Royalty Tours USA

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Royalty is going to Detroit Rock City in November!

In November, Royalty will be doing a Motown weekend.

The game plan is as follows:

The King and our friend, Frank Anichiarico will be joining us as we go head to Detroit to see Frank's beloved Lions and our Jets play that weekend and then some.

Saturday, November 6th we have a flight booked on Delta Airlines that departs NY LaGuardia Airport at 6:05AM Eastern Time and it's scheduled to land in Detroit, Michigan at 8:01AM Eastern Time.

Upon arrival, I'll be renting a car and we're going to drive to East Lansing to see the Michigan State Spartans play the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers  in a college football game that hopefully kicks off at Noon local time. Please note the game time is still listed as TBA.

In addition, the University of Illnois plays Michigan at the Big House that day too. That game time is also TBA. We've been there done that. But if somebody wants to go there let me know. I'll drop you off in Ann Arbor and pick you up.

After the college football game, we have a minor league hockey game in nearby Toledo, Ohio. The Toledo Walleye of the ECHL host the Kalamazoo Wings at 7PM that night. That makes for a convenient doubleheader assuming the football game is an early start.

Sunday, November 7th, we'll be back in Detroit at Ford Field to see the Detroit Lions take on the Jets. Kickoff is scheduled for 1PM local time.

After the game, we're driving 30 miles North on I-75 to Auburn Hills to see some NBA action. The Golden State Warriors with ex-Knick David Lee are in town to play the Detroit Pistons at 6PM.

Monday, November 8th we'll be flying home. Our flight on Delta Airlines departs Detroit at 7:25AM Eastern Time and lands at LaGuardia at 9:17AM Eastern Time. Upon arrival, I'm off to work.

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

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

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Titans take advantage of Giants miscues & lack of discipline, pull away and roll on the road, 29-10!

Sunday afternoon at the New Meadowlands Stadium, the Tennessee Titans took advantage of some sloppy plays by the Giants as well as some stupid costly penalties to cruise to victory, 29-10!

The Giants started this game well they were able to move the ball against stingy Titan defense. But Eli Manning had threw a few bad passes that killed the drives. The first was wasn't totally Eli's fault as the ball was deflected on the opening series of the game. The second one was absolutely inexcusable. On third and goal from the 6 yard line, Eli was scrambling to find a receiver, instead he had a brain fart if you will. He made an ill advised decision as he flipped the ball towards the end zone, Will Witherspoon of the Titans tipped the ball and his teammate Jason McCourty who played his college ball at nearby Rutgers intercepted the ball in the end zone for a touchback. So instead of a field goal attempt from a short distance, the Giants came away with no points.

As a result, the Titans jumped out to a early 10-0 lead. Rob Bironas kicked a 48 yard field goal to open the scoring. Chris Johnson who finished the game with 125 yards rushing scored the first of his two touchdowns from a yard out.

The Giants came back to eventually tie the game at the half at 10. Their place kicker, Lawrence Tynes connected on a 50 yard field goal to get them on the board after he missed one from 53 yards out. Ahmad Bradshaw added a 10 yard touchdown run to get the Giants even on the scoreboard despite the almost 2 to 1 margin in total offense.

The second half was the difference in this one. The Titans special teams set them up near midfield to open the third quarter which put them in position to succeed. That drive stalled but it set the stage for the Giant debacle to take place.

The Giants were pinned in at their own 1 yard line thanks to the great Titans special teams play. It appeared that the Giants got a big first down on third and long on a 44 yard pass to Mario Manningham but Ahmad Bradshaw got called for a chop block in the end zone which resulted in a safety for the Titans. The Titans took the lead for good, 12-10!

They got the ball back on the free kick and once again their special teams set them up in great field position at the their 49 yard line. That drive ended with a 13 yard touchdown pass to another former Rutgers player, Kenny Britt which gave the Titans a 19-10 lead.   

The Giants were attempting to get back into the game late in the third quarter but Ahmad Bradshaw fumbled and lost the ball at the 5 yard line killing their golden oppportunity to do so. To add insult to injury, David Diehl was called for a personal foul for unnecessary roughness which brought the ball out to the 20 yard line.

In addition, in the fourth quarter, Kareem McKenzie was whistled for two personal fouls for unnecessary roughness. The Giants had five of them for the game. As professionals, that's totally unacceptable behavior.

Furthermore, the Giants' Lawrence Tynes missed two field goals and Eli Manning threw two interceptions despite his 386 yards passing which proves that statistics don't always tell the true story. These days statistics are a fantasy football fan's dream.

Overall, it was a nightmare of a day  for the hometown Giants.

They play the Bears in prime time Sunday night. For their sake, they better get their act together. The Bears are 3-0. Royalty will be there again so check back for the details of that outcome.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty meets & greets a few Giant fans at the game on 9/26!

Tom Ziemba & Jen
After I escorted my clients to their seats and I stopped to visit a fellow roadtripper, it was time for me to go to my seat in the upper deck so I could get ready to watch and keep the play by play of the game.

I decided to sit a little lower than my assigned seat. By doing so I lucked out in more ways than one.

First of all, I got a slightly better view that way.

Secondly and more importantly, I wound up sitting next to some really nice young people. They were Tom Ziemba and his girlfriend Jen as you can see in the picture above.

Early in the game I overheard Tom talking about the Ravens as he was watching the out of town scoreboard and I took note of his football knowledge. I was saying to myself this guy knows his football.

