to the divisional playoff games, I got a call from Steve Fekete aka the Padre Punk who lives in Anaheim, California. He told me he wanted to come East for some royal treatment. He prides himself on seeing quality as he likes to say.

Once the matchups were set for the divisional playoffs, he booked a flight to come to NYC. We went back and forth during the week to coordinate his surprise visit.

Our friend Vincent Ascanio decided he wanted to make a royal road trip for the first time with me.
So with that being said, I had already booked a car rental from Avis anticipating going away for that weekend. Now the King and I had some additional company too.

Here's how it turned out. I woke up early Saturday morning and I went to Avis to pick up the car. I wound up getting a Crown Victoria which was perfect for this getaway.

After I got the car, I went near JFK airport to pick up Steve who flew in late Friday night. I went to his hotel and picked him up. I proceeded to go back home to Astoria to get the King. Then we drove to Queensbridge where we met Vincent.

With everybody in the car, we went on our way towards Foxboro. We arranged to have an appetizer if you will. We stopped off at the University of Rhode Island which is located in Kingston, Rhode Island. We went to the Thomas Ryan Center for the very first time to see the Rams of URI play the Dukes of Duquesne University.

What a beautiful arena it was. It was a perfect way to pass time on our way to see the New England Patriots play the Denver Broncos in prime time.

As for the game we saw, the Rams lost to the Dukes, 78-71.

After the game, we drove to Cranston, Rhode Island which was about 25 miles away going towards Foxboro. We went there because I arranged to meet a guy named Rick Forcino who I got in contact with on Craigslist earlier in the week. He had a pair of extra tickets so he was kind enough to sell them to me. It worked out perfectly as the King and I used them. They were located on the upper level halfway up at the 35 yard line.

Steve and Vincent were able to secure tickets through Ticketmaster so it worked out well for all of us.
We arrived in Foxboro shortly after 6PM. We parked the car in the $20 lot which is the cheapest you'll found in the area. We proceeded to walk towards Gillette Stadium.

We stopped off at Papa Gino's to have some pizza on the way before we braved the elements to watch the game.

We all indulged in a hearty meal. We then continued about a mile to get to the Stadium.

We all went in and picked a place to meet after the game.

As for the game we saw, it was over early for all intent and purposes, the Patriots scored a touchdown on the first drive of the game. It took them a mere 1:51 to drive down the field to take the early 7-0 lead. That drive set the tone for the rest of the evening as the Broncos couldn't get out of their own way.

The Patriots' defense stifled them the whole night. Tim Tebow wound up getting hurt in the second quarter but he showed heart and he continued to battle through it but his team proved to be no match for the Pats on this night. The Patriots cruised to an easy 45-10 victory as they will host the AFC Championship Game against the winner of the Ravens and Texans.

It should be noted that the King hinted that we could leave early but he knew that was going on deaf ears as I had no intention of checking out early despite the lopsided score.

As a result, we got to see Tom Brady even punt the ball late in the game.

We met up with Steve and Vincent after the game and we all walked back to the car together.

We pulled out of the parking lot at 12:14AM as we headed towards Baltimore which was 400 miles away where we were going to see the Baltimore Ravens play the Houston Texans at 1PM Sunday afternoon.

We arrived in Aberdeen, Maryland at a Super 8 at 6:14AM where we got some sleep. We checked out at 10:45AM and we continued the drive to Baltimore which was 30 miles away.

Everybody was amazed that I was able to stay awake overnight to drive us all safely to our destination.
I made sure I got enough sleep and rest during the week so I would be up to the task. Thankfully I was.
We parked the car on the street in the neighborhood upon arrival in Baltimore. We then walked over to M&T Bank Stadium which was nearby. We all went to the will call window where we picked up the tickets we ordered during the week from Ticketmaster.

In addition, we met up with our pal, Andrew Van Cleve who took the train down from Philadelphia. It was great to see him again.

After the game, we went out to eat with Andrew and we drove him home on our way back to NYC.
Before the game, I went upstairs to section 500 so I could say hello to my friend, Nib Pirrung who's been a Raven season ticket holder since day one when they moved to Baltimore. It was great to see him again as well.

As for the game we saw, the Ravens fell behind 3-0 as their defense clamped down after the Texans got a nice return on the opening kick off.

The Ravens proceeded to take the lead. The Texans battled back all day but they couldn't get over the hump as the Raven defense came up big when they needed to as the Ravens escaped with a 20-13 victory to advance to the AFC Championship Game in Foxboro.

After the game, we all ate in Baltimore then I dropped Andrew off in Philadelphia at 9PM. We drove back to Brooklyn where Vincent lives. I dropped him off at 11:15PM.

Then I took Steve, the King and I back to Astoria. We arrived there a few minutes before midnight. Steve spent the night with us.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 1/9 in review

2012-01-21T09:54:00.001-05:00

View from the West Balcony

I basically spent my week at Madison Square Garden after work Monday-Thursday.

I took turns watching the Knicks on Monday and Wednesday nights and the Rangers on Tuesday and Thursday nights.

Here's how the games I saw went:

Monday night the Knicks hosted the Charlotte Bobcats. The Knicks played them the week before and they lost to them. I didn't go to that one. This time it was payback as the Knicks returned the favor as they beat the Bobcats, 91-87.

I did get to see Kemba Walker play as a pro for the first time. He played college ball at UCONN and he's from the Bronx. He came off the bench and he scored 10 points.

Tuesday night I saw the Rangers play the Phoenix Coyotes. I sat in the newly added West Balcony which is located upstairs behind the goal. It's a great aerial view of the action.

As for the game, it was scoreless after two periods. In the third period, both teams scored a goal which forced overtime. Neither team was able to score in the extra session so the game had to be decided in a shootout. This one took six rounds until the Rangers finally emerged victorious as Derek Stepan lit the lamp to give the Rangers the 2-1 victory in the skills competition.

Wednesday night I saw the Knicks take on the red hot Philadelphia 76ers who had won six in a row. The Knicks came to play as they held off the tired Sixers who played the two nights in a row prior to coming to the Garden. The Knicks won the game, 85-79.

Thursday night I saw the Rangers entertain the Ottawa Senators. Once again I sat up in the West Balcony. This time I wound up meeting a guy named Evans Longacre who was at the game with his co-workers. We spoke to each other during the game which enhanced my game experience on this night. I hope to see Evans down the road again.

As for the game, the Rangers had an off night as they failed to score a goal as they fell to the Senators, 3-0. Jason Spezza of the Senators scored two goals to lead the way. I'm a big fan of his since I remember seeing him play back in 1999 in Junior hockey. He has had himself a nice career with the Senators.

Friday night after work I came home and rested since there were no games of interest in the local area for me to attend.

More importantly, I had to do my wash and get ready for my busy weekend getaway for some playoff football and then some.

Stay tuned for the special post I'm going to do that will recap all the festivities of this classic weekend. It was very royal to say the least.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 1/16

2012-01-16T11:09:00.001-05:00

Here's the game plan:

Monday January 16th Predators at Islanders 1PM

Tuesday January 17th Jets at Devils 7PM

Wednesday January 18th Suns at Knicks 7:30PM

Thursday January 19th Bruins at Devils 7PM

Friday January 20th Bucks at Knicks 7:30PM

Saturday January 20th Villanova at St. John's 1PM (MSG)

Nuggets at Knicks 7:30PM

Sunday January 22nd Ravens at Patriots 3PM 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.

Stay tuned for my w/o 1/9 in review as well as my special post about my epic weekend with some special royal company when I find some time to do it. Please bear with me.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty witnesses history at MetLife Stadium!

2012-01-13T20:06:00.000-05:00

1st Ever Playoff Game at MetLife Stadium

Sunday afternoon the NY Giants who won the NFC East Division got to host a playoff game at MetLife Stadium. It was the first ever playoff game played there as the Giants played the fifth seeded Atlanta Falcons in the Wild Card game.

This time the King and I avoided any hassles by buying tickets which were available during the week on Ticketmaster. Our friend Rich Wolber aka Staten Island Rich was there as well. I arranged to get all the tickets for us.

Our friend Andrew Van Cleve came up from Philadelphia so he could be part of history too. Since he moved to the Northeast at the beginning of December, we've seen each numerous times. It's always a pleasure to see him.

As for the game we saw, the Giants fell behind 2-0 as the Falcons forced Giant quarterback Eli Manning into an intentional grounding in the end zone as he was trying to avoid the sack which gave the Falcons a safety. That's the only points the Falcons got the rest of the afternoon as the Giants defense totally shut them down.

The Giants' offense was slow to get started as they led by a score of 7-2 at halftime. In the second half, the offense got into high gear as they ran the ball well with their running backs Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw. In addition, their three wide receivers emerged. Victor Cruz was double covered most of the time so that gave his teammates Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham a chance to shine and they did.
Nicks scored a touchdown that covered 86 yards in the third quarter that for all intent and purposes put the game away. As a result, the crowd went crazy. The building felt like it was shaking literally. What a moment it was to be a Giant fan.

The Giants went on to win the game, 24-2. They go to Green Bay this weekend to play the Packers in the Divisional Round at Lambeau Field. It won't be an easy task but they won there on their way to winning the Super Bowl back in 2007. We'll wait and see what happens this time.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 1/2 in review

2012-01-13T19:30:00.001-05:00

Rangers Win, 3-2 in OT!

After starting the week at the Winter Classic on Monday, I got a much needed night off on Tuesday after work. Not really I came home and I did my wash in the freezing cold.

Wednesday after work, I went out to Newark, NJ to see the Devils take on the defending Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins.

As for the game, it was an impressive performance by the Bruins as they overpowered the Devils, 6-1.
Thursday night after work, I went to Madison Square Garden to see the Rangers play the Florida Panthers. It was their first game after the Winter Classic.

The Rangers and the Panthers battled it out on the ice as they took turns scoring goals. After regulation time, the game was tied at two. In overtime, Marian Gaborik lit the lamp with 1:31 left to give the Rangers a 3-2 sudden death victory.

Friday night after work I went back to Newark, NJ to see the Devils host the Florida Panthers at the Prudential Center. Patrik Elias of the Devils played in his 1,000th NHL game on this night.

As for the game, the Devils beat the Panthers by a score of 5-2. The score is deceiving because the Devils scored two empty net goals in the last minute. One of them was while they were shorthanded. It was a good competitive game until that point.

Saturday night after resting up during the day and catching up on my necessities, the King and I went out to Newark, NJ again. This time to see the Nets play basketball against the Miami Heat. We had some company as our friends Ralph and Vincent Ascanio were there too. It was nice to see them again. We got to catch up and enjoy each other's company.

As for the game we saw, LeBron James aka LeFraud as I call him, was exciting to watch as he scored 22 points in the first quarter alone. He helped the Heat raced out to a early 10-0 lead. The Nets cut the lead to 2 at 12-10 then the Heat pulled away for good as they cruised to a 101-90 win. LeFraud finished with a game high 32 points. It should be noted that Dwayne Wade didn't play due to an injury.

Stay tuned as I'm going to do a special post about the first ever playoff game at MetLife Stadium that I saw that Sunday.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

The Winter Classic Experience

2012-01-12T07:58:00.001-05:00

Me in the Crowd at Winter Classic

On January 1, 2008 the NHL decided to stage a unique event that being the Winter Classic in Buffalo, New York. The Buffalo Sabres hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins at Ralph Wilson Stadium which is the home of the Buffalo Bills.

Thanks to my pals Andrew Kulyk and Peter Farrell who are Sabre season ticket holders, they were able to secure tickets for my friend the King and I to see this unique event.

The experience that day was priceless. Despite not feeling our best, we still braved the elements on this day to see hockey history in the making. With snow falling during the game, the ice needed to be repaired numerous times but that didn't stop the game from being a big hit. A record crowd of 71,000 were on hand to witness it.

The game wound up being decided in a shootout as the Penguins beat the Sabres, 2-1 as Sidney Crosby scored the game winner.

On January 1, 2009 the NHL decided to do another Winter Classic. This time they chose Wrigley Field in Chicago as the site of the event. The Chicago Blackhawks took on their original six rival, the Detroit Red Wings. Unfortunately I didn't get to witness this one in person. I did watch it on TV with deep regret.
Since the game was at a smaller venue, the ticket prices were rather pricey. That coupled with the fact I live in NYC, it's a long drive to Chicago and mother nature can always play her tricks. In addition, my friend the King who happens to be a Red Wing fan thought he was going to have to work so we decided it was better not to go.

Ironically we met up with Andrew Van Cleve a few years ago when we visited Chicago. He was at that Winter Classic. I wish we knew each other then.

As for the game that day, the Red Wings beat the hometown Blackhawks, 6-4 in the highest scoring Winter Classic game.

On January 1, 2010, the tradition continued. This time the Winter Classic was played at Fenway Park in Boston as the Philadelphia Flyers invaded Beantown to play the Bruins.

Once again the King and I decided to go. We wound up buying tickets at the last minute on Craiglist because we were concerned about the weather.

Thankfully mother nature cooperated. It turned out to be a beautiful winter day. The temperature was a comfortable 36 degrees which made for a wonderful setting. We had the privilege of sitting towards the back of the grandstand near first base which was the corner of the rink. We had the Green Monster staring us right in the face.

As for the game, the Flyers lead 1-0 into the third period. Late in the period, the Bruins evened the score at one. This one was decided in overtime as the Bruins found the net in the extra session as they sent the natives home happy, 2-1. It should be noted their were a number of Flyer fans in attendance as well who had a long ride home after the loss.

As for the King and I, since we didn't have a real rooting interest so we got to enjoy the outcome regardless of who won.

On January 1, 2011, the Winter Classic returned to a bigger venue. This one was played at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh which is the home of the Steelers. The Penguins hosted the Washington Capitals.

This game was originally scheduled to start at 1PM like the others. Unfortunately mother nature was up to her tricks again. This time the temperature was in the 40's and rain was expected. With that being said, they decided that with the rain suppose to clear out by the evening, they changed the starting time to 8PM. By doing so, this turned out to be the first Winter Classic in prime time.

As for the King and I, we got to go again. This time our friend Peter Agnew who has season tickets for the Capitals said he didn't want to go. He asked us if we wanted to buy the tickets he was offered. We instantly told him yes.

We wound up sitting in the upper level with other Capital fans. They did a nice job distributing the tickets for this game. It seemed like every other section was divided by each team's fans. By doing that it made for a fair view for everybody who was able to be part of this unique experience. They drew a crowd of 68,000.
As for the game, the hometown Penguins came up short as the Capitals won, 3-1.

This year New Year's Day came out on a Sunday. With that being said, the NHL decided to move their Winter Classic game to Monday, January 2nd instead.

This time they went back to the baseball park setting as they chose to have the Philadelphia Flyers host the game at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Phillies. The Flyers played the New York Rangers in the latest installment of the Classic. The game was scheduled to start at 1PM but since the weather conditions weren't ideal they decided to move the starting time to 3PM.

The King and I once again got to take part in the festivities. We were also joined by our friend Andrew Van Cleve who recently moved to Philadelphia.

The King and I got tickets with the help of season ticket holders that we know. Andrew found a person on Craigslist who sold him a ticket for face value.

Surprisingly it seemed like their were a lot more Flyer fans than Ranger fans at the game. We happened to be sitting around a lot of Flyer fans. There were a lot of people dressed up in their Flyer colors throughout the ballpark.

Don't get me wrong, there were a good number of Ranger fans in the building but with the ticket prices being really pricey I think that prevented some people from going to the game.

The experience is different than seeing a hockey game indoors. The outdoor game makes for a once in a lifetime scenario for those who have some spare money to burn. If you like the game of hockey, I strongly suggest that you go to a Winter Classic so you can see the experience for yourself.

As for the game, the Flyers took a 2-0 lead in the second period after there was no scoring for the first half of the game. The Rangers cut the lead in half at 2-1 after two periods. During the intermission, I ran into a guy I knew from New York who happens to be a big time Ranger fan. He said and I quote "this game isn't over yet." He turned out to be right. The Rangers proceeded to tie the game at two and then they got the eventual game winning goal as the Rangers hung on for the 3-2 victory.

In retrospect, I may regret not going to Wrigley Field in 2009 but I've been to the last three in a row. I hope to be able to keep going to see this unique event year after year. Time will tell.

If you plan to go, please take into account that many of the seats are bad. That's the nature of setting up a rink in a baseball and/or football stadium.

In a baseball stadium, the rink usually runs from across the outfield behind second base.

In a football stadium, the rink is laid across the gridiron between the 20 yard lines.

The bottom line is this experiment is working as the NHL now has a day it can call its own.

In the future, if you like hockey New Year's Day is the day you can see the sport outdoors. Hopefully they'll chose different locations and teams so it's more fair to the rest of the country.

I hope I've given you a reason to see for yourself what the Winter Classic experience is all about.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty starts the New Year with a bang!

2012-01-11T18:51:00.001-05:00

After finishing 2011 strong, 2012 got off to a flying start for me.

The King and I took a bus from Chinatown to Philadelphia early Sunday morning to get the New Year started.
We went to Lincoln Financial Field where we met up with Andrew Van Cleve and his son Dylan aka the Ultimate Sports Baby. We rounded up cheap tickets outside the stadium and we went in to see the Eagles close out their season with the Washington Redskins.

When we got inside we met up with our friend Frankie Centola who was with his son, Frank the third. Frankie gave the King and I a nice upgrade to the club level. Andrew couldn't join us because he had the baby in a stroller. He decided to watch the game from the ramps instead. It worked out well for all of us.
As for the game we saw, the Eagles dismantled the Redskins, 34-10.

After the game, the King took the bus back to Chinatown. We then took the subway to the Port Authority Bus Terminal when we got back to NYC just after seven o'clock.

We decided to brave the weather since it was raining to try and get into the Giants game against the Cowboys at 8:20PM.

We got out to MetLife Stadium with no problem. The problem we had was we didn't have tickets for the game. We knew it wasn't going to be easy.

As expected, a number of people were looking too. There were scalpers with tickets but they were too pricey for our liking.

We waited awhile. The game started and the prices were still too high. Shortly thereafter, we were wandering around the stadium and I found a ticket on the floor. The King told me to go ahead and try it. I did and I got in. He continued to look but he couldn't get anything so he decided to go home.

I walked into the stadium with 5:54 left in the first quarter. The game was still scoreless.

Less than a minute later, Victor Cruz turned a short gain for a first down into a 74 yard touchdown pass to give the Giants a 7-0 lead.

They continued to build their lead to 21-0 before the Cowboys came back to get within a touchdown at 21-14. The Giants managed to extend their lead. They eventually won the game, 31-14. As a result, they won the NFC East division.

Stay tuned for my latest visit to the Winter Classic. I will do a special post recapping the whole experience which will include the past ones I've been to.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 1/9

2012-01-08T22:08:00.001-05:00

Here's the game plan:

Monday January 9th Bobcats at Knicks 7:30PM

Tuesday January 10th Coyotes at Rangers 7PM

Wednesday January 11th 76ers at Knicks 7:30PM

Thursday January 12th Senators at Rangers 7PM

Saturday January 14th Duquesne at Rhode Island 2PM

Broncos at Patriots 8PM AFC Divisional Playoff

Sunday January 15th Texans at Ravens 1PM AFC Divisional Playoff

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.

Stay tuned for my w/o 1/2 in review as well as my special post about New Year's Day when I find some time to do it. In addition, I'm going to do a special post about the whole Winter Classic experience. Please bear with me.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty 2011 Year in Review

2012-01-08T21:45:00.001-05:00

Another year has come and gone. With that being said it's time to relive the good and bad of 2011.
Personally speaking, 2011 was a rough year for me. Some of you may know I was forced to move out of my parent's house. They decided they wanted to move to Lancaster, Pennsylvania on a full time basis. So on August 20th, I moved out and I moved in to live with the King.

My parents broke the news to me in late January. I had to clean up and throw out many personal memories I had saved over the years from the various places I had been to. As a result, I was forced to miss some sporting events along the way.

In the process, I still maintained my rigorous schedule and blog which I'm most proud of. That was my biggest concern. I have been blogging for almost two years now. I've developed a captive audience and fan club. I don't want to let my people down.

With no further ado, here's how things played out in 2011.

First and foremost, my total sporting events total took a dip to 307 compared to 338 in 2010. All things considered, I had a great year with the parameters I was given to work with.