Shortly thereafter, I decided to talk to him. He told me he's a big football fan. He said he likes the Giants but he watches all different teams play. I was impressed.

In addition, he told me he played football for a number of years until he blew out his knee.

As the game went on, we kept talking. We exchanged contact information as well. When he heard my name was Gary he said wow my friend who I usually watch football with is also named Gary but he's stationed in Afghanistan now. He said he'll be coming home in a few months and he plans to go to the Giants/Eagles game on December 19th with him.

An interesting note about this game on a personal level for Tom and his girlfriend Jen was that it was their first live football game they've attended in person.

By talking to them, it made for a more memorable experience despite the fact their Giants didn't play well to say the least.

For all the details about the game itself, please stay tuned for my special post regarding that.

I look forward to staying in touch with Tom and Jen. I hope I can arrange to meet them again down the road.

Thank you for reading and following my whereabouts.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Royalty meets up with fellow road tripper, Sean Rowland at the New Meadowlands Stadium on 9/26!

After escorting my clients Joe & Sam to their lower level seats in the second row, I proceeded to make my way towards my seat in the upper level.

On my way there, I arranged to hook up with a fellow road tripper, Sean Rowland on the lower level concourse.

Sean is a nice young man who I had met back at Citi Field on August 1st when he came to see the new stadium for the first time. He wrote his take on his site too. For more details, please see the link below.

Today he was at the New Meadowlands Stadium for the first time. He told me he had read my blog post so he could have an idea of what to expect before he arrived.

I was so happy to hear that. I helped make a difference in another person's life by giving him a preview. That's an example of someone like myself who wants to know before they go so they can find to the road to success easier than others.

I look forward to getting his views on the building too.

He has a great website as well. It's on my blog list. It's called Stadium and Arena Visits.

Here's the link so you can check it and follow his whereabouts if you choose to do so:

http://www.stadiumandarenavisits.com/

Part of the royalty experience includes running into different people that I know or ones I introduce myself to while I'm attending a live sporting event.

With being said, stay tuned for the next post I do which will be an example of that.

I hope you're enjoying the posts as much as I enjoy writing them.

Thank you for following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royal treatment was given to clients at New Meadowlands Stadium on Sunday 9/26!


Sam Kumar & Joe Climenti


The royalty experience was in full effect on Sunday afternoon.

I had the privilege and honor of entertaining a few clients who wanted to see a Giant football game at the New Meadowlands Stadium.

I was able to secure a few tickets that included a parking pass for the Giants/Titans game.

I contacted Joe Climenti late Saturday night and we arranged to work out a deal to make this happen.
I wound up meeting Joe along with his friend Sam Kumar who lives in Queens. As a result, I was very fortunate and grateful to have gotten a ride to the game with them. In addition, on the way back they dropped me off by Yankee Stadium where I was going to see the Yankee/Red Sox game.

With royalty in charge, everything worked to perfection.

Joe & Sam had a great time despite the outcome of the game. They loved the seats they had in section 103 row 2 in the end zone. They were right on top on the action as you can see in the picture I took of them.
They can't wait to go back. That's an example of what happens when you deal with royalty.

If and when you do so, you're always left thirsting for more. Once you get a taste of royal treatment, you realize that it's the only way to go. You've tried the rest now you finally found the best. Why would you settle for less?

Since I was able to get a ride to and from the game with them, I was able to show them some of my tricks of the trade on how to avoid traffic both ways.

When Joe asked Sam who was driving would you remember the way we went. Sam responded no! That's why Gary's here to show us the way.

I was so happy to share my extensive travel knowledge with these guys especially since they were so appreciative and grateful for the opportunity to see the game. As a result, I saved myself a lot of time and aggravation not having to take a bus and/or train either way this time. It was a win-win situation for all of us.

I hope to have many more great times like this to share but I need to be given the opportunity to show you what royalty can and will do for you.

If you need to get a sample for yourself, please feel free to consult me because if you don't you'll be insulting me.

I don't make promises I can't keep, if I say something then you should take me serious because I know for a fact I will deliver for you.

I hope to have many more success stories in the future to write about.

You could be next. Like the lottery, you never know until you try. The worst I can say is no.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Monday, September 27, 2010

Schedule for w/o 9/27

Here's the game plan:

I plan to spend the week at Citi Field as the Mets play out the string of another disappointing season.

Monday, September 27th Brewers at Mets 7:10PM

Tuesday, September 28th Brewers at Mets 7:10PM

Wednesday, September 29th Brewers at Mets 7:10PM

Thursday, September 30th Brewers at Mets 7:10PM

Friday, October 1st Nationals at Mets 7:10PM

Saturday, October 2nd Nationals at Mets 1:10PM

                                    Tigers at Orioles 7:05PM

Sunday, October 3rd Nationals at Mets 1:10PM

                                  Bears at Giants 8:20PM

Please check back to see it turned out.

Hope everybody has a great week. If you happen to be at Citi Field please feel free to stop by section 516 row 3 and say hello and goodbye to another lost baseball season for the Mets.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 9/20 in review

For the second week in a row I had no nights off between work and play. This past week I spend most of my free time after work in the Bronx in the House that George built.

Speaking of George, the late great owner of the Yankees, George Steinbrenner was honored with a larger than life size plaque in Monument Park in a special ceremony before the Yankees/Rays game on Monday night.

It was a typical Yankee first class production. They had the current team as well as many former players who had the privilege of wearing pinstripes during the George Steinbrenner era which was from 1973 until he passed away on July 13th on hand as well as family members to honor the "Boss". Those included former manager Joe Torre, Don Mattingly, Reggie Jackson, Roy White, Gene Michael, David Cone, David Wells and Tino Martinez to name a few.

George was always remembered for charity work and his relentlessness to have to win at all cost. George symbolized capitalism. He was referred to as the greatest owner in professional team sports. It's hard to dispute that fact.

After the touching ceremony, the Yankees in a George like fashion went on to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays, 8-6!

The Yankees roughed up Rays starter Matt Garza in the process. Curtis Granderson led the way by hitting two home runs including a three run blast that hit high off the foul pole in rightfield that give the Yankees a 8-4 lead at the time.

Tuesday night it was game 2 of this crucial series for first place. The Yankees stormed out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning. They went on to cruise to an easy 8-3 victory as they opened a 2 and a half lead over the Rays for first place.

Wednesday night the game started and the Rays lead 1-0 in the bottom of the third inning when the sky opened up and the game was delayed for 2 hours and 11 minutes due to rain. they finally resumed playing at 10:11PM. The Rays tacked on a few runs to take a 3-1 lead going to the bottom of the sixth inning. It was 11:15PM and I needed to get home at a somewhat reasonable hour so I decided to leave. It was a case of deseperate times since I very rarely leave a game early unless it's a special situation like this.

The Rays hit back to back solo home runs courtesy of Carl Crawford & Evan Longoria in the seventh inning to extend their lead and they eventually won the game, 7-2! It should be noted the game ended at 12:34AM. I got home a minute earlier so if I would have stayed until the end I wouldn't have gotten home until around 2AM assuming I made the necessary train connections.

In retospect, I made the right decision. Thankfully I did. I was tired at work Thursday.

Thursday night after work as tired as I was it was time to go back to the Bronx for more punishment. Actually the Yankees were the ones who got beat up. This was suppose to be a marquee pitching matchup on paper between two Cy Young award candidates in the Rays' David Price and the Yankees' CC Sabathia. Neddless to say, it didn't live up to the hype. In matter of fact, CC took a bath if you will in this one on the mound. He got lit up for 10 hits and he gave up 7 runs as the Rays pulled back within a half game of first place with a 10-3 win!

Friday night the hated Boston Red Sox came back to the Bronx to see if they could keep their slim playoff hopes alive. They got to Yankee starter Andy Pettitte in the second and fourth inning and they knocked him out of the game after they touched him up for 7 runs to take a 7-1 lead after 4 innings. They added 3 more in the fifth inning to go up 10-1. The Yankees thanks to Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez who both hit two home runs got within 2 runs but they couldn't finish the comeback as they fell short, 10-8! Please note that A-Rod hit his 609th and 610th career home runs.

Saturday afternoon it was game 2 of the series against the Red Sox. The Red Sox behind 7 strong innings by starter and  Cy Young award candidate Jon Lester shut down the Yankee offense as they won again, this time by a score of 7-3! A-Rod hit his 611th home run in the loss.

Sunday afternoon I went to see the Giants play the Tennessee Titans at the New Meadowlands Stadium. The Titans took total of a Giants team that couldn't help themselves from self-destructing time and time again.

For all the details of this Giant debacle, please stay tuned for my special posts regarding the game and more importantly the Royalty experience. Trust me it will be worth the wait.

After the Giant game, it was time for me to attend Sunday night baseball in the Bronx as the Yankees were looking to salvage a game in this three series and put a dagger towards the Red Sox slim playoff hopes.

This was a well pitched game for 7 innings between starters Daisuke Matsusaka aka "Dice-K" and Phil Hughes. Then as usual the bullpens took over and they prolonged the agony.

A-Rod hit his 612th career home run to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning. The Red Sox rallied against Mariano Rivera of all people to tie the game again.The game wound up going into extra innings and the Yankees eventually won in the 10th inning  after Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon blew the game and relief pitcher Hideki Okajima walked Juan Miranda with the bases loaded with one out to give them the victory.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman                   

Friday, September 24, 2010

Official Review of Volcanoes Stadium in Salem-Keizer, Oregon

Here's my official review of Volcanoes Stadium in Salem-Keizer, Oregon.

http://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/volcanoes-stadium-s313/

I've been helping out my buddy Paul Swaney by doing reviews for him when time allows me to which these days is very rare.

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

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     

Official Review of Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon

Here's my official review of Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon.


http://stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/autzen-stadium-s384/

I've been helping out my buddy Paul Swaney by doing reviews for him when time allows me to which these days is very rare.

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.

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

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Coach USA Bus experience going back from New Meadowlands Stadium on Sunday after Jet game

After the nightmare I experienced with the train after the Jet game on Monday against the Ravens, I decided I'll take the bus back like I've done for the last 5 years on a regular basis.

The experience was slightly better than the train mess.

To get the bus you need to walk out of the Pepsi gate and go towards the Timex building to pick up the bus. It's good exercise. In addition, you get to see those who drove and had parking passes sit in bumper to bumper traffic trying to exit the parking lot since they block off some of the exits.

Once I got to the pick up area for the bus, there was a long line but since they had a number of buses lined up it moved quickly. You need to make sure you bring your patience when you go to and from the game.