The King on the other hand managed to get to 402 total sporting events in 2011. 233 of them were baseball games hence the name the King.

Here's a recap by month of the highlights:

January before I found out the news, the King and I started the year on New Year's Day at the Winter Classic in Pittsburgh. Since mother nature wasn't cooperating they moved the game from the afternoon to a night game. As a result, the King and I started the year with a surprise as we wound up going to Youngstown State to see a college basketball game. Ironically the team nickname is the Penguins so we got to see a unique Penguin doubleheader instead.

After that, we went to see NFL playoff games in Philadelphia and New England.

On January 18th, after work I secured tickets to see the Jets play the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game in Pittsburgh.

That same night I had the privilege and honor of being on internet TV in the FDHL Lounge with Rick Morris. It happened to be their fourth anniversary show that night. What a way to hit the airwaves.

After the King and I went to Pittsburgh to see the Jets fall to the Steelers, I was told by my parents that they're going to sell the house and I have to move out.

In February, I celebrated the first anniversary of my blog. Over President's Day weekend, the King and I went to Western Canada to see the Heritage Classic in Calgary. While we were there, we went to Edmonton and Red Deer as well. This trip was planned out in December so I wasn't going to miss it given my current situation.

When we returned we saw the home debuts of newly acquired players Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams for their new teams, the Knicks and Nets respectively.

In March, we took a trip to Norfolk, Virginia where we met up with our friend Bob Kelly who lives in the area. On the way home we stopped off in Washington DC and we saw the Wizards play with our friends Peter & Carmen Agnew who live in Baltimore.

We also started the new baseball season at Yankee Stadium on Opening Day which was on March 31st.

In April, we made some weekend getaways to Philadelphia, Washington and Boston.

On April 23rd, I saw my 4,000th baseball game at Citi Field as the Mets played the Diamondbacks.

In May, the King and I made our annual trip to Chicago to see Wrigley Field. While we were there, we went to Milwaukee too. More importantly, we got to attend a birthday party.

Our friend Andrew Van Cleve and his wife Nicole were having a party for their son, Dylan aka the Ultimate Sports Baby who turned one.

We were thrilled to be part of his first birthday celebration.

At the end of May, we went to Baltimore and Lehigh Valley where we met up with Jason Grilli who got us tickets for the game.

The month of June was rather quiet except for a quick trip to Philadelphia. As a result, I was able to start seriously cleaning up for my move.

In addition, I entertained friends who visited from out of town. First, Don Steiger and his daughter Angie came to NYC from St. Louis. It was Angie's first time in the Big Apple. I arranged to get them tickets to see the new Yankee Stadium while they were here. After they left town, the Red Sox came to the Bronx and so did Steve Fekete aka the Padre Punk from Anaheim. He got another taste of royal treatment while he was here too.

July was a historical month as I saw Derek Jeter get his 3,000th major league hit on July 9th. In addition, I saw Ervin Santana of the Angels no hit the Indians in Cleveland on July 27th.

Back in early January, I got in contact with an up and coming sports traveler, Paul Derrick from Houston, Texas. He referred to me as his sports travel idol. We stayed in contact via e-mail for months. He wanted to make a road trip he told me. Before I knew my situation was taking a turn for the worst, I told Paul I was going to make it happen for him. True to my word, I met him for the first time on July 22nd. We traveled together for the next nine days. I rented a car for that stretch and I showed him what we have to offer here in the Northeast.

He didn't want to go back home. He was amazed that everything I told him happened and then some. I had planned some surprises along the way as we wound up meeting some familiar faces as well as some new ones. It was a trip of a lifetime as Paul called it.

We got an added bonus when we saw Ervin Santana's no hitter together. The King and our friend Bryan Gilligan joined us for parts of this Stadium Journey. Speaking of Stadium Journey, Paul is one of their correspondents. We wound up meeting a few others along the way. We met Josh Guilher and Geoff Crawley too. We hooked up with Andrew Kulyk and Peter Farrell from Buffalo. We got to see Kurt Smith, the author of Ballpark E-Guides. Furthermore, we got to see Rick Morris in his mobile FDH Lounge which culminated their amazing excursion.

In August, we got a visit from Darren O'Donnell who was riding his bike all around the country for the whole baseball season to see every major league park. He got to visit family and friends who helped him out along the way. The King and I met him at Citi Field on August 10th. We were blow away by his method of transportation. He did reach the finish line in St. Louis on September 25th.

On August 20th, my moving day finally came. After months of stress, relief was finally in sight. Let it be known I haven't missed a beat since.

To further prove that, with Hurricane Irene bearing down on NYC the next weekend, the King told me to get him a car rental. We escaped the area. We wound up driving to Cleveland and Baltimore that weekend. By doing so, we avoided the storm and we got to see Rick Morris in the mobile FDH Lounge again. We also saw our friend BessAnne while we were in Cleveland which made for a nice touch to our getaway. In addition, we saw our friend Andrew Van Cleve who happened to be in the Baltimore area that weekend.

In September, I went to the Heartland over Labor Day weekend. I met Tige Hutcheson who also writes for Stadium Journey in Des Moines, Iowa. I also saw my friend Dorothy Straney, her Mom and her boyfriend Joel in Kansas as I finally got to see her Kansas State Wildcats play volleyball and football at home for the first time. I also met up with Chris Coats aka Superfan at the Royal game I saw before I headed back home. I went to Philadelphia on Labor Day upon return to NYC. Later in the month, I went to Baltimore and Philadelphia again.

In October, I spent time shuttling back and forth to Baltimore and Philadelphia. I saw a few NFL football doubleheaders plus postseason baseball and some college football games. In between, I had a lot of nights off too.

In November, I went to Annapolis, Maryland and Washington DC where I met up with a sports traveler named Charles Stephenson. He treated me to a Redskin game against the 49ers. Later in the month, the King and I and our friend Mike Carroll went to Syracuse, Buffalo and Cleveland. We met up with Andrew Kulyk and Peter Farrell again in Buffalo. We saw Rick Morris again in the mobile FDH Lounge this time I told him my preview for 2012. The King and I went to Foxboro that Monday night too. Thanksgiving night the King and I spent his birthday in Baltimore watching the Ravens.

In December, the first weekend the King took care of some unfinished business as we made a trip to Minnesota and Winnipeg. We revisited the Wild experience and the Vikings. Most importantly, we got to see the new "Jets" in Winnipeg to give us every current NHL venue again. A few weeks later, I had a short interview on CBC Radio in Winnipeg about the return of hockey. I saw Scott Niedermayer of the NJ Devils have his number 27 retired. I saw the Jets play in Philadelphia. I saw the Battle of NY on Christmas Eve. The King and I spent Christmas Day with Andrew Van Cleve and the Ultimate Sports Baby at the Garden as the NBA returned from their lockout. I closed out the year seeing the Pinstripe Bowl and we saw a surprise hockey doubleheader on New Year's Eve as we saw the Islanders play and we hitched a ride to Brooklyn to end the year like we started it with a surprise game.

Not a bad recap for an "off" year if you will.

Stay tuned as things unfold in 2012.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 12/26 in review

2012-01-03T20:50:00.001-05:00

Opening Kickoff at Pinstripe Bowl

Since Christmas Day came out on a Sunday this year, I didn't have to go to work on Monday so the King and I decided to take a train ride on Metro-North up to Bridgeport, Connecticut to see the Sound Tigers, the NY Islanders AHL affiliate, take on the Connecticut Whale, the NY Rangers farm team at Webster Bank Arena. Ironically the parent teams were playing each other at the Garden at the same time. We decided to take the more cost effective way out. In addition, a change of scenery is always a good thing.

As for the game we saw the Sound Tigers beat the Whale, 3-2 after they trailed 2-1 after two periods. The game appeared headed for overtime when the Sound Tigers Tomas Marcinko lit the lamp to avoid the extra session with 4:26 left in regulation time. Since the King and I had some time before our train was leaving we were rooting for bonus hockey. Unfortunately we didn't get that break on this night. That's just the way it is sometimes.

Tuesday I went back to work. After work, I went out to the Prudential Center to see the NJ Nets home opener as they play their last season in New Jersey. Next season they move into the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. They played the Atlanta Hawks, a team on the rise. On this night, the Hawks rose up early as they blew away the Nets, 106-70. The Hawks had a well balanced attack as they cruised to the easy victory in front of a sellout crowd.

Wednesday night after work, I repeated the drill to Newark. This time the Devils were home against the Buffalo Sabres. I was pulling for the Sabres because of our friends Andrew Kulyk and Peter Farrell aka USRT who are from Buffalo and they're big fans of the Sabres but to no avail.

The Devils raced out to a 3-0 lead and they held on to win the game, 3-1 as Thomas Vanek of the Sabres scored in the third period to break the shutout bid by Devils' goaltender Martin Brodeur.

Thursday night I went home to catch up on some needed rest.

Friday I got out of work early at 2PM which gave me enough time to go up to Yankee Stadium for the second annual Pinstripe Bowl. This time the game featured the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers University from nearby New Brunswick, NJ and the Cyclones from Iowa State University which is located in Ames, Iowa 30 miles north of Des Moines.

I had some company as my friend Steve Tepperman aka Princeton Steve was there as well. We enjoyed each other's company during the game.

As for the experience, the crowd was mainly Rutgers' fans who had a short ride to the game. There were a number of Cyclone fans who came in from the cornfields of Iowa to see their team play. In addition, they got to visit New York City too.

As for the game, Iowa State took an early 6-0 lead on two field goals. They were running well but they couldn't get the ball into the end zone. As a result, Rutgers finally got going as they build a comfortable lead. The Cyclones got within a touchdown in the fourth quarter at 20-13 but Rutgers connected on a 86 yard bomb to freshman wide receiver Brandon Coleman for a touchdown that sealed the deal for them as they won the game by a score of 27-13. Redshirt freshman Jawan Jamison sparked the Scarlet Knights' ground game with 134 rushing.

After the game, I met up with the King who wound up going to Brooklyn to see LIU play basketball. By doing so, he saw his 400th sporting event of the calendar year.

Afterwards we met up at Donovan's Pub with our pal Bryan Gilligan who was watching a few high school basketball games. We had a nice dinner together. We got to catch up on our recent whereabouts.

Saturday afternoon the King and I went out to the Nassau Coliseum to see the NY Islanders play the Edmonton Oilers.

It was Ken Morrow #6 Islander Hall of Fame Day as the Islanders enshrined their defenseman who played back in the 1980's in the Islanders' Hall of Fame. Ken Morrow played for the US Olympic Team that won the Gold Medal against Russia in 1980. He joined the Islanders in March that year. He arrived just in time as the Islanders went to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time. They made it five straight years to the Finals as they won their four straight Stanley Cups in the process. Morrow wasn't known to be a prolific goal scorer since he was a defenseman. He did know how to score at the right time though as he had 11 playoff goals including a game winner that eliminated their arch rival, the NY Rangers along the way.

As for the game, the Islanders scored the first goal of the game. The Oilers quickly answered with one of their own to tie the game at one. The Islanders proceeded to score the next three and that's how it ended as the Islanders' won, 4-1.

After the game the King and I hitched a ride to Brooklyn where we closed out the 2011 calendar year the way we started it with a surprise. We saw another game unexpectedly.

This time we saw the Brooklyn Aviators play the Cape Cod Bluefins in a Federal Hockey League (FHL) game. They play at the Aviator Sports and Events Center at Floyd Bennett Field by Marine Park in Brooklyn.

As for the game we saw, the Aviators scored early and often as they lead, 6-1 after the first period. Things settled down on the scoreboard the rest of the way as the Aviators won the game, 7-3. Andrew Oswiak scored a hat trick as he scored three times in the first period.

Stay tuned as I'm going to write a special post about how I started 2012 on New Year's Day.

In addition, I'm going to do my 2011 year in review when I get a chance as well.

As always, thank you for reading and following along.

Happy New Year!

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 1/2

2012-01-02T10:28:00.001-05:00

Here's the game plan:

Monday January 2nd Rangers at Flyers 3PM Winter Classic at Citizens Bank Park

Wednesday January 4th Bruins at Devils 7:30PM

Thursday January 5th Panthers at Rangers 7PM

Friday January 6th Panthers at Devils 7PM

Saturday January 7th Heat at Nets 7:30PM

Sunday January 8th Falcons at Giants 1PM NFC Wild Card

Check back to see how it played out.

Hope all my readers and followers have a great week.

Happy & Healthy New Year to all!

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

Stay tuned for my w/o 12/26 in review as well as my 2011 in review when I find some time to do it. Please bear with me.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty enjoys the return of the NBA at MSG on Christmas Day!

2011-12-29T23:50:00.001-05:00

Andrew and Dylan Van Cleve with the King and I

Like the NFL, the NBA decided to finally return to business as usual. The only difference is the NBA season didn't start on time.

With that being said, the NBA season started on Christmas Day with five games on tap.

The first one being at Madison Square Garden at Noon as the Knicks were hosting the Boston Celtics.
The last time I saw the Knicks play the Celtics on Christmas Day was back in 1985 when the Knicks trailed the Celtics by 25 points in the third quarter before they miraculously came back to win the game in double overtime. I remember it being called the "Miracle on 34th Street."

On this day, the King and I were joined by the Ultimate Sports fan Andrew Van Cleve and his son Dylan aka the Ultimate Sports Baby.

It was great to see them again as the Knicks wound up winning a thriller as Kevin Garnett missed the last shot as the Knicks won the game, 106-104.

The Knicks were lead by Carmelo Anthony who led the way with 37 points.

The Garden is once again the place to be to see NBA basketball.

These days tickets are hard to come by. Hopefully royalty can work some magic so you can experience it for yourself when the time comes.

If so, please let me know and I'll see what I can do for you.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty sees the latest Battle of New York on Christmas Eve!

2011-12-29T23:20:00.001-05:00

Jets and Giants in Battle of NY

The one and only time I saw the Jets play the Giants in a regular season game was way back on November 1, 1981. On that day, the Jets tossed the Giants a beating as they sacked Phil Simms nine times as they won the game, 26-7.

This time things were different in more ways than one.

First and foremost, this time the game was played in a different stadium that being MetLife Stadium which is shared by both teams. This game was a designated "home" game for the Jets.

In 1981, the Giants were the home team. The game was played at old Giants Stadium that day. The Jets were still playing their home games at Shea Stadium then.

This time the result was different as well. The Jets with their coach Rex Ryan opening his big mouth early in the week got beat on the field as the Giants showed Rex who owns this town and it's not his Jets. The Giants whipped the Jets, 29-14 as they made life miserable for Jet quarterback Mark Sanchez who wound up throwing 59 passes in the defeat. Thanks to the Giant defense that was led by Jason Pierre Paul and Justin Tuck who made Sanchez feel very uncomfortable most of the afternoon.

The win set the Giants up to possibly win their division if they beat the Dallas Cowboys in their season finale Sunday night in prime time.

The Jets on the other hand, have to beat the Miami Dolphins and they'll need three other teams to lose just to get in the playoffs as a wild card team.

On the bright side, the King and I did get a special visit from Steve Cirvello who's from the FDH Lounge. Steve is Rick Morris' business partner. It was great to see him again.

It was frustrating to watch the Jets lose a game they really needed to win but being able to see Steve softened the blow.

In reality, both teams don't deserve to make the playoffs but the bottom line is the Giants have the bragging rights in the area for the time being.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 12/19 in review

2011-12-29T22:21:00.001-05:00

After work Monday night I went to Brooklyn to see some local college basketball. I saw the Terriers of St. Francis take on the Great Danes of the University of Albany. I wasn't alone. I was joined by the King and our court. On this night, the royal court consisted of our friends Phil Butleman, Doc Lombardi and Michael Longo who was with his parents. Michael was rooting on the Great Danes since he just started going to school at Albany in September.

As for the game we saw, the Great Danes raced out to a big lead in the first half. In the second half, the Terriers came roaring back as they took a brief lead with five minutes left in the game. They apparently ran out of gas as the Great Danes turned it back on as they beat the Terriers, 76-64 in front of a packed house on Opening Night.

Tuesday night after work I wound up going bowling with my co-workers as our boss took us out for our Christmas party at Lucky Strike. I hadn't bowled in a very long time. Quite amazingly, the first two balls I threw were strikes then the rust finally showed as I struggled to maintain a consistency the rest of the night. My co-workers were impressed with my form however. Regardless of the results, I had a nice time.

After work I went home Wednesday and Thursday night. I was able to rest up and recharge the batteries.
Friday after work I met up with my friend Peter Agnew from Baltimore who was in NYC visiting. We went to the Prudential Center out in Newark, NJ to see the Devils play the Washington Capitals, who happen to be Peter's team. He has season tickets for the them. It was Peter's first visit to the "Rock". It worked out well that the Capitals were playing that night. I arranged to get Peter a ticket for the game. It was nice to return the favor since Peter also gives the King and I and our friends the royal treatment whenever we go to visit him.

As for the game we saw, the Devils dominated the first two periods of the game as they took a 3-0 lead. The Capitals looked awful. But in the third period they finally woke up. They came back to tie the game at three. The game went into overtime but neither team scored in the extra session. The game was decided by a shootout as the Devils outlasted the Capitals in the skills competition as they emerged victorious, 4-3.

Stay tuned for the special posts I'm going to do about the Battle of NY on Christmas Eve and the return of NBA basketball on Christmas Day.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Official review of MetLife Stadium - Home of the Jets and Giants

2011-12-27T08:25:00.001-05:00

Here's my official review of MetLife Stadium, home of the Jets and Giants. If you happen to be going to see the Giants play the Cowboys Sunday night, I strongly suggest you read what I wrote. It will be beneficial for you to do so.

http://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/metlife-stadium-s63/

I officially joined forces with my buddy Paul Swaney as a Special Correspondent by doing reviews for him when time allows me to do so. I also plan to contribute to great team of writers who cover different sports venues in the United States and other parts of the World.

His website, Stadium Journey is on my blog list. Here's the link: www.stadiumjourney.com/

Please feel free to check out his amazing site which will educate you greatly if and when you decide to take a road trip to see a new venue or if you're just curious how life is in other parts of the country and/or the world.

When it comes to sports travel knowledge, I have plenty but I don't have the time to go in depth like his site does. Regardless you can always feel free to e-mail me and pick my brain.

I'm a team player so whenever I can help somebody else, I indirectly help myself too. I think if you follow my blog, you should do the same.

Life is short. Play hard. I do, I believe you should too.

I hope you enjoy my evaluation.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 12/26

2011-12-25T20:07:00.001-05:00

Here's the game plan:

Monday December 26th Connecticut Whale at Bridgeport Sound Tigers 7PM

Tuesday December 27th Hawks at Nets 7:30PM Home Opener

Wednesday December 28th Sabres at Devils 7PM

Friday December 30th Rutgers vs. Iowa State at Yankee Stadium 3:20PM Pinstripe Bowl

Saturday December 31st Oilers at Islanders 1PM

Sunday January 1st Redskins at Eagles 1PM

Check back to see how it turned out.

Hope all my readers and followers have a great week.

Happy & Healthy New Year to all!

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

Stay tuned for my w/o 12/19 in review as well as a few special posts about the Battle of New York and Christmas Day at MSG.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Gio Gonzalez has a new home in our Nation's Capitol, the Washington Nationals capitalized on the opportunity to get him!

2011-12-22T17:31:00.001-05:00

Gio Gonzalez is heading to Washington DC which means I have a chance to see him pitch more often. For all the details, click below.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111222&content_id=26227592&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb

The A's loss is the Nationals' gain.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty meets up with fellow roadtrippers Andrew Van Cleve and Kurt Smith in the City of Brotherly Love!

2011-12-21T22:47:00.001-05:00

Andrew Van Cleve, Kurt Smith, The King and I

The King and I arrived in Philadelphia around 1PM on Sunday as we planned to meet up with some special people.

I'm talking about Andrew Van Cleve aka the Ultimate Sports fan who just moved to the City of Brotherly Love after spending the last 17 years of his life in Chicagoland. He spent the last ten years up the block from Wrigley Field.

He was forced to move because his lovely wife Nicole aka the Ultimate Sports wife got a job as a professor at Temple University.

Andrew is also the proud father of Dylan Salvatore aka the Ultimate Sports baby who has the unique distinction of seeing his first sporting event at Wrigley Field at a mere three days old. He's been to over a hundred live games since.