Once I got on the bus it wasn't that bad. There was traffic leaving the stadium area.

Once we got on the highway to go towards the Lincoln Tunnel I noticed traffic was building up again. I was sitting towards the middle of the bus. I yelled out to the driver to use the service road since I know from my own past driving experiences that is a great way to cut down on some of the Sunday traffic we were heading into. The driver didn't take my advice at first. Luckily shortly thereafter he had a second chance to get off and wisely he did.

Of course the people on the bus get a laugh and they didn't have a clue of how much I knew.

After that we managed to move along. There was a problem with the police on the scene that was causing the added delay.

Finally we got to the Lincoln Tunnel and we went right through.

The bus dropped us off at the Port Authority Bus Terminal. I then proceeded to take the subway back to Queens to pick up my car and I drove myself home.

After all, it worked out well all things considered.

The bottom line is no matter what way you go you have to deal with the consequences. Just prepare yourself mentally and you'll get through it.

When you need sound advice you should consult Royalty so you always know before you go.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Jets turn back and double up the Pats, 28-14!

Royalty was in the building
Sunday afternoon at the New Meadowlands Stadium, the Jets took their first step towards showing the division rivals that the division is going to be theirs when it's all said and done.

After spending the majority of the first quarter on the bench except for three plays, the Jet offense led by Mark Sanchez was ready to take flight once and for all.

Finally the "training wheels" were off for Mark. On the first offensive play from scrimmage, he aired it out. The pass he threw was intended for tight end Dustin Keller over the middle down the field. Keller missed it as it went through his outstretched hands. After that, Mark Sanchez settled in nicely.

The offense moved the ball well the rest of the afternoon without making any mistakes. They looked like the offense that got to the AFC Championship Game in January.

Mark in his second year hopefully proved that he's for real. When I saw him play in Houston for the very first time and in person I thought he was the real deal.

He looked good against the Giants in the first preseason game for the time he played.

Since then all I've heard is Mark is no good. I beg to differ.

He's in his second year, this was only the second game of the young season. He deserves a second chance.
On Monday night, he was restricted due to the awful play calling.

Sunday was a different story and Mark showed the nay sayers he's better than they think. Time will tell.
On this day the offense was impressive to say the least. Mark spread the wealth and he utilized all his weapons. I can't wait until week 5 when Santonio Holmes returns.

Dustin Keller had a monster game and Braylon Edwards used his height to reel in a touchdown pass as well a 2 point conversion which was pivotal in this victory.

LaDainlian Tomlinson aka the L Train was running like the wind. He didn't show his age on this day.

He was another guy that Jet fans had their doubts about. Not me I like veterans who have the experience to help the younger players succeed.

The L Train isn't going to derail. He's a welcome addition and it's only a matter of time that he proves to the fan base that it was a sound decision.

On the defensive side of the ball, with Darrelle Revis coming up lame on the play of the game when Patriots wide receiver reeled in a touchdown pass from Tom Brady with his right hand. I was left in amazement by the spectacular grab he made.

After that the Jet defense clamped down and rallied to shut down the Patriots the rest of the game.

Antonio Cromartie aka "Cro" made of for the loss of Revis. He stepped up his game and he picked off another pass.

Special teams were great again. They limited the kickoff and punt returns to minimal damage.

The kicking game was solid thanks to Nick Folk who made 2 more field goals and punter Steve Weatherford who punted the ball very well all day long.

Overall, it was a great team effort in all facets of the game.

More importantly, the team showed much better discipline. They didn't take costly penalties to hurt themselves.

The bottom line is the season was saved.

Next up Sunday night in Miami in prime time. This is a huge game that can go a step further in helping the Jets as they try to put a straggle hold on the division title.

Please note that Ira from Staten Island who calls the local sports radio stations on a regular basis will be there.

I have the privilege of sitting with Ira at the Jet home games in section 312 row 13 on the 30 yard line. In addition, I do plan to hook up with him on the road as well since he's going to all the road games too.

If you bleed green then I strongly suggest that you talk to me.

Royalty strives to make the impossible possible. If you want to find out how then contact me.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Schedule for w/o 9/20

Here's the game plan:

Monday, September 20th Rays at Yankees 7:05PM

Tuesday, September 21st Rays at Yankees 7:05PM

Wednesday, September 22nd Rays at Yankees 7:05PM

Thursday, September 23rd Rays at Yankees 7:05PM

Friday, September 24th Red Sox at Yankees 7:05PM

Saturday, September 25th Red Sox at Yankees 4:10PM

Sunday, September 26th Titans at Giants 1PM

                                      Red Sox at Yankees 8:05PM

Please check back to see how it turned out.

Hope everybody has a great week.

Thank you for your continued support.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 9/13 in review

This past week was a busy one. It's was all work and play. There was no time to catch up on rest.

Monday night after work I went to see the Jets play the Ravens in the first Monday Night Football game at the New Meadowlands Stadium. You can see all the details here.

Tuesday night I went to Citi Field to see the Pirates play the Mets. R.A. Dickey who's been the Mets best pitcher throughout this season, delivered a complete game gem. He lost the shutout in the ninth inning after he gave up a lead off triple. The Mets wound up winning the game, 9-1!

Wednesday night I was back at Citi Field again and we had some special guests from Scranton, PA. Our friends Alvin Pachter and his father, Howard, made their first visit to Citi Field this season. Earlier this year we saw them in their backyard when we went to see the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees play. It's always a pleasure to see these special people. As for the game we saw, the Mets fell behind 5-0 then they came back by scoring 7 runs in the fourth inning to take a 7-5 lead. They added another run which proved to be the difference as they hung on for a 8-7 victory.

Thursday night was a nightmare getting to and from Citi Field. I left work like I normally do but it started raining at that time. I waited for it to let up and I walked to the subway to go to Citi Field. My path to the game was impeded by a fast moving tornado that left property damaged in the form of downed trees and it caused delays on the 7 train which goes to Citi Field. I wound up waiting a half hour before they informed us that the 7 train wasn't running in either direction then I met the King and we decided to take an alternate route to the game. We wound up catching up with Alvin Pachter who went home and came back this time with his friend Phillip Cutler. They were driving acrross the Triboro bridge which allowed us to meet them in Astoria. We hitched a ride to Citi Field. What a mess it was thanks to mother nature. We finally arrived at Citi Field in the fourth inning an hour after the game started.

As for the game, the Mets behind Mike Pelfrey who's been pitching well delivered 7 more strong innings as the Mets went on to sweep the Pirates, 6-2!

After the game I endured another nightmare going home. Luckily for me my car was in one piece when I got back to it after the game. The block I parked on had trees knocked down from the tornado that ripped through the area. It took me a little over 2 hours to get home. Mind you I only drove 10 miles. It was beyond belief how much damage was done in a short period of time.

Friday I went to work and headed back to Citi Field to see the Mets try to spoil the playoff hopes of  their division rival, the Atlanta Braves. The Mets took an early 3-0 lead but starting pitcher Jonathon Niese gave up 6 unearned runs thanks to an error by David Wright but Niese can take alot of the blame since he walked opposing pitcher Tommy Hanson not once but twice in this game. That's a cardinal sin. By doing so, he cost his team the game. The Mets lost, 6-4.

Interesting notes in this game were as follows:

Braves manager Bobby Cox who's retiring at the end of the season was ejected from the dugout for questioning balls and strikes. It was the 158th time he has gotten the boot which padded his own record.

For the Mets, leftfielder Lucas Duda hit his first major league home run.

Saturday I went back to Citi Field for more punishment as the Mets fell again to the Braves, 4-2! Tim Hudson who started for the Braves outpitched Mets rookie Dillon Gee.

Sunday I went to see the Jets take on their divsion rival, the New England Patriots at the New Meadowlands Stadium. The Jets after a slow start turned it around to pick their first win of the season as they beat the Patriots, 28-14!

When I get a chance I'm going to write a detailed post about the game. In addition, I'll do a post regarding the transportation in particular after the game.

Please stay tuned for those.

Thank you for reading and following along. 

Yours truly,

Gary Herman                   

Video of change over from Giants to Jets at New Meadowlands Stadium!

Here's an interesting video of how they change the field setup from the Giants to the Jets at the New Meadowlands Stadium.

Here's the link:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Time-lapse-video-of-Giants-to-Jets-change-at-New?urn=nfl-270269

Enjoy!

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Ravens make a "Bold"in statement in first Monday Night Football game at New Meadowlands Stadium!

I'm in the house
After the Giants played the "first game"  at the New Meadowlands Stadium on Sunday afternoon, the Jets opened their regular season by playing the first MNF game there.

The Jets started this game well on defense they brought the pressure early and often but it was Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens who in the end came out on top in this one, 10-9!

The Jets forced turnovers but even when they had great field position they wound up settling for 3 Nick Folk field goals.

That's disappointing for a team with Super Bowl expectations.

The offensive game plan was horrible and way too conservative. I personally think Mark Sanchez is a good quarterback but that's when he's allowed to attempt to succeed. Monday night the Jets forgot to take the training wheels off.

Sanchez wasn't allowed to stretch the field. He threw too many short dink and dunk passes. He has a strong arm unlike Chad Pennington. Let him air it out. He has a potential big playmaker in wide receiver Bralyon Edwards. They need to utilize him. The one time they did, they committed an untimely penalty which nullified the big play.

The "L Train" LaDainlian Tomlinson was running well when he was given the chance to do so. Shonn Greene on the hand, fumbled a few times and they kept him on the sidelines too long. He finally came back in the game ice cold and he proceeded to drop a pass that was thrown to him.

The defense played well for the most part but they were forced to be on the field way too long since the offense couldn't stop sputtering.

I hope this was an aberration and the real Jets will show up to play as a team against the Patriots. We'll wait and see about that.

The team needs to be more disciplined going forward. They committed too many foolish penalities at inopportune times. The were flagged 14 different times for 125 yards. That's inexcusable and totally unacceptable. Rex needs to crack the whip.

The team took many dumb penalites on defense such as defensive holding and pass interference which were critical and gave the Ravens first downs when the defense could have been getting off the field.

Even with Darrelle Revis back on his island, his teammates were exposed all night. In particular, rookie Kyle Wilson and newcomer Antonio Cromartie who had a big interception that he returned for 66 yards to put the Jets in great shape to overcome their deficiencies on this night.

The Ravens in the off season made a bold statement when they traded for Anquan Boldin who played for the Arizona Cardinals. By adding Boldin they now have the depth on offense to spread the field for quarterback Joe Flacco.