We were also joined by Kurt Smith, the author of ballpark e-guides. Kurt felt like he was out of his league because he doesn't have the time to attend nearly as many live sporting events as the rest of us. He was privileged and honored to be sitting at a table at Jon's Bar & Grille which is located a few blocks from Andrew's new home with us sports travel legends. He deemed it a Kodak moment.

Kurt has a baby on the way who's due to arrive in February so that will further prevent him from going to games live.

Regardless Kurt is a great guy who has to continue to find a way to support his latest family addition. With that being said, he has his side business of writing and selling ballpark e-guides which are tremendous sources of information for sports travelers as well as people in general. He has put lots of time and effort into producing these which he sells for a mere $5. I strongly suggest that if you haven't gotten one for your local team that you do so. He has done a number of them. Believe me, you can't go wrong and you'll be supporting a good cause in the process.

It was great to see Kurt again. He came in special from his home in South Jersey to meet up with us. Even though he couldn't make the football game, we still got to spend some quality time together. I want to thank him for giving us some of his precious time.

As for the football game, the King and I drove Andrew there with us.

We wound up working some royal magic as we met up with our good friend Frankie Centola who lives in Philadelphia. We all got to see the game from the club level, royal treatment indeed. We showed Andrew some of our own Brotherly Love.

With Andrew relocating to the Northeast, I fully expect to see him more often.

As for the game we saw, the Eagles raced out to a 28-0 lead over the Jets with 9:57 still left in the second quarter. The Jets cut into the lead as they trailed, 28-13 at halftime. They got the ball first in the second half but they continued to make costly mistakes which prevented them from pulling off another miraculous comeback on the road. They wound up losing to Eagles, 45-19.

Andrew decided to depart a little early since the game was over for all intent and purposes. By doing so, he was able to get back home to see Nicole and Dylan.

I want to thank Andrew for spending the rest of the afternoon with the King and I. As always it was an absolute pleasure to see him again.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 12/12 in review

2011-12-21T21:47:00.001-05:00

Ceremony for Scott Niedermayer #27

This week was rather slow compared to the week before but occasionally it's nice to have a few nights off so I can catch up on things and recharge the batteries.

With that being said, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday were my nights off after work.

Tuesday night I went to Madison Square Garden to see the Rangers play the Dallas Stars. It was a scoreless game until defenseman Trevor Daley broke through with 5:01 left in the third period to give the Stars' the 1-0 victory. Rookie goaltender Richard Bachman stopped 34 shots as he earned his first NHL shutout in his second career start.

Friday night I went out to the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ where the Devils were hosting the Dallas Stars who were in the midst of a massive coast to coast road trip.

More importantly, the Devils honored former defenseman Scott Niedermayer by raising his number 27 to the rafters. His number was the third to be retired by the Devils. The others were Scott Stevens number 4 and Ken Daneyko number 3. All three of them were part of their three Stanley Cup winning teams in 1995, 2000 and 2003.

In addition, Scott Niedermayer won a fourth Stanley Cup as a member of the Anaheim Ducks in 2007. He also won the Conn Smythe Trophy which is given to the playoff MVP.

Mike "Doc" Emrick, a hockey broadcasting legend was the Master of Ceremonies which made the night even more memorable. Doc is a true professional in every sense of the word.

As a hockey fan, I was thrilled to be part of this special occasion.

As for the game that followed, the Devils capped off the night with a 6-3 win to send the sellout crowd home very happy.

Saturday morning I woke up early so I could go to Avis to pick up a car for the weekend.

The King and I took a ride to Lancaster, Pennsylvania where my parents live. We went to Hershey which is nearby to see a minor league hockey game while we were there.

The Hershey Bears, the Washington Capitals affiliate were hosting the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the NY Islanders farm team on this night at the Giant Center. We were joined by our friend Michael Abrams who was spending the weekend in the area with his lady friend Angelina. It was nice to see them again. Michael happens to be a Bear fan for over 30 years even though ironically he's an Islander fan.

As for the game, the Bears didn't let Michael down as they cruised to a 5-0 decision. Long time minor league goaltender Dany Sabourin got credit for the shutout.

After the game, the King and I spent the night at my parents' condo. Late in the morning, we said goodbye to them and we headed to Philadelphia to see the Jets play the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.

Stay tuned for the special post regarding the pre game festivities as we caught up with some very special people while we were there.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Official review of Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Maryland

2011-12-20T08:33:00.003-05:00

Here's my official review of Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Maryland, home of the Towson Tigers.

http://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/johnny-unitas-stadium-s1025/

I officially joined forces with my buddy Paul Swaney as a Special Correspondent by doing reviews for him when time allows me to do so. I also plan to contribute to great team of writers who cover different sports venues in the United States and other parts of the World.

His website, Stadium Journey is on my blog list. Here's the link: www.stadiumjourney.com/

Please feel free to check out his amazing site which will educate you greatly if and when you decide to take a road trip to see a new venue or if you're just curious how life is in other parts of the country and/or the world.

When it comes to sports travel knowledge, I have plenty but I don't have the time to go in depth like his site does. Regardless you can always feel free to e-mail me and pick my brain.

I'm a team player so whenever I can help somebody else, I indirectly help myself too. I think if you follow my blog, you should do the same.

Life is short. Play hard. I do, I believe you should too.

I hope you enjoy my evaluation.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 12/19

2011-12-19T07:19:00.001-05:00

Here's the game plan:

Monday December 19th Albany at St. Francis (NY) 7PM

Friday December 23rd Capitals at Devils 7PM

Saturday December 24th Giants at Jets 1PM

Sunday December 25th Celtics at Knicks 12 Noon Opening Day

Check back to see how it played out.

Hope all my readers and followers have a great week.

Happy Holidays to all!

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

Stay tuned for my w/o 12/12 in review and a special post about sports travelers we met up with.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty is proud of Jason Grilli - he's living proof that hard work pays off!

2011-12-16T14:06:00.001-05:00

Please see the link below.

Jason's is a hometown hero in his own way.

He's an inspiration to hard workers like myself.

http://mobile.syracuse.com/advsyra/pm_103258/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=theoVSou

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 12/5 in review

2011-12-14T23:52:00.001-05:00

Monday morning the King and I flew back from the Twin Cities on American Airlines. We arrived at NY-LaGuardia airport at 12:20PM which was 10 minutes early. As a result, we had a little more time to recuperate from our incredible weekend getaway.

The final numbers were as follows:

1,095 miles driven over the three days. It cost a mere $37.83 for the car we rented for the weekend from Alamo. Needless to say, we got our money's worth.

Three games, three days, two sports, two states and one province in two different countries.

We replenished our energy as we went to Madison Square Garden to see the Rangers play the Toronto Maple Leafs.

With our pal Sean MacDonald, who currently lives in Japan was there in royal spirit as we saw his favourite hockey team hold on to beat the Rangers by a score of 4-2. They added an empty net goal with just five seconds left after they held a 3-0 lead midway through the game.

Tuesday I went back to work. Afterwards I went back to the Garden. This time for the Jimmy V Classic. I saw a college basketball doubleheader with my friends Phil Butleman and Frank Anichiarico while the King went out to the Nassau Coliseum to see the Islanders play the Tampa Bay Lightning.

We saw the tenth ranked Missouri Tigers of the Big 12 play the Villanova Wildcats of the Big East. The Tigers maintained a comfortable cushion throughout the game as they cruised to a 81-71 victory. They were led by guard Marcus Denmon who finished with 28 points to lead all scorers. Teammate Ricardo Ratliffe added 17 points and he grabbed 11 rebounds to pace the Tigers.

In the second game, we saw the eleventh ranked Golden Eagles of Marquette of the Big East defeat the Washington Huskies of the PAC 12, 79-77. Jae Crowder hit a game winning three pointer with just 6.3 seconds to give the Golden Eagles the win. This was a tightly contested and entertaining game.

Wednesday night I met the King and we went up to Riverdale, NY where we saw the 104th "Battle of the Bronx" as the Jaspers of Manhattan College hosted the Rams of Fordham.

As for the game, it didn't turn out to be much of a battle as the Jaspers blew away the Rams, 81-47 in front of a packed house at the Draddy Gymnasium. Our friend Bryan Gilligan was very happy to hear the good news because he graduated from Manhattan College.

Thursday night after work I went out to Newark, NJ to see the Devils play the Ottawa Senators. The Devils fell behind 3-0 in this one then they rallied to take a 4-3 lead midway through the third period. The Senators forced an overtime session by scoring to tie the game at four with a shorthanded goal no less with just five seconds to go in regulation time. Neither team scored in the extra session.

The Devils wound up outlasting the Senators in a four round shootout to win the game, 5-4.

After work Friday night, I had a much needed night off as I prepared for a busy weekend in the local area. It didn't stop the King and I and our friends Bryan Gilligan and Frank Anichiarico as we went to Donovan's Pub for dinner and drinks.

Saturday morning after I did my wash, I trekked back out to Newark, NJ to see the Devils take on another team from Canada, this time they hosted the Montreal Canadiens. A number of buses came down from north of the border to see their team play on the road. They picked the right game to attend as the Canadiens held off the Devils as they beat them by a score of 2-1.

After the game, our friend Dennis Barbera gave the King and I some royal treatment as he drove us out to the Nassau Coliseum where we all saw the Islanders play the Pittsburgh Penguins. We met up with our buddy Eddie Pelle who was also present and accounted for at the game.

As for the game we saw, it turned out to be a wild one. The Islanders took an early 2-0 lead but the Penguins tied it up at two. The Islanders went back up by a goal at 3-2 but the Penguins came back again to tie it at three then they pulled away by scoring three more unanswered goals to escape Long Island with a 6-3 decision.

Sunday was another local double dose of sporting events as the King and I went out to MetLife Stadium to see the Jets battle the Kansas City Chiefs with our pal Richie Wolber aka Staten Island Rich. It turned out to be scalping as the Jets whipped up on the depleted Chiefs. They beat them, 37-10.

After the game, the King and I headed back to the Garden where we saw the Rangers play the red hot Florida Panthers. The Rangers cooled them off as they blew them away, 6-1.

With that, another busy week is in the books. I hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as I enjoyed writing about it.

Remember if you want to take part in the royal experience in the future please get in contact with me so I can arrange to make it happen for you.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty returns to Minneapolis to see the Vikings play after a brief stay in Winnipeg!

2011-12-14T22:13:00.001-05:00

Opening Kickoff

The King and I enjoyed our return visit to Winnipeg. It wound up being a short stay but a sweet one just the same.

We took care of "business" if you will by visiting the MTS Centre which brought us back up to date with all the current NHL rinks.

We left Winnipeg around 10PM Saturday night. We dodged the local traffic from the game and the downtown area as we made our way back to the States. We were only a mere 460 miles from our next destination of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

We got to the border around 11:30PM. In a matter of minutes, we were back in our country. The lady at customs asked us some easy questions and we responded accordingly so another visit to Canada was a success for us.

We proceeded to drive back to Super 8 in West Fargo, North Dakota to get some sleep. I was originally counting on a real good night sleep but once I found out the game time of the Viking game was changed to Noon central time, I was forced to adjust my game plan to account for the late change. I did know in the back of my mind it was a possibility so it didn't catch me by surprise. I made the necessary adjustments and thanks to help from mother nature we achieved our goal.

As a result, the King and I settled for three less hours of sleep. We ate a quick breakfast at the hotel and on the road we went back to the Twin Cities.

We arrived in Minneapolis just before 11AM Sunday morning. We drove around the somewhat slippery downtown area to see what parking options we had. After driving for a short period of time, we finally found a free spot within a mile and a half of Mall of America Field as it's known these days. It used to be called the Metrodome for those who still refer to it that way.

The King and I rounded up a few tickets and inside the building we went. It was officially Tebow Time as the Vikings were hosting Tim Tebow and the red hot Denver Broncos. We barely got in on time but in royal fashion, we saw the opening kickoff and the final play of the game.

As for the game we saw, it was very entertaining from start to finish.

From an early safety to the game winning field goal. This was a great game to be at. It gave the Packers and Giants a run for the money as it turned out to be an amazing prelude to that game on Fox thanks to flex scheduling. This game was originally supposed to be on CBS but NBC changed the Sunday night game they were showing. As a result, Fox became the benefactor. As for the King and I, the exciting game keep us awake despite the fact we lacked some additional sleep that we really could have used.

The Vikings looked good despite their horrible record. In particular, their rookie quarterback Christian Ponder, who was a surprise early first round pick in the April draft out of Florida State. He threw for a Viking rookie record 381 yards passing but instead of padding his record he threw his second interception of the game which led to the game winning field goal by Matt Prater who made a 23 yard field goal at the final gun to give the Broncos another improbable victory, 35-32. As for Tim Tebow, he did what he's does best. He started slow but as the game wore on, he made one big play after another to put his team in position to win. Like him or hate him, he's been very intriguing to watch. One moment he looks awful, the next moment he looks a force to be reckoned with. Keep the faith, Bronco fans I think you've found your quarterback of the future.

After we saw the Tebow show, the King and I went back to the car and we took Natalie Kaess' advice as we took a ride out to Woodbury, Minnesota where the Machine Shed she told us about was located. It was slightly out of the way but it was well worth making the trip there.

After we had a hearty dinner in salute to the American farmers, we took another joy ride this time to Welch, Minnesota where we killed some time at the Treasure Island Casino since we weren't going home until Monday morning.

Stay turned for the w/o 12/5 in review for the final details of this classic weekend getaway and the rest of the week as it unfolded.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty returns to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to see the "new" Jets play hockey!

2011-12-12T23:15:00.001-05:00

Winnipeg Jet Hockey is Back

The King and I continued our memorable weekend getaway in the upper Midwest as we departed St. Paul, Minnesota after the Wild game against the Devils Friday night.

We proceeded to drive 470 miles to Winnipeg to see the return of the Jets. After a 15 year absence, one of the smallest markets in Canada finally got its beloved hockey team back. They were welcomed with open arms to say the least.

I'll elaborate more in a moment.

On our way up north of the border, we decided to drive halfway there. We spent the night in West Fargo, North Dakota at Super 8 where got some sleep before we continued on to Winnipeg.
When we got up in the morning, we had a hearty royal style breakfast at a local diner called Kroll's, where they say and I quote "sit down and eat." We were more then happy to do so. We stumbled across another great eatery by accident. I'm very glad we did. The food and service was excellent. If you know my style, you know I'm not lying.

If you happen to be out in that part of the country sometime, stop in and see for yourself.

While you're there you make want to visit the Roger Maris Museum which is located right nearby in Fargo, North Dakota. More importantly, the price is right. Admission is free. Due to time constraints, the King and I couldn't go there and see for ourselves. We'll keep it in mind if and when we get to go back there some day down the road.

We got back on the highway and we drove up towards Winnipeg. We did make a quick stop at a "Hockey Palace." I'm referring to the University of North Dakota where the Fighting Sioux play. Our pals from Buffalo, Andrew Kulyk and Peter Farrell have seen a game in this unique venue. I hope we get back some time so we can too.

We got back on the road and off to Canada we went. We got across the border thankfully with minimal hassle and delays.

The next stop was the MTS Centre, home of the new Jets, in downtown Winnipeg. We arrived there at 4:30PM. We paid a dollar to park by a meter a few blocks from the arena. We had plenty of time to grab dinner outside before we headed over to the arena for the 6PM local time start.

We saw the Devils again as their road trip continued in Winnipeg. For our purposes, it worked well that the Devils were out there. We secured single tickets from Ticketmaster the week before.

Tickets for a Jet game aren't cheap at the box office. Since they're in such high demand, the secondary market prices are outrageous to say the least. That's if you can find any. Stub Hub only has a very limited number for sale each game. In other words, it's a very tough ticket. Please feel free to consult me for advice.

This was a must see for us because we needed to maintain our royal status of having seen a hockey game in all the current NHL rinks. This one notwithstanding.

Unless another team decides to relocate somewhere we're safe for the time being for hockey.

As for the game we saw, it was a seesaw battle but when it was all said and done, the Devils dropped another game on their dreadful road trip as they fell to the Jets, 4-2.

After the game, the King and I drove back to West Fargo, North Dakota to get some sleep which was cut short thanks to the NFL flex scheduling. We planned to go back to Minneapolis to see the Vikings play the Denver Broncos at 3:05PM but the time was changed to 12 Noon central time instead.

Did that prevent us from getting there on time? Check back and see as I recap the rest of the weekend that we spent out in the Twin Cities.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 12/12

2011-12-12T00:31:00.001-05:00

Here's the game plan:

Tuesday December 13th Stars at Rangers 7PM

Friday December 16th Stars at Devils 8PM

Scott Niedermayer Night

Saturday December 17th Bridgeport Sound Tigers at Hershey Bears 7PM

Sunday December 18th Jets at Eagles 4:15PM

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.

Stay tuned for my w/o 12/5 in review and the rest of the special posts from the epic Minnie and Winnie getaway.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty enjoys long awaited return to St. Paul for Wild hockey!

2011-12-10T11:17:00.001-05:00

Opening Face Off at Xcel Energy Center

Late Friday morning the King and I departed NYC from LaGuardia airport on American Airlines. We arrived in the Twin Cities early in the afternoon as we gained an hour since their in the central time zone.
We proceeded to rent a car from Alamo for the weekend. We got an upgrade since they didn't have any more mid size cars available so they gave us a full size car instead. We got a Chevy Impala. I've rented a number of those in the past so I was used to the controls.

After we left the car rental, we proceeded to the St. Paul area since we were going to see the Minnesota Wild play the NJ Devils that night.

Since we were hungry and we had some extra spare time, we decided to go to a familiar place to see to eat. I'm talking about Shamrock's. We were introduced to this place the last time when we went to Target Field in July 2010.

Shamrock's is a local bar and grill. For more details, see the special post under my restaurant reviews section.

After we had another great meal, we headed to the Xcel Energy Center which was only a few miles away. I wouldn't recommend walking there from Shamrock's though. I was told that by Natalie Kaess, who works for the Minnesota Wild and was kind enough to arrange to get the King and I tickets for the game. I spoke to her during the week and I gave her my credit card number and she charged up the tickets for us. An assist goes to Josh Morozowski, my Devils ticket representative who helped by getting one of his co-workers named Chris involved who had meet her in Nashville at a conference recently.

Upon arriving at the arena, I went to will call and I picked up the tickets. When I went inside I went over to the guest services booth located at section 105 where Natalie said she would be working that night. I had the privilege of meeting her and we chatted for a little while. I thanked again for arranging to get us the tickets without a hassle. In addition, she told me about a restaurant in Woodbury, Minnesota which was about 15-20 minutes East of St. Paul heading towards Wisconsin.

I'm referring to the Machine Shed. I ate there on my way to Des Moines, Iowa back in September. I'll be talking about this restaurant again in another post. Please stay tuned.

As for Natalie, she was very helpful and if indeed you decide to go to Minnesota to see the Wild play, I'll make sure that I get you in contact with her so she can treat you royally.

As for the game we saw, the Devils struck first early to make it 1-0 but the Wild answered back fast and furiously as they chased future Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur after they scored three quick goals just 8:17 into the first period.

The Devils got within one at 3-2 but they blew numerous scoring chances throughout the game as the Wild added an empty net goal late to win the game, 4-2.

Stay tuned for the next installment from this memorable journey.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty returns to the Twin Cities and Winnipeg over the first weekend in December!

2011-12-10T09:54:00.001-05:00

Prince outside Target Field upon arrival

The last time the King and I went to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area was in the summer of 2010. That time we visited Target Field, the new home of the Minnesota Twins. We met up with other sports travel legends, Andrew Kulyk and Peter Farrell from Buffalo as well as Sean MacDonald who came in from Japan to join us along with his good friend, Peter Sharp aka Sharpie who still lives in Ottawa where Sean is originally from. The King and I were joined by our friends Bryan Gilligan and Lloyd Ramsland.

This time around, it was just the King and I as we returned to see hockey and football in the Twin Cities.
After almost an eleven year absence, we got to see the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul again. That's the home of the Minnesota Wild.

Back in 1989, when the State of Hockey as it's called, had a team called the North Stars who played at the Met Center. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to see a game there against the Pittsburgh Penguins who had Mario Lemieux at the time. Now that team is long gone as they moved to Dallas hence the Dallas Stars back in 1994.

In 2000, the NHL came to their senses and they decided to bring hockey back where it belonged in the State of Minnesota.