Boldin in his Raven debut made his presence felt all night. He wound up with 7 receptions for 110 yards. In the process, he made life miserable for the Jets secondary and he forced them to have to pay close attention to his supporting cast too. It proved too much even for this great Jet defense to handle.

The Ravens now have many weapons in their arsenal. In addition, they recently picked up wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh who was released by the Seattle Seahawks. They join veterans Derrick Mason and tight end Todd Heap who looked like the Todd Heap of 5 years ago according to my friend and Raven fan Peter Agnew who joined me for this game. Heap was a beast. He finished the game with 6 catches of 72 yards.

When the Jets made a last gasp effort to try to overcome their mistakes,  Ravens middle linebacker Ray Lewis delivered a thunderous hit on Dustin Keller over the middle helping to seal the deal for the Ravens.

Lewis talked a big game beforehand and he backed it up as his team came out with the narrow victory.

Stay tuned all season to see if the Jets can rebound from this false start.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman             

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

2011 MLB Schedule is now out-contact Royalty Tours USA to help plan your road trips!

Last night Major League Baseball released its 2011 schedule.

For all the details, please click on this link:

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/schedule/?tcid=nav_mlb_schedule#date=03/31/2011

Don't forget that royalty is here willing, ready and able to fulfill your baseball road trip needs to put you in heaven in 2011.

When you want to see the most for the least, just let me know so I can get to work for you. That's what I love to do.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Yankees open New Stadium for first time in 2011!

The Yankees finally open their season at the New Stadium at home in 2011 on Thursday, March 31st against the Detroit Tigers.

For more details, please click on this link:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100914&content_id=14659260&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy

If you need to Yankee games in 2011, royalty should be able to accomodate you directly and/or indirectly.

We'll do our very best to make it happen that's for sure.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

2011 MLB Schedule features exciting matchups!

Please see the link below for all the details:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100914&content_id=14659090&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Stay tuned for the actual schedule.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Post game nightmare for those like me who took the NJ Transit train to the Jet game!

Mob of people attempting to get on the train after the Jet game



Everybody in the media will tell you how great it is to see a game at the New Meadowlands Stadium.

I can agree with that to a point.

Let it be know that the media won't tell you the real facts about going to and from the game. When you go to the Meadowlands be prepared for an adventure regardless of your mode of transportation.

That's where yours truly comes in.

I was fortunate to be able to attend the Giant game on Sunday afternoon as well as the Jet game on Monday night.

I decided to take the train to the game for the first time on Sunday. I normally take the bus from the Port Authority Bus Terminal since I don't have a parking pass and driving there and back is no bargain anyway. In addition, you still have to pay for gas and the ridiculous tolls tool. The train was $10.50 round trip. The bus is $10 round trip. Driving unless that's your only option costs a small fortune plus plenty of aggravation sitting behind the wheel in traffic.

All things considered it wasn't a really bad experience. I managed to get on the train with a minimal delay. I only waited around 20 minutes give or take. The ride from the Stadium to Secauscus Junction was 15 minutes then I had to walk around in a maze and wait to connect with another train that would get me  back to New York Penn Station. After that, I took the NYC subway back to Queens to my car which was parked on the street to get home. It took me around 2 hours from the time I got on line to wait for the train from the stadium to get home.

Monday night was a totally different story as you can see in the picture I took when I was still inside the stadium looking outside.

Yes, I took my time leaving the building. I hate to always be in a rush. After all, I was only going home.

Mind you I still had to wake up early to go to work.

When I saw the mob of people waiting for the train I was absolutely beside myself. I was with my friend Peter Agnew who came up for the weekend from Baltimore. He decided to join me at the game. I wound up meeting him at the seats. He told me he'll go with me after the game since he needed to get back to Secaucus Junction also. Thankfully he did  that way we kept each other company while we waited on line. He's a great guy and we got to talk during and after the game. He said after seeing the hell we had to go through here in the Meadowlands he's very grateful to have the Ravens play next to Camden Yards in downtown Baltimore where the accessibility is night and day. Peter has season tickets for the Ravens on the Club Level.

We finally got outside the stadium and we managed to join the mob scene. Fortunately for us we were able to join the line somewhere in the middle before the barricades were set up. We just kept following people until we were lined up properly. It was a free for all. Once we got in line things seemed to move along. It should be noted a number of people who were behind the barricades started jumping over to cut the line. Some did get stopped but they couldn't possibly have enough security to hold everybody back. There were literally thousands and thousands of people trying to get on the train.

As for the train setup, they have 3 tracks it appears but they weren't that organized to handle this incredible overflow of people. There were people on top of people it was unreal. As the picture tries to show, I wasn't making this up.

Peter and I finally got on the train around 11:25PM after waiting probably 45 minutes or so on the line that we got on. Please note we were able to pass thousands of others in the process. If not, god only knows what time we would have got back to Secaucus Junction where we had to connect with another train. Peter was going to Metropark, NJ where he was spending the night at a hotel with his wife. I was going to New York Penn Station to get the NYC subway back to Queens to get my car so I could  drive myself home. I wound getting home at 1:25AM.

Just think if it's possible to do so, that behind us were thousands of others that needed to get where they had to go. I can only imagine how long it took those people to finally get to their destinations.       

I'm sure nobody in the media was paid to write about this mess.

Their job is sell newspapers and shed a positive light on all situations.

My blog is here to educate, inform and entertain everyday people like myself who have to endure this type of transportation on a daily and nightly basis to go to work and/or play.

Welcome to the 21st century.

If you like to suffer, good for you.

I don't so I'm trying my best to clue you in if you decide to take the train to the game.

Do like I do always know before you go.

I hope you will listen and take my advice.

Remember don't always listen to the media.

When royalty speaks, I strongly suggest you listen.

If you do, I guarantee you'll be forever grateful.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

2011 MLB Schedule to be released tomorrow 9/15!

Thanks to my friend Steve Fekete who tipped me off that the 2011 Major League Baseball schedule will be released tomorrow 9/15.

For more details please click on this link:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/13/SP9B1FD87D.DTL#ixzz0zTqEYES2

Once it comes out, Royalty will be all over it.

I will put together some of the best and creative trips possible.

All I need to know is your needs and wants.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Schedule for w/o 9/13

Here's the game plan:

Monday, September 13th Ravens at Jets 7PM First Jet game at New Meadowlands Stadium

Tuesday, September 14th Pirates at Mets 7:10PM

Wednesday, September 15th  Pirates at Mets 7:10PM

Thursday, September 16th Pirates at Mets 7:10PM

Friday, September 17th Braves at Mets 7:10PM

Saturday, September 18th Braves at Mets 4:10PM

Sunday, September 19th Patriots at Jets 4:15PM

Please check back to see how it turned out.

Hope all my readers and followers have a great week.

If you need my advice and/or services, I'm here if and when you need me just let me know so I can help make it happen.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty sees Giants play "First Game" at New Meadowlands Stadium










Giants vs. Panthers











Royalty was in the House

Today was the "First Game" at the New Meadowlands Stadium between the Giants and the Carolina Panthers.

Ironically these two teams played against each other in "Last" Giant game that was played at

Giants Stadium back on December 27, 2009.

Yours truly had the privilege of seeing that game as well. In matter of fact, that was the third time I saw the Carolina Panthers finish the home schedule at Giants Stadium. The Giants lost all three of those games as follows:

On December 28, 2003 the Panthers beat the Giants, 37-24!

On January 8, 2006 the Panthers shut out the Giants in the Wild Card game, 23-0! 

On December 27, 2009 the Panthers closed Giants Stadium for the Giants by embarrassing them, 41-9!

 Was today going to be different with me in the house? 

The answer is yes. A new building and a different result. The Giants opened their new digs in victorious fashion though it wasn't pretty, 31-18!

This was a very sloppy turnover and penalty filled game. The bottom line the Giants defense rose up as the game wore on. As a result, the Giants overcame Eli Manning's 3 interceptions and they lost their tight end Kevin Boss on the first drive of the game shortly after he caught the first pass of the season on the Giants first play from scrimmage for 11 yards and a first down. He wound up being carted off the field a few plays later and he didn't return to the game.

On the bright side for the Giants, their wide receiver Hakeem Nicks caught 3 touchdown passes of 26, 19 and 5 yards respectatively.  

As for the Carolina Panthers, quarterback Matt Moore threw 3 interceptions of his own. All of them were caught in the end zone for touchbacks. Deon Grant, Terrell Thomas and Kenny Phillips got credit for those INT's.

In addition, in the second half of the game he was running for his life as the Giant defense forced him into a number of sacks and pressures. 

Furthermore, both punters had a rough day in this game too.

Jason Baker of the Panthers couldn't even punt the ball thanks to a botched snap that resulted in the Giants getting the ball back with great field position with 4:30 left in the 3rd quarter when the Panthers were still hanging around only down by one point, 17-16. That drive ended with the Giants scoring another touchdown that put the game out of reach for the Panthers. 

Matt Dodge of the Giants had a punt blocked that wound up going through the end zone resulting in a safety for the Panthers late in the game to cut the lead from 15 to 13. That's the way it remained as the Giants won ugly, 31-18!

As for the game experience, I always prefer to see a sporting event live. In the past, I've taken the bus from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan to the Meadowlands for $10 round trip.

Today I decided to give the NJ Transit train service a try. By doing so, that way was $10.50 round trip to go from New York Penn Station to Secaucus Junction where you need to transfer to the train to the game which leaves from track H and takes you right to the Met Life gate where I needed to enter today to get to my seat. 

My seat was located in section 225B row 5 seat 23 which was in the end zone as you can see in the picture above. So by taking the train to the game everything worked out well for me.

I saw my co-worker Brian LaMotta who was at the game a few sections away in 224B. It was nice to see a familar face in the crowd.

In addition, I did get to go upstairs before the game to visit a friend, Jess Geller, whose a long time Giant season ticket holder. Jess sits in section 319 row 21. He said he loves going to the game because of the crowd and more importantly he gets to reunited with his family and friends that sit in his section. 

I told him that's the best part of going these days. In this day and age, it's all about the money. Real fans are being priced out. That's where royalty comes in and I try my very best to make sure that I'm not left out in the street. The same goes for those who want to deal with me.

If you have the will, royalty will help you find the way.

If and when you need my assistance, please let me know.

Thank you for reading. 

Yours truly,

Gary Herman  

Royalty w/o 9/6 in review

Sunday night/Monday morning I flew back from Seattle on the redeye flight which connected in Philadelphia on US Airways. I finally arrived back at New York LaGuardia airport at 8:06AM. I proceeded to walk across the highway to go to my car which I parked in the neighborhood.