As a result, the King and I saw a Wild home game for the first time in February 2001.

This past summer the NHL decided that the team that was located in Atlanta needed to be relocated. They decided to bring back hockey north of the border this time. That's how the new Winnipeg Jets returned to the NHL to begin play in October.

With that being said, the King and I had to figure out a way to return to Winnipeg to see the new Jets play a home game. The first and last time we went to Winnipeg was back in March 1996 when we saw the old Jets play a few games in their old barn in the suburbs near the airport.

This time we went to downtown Winnipeg where the MTS Centre, home of the new Jets and former home of the Manitoba Moose of the AHL is located.

In addition, we returned to the Metrodome aka Mall of America Field as it's now known in Minneapolis which is the home of the Minnesota Vikings and former home of the Twins to see football.

Stay tuned for all the details of this amazing revisiting getaway to the Upper Midwest.

I'll be writing separate posts highlighting this epic excursion for your reading pleasure and educational needs.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 11/28 in review

2011-12-08T08:19:00.001-05:00

LIU Basketball

After the busy Thanksgiving weekend, I got some much needed rest.

I went home after work Monday night, Tuesday night and Wednesday night.

Thursday night after work I went to see some college basketball in downtown Brooklyn at Long Island University (LIU). They played a local rival from Staten Island, the Wagner Seahawks.

Wagner came into the game with a record of 6-1. After they left Brooklyn, they were 6-2. The Seahawks lost to the Blackbirds of LIU, 78-73. The score didn't indicate the domination. The Blackbirds played really well from start to finish in beating up the Seahawks.

It was a nice night out thanks to the company of our friends Eddie Pelle, Phil Butleman and Frank Anichiarico who were also there with the King and I.

Friday morning the King and I left for our big trip to Minneapolis-St. Paul and Winnipeg.

Stay tuned as I'm going to be doing some special posts recapping that memorable weekend getaway.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 12/5

2011-12-05T08:54:00.001-05:00

Here's the game plan:

Monday December 5th Maple Leafs at Rangers 7PM

Tuesday December 6th Missouri vs. Villanova 7PM

Marquette vs. Washington 9PM

Jimmy Valvano Classic at MSG

Wednesday December 7th Fordham at Manhattan 7PM

Thursday December 8th Senators at Devils 7PM

Saturday December 10th Canadiens at Devils 1PM

Penguins at Islanders 7PM

Sunday December 11th Chiefs at Jets 1PM

Panthers at Rangers 7:30PM

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.

Stay tuned for my w/o 11/28 in review and the special posts from the epic Minnie and Winnie getaway.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty makes the most of the long Thanksgiving weekend!

2011-12-02T00:16:00.001-05:00

Me on the Zamboni

After I returned the car I rented at Avis, I took a few buses out to the Nassau Coliseum where I met up with the King and our friend Bryan Gilligan who drove out there.

We saw the Islanders take on their cross river rival the NJ Devils in a mid afternoon tilt on Black Friday.
Apparently the game started too early for the players because goals were few and far between. In matter of fact, there was only one goal scored in this game. The Devils were the team that found the net as they beat the Islanders, 1-0.

After the game, we all went back to Donovan's Pub and we had a nice post game dinner.

Saturday afternoon the King and I went to Newark, NJ to see the rematch of the Islanders and Devils in the back end of their home and home series.

We were joined by my Cousin Andy who wanted to get another sample of royal treatment. He always enjoys our company and this day was no different.

This time he got to see me ride the Zamboni before the game as they resurfaced the ice. I got to do so because I renewed my Devil season tickets early so I was given this special perk. It was really cool being able to take a joy ride around the ice. I would like to personally thank Josh Morozowski who is my ticket representative for arranging to make this happen.

As for the game we saw, this time more goals were scored but the Devils came up short as they lost, 3-2. With 2.1 seconds left, a goal was disallowed because it was directed in by Zach Parise's skate in front of the net.

After the game, the King and I said goodbye to my Cousin Andy who went home and we took a NJ Transit train down to Trenton, NJ to see a minor league hockey game in the ECHL. We saw the Trenton Titans play the Chicago Express.

We saw a good battle as the Titans built a 2-0 lead which they held going into the third period. The Express managed to comeback and they forced an overtime session. Just past the midway point of the overtime, the Titans lit the lamp as they came away with a 3-2 victory.

After the game, we took a NJ Transit train back to NYC.

Sunday the King and I wrapped our busy sports weekend by going to MetLife Stadium where we saw the Jets take on division rival, the Buffalo Bills.

As for the game, it wasn't a pretty one but I was satisfied with the end result as the Jets squeaked by the Bills, 28-24. Luck once again was on their side. As a result, they kept their playoff hopes alive.

After the game, we went home and rested up after running around all weekend.

We had a great time but it did take its toll on our bodies so the needed rest came in handy.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty celebrates Thanksgiving and the King's Birthday in Baltimore!

2011-11-30T22:51:00.001-05:00

Prince at M & T Bank on Thanksgiving Night

This Thanksgiving was more special than usual because this year it came out on the King's birthday.
With that being said, the most appropriate way to celebrate would be by attending a game live. After all, it's just another day on the calendar.

Four of the last five years on Thanksgiving, we've seen NFL football live on Turkey Day including this one.
Back in 2007, we saw our Jets play in Dallas at old Texas Stadium. The Jets got destroyed but the tradition of being in Big D on Thanksgiving Day made it all worth it.

In 2008, we went to Philadelphia to see the Eagles play the Arizona Cardinals.

In 2010, we were in our backyard if you will as the Jets hosted the Cincinnati Bengals at the New Meadowlands Stadium as it was called then.

This time we got to see history as the Harbaugh Bowl was scheduled in prime time in Baltimore as the Ravens coached by John Harbaugh were taking on his younger brother Jim's San Francisco 49ers. This was the first time two brothers have coached against one another in NFL history.

It wasn't easy to get a ticket for the big game but royalty found a way to make it happen.

We arrived in Baltimore early with intentions of attending a tailgate party courtesy of a guy who's known as "Nib". I met him at the Raven/Cardinal game back on October 30th. He invited me to join in his tailgate party in Lot H.

Unfortunately the King and I needed to find tickets so we could see the game first.

With that being said, we went over to the box office to see if they had anything available. There were 15 people in front of us we were also waiting for a chance to purchase tickets.

While I was on line, the King went to see if he could find something around the stadium.

With my Blackberry in hand, I was able to multi task as I checked Craigslist to see if anybody was heading to the stadium with any extra tickets.

I called and texted a handful of people. Luckily a guy named Julian Toliver who was from Laurel, Maryland contacted me. He said he still had an extra ticket. I told him I'll take it. We worked out a deal and I arranged to meet him in the parking lot at the stadium. True to my word, we eventually met up and did the exchange.
As for getting another ticket, the King had no luck outside. I stayed on the line and my patience paid off as they slowly started selling tickets. I finally got up to the window and I was able to buy another ticket. I got the ticket and gave it to the King so he could go inside.

I waited outside and I met Julian and then I went inside.

Unfortunately we couldn't sit together since it was very crowded.

Before I went to my seat, I went to see Nib to say hello. He told me I missed out on a great tailgate party. He said they had Turkey and Ham. He told me I can come the next time I'm there.

As for the seat I got, I really lucked out because I got to sit next to a young lady named Ally who was a huge Raven fan. I was very impressed with her knowledge of her team. We enjoyed the game and each other's company throughout the night.

As for the game we saw, the Ravens beat the 49ers, 16-6 in the Battle of the Harbaughs, John outcoached his brother Jim.

The Raven defense was ferocious even without their leader Ray Lewis who missed his second straight game as they were in 49ers' quarterback Alex Smith's face all night long. He barely had time to breathe. Terrell Suggs lead the way with three sacks. Cory Redding had a big night as well.

After the game, I met the King and drove back home. This time I got him to work at 3:24AM.

I proceeded to go home to get some sleep before I had to return the car I rented from Avis just before midday.

Stay tuned for the special post that will recap the rest of the long weekend we had.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 11/21 in review

2011-11-30T21:06:00.001-05:00

Prince at Gillette Stadium

After enjoying another amazing weekend on the road, I found a way to start the new week off right thanks to the makers of this year's NFL schedule.

Once the lockout ended, I set my plans in emotion. With that being said, the King and I drove up to Foxboro, Massachusetts which is about 30 miles south of Boston and 25 miles north of Providence, Rhode Island off I-95. It's also the home of the New England Patriots who play at Gillette Stadium on Route 1 which runs parallel to I-95 but the Stadium is located in between which can make for a driving nightmare to get there and back.

As for Royalty, since we have many years of experience of going there for a game and/or an off season visit, we know how to make the nightmare a dream come true.

With that being said, we experienced minimal delays going to and from the game. Just another reason why when it comes to sports travel, when you want the best you deal with me. My secret formula to and from Foxboro is very difficult to describe though. The remedy is to take me along for the ride so I can guide you along the beaten path. It's an adventurous ride to say the least but it works wonders for those like me you know how to do it.

As for parking when get there, I've yet to figure out a way to park for free. With that being said, you're forced to cough it up if you will. Some people have to cough very hard to the tune of paying $30, $40 or even $50 just to park the car. As for royalty, we only pay a mere $20 to park which is a bargain in comparison.

Regardless of where you park you have to take a nice walk to the Stadium which is good exercise.
On the way, the King and I stopped off at Papa Gino's, which is a local franchise in the New England area for pizza and chicken tenders.

After we ate, we continued our walk over to the Stadium. We got inside with plenty of time to spare before the kickoff as the Patriots were hosting the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football.

As for the game we saw, both teams started slow. The Chiefs were banged up. They were missing their starting quarterback and former Patriot Matt Cassel who filled in when Tom Brady got hurt a few years ago and missed the season. Now Cassel wound up getting injured a few weeks ago and he's out for the rest of the season. As a result, the Chiefs have struggled lately. Tonight turned out to be no different as the Patriots finally get their motor running in the second quarter as they raced off leaving the depleted Chiefs in the dust after the Chiefs scored first to take an early 3-0 lead. The Patriots cruised to a 34-3 victory.

Speaking of cruising, the King and I got out of Foxboro with minimal delay as I managed to get the King back to the Post Office at Grand Central Station at 3:12AM.

I then took myself home and I lucked out into a parking spot on the right side of the street so I was good until Friday. That worked out beautifully since I was keeping the car I rented until then.

Tuesday I worked a half a day as I came in at 1PM. I went home to finish resting up since there were no local games in the area to attend.

Wednesday night after work the King and I met our friend Bryan Gilligan who drove us out to Newark where we all went to see the Devils play the Columbus Blue Jackets.

As for the game we saw, the Devils scored first but the Blue Jackets tied it up at one. It stayed that way through the overtime session so the game was decided by a shootout. The Devils scored twice and the Blue Jackets didn't score at all so it was a quick two skills competition as the Devils were awarded the extra point. The Devils won, 2-1.

After the game, we all went to Donovan's Pub to celebrate everybody's birthday except mine. Our friend Frank Anichiarico also joined us there for the celebration since his birthday was on the 16th. The King's birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year and Bryan's was on the 27th. We got a surprise visit from the King's half brother Charlie Casiano who showed up for the festive occasion.

Stay tuned as I write a special post detailing how the King and I spent his birthday and Thanksgiving as well the rest of the long weekend.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 11/28

2011-11-27T21:57:00.001-05:00

Here's the game plan:

Thursday December 1st Wagner at LIU 7PM

Friday December 2nd Devils at Wild 7PM Central Time

Saturday December 3rd Devils at Jets 6PM Central Time

Sunday December 4th Broncos at Vikings 12 Noon Central Time

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.

Stay tuned for my w/o 11/21 in review.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty returns to Cleveland to meet up with Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge and to see the Browns!

2011-11-26T22:29:00.001-05:00

Who let the Dawgs out?

Almost a year to the day when we last saw the Browns play the Jets in Cleveland back on November 14, 2011, we returned to scene of the crime if you will. Mind you that's not meant in a bad way. Please don't get me wrong. Please read for further explanation.

That was a historic day for Royalty because the King and I had the privilege and honor of being introduced to a guy named Rick Morris for the very first time thanks to our pal Ira from Staten Island who calls into sports radio talk shows in different parts of the country. It should be noted he's a regular caller on New York sports radio especially during football season.

Ira told Rick about the King and I numerous times in the past. Finally we all got to meet and greet each other in person once and for all.

As a result, the King and I instantly boggled Rick's mind with our sports travel knowledge and stories. In matter of fact, the King told Rick about his unique road trip that he took back on February 14 & 15, 1997 when he went to Washington DC really Landover, Maryland at the time when the Capitals played at the old USAir Arena aka the Capital Centre where he saw the Tampa Bay Lightning play the Capitals that Friday night. Saturday morning he came back to meet me as we were flying down to Tampa via Baltimore to see his Red Wings play in Florida and Tampa Bay. In addition, we saw the back end of the Lightning and Capitals home and home series as it turned out. That trip alone really got Rick's attention. He still to this day tells me how many people that he's told that story to. Needless to say, everybody was blown away.

With all that being said, the King and I and some special company in the form of Frank Anichiarico as well Mike Carroll aka Sabre Mike were also with us as we arranged to meet Rick at a Cracker Barrel in Willoughby, Ohio on our way to downtown Cleveland to see the Browns play again. This time they were playing the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Rick couldn't join us for the Brown game due to a family commitment. After all, even family comes ahead of Royalty.

With that being said, I told Rick we'll all get the best of both worlds instead. As usual, I lived up to my reputation, I promised Rick we'll find a way to see him while we were going to be in his neck of the woods.
Rick being a rare breed like myself was very willing to make it work out. We decided to go to Cracker Barrel to have breakfast together. Afterwards, I made some special time for him per his request to do a podcast so he could hear our tentative plans for the remainder of 2011 and the game plan that lies ahead for 2012.

For your listening pleasure, please see the special post that I did previously which has our conversation linked up.

After we said our goodbyes, we all went on with our day. Rick went his way and the rest of us went to see the Browns play.

We arrived in downtown Cleveland with plenty of time to spare before the game started. Another game plan was perfectly executed.

As for the game we saw, it was a battle of two teams that were evenly matched record wise. The Browns and the Jaguars both came in with gaudy 3-6 records.

As the game wore on, the statistics were almost identical. Unlike the Jet game we saw here last year, the score didn't end in a tie like should have.

Despite missing a late field goal in the fourth quarter that would extended the Browns' lead to a touchdown, the Browns were forced to hold on for dear life as they survived a last second scare to defeat the Jaguars as time ran out, 14-10.

With that, it was time to say goodbye to Cleveland as we had to drive back home 480 miles in order to get our friend Mike Carroll back to Grand Central Station so he could make the last train at 1:50AM so he could go home.

In addition, the King had to go to work at 2AM. I managed to stop for a quick dinner break as well as other needed rest stops in order to finish the mission. I got back to NYC with plenty of time to spare as I dropped off Mike Carroll at 1:10AM. He made his train and he arrived home safely. Then I took the King to the Post Office which was a few blocks away.

I proceeded to drop off Frank in Queens where he lives then I took myself home.

Another amazing and memorable weekend was put in the unwritten book.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty welcomes back NBA Basketball - Lockout's over!

2011-11-26T08:11:00.001-05:00

For those of us who have been suffering from NBA basketball withdrawl, there's relief in sight.

For all the details, click on this link:

http://m.espn.go.com/nba/story?storyId=7281052&i=TWT&topslot=1&y=1b8i4

When you're ready to "See It Live" let me know so I can do my best to accomodate your needs and wants.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty and company visit Western NY and Cleveland over the weekend Part Two!

2011-11-25T12:54:00.001-05:00

National Anthem at Sabre Game

Saturday morning after spending the night sleeping at Super 8 in the Buffalo area, we started our day in typical royal fashion.

We ate a hearty breakfast at the Royal Restaurant which was conveniently located up the block from the hotel we stayed at.

What a perfect way to start another day. It got better as the day wore on as we got to meet up with part of the Ultimate Sports Road Trip aka USRT as our pal Andrew Kulyk joined us for the college football game we were attending as the University of Buffalo Bulls hosted the Akron Zips in a MAC conference game. Mind you both of these teams had horrible records.

As for the game we saw, the Bulls whipped up on the Zips by a score of 51-10. The Bulls took the opening kickoff back 93 yards to the Akron one yard line. Moments later, they scored a touchdown to make it 7-0 which set the tone for the remainder of the afternoon. The Zips almost got zipped as the Bulls tossed them a beatdown.

After the game, Andrew arranged to have us go to a place called Vizzi's Bar and Restaurant which is located in Kenmore, NY which wasn't far from the hotel we stayed at.

As for Vizzi's, they have been labeled as having the best burgers in Western New York. Needless to say, we decided to try it out to see if it lived up to its reputation. It sure did. They refer to them as monster burgers which come with fries for a mere $6.95. The burger was a massive chunk of meat that was served on a bun.

In addition, we had some "naked" wings if you will. That's the only way the King can handle them since he's such a picky eater. With that being said, Andrew and his partner Peter Farrell who was working showed up to join us, cringed at the plate of wings that was on the table. After all, Buffalo is notorious for their wings that are decorated in all kinds of sauce.

After we finished our great meal and drinks, we all headed over to Downtown Buffalo to see the Buffalo Sabres take on the Phoenix Coyotes at the newly named First Niagara Center formerly the HSBC Arena.
This was a big thrill for our friends Mike Carroll aka Sabre Mike and Frank Anichiarico who were seeing this building for the very first time.

It was especially a real big deal for Sabre Mike because the Sabres are his favorite hockey team. The King and I told him in the past we were going to take him there some day. Well that day finally came.

Unfortunately for him the final result wasn't what he hoped for as the Coyotes beat the Sabres, 4-2. He now has a good reason to come back some time in the future. If he does, hopefully the Sabres will win for him.

After the game, we said goodbye to the Buffalo Boys who as usual rolled out the red carpet and they treated us royally. They arranged to buy us our tickets to the game so we could all enjoy the game together. It's always a pleasure to see their guys and catch up on our travels past, present and future.

Speaking of that, please stay tuned for the final installment from this amazing weekend as I will write another post that will go into further detail regarding that and then some.

Trust me it will be worth the wait.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 11/14 in review

2011-11-24T09:13:00.000-05:00

Opening Tip off

This week started off slow for me as I went home after work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night.

After work Thursday night, I decided instead of staying home and watching the Jets play on TV that I would go to Madison Square Garden to see a few college basketball games thanks to the 2K Coaches vs. Cancer Sports Classic. With the NBA still locked out with no end in sight, I figured here's my chance to see the transformed Garden for basketball.

It was well worth it because for $10 I got to see a doubleheader. More importantly, I got to meet up with a guy named Eddie who I met last December thanks to my blog. We got to catch up and enjoy each other's company throughout the night.

As for the games we saw, in game one we saw the Bull Dogs of Mississippi State upset the Aggies from Texas A & M, 69-60. The Bull Dogs got off to a fast start as they were blowing out the Aggies. In the end, they held them off to emerge victorious.

In game two, we got to see local favorite, the Red Storm of St. John's University who play a majority of their home games at the Garden. They were taking on the Wildcats of Arizona aka U of A as a good number of people who support them were yelling. As a result, St. John's didn't have a distinct home court advantage as you might have expected.

The Wildcats used the crowd feed to knock off the Red Storm by a score of 81-72.

Friday I took off from work as I got ready for another memorable and adventurous weekend.

I went to Avis and I rented a car for a week. Stay tuned as I go into detail in a special post recapping this epic excursion.

As always it will be something you'll want to read. Hopefully in the future you'll get the bug to want to take a royal ride somewhere either with me or on your own. Either way I'll gladly guide you along so you can experience what royal treatment is all about.

Thank you for reading and following.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty visits the Mobile FDH Lounge while in Cleveland on Sunday morning!

2011-11-23T08:19:00.001-05:00

Royalty was headed to the Cleveland Browns game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday morning.

On the way we made a pit stop at Cracker Barrel where we met up with Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge in his mobile office.

Rick who's a huge fan of the King and I wanted to catch up in person on our whereabouts past, present and future.

For all the details, please take a moment to listen to what the Prince had to say.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPhbdc9QX7E

As always, I want to personally thank Rick Morris for going out of his way to meet up with us.

It's always a privilege and a honor to speak to someone who truly cares and takes an interest in our unique accomplishments like Rick does.