My goal was to get home as soon as possible so I could go rent a car and pick up the King and drive back to Philadelphia to see the Phillies play the Marlins in a day/night doubleheader.

I wound up getting home at 8:35AM. I took a shower and I ate some breakfast and off to Avis I went to pick up my car for the day. I got a Nissan Sentra.

I drove to Astoria to pick up the King at 10:30AM and off to Philadelphia we went. I parked the car on the street for free like I always do when I go to Philadelphia. I parked the car at 12:40PM.

We had plenty of time because the first game started at 1:05PM.

As for the first game, the Florida Marlins held the Phillies to just 3 hits as they cruised to an easy 7-1 victory.

Between games, we decided to go the Oregon Diner to have a nice dinner before going back to Citizens Bank park for the night game that started at 7:05PM.

The second game of the doubleheader went to the Phillies as they won, 7-4 to earn the split of the two games.

Tuesday morning I returned the car rental before I returned to work.

After work, I went to the Bronx to see the Yankees play the Baltimore Orioles. I was hoping to see a good game since CC Sabathia was pitching and he was looking for his 20th win of the season.

In the first inning, CC got hit hard. He gave up 3 runs. The Yankees added one in the bottom half of the first. After throwing a 1-2-3 second inning, CC gave up two more runs in the third inning when Nolan Reimold, the Orioles designated hitter hit a two run homer. The Orioles sailed to a 6-2 victory spoiling CC first attempt to win his 20th game.

It was the first time this season that CC lost a game at Yankee Stadium. He was 11-0 coming in. I guess he was due to lose a game in the Bronx.

Wednesday & Thursday I came home after work to catch up on much needed rest after having such a busy stretch over the Labor Day weekend.

Friday night I went to Citi Field after work to see the Phillies play the Mets. More importantly, I was told earlier in the week that Bob DeVries, a fellow ballpark chaser was going to be in attendance to support his 30 parks and a dream campaign. I'm going to do a special post regarding Bob and his heroic run to make people aware of a deadly disease called SADS.

As for the game, the Phillies beat the Mets, 8-4 behind their ace pitcher Roy Halladay who won his 18th game  of the season as the Phillies continue to fight for the division title as the baseball season winds down.

Saturday I went back to Citi Field to see the Mets play the Phillies again. As we all remember the tragic events that occurred on this day 9 years ago. I'll be doing a special post to reflect on the tragedy.

As for the game I saw, the Mets did their best to try to give the Phillies this game. They wound up hanging on for a 4-3 victory. Mike Pelfrey pitched well again as he gave up 2 runs over 7 and a third innings. The Mets spoiled the day for the Phillies despite some horrible base running that led to 2 different double plays on line drive outs to the outfield.

Sunday I went to see the "First Game" at the New Meadowlands Stadium as the Giants opened the regular season hosting the Carolina Panthers. The Giants wound up beating up the Panthers, 31-18.

I'm going to do a special post describing the details about the game I saw and the game experience.

Thank you for reading and  following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman                 

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Royalty remembers that tragic day 9 Years Ago at Citi Field!

Back on September 11, 2001 I took the Q46 bus to the E train that terminates at the World Trade Center as I was going to work.

Little did I know that when I was in transit at 8:45AM the first plane hit into the World Trade Center. I was frustrated that the lousy E train was crawling along at the time.

I finally got to my office building in Midtown Manhattan and I headed up the elevator when I heard people in the elevator talking about crashing something into the Empire State Building. I sensed that something was wrong. When I was walking to my office and I found out what had happened.

Needless to say, I was all shook up.

I sat at my desk looking at the internet and seeing what occurred that morning. I was sick to my stomach.

After being in the office for a few hours, they decided to sent us home.

My friend James and I walked over the Queensboro bridge into Queens where he had his car parked. He wound up driving me home. I remember we were on the highway and it was a ghost town.

It was a horrible day that I'll never forget.

Today on the nine year anniversary I went to Citi Field to see the Mets play the Phillies.

Before the game, they had a tribute to those who were lost on that day. There was a moment of silence as well.

They showed a video when baseball resumed 10 days later at Shea Stadium. Mike Piazza delivered a game winning home run to give NYC something to be happy about in the wake of these tragic events.

It was a touching moment.

I remember that day well since I went to Shea Stadium after serving Jury Duty.

I hope we never experience a horrible day like that ever again.

God bless those families who lost family members on that tragic day.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman 

   

Friday, September 10, 2010

Royalty meets fellow ballpark chaser, Bob DeVries as he continues his quest to strikeout a deadly disease called SADS!

Friday night at Citi Field wasn't just another baseball game for me. I had the privilege and honor of meeting another fellow ballpark chaser, Bob DeVries.

Bob is trying to put an end to a deadly disease called SADS. This foundation is starting to draw national attention thanks to a lady named Laura M. Wall.

Two years ago on September 10, 2008, Bob lost his wife Shawn Marie to this horrible disease. He is spending this season going to every major league ballpark to spread the word and make people aware of SADS which stands for Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome.

His campaign is called Where's Bob? Friday night he flew in special from his home in Columbus,Ohio to join 80 families who were invited by the Mets to come to Citi Field to see the Mets play the Phillies and to alert baseball fans of this deadly disease.

Bob stopped by my section 516 to meet and greet me. It was a very difficult day indeed especially for Bob since it