I look forward to keeping Rick abreast of how the royal game plan continues to play out as we fast approach 2012.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty Schedule w/o 11/21

2011-11-21T11:50:00.001-05:00

Here's the game plan:

Monday November 21st Chiefs at Patriots 8:30PM

Wednesday November 23rd Blue Jackets at Devils 7PM

Thursday November 24th King's Birthday

49ers at Ravens 8:20PM

Friday November 25th Devils at Islanders 3PM

Saturday November 26th Islanders at Devils 1PM

Chicago Express at Trenton Devils 7PM

Sunday November 27th Bills at Jets 1PM

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.

Stay tuned for my w/o 11/14 in review.

In addition, I'll be recapping another incredible weekend getaway which included a visit to the mobile FDH Lounge with my pal Rick Morris as well as a get together with the Buffalo Boys aka USRT.

With that being said, I have plenty to be grateful and thankful for. Speaking of that, I want to wish all my readers and followers a very Happy Thanksgiving. Without you, this blog is nothing. You provide me with a captive audience. I work very hard to maintain and update my blog and I know I have a fan club that can't wait to see what's going on in the Life of Royalty. You're are the best. For that, I give "Thanks" each and every day.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 11/7 in review

2011-11-16T22:06:00.001-05:00

After enjoying a memorable weekend in Annapolis and Washington DC, I went back to work Monday. I left early so I could go back to the car I rented. I met the King and we drove down to Philadelphia to see the Eagles play the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football.

We met up with our friend Frankie Centola in Philly who arranged to get us tickets for the game.

As for the game we saw, it was a good one. The Eagles and Bears battled it out but when it was all said and done, the Bears escaped the City of Brotherly Love with a big win, 30-24.

As a result, our friends from Chicago, the Van Cleves were thrilled and relieved that their Bears' rose to the occasion on enemy territory. Nicole, Andrew and Dylan aka the Ultimate Sports Wife, Fan and Baby were there with us in spirit.

After the game, I drove the King to the Post Office at Grand Central Station here in NYC where he started work at 2AM. I then took myself home. I got some sleep then I had to go to Avis and return the car before it was my turn to go back to work.

Tuesday night after work tired and all I went to the Prudential Center in Newark to see the Devils play the Carolina Hurricanes. We wound up seeing a decent game as the Devils came out on top as rookie Adam Henrique scored the game winning goal with 3:19 left in third period to give the Devils the 3-2 decision in regulation time.

Wednesday and Thursday after work, I got to catch up on rest which was much needed after the busy weekend and start to the week I had.

Friday night after work I arranged to meet my Cousin Andy who joined me, the King and our friend Bryan Gilligan for the Devil game against the Washington Capitals. It was great to see him again. He always enjoys our company and the royal treatment we provide.

As for the game we saw, the Devils broke through first as they scored the first goal of the game when rookie Adam Larsson scored his first NHL goal to give them the early lead. The Devils were shut out the rest of the night as the Capitals turned it up a notch. They scored the equalizer late in the second period when their superstar Alex Ovechkin put the biscuit in the basket to tie the game at one.

In the third period, the Capitals' got a shorthanded goal early from Jason Chimera to take the lead for good. They added an insurance goal as they won the first game of the home and home weekend series, 3-1.

Saturday morning I woke up early and I went back to Avis to rent another car for the weekend.

I drove back and I picked up the King and we drove to Princeton, NJ for a college football game as the Yale Bulldogs were visiting the Princeton Tigers.

The King and I had company as we got to see some of the many sports fans we know. I'm talking about Steve Tepperman aka Princeton Steve as we call him. In addition, we also had our pal Pat Gorman there as well as Richie Iannotta who happened to be present too. Last but not least we got to see a guy from Philadelphia we know as Sleepy Bob, who we haven't seen in a very long time. We all enjoyed each other's company.

As for the game we saw, the Yale Bulldogs held on this time as they beat the Princeton Tigers, 33-24 unlike when we saw them lose to Penn last month. The one bright spot for the Tigers was that we got to see history as their true freshman running back Chuck Dibilio ran for 178 yards on the ground and he scored three touchdowns. By doing so, he got himself into the history book as he became the first true freshman player in the history of the Ivy League to rush for over 1,000 yards.

After the game, the King and I drove down to Washington DC so we could the back end of the Devils and Capitals home and home series at the Verizon Center where tickets these days are hard to come by.

Thankfully our good friend Peter Agnew who has Capital season tickets was able to accomodate us. Since he was going to see Notre Dame play Maryland in a college football game at FedEx Field that night, his club seats were available. With that being said, the King and I decided to buy them from him.

It was our first time seeing a game there on the club level. It was a treat as we had a great view of the action. This time the Devils fell behind early 2-0 in the first period. They came back and tied the game at two after two periods. They played a scoreless third period and overtime.
The game was decided by a shootout which lasted four rounds before the Devils outlasted the Capitals, 3-2 to split the weekend series.

After the game, we drove to Aberdeen, Maryland where we spent the night.

Sunday morning we stopped off at the Waffle House for breakfast before we went to Philadelphia to see the Eagles try to keep their season alive. After losing to the Bears Monday night, the Eagles couldn't afford to lose again. This time they were hosting the Arizona Cardinals who I saw a few weeks prior in Baltimore where they blew a 21 point lead as they lost to the Baltimore Ravens.

This time the Cardinals fell behind by a touchdown early. They fought hard all game long despite their place kicker Jay Feely missing a few field goals. They persevered and when it was all said and done, the Cardinals delivered the knockout punch as they beat the Eagles, 21-17.

After the game, the King and I drove back up to MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands to see the Sunday night game between the Jets and their division rival, the New England Patriots.

The Jets' place kicker Nick Folk followed former Jet Jay Feely's lead as he missed a field goal on the Jets' first drive of the game after they went down the field like it was nothing. That miss set the tone for the evening as it turned out. The Patriots came into the game looking like they were beatable but the Jets couldn't find a way to beat them.

The Jets' hung tough in the first half. The second half proved to be a different story as the Patriots' made the necessary adjustments as they exploited the Jets on their way to a 37-16 triumph over their nemesis who knocked them out of the playoffs back in the middle of January. As a result, it appears the Jets hopes of winning the AFC East are a long shot now at best.

With that another royal week is in the books for the King and I.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty is heading back to Minnesota and Winnipeg to see hockey and football!

2011-11-16T08:16:00.001-05:00

It's going to be December in a few weeks, Royalty will be spending the first weekend of the month in the Upper Midwest.

The game plan is as follows:

The King and I are going to the Twin Cities and North of the Border.The main purpose is to see MTS Centre, home of the new Winnipeg Jets who in the off season relocated there from Atlanta. The King and I were there once before in March 1996 when we saw the original Winnipeg Jets play at the old Winnipeg Arena. This time we're going there so we can say we've been to every NHL arena again.

Friday, December 2nd we have a flight booked on American Airlines that departs NY LaGuardia Airport at 11:50AM Eastern Time and it's scheduled to land in Minneapolis, Minnesota at 1:45PM Central Time.

Upon arrival, I'll be renting a car and we're going to drive to St. Paul to see the Minnesota Wild play the New Jersey Devils in a hockey game that starts at 7PM local time.

After the game, we'll be driving halfway to Fargo, North Dakota to get some sleep before we continue North to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Saturday morning.

Saturday, December 3rd Devils at Jets 6PM Local Time

After the game we're driving back to Fargo to spend the night.

Sunday, December 5th, we'll be at Mall of America Field formerly the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis to see the Minnesota Vikings take on the Denver Broncos. Kickoff is now scheduled for 12 Noon local time thanks to the flex scheduling. Less sleep for the weary.

After the game, I'll be spending the night in the Twin Cities before we head back East to go home.

We'll be flying back home on Monday, December 5th. Our flight on American Airlines departs Minneapolis at 8:50AM Central Time and lands at LaGuardia at 12:30PM Eastern Time.

Please feel free to check back for all the details of how this adventure played out. As long as mother cooperates, this will be an instant classic roadie royalty style.

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

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty meets up with a fellow roadtripper and family man in Washington DC!

2011-11-14T22:25:00.001-05:00

Charles Stephenson and I

During the football season last year I was checking out one of my favorite football websites called www.NFLStadiums.com which is run by a guy named Hans Steiniger who I've met briefly on a few occasions as he was in the midst of finishing up his quest to see a football game in every current NFL Stadium. In other words, he was on his "Quest for 31" as he refers to it. Since then he has completed his quest for the time being until a new one goes up.

In the meantime, he has started pilgrimages as he classifies them to see every hockey and basketball arena in the NHL and NBA.

Hans also arranges themed NFL weddings on the side. He's a perfect example because he and his lovely wife Krystal got married at Ford Field since they live in the Michigan area. He happens to be a Buffalo Bills fan.

Furthermore, he has a special links section on his football website where he lists his favorite websites that he likes to visit. He has my blog on that exclusive list. In addition, he has Andrew Kulyk and Peter Farrell from Buffalo aka USRT.

Moreover, I noticed he had a site called Field Goal which is run by a guy named Charles Stephenson on his list. I clicked on the site and I got familiar with who and what Charles was all about. Once I finished searching his site thoroughly, I decided to get in contact with him since he had a guest list.

I liked the desire and determination he possessed in his goal to see all the different football gridirons on the professional as well as the college level. It was intriguing to say the least given his background. This man was a few years older than me but he's married and he has three young children too.

With that being said, I told him when I wrote and introduced myself to him, I'm here to help speed up the process.

After a short period of time, he responded to my e-mail and we've been in touch every so often since.
He was originally from Houston, Texas where he grew up. After that, he moved to Louisiana for nine years. He did go to college at Tulane. He has since moved on again and he now resides in Northern Virginia which is located right outside our Nation's Capitol, Washington DC. He's lived there with his family since the mid to late '90's he said. In 1999, he became a Washington Redskin season ticket holder. Despite their disappointing play year after year he still has remained loyal to the 'Skins, his favorite team. He will continue to "Hail to the Redskins" despite these tough times. That's what a true fan does. I commend him for that. He takes a licking but he keeps on ticking.

Charles and I did try to meet up during baseball season at a Nationals game but due to family commitments he was unable to join the King and I.

Once the doors were unlocked and we knew there was finally going to be a football season, I made sure I contacted Charles since I always try my best to go to FedEx Field, which happens to be one of my favorite NFL Stadiums, at least once a year. Originally I was targeting the December 4th game against the Jets but once I found out the Atlanta Thrashers hockey team was moving to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada I needed to find a way to go back there to see the new arena, the MTS Centre, they were going to call home. The King and I did get there in 1996 when the old "Jets" called Winnipeg their home before they relocated to Phoenix, Arizona and became the Coyotes.

With that being said, I thoroughly analyzed the NHL schedule and I saw the most logical and worthwhile time to go to Winnipeg was ironically when another team called the Jets were playing the Washington Redskins. So I decided to figure out a way to alter my game plan so I could have my cake and eat it too.
On November 6th, the Jets and Giants were playing on the road. So that meant I had to travel elsewhere if I wanted to see a live NFL game that day. The Jets were playing in Buffalo and the San Francisco 49ers were going to be in Washington.

Once Charles contacted me and asked me if I would like to come to Washington so we could finally meet up, without hesitating I told him you got a deal. I asked him how much the ticket cost, he replied for you it's free. Needless to say, I was left speechless. As the game day was approaching, Charles followed up a few times to make sure I was still coming. I said absolutely. He doesn't know me from a hole in the wall so it's understandable that he was somewhat concerned that I might bail out on him. The King decided to pass up the opportunity. Once I told him I was coming, my word is as good as gold.

As promised Charles not only gave me a ticket to the game, he also invited me to his tailgate party beforehand. He told me he would cook up some brats for me. Upon hearing that, I was in heaven.
I planned accordingly as I skipped breakfast so I could indulge in his generous hospitality. He gave me directions as to where he would be parked so I could come over and join the party. He had some company. Since he has five season tickets for the Redskins, he decided to bring his son Charlie, his daughter Grace and her friend Katie to the game.

As for the tailgate party, he had a few other people there. They were his friend Tom Goodman and his son John who ironically is going to college at Columbia University here in NYC. It was truly a pleasure to meet and greet all of these wonderful people. Tom brought some ribs so I was able to enjoy them as well.

I was having a blast and that was just the beginning. We still had to head into the stadium for the main event, the game itself as the Redskins were hosting the surprising San Francisco 49ers who were off to a flying start at 6-1 in the first half of the season. The Redskins who got off to a fast start at 3-1 had dropped three in a row mainly because they have been hit by injuries. Their players are dropping like flies.

The downward spiral continued for the hometown Redskins as they lost to the 49ers on this day, 19-11.

Regardless of the outcome, I had a memorable day thanks to Charles and company.

I want to personally thank Charles for giving me a taste of my own medicine in the form of royal treatment. He treated me like a King and he made me feel like I was really something special. In my eyes, I'm just a fellow human being who works hard to achieve my goals.

We plan to stay in touch and hook up again down the road.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 11/14

2011-11-14T08:44:00.001-05:00

Here's the game plan:

Thursday November 17th Texas A&M vs. Mississippi State 7PM

St. John's vs. Arizona 9:30PM

College Basketball at MSG

Friday November 18th Hershey Bears at Syracuse Crunch 7:30PM

Saturday November 19th Akron at Buffalo 12 Noon

Coyotes at Sabres 7PM

Sunday November 20th Jaguars at Browns 1PM

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.

Stay tuned for my w/o 11/7 in review.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa
Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

A Royal visit to Annapolis, Maryland to see Navy Football!

2011-11-12T08:17:00.000-05:00

Navy Football

After a few years of trying, the opportunity finally presented itself. I was able to go to see the Naval Academy play football in person in Annapolis, Maryland which is located outside of the Baltimore-Washington area near the water in the surburbs once and for all.

I rented a car from Avis early Saturday morning for the weekend and off I went. The only detour I took was a ride to the dentist on Long Island to get a small cavity filled and another one that was cracked, I had replaced.

I planned to get to the dentist early and I did. The only problem was I still had to wait 45 minutes to be seen. As a result, I left there a lot later than I wanted to.

With that being said, I didn't get to the Navy game on time as I planned to. It was out of my control. I did my very best to make up some of the lost time. I parked the car at 3:40PM for a 3:30PM start in the neighborhood nearby. I want to personally thank my pals from Buffalo, Andrew Kulyk and Peter Farrell for the tip. They were there last year for a game. This was my first time near the stadium so I had no clue. Without their advice, I would have wasted more precious time. That's why I also like to know before I go. By doing so, I can save time and money.

I proceeded to walk over to the stadium which wasn't terribly far away. As I walked through the parking lot I noticed a number of people of tailgating. I assumed that they weren't planning to see the game. They wanted to be part of the atmosphere instead. I continued towards the gate area and I saw only a hand full of late arrivals heading inside. Luckily I came across a young man who had a few extra tickets. I told him I just needed one. I asked him what he wanted. He said $10. Naturally I gladly coughed up the $10 and I literally ran into the stadium.

As I ran through the run way, Kriss Proctor, the quarterback of Navy was running into the end zone from a yard out to give Navy an early 7-0 lead over the visiting Troy Trojans with 6:04 left in the first quarter. The Trojans were playing Navy for the very first time in their history.

Both teams came into the game with losing records so I thought I may see a somewhat competitive game. That didn't happen as Navy built a 35-0 lead as they cruised to an easy 42-14 whipping of the Trojans.
Regardless of the outcome, its the experience of being there that really matters. With Veteran's Day fast approaching, it was fitting that I got to take in an American military setting. I savored my time there.

After the game, I went back to my car and I since I was starved, I went out to feed my empty stomach.

On my way to the car rental, I surfed the internet to line up a potential place to eat dinner after the game. I looked up a place that I like to visit on the road when I'm very hungry and I since I didn't have a fortune of money to burn, I decided to see if I could find a Golden Corral in the area.

After looking at their website, I found one that wasn't too far out of my way so I said to myself, I'm going to help myself to happiness which is their slogan.

I checked into the Golden Corral near Arundel Mills at 8PM and I checked out at 9:30PM. In between, I was a very happy person. My empty stomach not only left happy but filled to the rim and then some.

For a very reasonable amount of money, I ate like a King. Nothing beats a royal meal at a royal deal.
If you happen to see a Golden Corral in your travels, I strongly suggest that you stop in especially if you have a family to feed. Let the kids run amuck and everybody can stuff themselves and you'll still have some money left for a rainy day.

As you know from reading and following my whereabouts, I practice what I preach so I wisely think you should take my sound advice.

Stay tuned for another special post that I'm going to do as my weekend wrapped up as I met a special guest in Washington DC at FedEx Field for the Redskin game on Sunday.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

A Royal take on the Transformation of Madison Square Garden Phase One!

2011-11-10T22:00:00.001-05:00

A View from behind the Goal

For those of you who don't know, Madison Square Garden aka the World's Most Famous Arena as it's known is in the process of undergoing a make over. In other words, they prefer to refer to it as a "transformation".

In today's ever changing world, everything is obsolete a lot faster than in the past. Technology has altered all of our lives in one way, shape or form.

With that being said, the people who run the Garden decided that building a whole new building was out of the question due to the ridiculous amount of money it would cost. Mind you, this transformation project isn't going to come cheap either but it makes more logically sense to me.

Instead they decided to "transform" the building to get it up to the modern standards of the 21st century.
It's a long term process that won't be completed until sometime in 2013. It will be done in three different phases.

During the summer, the Garden was shut down so they could start doing phase one of the project. By doing so, they have started to change the Garden as we used to see it.

For example, they have upgraded the locker rooms for the players so they can feel like their really playing at home literally and figuratively speaking.

As for the fans, they've redone different parts of the seating areas. On the lower level, they used to have seats separated by different sections of seats. Now they decided to make rows of seats that go back around 25 rows consecutively.

By doing so, they 're trying to make the sightlines better for the fans in the process. In addition, they've remodeled and widened the concourses and bathrooms downstairs as well.

For those of us who prefer or can only afford the upper bowl seats and/or the old "blue" seats, they've ripped out seats and redid the areas behind the goals on both sides where the old green seats used to be.
Furthermore, they've added an aerial view behind the net that hangs over the ice that's accessible for everybody who wants to stand and peak at the game while enjoying a beer at the newly created bar areas on this level. I personally think it's a cool addition. It reminded me of the old arena in Pittsburgh, the Civic Arena aka the Igloo where you were able to see the game from the top of the building behind the net. They also have a few rows of seats that are surrounded by big glass partitions so you can watch the game if you can afford the price of admission for these newly added perchs. They also have bar stool style seats in the row behind them with a ledge. They also come with a high price tag.

My overall take is incomplete just like the rest of the transformation. Needless to say, in order to enjoy and appreciate all of the new modern amenities, you're going to need a bundle of money to do so.

The bottom line is I'm glad I got to see the beginning of the new look Garden. Time will tell if I'll be able to see the finished version in a few years.

If you haven't had the privilege of going to the Garden then you won't know the difference. Right now, it's a work in progress and even regular visitors like myself will have a hard time navigating the ins and outs with all the different changes that are taking place in Midtown Manhattan high atop New York Penn Station.

With the NBA lockout ongoing and with no end in sight, the number of games played at the Garden are less than expected. With that being said, if you get a chance to go there I strongly suggest you do. That way you can witness firsthand what I'm talking about.

It's an old building and foundation so they can only do so much as far as fixing up the facility.

When it's all said and done, it should be an improvement for those people who are fortunate enough to experience it.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 10/31 in review

2011-11-10T21:12:00.000-05:00

View from Center Ice

After experiencing a winter preview over the weekend, Halloween officially arrived that Monday.
I went to work on Halloween tired and all. After work, I found a way to get up the energy to go to Madison Square Garden to see the Rangers play the San Jose Sharks. It was my first game there since they started the Transformation of the Garden.

Stay tuned for the special post I'll be doing to give you an idea of what to expect if and when you have a chance to go to the World's Most Famous Arena.

As for the game I saw on Halloween night, the hometown Rangers gave their fans a treat as they beat up the Sharks, 5-2 after the game started with a fight just seven seconds into the contest as the Sharks' Ryane Clowe and the Rangers' Brandon Prust dropped the gloves.

After the fight, the Rangers raced out to a 2-0 lead in the first period. The Sharks got on the board late in the period to cut the lead in half 2-1 after the first period. The Sharks got the equalizer almost midway through the second period. After that, the Rangers scored three unanswered goals including two from newly named team captain Ryan Callahan as the Rangers cruised to the victory.

It was nice to see many of the regulars that were in attendance. Over the years, I've seen my share of Ranger games at the Garden so familiar faces aren't hard to find. I recognize many different people even if I've never spoken to some of them. It's nice to see many of them are back for another season.

Tuesday night I went home after work to catch up on much needed rest.

Wednesday night after work, I went to Newark, NJ to see the Devils play the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Prudential Center. Ironically four years ago to the day on November 2, 2007, I saw my first Devil game at the "Rock" against the Maple Leafs no less.

The only difference between the games was the outcome. The Devils won, 3-2 back in 2007 but this time the Maple Leafs emerged victorious as Joffrey Lupul scored a hat trick that included goals to break a 2-2 and 3-3 tie as the Leafs turned back the Devils, 5-3.

Thursday night after work I went back to the Garden to see the Anaheim Ducks who were in town to play the Rangers on this night.

This time the Rangers lead 1-0 until late in the second period when the Ducks tied it up at one. The score remained that way through the third period and the overtime session.

This game was decided by a shootout and the Rangers managed to win the skills competition if you will. As a result, they won the game, 2-1 in a shootout.

Friday night I went home after work to rest up since there were no games in the local area. I got to rest up for another busy weekend that was ahead of me.

For all the details, please stay tuned for the special post that I'm going to write recapping my latest adventure. It may take some time but it will definitely be worth the wait. Please bear with me.

As always, I want to thank all my readers and followers for taking your precious time to read about me and my whereabouts.

Needless to say, if and when you need my assistance and/or advice please feel free to consult me. If you don't, I'll feel insulted.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 11/7

2011-11-07T07:33:00.001-05:00

Here's the game plan:

Monday November 7th Bears at Eagles 8:30PM

Tuesday November 8th Hurricanes at Devils 7:30PM

Friday November 11th Capitals at Devils 7PM

Saturday November 12th Yale at Princeton 12 Noon

Devils at Capitals 7PM

Sunday November 13th Cardinals at Eagles 1PM

Patriots at Jets 8:20PM

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.

Stay tuned for my w/o 10/31 in review. In addition, I plan to do a few other special posts as well. Please bear with me.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 10/24 in review

2011-11-04T21:40:00.001-04:00

This was another week that started slow as far as attending live sporting events, but it did end in royal fashion when the week was all said and done.

I wound up going home after work four straight nights Monday-Thursday because they're were no local games I could get to after work. As a result, I wound up watching the World Series on TV instead.
Friday night I didn't see a game either live or on TV. I went out to Avis after work instead to pick up a car for the weekend which turned out to be a surprise preview of winter that was coming our way.

I drove 175 miles to Lancaster, Pennsylvania where my parents now live on a full time basis. After struggling to get out of NYC thanks to traffic, I finally arrived there just after midnight.

I did get to listen to the radio as the St. Louis Cardinals became World Champions again for the 11th time in their history. The most by any National League team I might add. The Texas Rangers blew that memorable Game 6. They were a strike away from winning not once but twice. It turned out to be a hard fought not necessarily a well played World Series but it did create interest as it went seven games for the first time since 2002.

Now the "off season" if you will is officially upon us. That depends on how you look at it. I don't really have such a thing. For me, now it's football season until late January, early February.

In addition, I have hockey to follow too. I like basketball but since the NBA is locked out, my options in the local area are limited as far as college goes but I plan to see some along the way as well.

In the meantime, I went to visit my parents and I got to take in some football games too. Quite amazingly, the weather felt like it was sometime in January. When I checked the calendar I didn't remember Halloween coming and going. I was right it was still a few days away. It was strange but like royalty it was true.

With winter in the air, I still decided to take an adventurous ride to Towson, Maryland which was 75 miles from Lancaster. I saw an opportunity to see some lower level football since my options in the Northeast were limited on that Saturday. I passed up a chance to go to Reading, PA for other royal treatment in the form of ECHL hockey where the Reading Royals play. I preferred to brave the elements and see a new venue, Johnny Unitas Stadium where the Towson Tigers play. On this night, they hosted the Blue Hens of the University of Delaware.

As for the game I saw, it was a rather entertaining one. Despite the less than ideal playing conditions with the wind howling and some light snow falling during the game, I thoroughly enjoyed my time outside. It turned out to be a seesaw battle as the lead changed five different times during the game. The hometown Tigers roared out to a early 10-0 lead before the visiting Blue Hens came back to take the lead, 14-10. The Tigers went back ahead, 16-14. Then the Blue Hens took over for a while building a 29-16 advantage. The Tigers once again answered by scoring a few more touchdowns to go up, 30-29. Delaware took the lead for good, 36-30 as the Tigers blew a few chances late in the game by making critical and costly mistakes. The Blue Hens pulled off the upset of their neighboring rival which is only 58 miles away in nearby Newark, Delaware.

After the game, I drove back to Lancaster and I spent the night with my parents. After getting a good night sleep and having a hearty home cooked breakfast, I said goodbye to them and I went back to Baltimore, Maryland to see the Ravens play the Arizona Cardinals in game one of my NFL football doubleheader.

I lucked out big time at the Raven game. I wound up getting myself a nice upgrade. I ended up sitting right at the 50 yard line in section 500 in the last row. I met a gentleman named Harry who said everybody knows him as "Nib". We enjoyed each other's company throughout the game. He has season tickets there and he told me to stay since one of his seats was empty. He was with his daughter and her boyfriend and some other family members. He said he's seen every Raven home game since day one when they moved to Baltimore in 1996. He's been a season ticket holder for them for 16 years now. He said he liked the Redskins but he could never get tickets for them back in the day. So instead since he's a big football fan he decided to get Ravens tickets.

As I like to say "timing is everything". On this day, I was in the right place at the right time. Nib was impressed with my score keeping. For those of you who don't know, I do keep track of the play by play when I'm at a football game live. It's fun and educational. Nib took a liking to my style. I told him I saw the Ravens play the Jets at the beginning of October and I mentioned to him I'm planning to come back for Thanksgiving night to see the 49er game. He told me I can join him and his family and friends for their massive tailgate party which starts 4 or 5 hours before kickoff. We exchanged contact information and I plan to take him up on his generous offer.

Please check back for the recap of that special occasion.

In the meantime, the game we saw was shaping up to be another nightmare for the Ravens as they fell behind the visiting Arizona Cardinals 24-3 late in the second quarter. Needless to say, the natives were restless and they started booing at halftime as the Ravens were trailing, 24-6.

The Ravens went into the locker room and they came out playing like the Ravens team I thought they were as they came back to take a 27-24 lead on the first play from scrimmage in the fourth quarter as Ray Rice ran for a 3 yard touchdown, his third of the day as the Ravens took the lead. The Cardinals later tied the score at 27 but the Ravens failed to get the game into overtime as they won it at the end of regulation with no time left as their kicker Billy Cundiff kicked a 25 yard field goal to give the Ravens a 30-27 victory. It should be noted as a result of this huge comeback I witnessed history as the Ravens overcame their largest deficit to win a game. I got to celebrate the occasion with Nib who like Ray Lewis is an original Raven. I want to personally thank Nib for enhancing my latest Raven experience. I truly had a blast.

After the game, I drove back towards NYC but I made a pit stop in Philadelphia first to see the night cap of my NFL double dip as the Philadelphia Eagles destroyed their arch division rival Dallas Cowboys, 34-7.

I got to spend the evening with our good friend Frankie Centola who goes to all the Eagle games. In addition, he arranged to get me my ticket.

Afterwards, I drove back home to get a few hours sleep then I went to Avis and I returned the car and back to work I went.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty is heading up to Western New York and Cleveland to visit some special people in a few weeks!

2011-11-04T13:23:00.002-04:00

Here's the game plan:

I'm renting a car Friday morning from Avis for the week.

I'm going to pick up The King, our friend Frank Anichiarico and Mike Carroll aka Sabre Mike and we'll be heading up to Western New York and then we'll be continuing West through Erie, Pennsylvania en route to Cleveland, Ohio before returning home late Sunday night.

Friday, November 18th Hershey Bears at Syracuse Crunch 7:30PM

Saturday, November 19th Akron Zips at Buffalo Bulls 12 Noon

Coyotes at Sabres 7PM

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

Sunday, November 20th Jaguars at Browns 1PM

I plan to meet up with Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge as well as some other special guests from his media alliance network for a memorable breakfast. What a way to start a day.

In addition, I look forward to seeing our friend Bessanne who lives in Cleveland. She's planning to join us for the game as well.

If you're interested in going on this exclusive getaway royalty style just let me know so I can arrange to have you join us.

It's going to be a blast so why not come for a "royal" ride.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 10/31

2011-10-31T07:26:00.001-04:00

Here's the game plan:

Monday October 31st Sharks at Rangers 7PM

Wednesday November 2nd Maple Leafs at Devils 7:30PM

Thursday November 3rd Ducks at Rangers 7PM

Saturday November 5th Troy at Navy 3:30PM

Sunday November 6th 49ers at Redskins 1PM

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.

Stay tuned for my w/o 10/24 in review.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 10/17 in review

2011-10-26T22:24:00.001-04:00

Legendary Franklin Field

Monday I worked a half a day because I had to go to the doctor for my annual exam in the afternoon. Thankfully I got a clean bill of health. I took off some weight too. Even with my rigorous lifestyle, I still find time to take care of my body. I avoid eating at ballparks and arenas at all cost. I rather save money on the outside and eat well whenever possible. In addition, when I drive to a game I always try to park on the street that way I can cut cost and get exercise to burn off the junk food that I eat on a regular basis like ice cream and cake.

My doctor is a great guy. I told him I was going to the Jet game, he said and I quote "we have to get you out of here so you can get to the game." I have a good rapport with him so it's nice to fill him in on my whereabouts. In matter of fact, he had a young man training to become a doctor there with him. He told him when he introduced us that I go to more live sporting events than anybody. I told him my friend goes to more but he neglects eating well and seeing a doctor. Word to the wise, don't abuse your body. Make sure you get checked out once a year like I do.

After the doctor told me I'm in good shape, I went on my way to MetLife Stadium to see Monday Night Football as the Jets were hosting their hated division rival Miami Dolphins.

Back on October 23, 2000, the Jets fell behind the Fish 30-7 early in the fourth quarter. They wound up coming back and they forced overtime and they beat the Dolphins that night, 40-37. That particular game is referred to as the Monday Night Miracle. Offensive lineman Jumbo Elliott, who was an eligible receiver caught the touchdown pass that tied the game at 37 forcing overtime. John Hall added a 40 yard field goal to complete the improbable comeback. What a memorable ending that was.

This time around it wasn't quite as dramatic. The Jets did get off to a slow start as the Dolphins drew first blood as they kicked a field goal to lead 3-0. They were looking for more when Brandon Marshall ran the wrong way as Darrelle Revis intercepted a pass at the goal line. He took it back 100 yards for a touchdown to give the Jets a 7-3 lead. The Dolphins kicked another field goal to pull within one at 7-6. The Jets behind Mark Sanchez stepped up and took over from there. They added another touchdown as Sanchez ran one in himself to give the Jets a 14-6 lead at the half.

During halftime, the Jets got more inspired as the team welcomed back four former players by inducting them into their Ring of Honor. The class of 2011 consisted of running back Freeman McNeil who played for the Jets from 1981-1992. He was one of my favorite Jets when I was growing up. He was a class act I might add. Another one was wide receiver Al Toon who had his career cut short due to too many concussions. He played for the Jets from 1985-1992. There were two others who played before my time. They were linebacker Larry Grantham who played from 1960-1972 and Gerry Philbin, a defensive end who played from 1964-1972.

After the ceremony honoring these special people the 2011 Jets went back to work and they made sure they were no miracles needed on this night. The Jets cruised to a 24-6 victory over the winless Dolphins.

After resting up Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night it was back to Newark, NJ after work Friday night for me. The Devils were entertaining the San Jose Sharks who were visiting the East coast.

The Sharks gave the Devils all they could handle as they scored late in regulation with 33 seconds left to tie the game at three. After a scoreless overtime session, the Sharks outlasted the Devils in a shootout as they left the Prudential Center with a 4-3 win.

Saturday morning the King and I and our friend Frank Anichiarico decided to take a bus from Chinatown here in NYC to Philadelphia for the day.

We had a football/hockey doubleheader in the City of Brotherly Love.

First we went to Franklin Field, which opened in 1895 and is the oldest venue still in use today. The Philadelphia Eagles called this home from 1958-1970. In the early 1980's, the Philadelphia Stars of the USFL played there.

We saw the University of Pennsylvania play there back in 2007. This time we went back in time again. What a great place to see a game. Things have changed dramatically here in the 21st century but going back in time is a good thing. It's a reminder of how life was back in the day. I strongly suggest and highly recommend if you haven't gotten to experience football at Franklin Field that you make time to do so before it's too late. I don't foresee this legendary venue closing its doors anytime soon but you never know for sure.
As for the game we saw, the Penn Quakers came back to beat the Yale Bulldogs, 37-25. The Quakers trailed 20-10 in the third quarter but they rallied to come back and snatch the victory.

After the game, we met up with our friend Frankie Centola for dinner at the Landmark Bar & Grill which is a favorite of his. It was my first time there. After enjoying a good meal and his company we parted ways as he went home and we headed to the Wells Fargo Center for the second game of our doubleheader.

We saw the Philadelphia Flyers take on the St. Louis Blues. Just like in baseball, the Blues followed the Cardinals lead by beating up the Flyers, 4-2.

After the game we hopped on the subway and we went back to Center City where we caught the Chinese bus back to NYC.

Sunday the King and I went back to MetLife Stadium to see the Jets play the San Diego Chargers. The last time we saw these two teams play was back in January 2010 in the Divisional Playoffs out in San Diego. The Jets emerged victorious that day, 17-14. This time the Jets needed to win so hopefully they can play well in January and beyond.

After a sluggish start, they were able to storm back to overtake the Chargers again. They trailed 21-10 in the third quarter but Mark Sanchez made key decisions and plays unlike his counterpart Phillip Rivers who didn't as the Jets came away with a big 27-21 triumph. The Jets were very lucky as they seemed to get some breaks on different penalty calls that appeared to go their way.

Regardless I'll take the W. They need to play a full 60 minute game on a regular basis in order to achieve their ultimate goal.

Stay tuned as the season progresses because I'll be seeing them a number of times in the near future.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 10/24

2011-10-23T20:51:00.001-04:00

Here's the game plan:

Saturday October 29th Delaware at Towson 7PM

Sunday October 30th Cardinals at Ravens 1PM

Cowboys at Eagles 8:20PM

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.

Stay tuned for my w/o 10/17 in review.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty meets up with USRT at MetLife Stadium!

2011-10-20T21:54:00.001-04:00

Peter Farrell and Andrew Kulyk

The King and I have been to all the current venues in the four major sports in this country. Those being baseball, football, basketball and hockey.

That will become official again in December when we have a return trip to Winnipeg planned to see the new Jets team that has relocated there from Atlanta in the off season.

We found out back in January 2003 that we weren't alone in that department.

We met up with two other guys from Buffalo. They were Andrew Kulyk and Peter Farrell aka USRT. In other words, the Ultimate Sports Road Trip as they refer to themselves. Since then, we've met up with them a number of times over the years.

These guys were in town over the weekend because last year they weren't able to go the new Stadium in the Meadowlands twice. They did come to see the Jets but technically speaking they needed to return to see the Giants play a "home" game too. By doing so, they got to see the Stadium with its new corporate name. It's now called MetLife Stadium.

Well when the schedule came out in April they decided that this past Sunday would be the perfect time to do so since their hometown Buffalo Bills were making a rare appearance against the Giants.

Thankfully the lockout was resolved and these guys were finally able to take the asterisk off their list.

As for the game we saw, the surprising Bills gave the Giants all they could handle as they tied the game at 24 with 8:57 left in the fourth quarter. The Bills eventually succumbed as Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes booted a 23 yard field goal with 1:32 left to lift the Giants to a 27-24 victory. It appeared the USRT karma was going to work its magic again. In addition, Peter had his lucky scarf that he bought in London last October when they were there. Unfortunately their luck ran out as did the clock on the Bills as they came up short in this one.

As always it was great to see Andrew and Peter again. They just came back from Germany and Finland where they opened the hockey season watching their Buffalo Sabres play. They said and I quote "it was the best trip they've ever taken." I can imagine what a unique experience it must have been. For all the details and highlights, please check out their website which is on my blog list.

The King and I are planning to see them next month when we take a ride up to Buffalo to see the Sabres play.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 10/10 in review

2011-10-18T20:18:00.001-04:00

Abbey, Jeremy, Taylor and Scott

It was a slow start to the week for me as I went home after work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night.
Thursday night I broke the string of eventless days as I met my Cousin Andy out in Newark, NJ. We met up for dinner at Subway then we went over to the Prudential Center to see the New Jersey Devils play the Los Angeles Kings. We were joined by the King who met us there.

As for the game we saw, there was a lot of action throughout the night despite a lack of goal scoring. The game's only scoring came in the first period as Simon Gagne drew first blood for the Kings 1:47 into the game. The Devils' Patrik Elias answered later in the period to even the score at one.

After playing two scoreless periods and an overtime session, the game was decided by a shootout as the Devils prevailed, 2-1. Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise scored the only goals in the shootout as the Devils came away with the extra point.

My Cousin Andy was so grateful for the opportunity to join us again. He wrote me an e-mail the next day thanking me for treating him like royalty. It's always a pleasure to have his company. He doesn't get to get out that often so when he does I always like to make sure I go over the top so he can take in the full royalty experience. His appreciation makes me feel like I did a good deed. It's a great feeling when somebody takes advantage of my willingness to help out. That's what life's all about.

We parted ways after the game at the train station and we said we look forward to doing it again next month.

Friday night was another night off for me. After getting some more rest, I was ready for my busy weekend ahead.

Besides going to sporting events on a regular basis, I do take good care of my health as well. With that being said, I went to the dentist for a check up and a cleaning. Everything checked out well. As usual, the dentist said and I quote "you have good teeth." I work very hard to maintain them on a daily basis so I'm happy to hear it's paying off.

After I got done with the dentist, I went out to Long Island to visit my sister Abbey, my brother-in-law, Scott and my adorable niece Taylor and my nephew Jeremy who just turned six years old on Tuesday. Abbey was having a birthday party for him so I went to join in the festivities. It was nice to see the family again and especially the kids who are getting so big so fast.

After the party, I met up with the King at the Nassau Coliseum as the New York Islanders were hosting their arch rivals, the New York Rangers. As usual, it was a feisty and heated affair with a playoff like atmosphere. The game was very entertaining to watch. The arena was jam packed with fans of both teams.

The game itself went back and forth. The Islanders emerged victorious 4-2 as John Tavares scored the empty netter to seal the deal late in the third period. By doing so, he completed the hat trick as he scored his third goal of the game sending the Islander fans home happy.

Stay tuned as I'll be doing a special post describing the game we saw Sunday afternoon with two great roadtrippers who were in town for a special return visit.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 10/17

2011-10-16T21:26:00.001-04:00

Here's the game plan:

Monday October 17th Dolphins at Jets 8:30PM

Friday October 21st Sharks at Devils 7PM

Saturday October 22nd Yale at Penn 12 Noon

Blues at Flyers 7PM

Sunday October 23rd Chargers at Jets 1PM

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.

Stay tuned for my w/o 10/10 in review.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Gio Gonzalez has an emerged as a solid starter for the Oakland Athletics!

2011-10-13T22:20:00.001-04:00

Gio and I at Citi Field

When I first saw Gio pitch for the Reading Phillies in Norwich, Connecticut back in April 2006, I knew he had major league potential.

In May 2009, I saw him signing autographs on the concourse at a table in Sacramento, California before a River Cat game we were at. I got to speak to him for the first time. He had a great attitude. I knew it was only a matter of time before Gio got his chance to prove he's a major leaguer.

After making his debut with the Oakland Athletics in August 2008, he wound up going back down to Sacramento in 2009. As a result, that turned out to be a blessing because I had the privilege of meeting him in person.

Since then, I've kept close tabs on him. He finally got back to the major leagues later in 2009.

In 2010, he proved that he deserved to stay by having a breakout season. He finished his first full season in the majors with a 15-9 record and a 3.23 ERA.

This year Gio built on his 2010 campaign. He started off the season very well.

On June 21st, I got to see him before the game at Citi Field when the Athletics came to play the Mets in an interleague matchup during batting practice. The next night I got to see him pitch in person at the major league level for the first time. After always missing him by a day in Yankee Stadium, Cleveland and Kansas City, my opportunity finally presented itself. Like Gio, I'm a preserver. Gio pitched well for 7 innings but he left the game with the score tied at one. The Mets eventually won in extra innings. Gio didn't disappoint me.
With his performances improving as the season went on, he was selected to be a member of the American League All-Star team. He got to appear late in the game and he recorded a strikeout in his cameo appearance. I was so happy for Gio. He has worked so hard to get where he is today.

After the All-Star break, Gio did hit a bad stretch where he didn't pitch well. That's part of the maturation process. Gio proved it was a fluke because down the stretch, he pitched lights out to finish the season strong.

In matter of fact, the last game of the season he was on the mound in Safeco Field while the Red Sox and Braves were choking their seasons away. My eyes were focused on Gio who was busy dominating the Mariners. Gio continues to fly under the radar screen. It's only a matter of time before he becomes the center of attention.

With that being said, that could happen at the end March 2012 when the Oakland Athletics go to Japan to play the Seattle Mariners to open the season.

Gio compiled an impressive 16-12 record with a 3.12 ERA in 2011. He threw 200 innings and he struck out 202 batters.

The King and I saw the Mets and the Cubs open the season in Tokyo back in March 2000.

I would welcome the opportunity to go back to Japan. I would not only get to see Gio pitch more than likely but we could also see our friend Sean MacDonald who lives there. We didn't meet him until 2003.

I don't know what's going to happen for us in 2012 just yet but I expect Gio to continue to climb the ladder to stardom in the major leagues.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 10/3 in review

2011-10-11T21:39:00.001-04:00

Hockey's Back!

Now that baseball regular season is over, my schedule has been changed dramatically for the time being.
I had high hopes for the Phillies and Yankees just because it would have meant a chance to see some more baseball games this year.

After going home after work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night it was finally time to see another game up in the Bronx Thursday night after work.

The Yankees managed to force a deciding game in their American League Division Series with the Detroit Tigers.

The winner moved on to play the Texas Rangers in the ALCS and the loser went home for the winter.
Well the Tigers got two solo home runs on back to back pitches in the first inning off Yankee starter Ivan Nova to give the Tigers an early 2-0 lead. Don Kelly and Delmon Young did the honors.

The Tigers tacked on another run to make it 3-0 before the Yankees sliced the lead to 3-2. Unfortunately for the Yankees they were unable to get the big hit they needed to tie the game against the Tiger bullpen as they fell short as Alex Rodriguez strike out swinging to end their season and mine for that matter.

It was my 160th baseball game I attended in 2011. My lowest total since 2002 when I saw a mere 162. It was a tough year for me between the schedule and things at home which restricted me from seeing more. Given the circumstances, I did well all things considered.

After going home from work Friday night, I shifted gears on Saturday.

The King and I and our friends Frank Anichiarico and Bryan Gilligan went to see the Columbia Lions play the Sacred Heart Pioneers in Upper Manhattan at Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence Wien Stadium.
The winless Lions stayed that way as the Pioneers beat them in a shootout, 34-25. The Lions' place kicker Luke Eddy missed two point after touchdowns and he had another one blocked.

After the game, the King and I said goodbye to Frank and Bryan then we headed out to Newark, NJ to go to the Prudential Center to see hockey as the New Jersey Devils play the Philadelphia Flyers on Opening Night.

The Devils inability to put the puck in the net reared its ugly head again. The Devils got shut out by the Flyers, 3-0.

It could be a long year for the Devils. I'm hoping it was just an aberration and hopefully they'll get their offense in gear sooner than later. Time will tell. Stay tuned to my blog to see if indeed the Devils can get it going since I plan to see a lot of Devil games in the winter months ahead.

Sunday the King and I and our friend Rich Wolber aka Staten Island took a bus ride from the Port Authority Bus Terminal to MetLife Stadium to see the Giants play the visiting Seattle Seahawks. The Giants came in to the game riding high with a 3-1 record. The Seahawks were the opposite at 1-3.

As for the game we saw, the Giants didn't look like they came to play. They let the Seahawks hang around throughout the game. The Giants had taken a lead at 22-19 in the fourth quarter as second year wide receiver Victor Cruz from UMASS who the King and I saw play in November 2009 made an acrobatic catch deflecting the ball in double coverage and catching it with one hand as he took it into the end zone for the go ahead score.

The Seahawks came back and tied the game at 22. The Giants we took the lead, 25-22. The Seahawks once again came back thanks largely in part to back up quarterback Charlie Whitehurst who we saw play in college at Clemson in 2005. Whitehurst replaced starter Tavaris Jackson who left early in the third quarter with an injury. The Seahawks regained the lead 29-25. The Giants appeared to be on the verge of scoring the winning touchdown but this time Victor Cruz couldn't hold on to the ball as it popped up in the air and was intercepted by Brandon Browner who returned it 94 yards for a touchdown that sealed the deal for the Seahawks as they came away with a 36-25 victory.

Stay tuned for the special post I'm going to do about Gio Gonzalez who had a solid season for the Oakland Athletics.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty shares road trip stories in the FDH Lounge!

2011-10-10T21:17:00.001-04:00

Sports travel expert Gary Herman of Royalty Tours USA shares his stories in The FDH Lounge!

Click on the link to see and hear for yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_VHGniP6Dk

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 10/10

2011-10-09T21:04:00.002-04:00

Here's the game plan:

Thursday October 13th Kings at Devils 7PM

Saturday October 15th Rangers at Islanders 7PM

Sunday October 16th Bills at Giants 1PM

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.

Stay tuned for my w/o 10/3 in review.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty enjoys a weekend getaway for post season baseball and football in Philadelphia and Baltimore!

2011-10-09T09:00:00.006-04:00

Last Saturday morning I woke up early and I went out to Avis to rent a car for the weekend. I drove back to Astoria and I picked up the King and we went on our way.

We drove down to the City of Brotherly Love to see a college football game at Lincoln Financial Field which is the home of the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Temple Owls were hosting the Toledo Rockets at Noon. The King and I had to go near the Philadelphia airport first to meet our friend Frankie Centola who arranged to get us tickets for the Phillie game against the St. Louis Cardinals which was Game 1 of the National League Division Series. First pitch was scheduled for 5:07PM.

Despite the detour which cost us a half hour, I still managed to get us to the football game on time. In classic royalty fashion, we barely made it but we did and that's all that matters. I found a way to make it happen.

We wound up parking the car on the street for the day. We walked over to the box office and took advantage of the $5.00 deal they had if you showed a Phillie ticket.

We proceeded to go inside and we watched the game. As for the game we saw, the Owls got beat up, 36-13.

After the game, we walked back to the car and we dropped off some stuff. Once we got ourselves set, we walked back to Citizens Bank Park and got ready for some post season baseball. It was a rare time that we arrived early enough to watch batting practice there.

As for the game we saw, Phillies ace Roy Halladay started. He got touched up for three runs in the first inning as Lance Berkman smacked a three run home run off him. He settled down and he retired 21 straight batters before he departed after pitching 8 solid innings. The Phillies chipped away after they were shut down for five innings by Cardinals' starter Kyle Lohse. They finally got to him in the sixth inning and they hit him very hard as they scored six times on their way to a 11-6 victory.

After the game, we waited out the traffic and we drove over to one of our favorite restaurants in the area, the Oregon Diner. After we enjoyed a hearty dinner, we went to the Sugar House Casino in nearby North Philadelphia which was located right off I-95. In years past, we would have driven to Atlantic City instead.

After we spent a few hours there we called it a night. We drove over the Betsy Ross Bridge to Mt. Laurel, NJ where we got some sleep.

We woke up in the morning and we drove up the road a mile and a half and we had breakfast at another royalty staple, Cracker Barrel. As usual, we weren't disappointed in our great meal.

After we ate, we drove back to the Sports Complex in South Philadelphia. We had the Philadelphia Eagles hosting the San Francisco 49ers at 1PM.

Ironically back in 1991, I saw my first football game at Old Veterans Stadium and the Eagles played the 49ers that day with a quarterback named Joe Montana. The 49ers won, 24-7.

On this day, we saw Michael Vick of the Eagles lead the way as the Eagles took a 23-3 lead with 9 and a half to go in the third quarter. Unfortunately that lead disappeared thanks to the Eagles failure to run the ball which would have helped kill the clock. Instead the Eagles let the 49ers hang around. With three minutes to in the game, the 49ers completed the comeback as their running back Frank Gore ran into the end zone with what turned out to be the winning score. The 49ers came back to win in improbable fashion, 24-23.

After the game, the King and I parted ways temporarily. He stayed in Philadelphia and he went to Game 2 of the NLDS at Citizens Bank Park.

I went back to the car and I took a hundred mile drive South down I-95 to Baltimore, Maryland to see the Jets play the Baltimore Ravens in Sunday night football at 8:20PM.

I stopped off at McDonald's in Delaware quickly so I could have some dinner in the car since I didn't have too much time to burn on my way to Baltimore.
I parked the car on the street within walking distance of M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Ravens. I proceeded to get myself in position to get a ticket despite having to deal with a mob of people who were trying to enter the Stadium.

I finally rounded up a ticket after looking for a short time. I managed to get into the Stadium relatively fast considering what a mess it was. I got situated and I went upstairs to get ready for some football.

As for the game I saw, the Jets came out looking over matched. The Ravens came out ready to play. They were lead by Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, the anchors of their ferocious defense who gave Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez all he could handle and then some. On the Jets' opening possession of the game, Ed Reed blind sided Sanchez and he forced a fumble that lead to a touchdown to give the Ravens an early 7-0 lead which set the tone for the rest of the night.

Despite Joe McKnight of the Jets returning the ensuing kickoff a team record 107 yards to tie the game, the Jets didn't stand a chance.

They did briefly in the third quarter as the trailed 27-17 when they got a turnover but on the first play Mark Sanchez threw the ball in the flat and the Ravens returned it 73 yards to seal the deal, 34-17. That's the way it ended as the Jets had no response for the Ravens' Super Bowl like performance.

After the game, I went back to the car. I got going at 12:21AM. SIx minutes later I got on the highway and I drove towards Philadelphia where I went back to pick up the King who was waiting for me.

I avoided a potential delay getting out of Baltimore. I noticed a construction area where two lanes were closed and traffic was backed up. I wisely got off the exit just before the mess and I found an alternate route which saved me plenty of time.

I met up with the King at 2AM. I drove him back to the Post Office at Grand Central Station in Manhattan where he works. I dropped him off at 3:47AM. I proceeded to drive home so I could get an hour of sleep before I went to return the car.

I wound up driving 518 miles then I went to work dead tired and all. With that being said, another adventurous weekend getaway was in the books.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 9/26 in review

2011-10-04T20:52:00.001-04:00

Post Season in the Bronx

This was the last week of the baseball season. The regular season that is. For the fifth consecutive season the Mets were playing out the string. It was another up and down season for the Metropolitans. They started the season 5-13. From that point on, they played .500 ball the rest of the way.

In years past, the season normally ended on a Sunday but this year was different. The season ended on a Wednesday. The reason being they didn't want the World Series to be extended into November again.
Much to my chagrin, the Mets played an afternoon game in the closing game. Unfortunately, I had to work.
I did see them wrap up with the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night and Tuesday night though.

Monday night they battled it out with the Reds before they lost, 6-5.

Tuesday night was my grand finale at Citi Field for this year and it was a fun night up in the stands as the King entertained the crowd who was sitting around us with his unique strikeout call. Some nights are better than others. It depends on the pitcher on the mound and the people in the stands. On this night, he had a very captive audience and they thoroughly enjoyed his act. In addition, we had some surprise guests. They were the King's father, Miguel and his half brother Charlie. We also had our good friend James Gabriele and his son Andrew too. Their company added to the atmosphere which was very festive.

One person in particular, Phillip Poeta who I believe I've seen in the past near where we sit up in section 516/517 depending on the size of the crowd was on hand.

I decided to reach out to him and we enjoyed each other company during the game. He said he comes to around 20 games a year. He does live in New Jersey so that's not bad all things considered. He said he likes to travel. I told him about all the places the King and I have gone. He said he's been to seven different ballparks this year. I told him that's great. He said he went to Pittsburgh for the first time. He also mentioned Chicago and Milwaukee. He sounds like an up and coming ballpark chaser.

I told him to check out my blog so he can get a more in depth overview of what royalty is all about. I plan to stay in touch with him. That way if and when he needs my expert advice on getting from ballpark to ballpark and/or place to place, he knows I'm here if and when he needs me.

As for the game we saw, it was a long one. The Mets eventually lost to the Reds again, 5-4 in 13 innings as Drew Stubbs laid down a beautiful squeeze bunt to end this marathon. The Mets' bullpen collapsed again in this one causing the game to go into extra frames. It was prolonged agony in what may have been the last time I saw Jose Reyes wear a Met uniform. If that's the case, at least Jose gave me a lasting memory. He hit two home runs in the losing effort.

Like they say, wait till next year. For us Met fans that's all we can do. With or without Jose Reyes, I plan to be back at Citi Field on April 5th for Opening Day against the Atlanta Braves.

I wound up going home after work Wednesday and Thursday night. Friday night after work I went up to Yankee Stadium after stopping off at Donovan's Pub for dinner in Queens first to see post season baseball but after the Yankees played an inning and a half against the Detroit Tigers, mother nature unexpectedly got in the way for a change. After waiting until around 10:30PM they suspended the game. They were planning to resume Saturday night at 8:37PM.

Stay tuned for the recap of our adventurous weekend. Just so you know we didn't return to Yankee Stadium. We went out of town instead as planned.

In addition, I plan to write a special post about my boy Gio Gonzalez of the Oakland Athletics who had a solid season on the mound.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 10/3

2011-10-03T07:35:00.001-04:00

Here's the game plan:

Thursday October 6th Tigers at Yankees 8:07PM ALDS Game 5

Saturday October 8th Sacred Heart at Columbia 12:30PM

Flyers at Devils 7PM Opening Night

Sunday October 9th Seahawks at Giants 1PM

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.

Stay tuned for my w/o 9/26 in review.

I'll be doing special posts recapping my epic weekend getaway too.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty witnesses a rare Major League Tripleheader in NYC!

2011-09-28T23:00:00.001-04:00

Game 2 at Yankee Stadium

Saturday September 24th wasn't your typical day in the park. It was a day spent in two different parks if you will.

For once mother nature set up a unique opportunity for the King and I. We were joined by our friends Bryan Gilligan, Ralph and Vincent Ascanio and Rich Wolber who also decided to take advantage of this rare opportunity.

The King, Bryan and I stayed at Citi Field and we saw the whole Met game which they wound up winning 2-1 over the Phillies. The game ended at 3:39PM. We then hopped on the subway and we arrived at Yankee Stadium at 4:38PM in the bottom of the second inning with the game scoreless. The Yankees proceeded to score six runs in the bottom of the second. Derek Jeter capped off the scoring in the inning with a three run home run. They tacked on three more to build a 9-0 lead after six innings. The Red Sox scored a run in the seventh inning to break the shutout.

We decided to leave with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning at 6:42PM.

We got back to Citi Field at 7:41PM in the top of the second inning right after the Phillies took a 2-0 lead. They added another run in the top of the third to take a 3-0 lead but the Mets stormed back and put up a five spot to take a 5-3 lead. They tacked on another run in the fourth inning as the score remained that way as the Mets beat the Phillies again, 6-3.

It was a unique day in more ways than one. It should be noted that all three games started as follows: 1:12PM, 4:12PM and 7:12PM. The other oddity was the fact that it took us 59 minutes to go from inside one ballpark to the inside of the other ballpark via subway both ways. What a coincidence that was.
Sunday I wound up settling for one game while the King, Bryan Gilligan, Ralph and Vincent Ascanio decided to do the doubleheader.

I went to see the Mets and Phillies at Citi Field then they all went to Yankee Stadium to see the Yankees play the Red Sox again.

In retrospect, I made the right decision. The Mets fell to the Phillies, 9-4. As for the Yankee game, the Yankees lost to the Red Sox in 14 innings, 7-4 in a game that lasted 5 hours and 11 minutes.

After all, I'm human. I had a very long and exhausting week. I needed to recharge the batteries.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 9/19 in review

2011-09-28T22:19:00.001-04:00

Yankees Clinch AL East!

After going to work exhausted Monday I still found enough energy to go out to MetLife Stadium to see Monday Night Football as the New York Giants played host to the St. Louis Rams.

After a gut wrenching bus ride from the Port Authority Bus Terminal during rush hour, I finally arrived. It took only a mere one hour and 34 minutes to get there. Trust me that's no exaggeration. I told the King to take the train out there since he was leaving later than me. Thankfully he got out there about five minutes after I did.

We rounded up some tickets once we finally got there. We went inside and barely made the opening kickoff but luckily we did.

As for the game we saw, the Giants didn't play great but they managed to beat the hapless Rams, 28-16. Their defense played well as they pressured Rams' second year quarterback Sam Bradford all night long.
The Rams were settling for field goals when they had chances to score while the Giants were able to put up touchdowns including one that Domenik Hixon juggled before catching it in the end zone. Unfortunately it was a very costing catch as he tore his ACL in his knee again and he's out for the rest of the season for the second straight year. On the positive side, the Giants came out victorious on the scoreboard.

Tuesday night after work I went up to the Bronx to see the Yankees play the Tampa Bay Rays. I showed some of my co-workers the royal way there. When we got off the train, I heard somebody call my name. Ironically it was a friend of the family, Danny Michaelson who took his step daughter Deanna to the game. It was a pleasant surprise to see them. I haven't seen them in a very long time. As I like to say, timing is everything. I asked them where their seats were, they told me they were sitting upstairs near third base. I told them come with me, I'll give you an upgrade. True to my word, I did just that. Needless to say, Danny and Deanna were very grateful for the opportunity. They had a blast. They got to see me and the Yankees won, 5-0. I was thrilled that we got to meet up by surprise. We exchanged contact information so we can plan to meet up again in the future.

Wednesday night after work I went back for more baseball in the Bronx. The game was delayed an hour and two minutes at the start by rain. Once it finally got underway, the Yankees took a early 2-0 lead but the Rays fought back to tie the game at two which deprived CC Sabathia of winning his 20th game of the season. The Yankees did score the go ahead runs in the bottom of the eighth inning as they scored two to take a 4-2 lead. That's the way it ended. Since the Boston Red Sox lost, the Yankees with their victory clinched the American League Eastern Division.

Thursday night after work I went back up to the Bronx for the finale of this four game series as the game that was rained out on July 8th was made up on this night. With nothing really to play for except for home field advantage through the ALCS, the Yankees got tossed a beating. The Rays came out with their hitting shoes on as they raced out to a 13-0 lead after five innings. The Yankees fought back but they fall short in this one, 15-8.

Friday night with the Mets and the Yankees both home, mother nature got in the way. As a result, both games were postponed. With that being said, we got to witness a rare major league tripleheader.

Saturday afternoon the Mets played the Philadelphia Phillies in a day night doubleheader with the first game starting at 1:10PM and the second game at 7:10PM. The Yankees were scheduled to play the Boston Red Sox at 4:10PM on Fox.

Stay tuned for the special post I'm going to do about this unique day and weekend in NYC.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 9/26

2011-09-26T08:28:00.001-04:00

Here's the game plan:

Monday September 26th Reds at Mets 7:10PM

Tuesday September 27th Reds at Mets 7:10PM

Friday September 30th ALDS Game 1 Tigers at Yankees 8:37PM

Saturday October 1st Toledo at Temple 12 Noon

NLDS Game 1 Cardinals at Phillies 5:07PM

Sunday October 2nd 49ers at Eagles 1PM

Jets at Ravens 8:20PM

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.

Stay tuned for my w/o 9/19 in review.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty meets up with Sam Citron, Security Guard at Citi Field!

2011-09-25T12:50:00.000-04:00

Sam Citron

Back in 2010, the King and I would enter Citi Field through the Rotunda entrance which is right off the subway.

We always like to find a familiar face when we enter any venue since we go so often. I always feel more comfortable that way. We always bring a bag with us because we have our scorebooks to score the game.
Sometimes you run into a security guard who wants to take their job way too seriously. In other words, they give you a hard time for no reason. Thankfully after a while we noticed a guy named Sam who always let us go without too much of a hassle. Don't get me wrong, Sam always does his job right but he's always a gentleman about it. He looks at our bags and let's us go in. As a result, we started always looking for him. Now every time we go in through the Rotunda, we make sure we see Sam. Every once in a while, he's not there which makes our visit less enjoyable upon entering the ballpark. It's not the same.

Sam is a great guy. He always greets us in royal fashion. He refers to us as the King and the Prince. In addition, he always says and I quote "it's always a pleasure". I wish they're were more good people in this world like Sam.

I recently told Sam about my blog. He tells me how he's bookmarked my site so he can read all about us.

Upon hearing that commentary, I was speechless. After I gathered myself, I told him I greatly appreciate that. In matter of fact, when I went in yesterday afternoon, he asked me about Kansas City. He said you had a great time there. I replied I certainly did.

If and when you happen to go to Citi Field to see the Mets play, please make sure you look for Sam and tell him Royalty sent you. That way you can go in without a problem and you'll feel welcome the moment you step foot on the premises. That's the way royalty operates.

Life is short and it has plenty of ups and downs. You need to find creative and innovative ways to make the best of your situation. Thanks to Sam when I enter Citi Field it's a breeze. Little things in life do go a long way.

I want to personally thank Sam for his kind and professional way of treating people.

As the baseball season is coming to a close, the most disappointing part is not being about to say hello to Sam on a regular basis until next April.

However I plan to stay in touch with him in the offseason. He'll be checking up on us through my blog. For that I'm very grateful.

For those of you who read my blog regularly, I greatly appreciate it. If you share a similar interest and/or you need assistance or advice please don't hesitate to ask me for help. I'll be more than happy to guide you along to make your life better.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 9/12 in review

2011-09-23T22:42:00.001-04:00

After entertaining and enjoying company over the 9/11 weekend, I got back to my normal local routine as I went to Citi Field after work Monday night, Tuesday night and Wednesday night.

As for the games I saw, the Mets played the surging Washington Nationals who recently got their young phenom Stephen Strasburg back after he underwent surgery that kept him out of action for a year. Ironically the King and I saw him last pitch in Philadelphia on August 21, 2010. That was first and only time we've seen him pitch in person. He looked great until he hurt his arm in the 5th inning.

Strasburg pitched in Washington on Sunday so he missed pitching at Citi Field. The Nationals didn't need him as they beat the Mets in the three games I saw them play. They won by the scores of 3-2 Monday and Tuesday night and 2-0 on Wednesday night.

Thankfully I was working Thursday afternoon as the Nationals completed the four game sweep of the Mets.
I went home after work to rest up Thursday night. I wound up with a rare Friday night off due to the odd schedule making. Both the Mets and Yankees were on the road for the weekend.

Speaking of the weekend, the King and I were joined by our friends and royalty regulars Manny Morales, Frank Anichiarico and Al Linderman on Saturday as I rented a car from Avis for the weekend and I drove us down to Baltimore to see the Orioles play the Angels at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Before the game, we met up with our pal Peter Agnew who lives in Baltimore and his friend Jim who joined us as well. We all went to one of our favorite places when we go down there, that being Looney's Pub. As usual, the food and service was second to none. Billy the chef cooked us up some great chicken wings and burgers. Manny in particular was raving about it. It was music to my ears. Royalty aims to please not tease. When I write the script, people aren't disappointed with the results.

After we all enjoyed the great meal we headed over to the ballpark. I want to thank Peter for accomodating us all by getting us the tickets. As always, he gave us his version of royal treatment.

I always looking forward to going to Baltimore just so I can meet up with Peter. He's such a good man.
After the game we saw which the Orioles won 6-2, we drove back home. The game was over in the first inning as the Orioles scored five runs off Angels' starter Ervin Santana who the King and I saw throw a no-hitter in Cleveland on July 27th. After getting roughed up in the first inning, Santana settled down but he dug too deep of a hole for himself and his team to dig out of. Zach Britton of the Orioles pitched well for seven innings allowing just three hits and one run to earn the victory.

Sunday the King and I went to MetLife Stadium to see the Jets play the Jacksonville Jaguars. We met up with our friend and royalty regular, Rich Wolber aka Staten Island Rich who joined us for the Jet game.
The Jets came out like a house on fire as they built an early 9-0 lead early in the first quarter. They went on to cruise to a dominant 32-3 beating of the Jaguars. It was quite a contrast from their subpar opening game performance against the Cowboys which they were very fortunate to win.

After the game, we drove down to Philadelphia to see the Phillies play the Cardinals in Sunday night baseball at Citizens Bank Park.

The Cardinals were trying to keep their playoff hopes alive and they did by beating the Phillies, 5-0 behind Chris Carpenter who threw eight shutout innings to earn the victory for the Redbirds.

After the game, I drove us back home and another week was in the books.

Stay tuned for the special post I'm going to write about a guy who always makes our visit to Citi Field worth it the moment he greets us when we step foot on the premises.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty entertains company from out of town over the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 weekend Part Two!

2011-09-23T08:17:00.001-04:00

After getting a surprise visit on Friday night, I got a planned visit over the 9/11 weekend.

Saturday morning I arranged to meet a guy from San Diego named Dave Block. I spoke to Dave at the end of July when I was on my big road trip. He told me he wanted to come to NYC for the 9/11 weekend.
We wrote back and forth and we finally got to meet up in person.

In addition, I met up with a few special ladies who represent the SADS Foundation. They were Vice President Laura Wall and their CEO Alice. They were at Citi Field to promote awareness for this deadly disease that affects young people. I was privileged and honored to meet a family who had a history of this disease in their family but thankfully the young girls have been tested and they've been cleared of this disease. That was a refreshing and remarkable story that they can tell to others who have a family history.

For further details of this weekend, please see the wonderful post below that Dave did on his blog, http://mygratitudelife.wordpress.com/

Dave is known as the "gratitude guy".

http://mygratitudelife.wordpress.com/2011/09/14/day-190-my-visit-to-new-york-city-on-911-weekend/

I want to personally thank Dave, Laura and Alice for taking the time to meet up with me.

It was an absolute pleasure to meet and greet them.

I plan to see them again in the future.

Stay tuned for my w/o 9/12 in review as I continue to try and play catch up.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty entertains company from out of town over the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 weekend Part One!

2011-09-21T20:08:00.001-04:00

On Friday night, the King and I were at Taste of Dolly's having dinner before the Mets and Cubs game at Citi Field. While we were eating I got a call from some people we met when we were in Tokyo, Japan back in 2000 to see the Mets ironically play the Cubs to open the season. They were none other than Dennis and Sue Kelly, who were originally from Long Island. Back in 1980, they moved to Irvine, California which is near Anaheim and they've been out there since.

Over the years, we've stayed in touch and we've taken turns visiting each other a number of times. This time they returned to NYC along with Dennis' brother Bob, who lives Virginia Beach, Virginia. The King and I recently saw Bob in March when we went down South to Norfolk.

They said they were on their way to Citi Field and they needed tickets for the game. They called the right person as I was able to arrange to get them what they needed. I wound up meeting them outside the ballpark with tickets for the game. They were very grateful that I came through on last minute notice. We proceeded to go inside and we all enjoyed each other's company as well as the game. The Mets won in dramatic fashion, 5-4 as Justin Turner delivered the game winning single after the Cubs fought back to tie the game in top of the ninth inning.

After the game, we all went to Donovan's Pub in Woodside for a victory meal and some drinks. Dennis and Sue had gone there with us another time in the past. After we enjoyed our food and drinks, we said our goodbyes and we parted ways.

I want to thank them for coming back home if you will. They're all big Met fans and at least despite the rollercoaster season it's been for the Mets, I'm glad they got to see them win. Dennis and Sue came to see Citi Field for the first time. Bob had been there a few times already.

I hope to return to Southern California in the future so we can arrange to meet up again.

Stay tuned for Part 2 from that weekend as more special guests came in to NYC to visit and remember that horrible day back in 2001.

Thank you for reading and following.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 9/19

2011-09-19T08:11:00.000-04:00

Here's the game plan:

Monday September 19th Rams at Giants 8:30PM

Tuesday September 20th Rays at Yankees 7:05PM

Wednesday September 21st Rays at Yankees 7:05PM

Thursday September 22nd Rays at Yankees 7:05PM

Friday September 23rd Phillies at Mets 7:10PM

Saturday September 24th Phillies at Mets 1:10PM

Red Sox at Yankees 4:10PM

Sunday September 25th Phillies at Mets 1:10PM

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.

Stay tuned for my w/o 9/12 in review.

Please bear with me as I continue to try to play catch up. I'm falling further behind but I plan to get up to date as soon as I can.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 9/5 in review

2011-09-17T08:55:00.001-04:00

View from Section 319

After I returned from the Heartland Sunday night, I continued my adventurous holiday weekend by renting a car at Avis on Monday Labor Day morning.

I drove back to Astoria to pick up the King and off to Yankee Stadium we went to see the Yankees play the Baltimore Orioles at 1:05PM.

We wound up seeing a wild game that resembled batting practice as the Yankees held a 8-7 lead after just three innings. Robinson Cano hit a grand slam to help fuel the Yankee offense.

The scoring calmed down a bit as the game wore on as the Yankees prevailed, 11-10.

In the top of the ninth inning we positioned ourselves by the elevators so we could make a fast getaway. Upon doing so, we saw a familiar face. It was none other than Joe Neubauer who we know from going to Yankee games as well as other local area sporting events.

Joe has a unique distinction of attending every Yankee home game since June 1975 so he says. In addition, he's gone to every Major League All-Star Game since 1982 plus the one at old Yankee Stadium in 1977.
Needless to say, Joe said he'll be going to Kansas City next July for the All-Star Game. I told him I just got back from there. I told him what to expect since he said he's never been there before.

While we were talking he asked where we were going after the game. We said we're going to Philadelphia to see the Phillies play the Braves. He asked if he could join us, I responded sure we have room, the back seat is empty. He said let me call me my wife and check with her. His wife gave him the okay to go. With that being said, the King and I had unexpected company. We proceeded to walk to the car and off to Philadelphia we went.
Cliff Lee,
Joe said he went to Citizens Bank Park one time back in 2007. It was nice to be able to take there so he could see what I think is arguably one of the best new modern ballparks.

As for the game we saw there, it was quite the contrast of the game we witnessed at Yankee Stadium. In this game, we saw one of the game's best pitchers pitch in Cliff Lee who started and finished the game for the Phillies. He pitched masterfully as he shut down the Atlanta Braves, 9-0 allowing just five hits as lived up to his nickname "Completlee".

As a baseball fan, it was a joy to watch him pitch. He dodged the rain drops that fell on and off during the game to continue his recent domination after getting off to a slow start early in the season.

After the game, I drove the King back to work in Manhattan. He works at the Post Office at Grand Central Station. Just before I dropped him off we let Joe out at a bus stop so he could catch a bus to the Upper East side where he lives. Joe couldn't thank us enough for taking him. He said he would love to do it again sometime. It was a pleasure to have him with us.

I proceeded to take myself home and I returned the car Tuesday morning before I went back to work.
After work Tuesday I was planning to go to Yankee Stadium but it was raining so I went home first to have dinner. I met up with the King and we waited to see if indeed they were going to eventually play. They did but with the game not starting until 11:08PM I decided I'll just stay home. The King went since he starts work at 2AM so it's somewhat on the way so it made sense for him to go. As for me, I was exhausted from all the traveling I did over the weekend. In retrospect, it was a blessing in disguise.

Wednesday night after work I had another night off which allowed me to catch up on things at home.
Thursday I wound up getting out of work early so I could attend the doubleheader between the Mets and Braves at Citi Field.

Despite the sparse gathering at the ballpark, I got to see many familiar faces which included Charlie O'Reilly who's another road tripper. In addition, Vincent Ascanio and his father Ralph were present and accounted for.
As for the games we saw, the Mets wound up falling behind 3-0 in top of the first inning. They came right back to take the lead in the bottom half of the first as Jason Bay hit a grand slam to give the Mets a 4-3 lead. The Braves eventually regained the lead and they held on to win game one, 6-5.

In the night cap, the Braves completed the sweep as they beat the Mets, 5-1 to take both games of the twin bill.

Stay tuned as I'm going to do some special posts that will capture the events that transpired over the 9/11 weekend here in the New York City area. It was memorable and unforgettable in more ways than one.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty meets up with Superfan Chris Coats at Kauffman Stadium!

2011-09-15T21:28:00.001-04:00

Superfan Chris Coats and I

I think I jumped the gun in my last post saying my trip to the Heartland was complete.

After having an amazing breakfast, I went to Kauffman Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals and their Superfan Chris Coats who I saw in May when he came to Yankee Stadium to see the Royals play the Yankees.

Chris is a really good kid. He was all dressed up in his Royal attire which included his cape. I was thrilled to be able to watch most of the game with him. We got to catch up on things. He said he was hoping to go to Florida to see the Marlins for their last series of the season. I hope he gets there. He goes to all the Royal home games as well as a number of their road games. With that being said, he obviously enjoys being punished. In other words, he's a true fan. Good for him.

Unfortunately I had to catch a flight at 6:15PM so I couldn't possibly stay to the end of this drawn out game. Thankfully Shelley Duncan of the Cleveland Indians hit two home runs including his second one with two outs in the eighth to extend the Indians lead from 7-3 to 9-3. I needed to leave but I knew he was coming up so I said to myself I have to watch him bat. He made me look good as he blasted another home run. With that, I left the ballpark. The Royals added three runs in the ninth inning but they fell short, 9-6.

I got back to the car and I went to get something to eat at Hi Boy Drive In which is a place Dorothy recommended. I went there last year when we visited. So I wisely took her advice and I got a double cheeseburger with onion rings and a vanilla shake.

I proceeded to drive 30 miles to the airport. I dropped off my car rental and I went to the airport and I ate my food. I wound up with just enough time so I didn't have to break a sweat trying to catch my flight home on Frontier Airlines.

I got back home in one piece and with that another successful getaway was in the books.

Stay tuned as I do my w/o 9/5 in review. In addition, I'll be doing some other special posts as well. Please bear with me as I continue to play catch up.

As always, thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Farewell breakfast at Cracker Barrel with Dorothy and Company!

2011-09-15T21:05:00.001-04:00

Dot and I

Dorothy Straney dropped me off at my hotel after we spent an eventful day together with her Mom. I couldn't thank her enough for being so good to me. I had a blast.

She told me her boyfriend Joel who I've met on a few occasions including back in 2008 when he visited NYC for the very first time wanted to see me.

With that being said, I asked Dorothy if she wanted to meet up for breakfast. She said she would that way Joel could see me again. They had plans in the afternoon so it worked out well for all of us.

I suggested going to Cracker Barrel which is one of my favorite places to go for breakfast when I'm on the road since they don't exist here in NYC. Dorothy said we all love that place. That was music to my ears. We arranged to meet up in the morning for a hearty country style breakfast which was not too far from my hotel. Dorothy told me exactly how to get there so it worked out perfectly.

We all indulged in an amazing meal together. We got to chat some more. It was a pleasure to see Joel again. He's a really good guy. His presence made my visit to the Heartland complete.

After we got done eating, I wanted to pick up the tab for the table but Dorothy wouldn't let me. She said you can leave the tip which I did. We had a waitress named Allie who was excellent. I'm not used to getting such first class service. I'm only used to delivering it. She was really great. It was reflected in the generous tip I left her.

Stay tuned for the next installment of this journey. After bidding farewell to Dorothy, Mom and Joel, I went on my way to Kauffman Stadium to see the Royals play before catching my flight home to NYC.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Steak N Shake

2011-09-15T20:35:00.001-04:00

Steak N Shake

When I go on the road especially to the Midwest, I always try my best to go to Steak N Shake. They've been around since 1934. They are known for their steakburgers and shakes.

Some of them are open 24 hours so you can always stop in for a late night snack or meal. Young people like to hang out in them too.

They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner all day and night. They're reasonably priced so you definitely won't go broke.

On our way back from the football game, we wound up stopping at one in Lawrence, Kansas. I wound up getting a shake to go as did Dorothy's Mom.

It was tremendous as usual. Sometimes when we're on a trip we stop in and sit down and have a late night meal when time allows.

I strongly suggest that if and when you happen to be on the road and especially if you haven't experienced Steak N Shake before that you give it a shot.

I know you won't be disappointed. Your doctor may not approve but life is too short and you should always enjoy the ride.

I'm just giving you my sound advice. I hope you take me up on it when the opportunity presents itself.

I know if you decide to come with me somewhere and there's one in the area you know we're stopping to satisfy the craving. Please keep that in mind when you want to make a road trip.

Royalty knows all the good places to eat on the road from plenty of years of experience.

All you have to do is let me know when you're ready to go so I can accomodate your needs and wants.

Thanks for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty finally sees the Kansas State Wildcats win!

2011-09-15T08:19:00.001-04:00

Dot and I

After the volleyball game we saw, we walked back to Dot's car and we had a little tailgate party. She brought burgers and hot dogs and we cooked them and we ate.

After eating, we headed over to the Bill Snyder Family Stadium, home of the K-State Wildcats.
Thanks to Scott Garrett, the assistant athletic director who arranged to get me a $10 ticket for the game which was right next to Dot's in section 8 row 45.

I want to personally thank Scott for being so accomodating. That turned out to be a very wise decision since the game was sold out. Dot said she hadn't seen the stadium that full in a few years. All the benches were filled up with people all dressed up in purple. The fans brought their pride and passion with them.

It was a great experience for me finally getting the Wildcat off my back.

I've seen the Wildcats on the road back in October 2002 in Boulder, Colorado but they lost to the Buffaloes that day in an exciting game, 35-31. More recently at Yankee Stadium I was at the Pinstripe Bowl that Dorothy and her Mom came in for last December and they fell short to Syracuse, 36-28.

This time they were playing the Eastern Kentucky Colonels at home. The question was with me in the house would they be able to "pop" the colonels.

For most of the game it looked dim. The game was scoreless into the third quarter. The Colonels finally got on the scoreboard to take a 7-0 lead. The Wildcats cut the lead to 7-3. Despite committing five turnovers the Wildcats put themselves in position to win the game. They wound up scoring a touchdown with 1:39 left to take the lead at 10-7. They wound up holding on for the slim victory as I escaped Manhattan with a W.

It was a thrill to be there. In matter of fact, we wound up sitting by some young people. One of which was a young man named Josh Allen. Josh and I spoke during the game and he said he's been a football Giant fan since he was 4 years old. I hope he gets to come to NYC some day so I can arrange to take him to a Giant game. He goes to school in Minnesota at a school called Bethany he said.

Stay tuned as the next installment of my heartland getaway continues.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty sees Volleyball played at Kansas State!

2011-09-14T18:01:00.001-04:00

Mom and I

After Dorothy gave me a great tour of the Kansas State campus, she dropped off her Mom and I at the Ahearn Fieldhouse, home of the K-State Volley Cats.

Dorothy went to park the car near the football stadium in preparation for the main event, the K-State football game at 6PM.

She met up with us inside as we saw the visiting BYU Lady Cougars beat the Volley Cats in three sets. The scores were 25-23, 25-19 and 25-23.

Regardless of the outcome, it was great time watching the ladies battle it out. It was something different and it was entertaining. Needless to say, the company couldn't be beat.

After the game, we took a nice walk back to the car and we had a little tailgate party before the football game.
Dorothy came prepared with her little barbecue. It was relaxing as we indulged in a nice pre game meal.

After we ate, we headed in to the Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium, home of the Wildcats.

Stay tuned as I recap the experience I had at the football game.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

2012 Major League Baseball Schedule is Released!

2011-09-14T12:46:00.001-04:00

Please see the link below for all the details.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/schedule/?tcid=mm_mlb_schedule#date=04/04/2012

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/schedule/team_by_team.jsp

http://bizofbaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5420:mlb-released-2012-schedule-with-less-days-more-time-off-around-asg&catid=30:mlb-news&Itemid=42

If and when you need my expertise in planning your 2012 baseball road trips please feel free to contact me.

I plan to dissect the schedule to put together the most creative trip plans that the schedule allows.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman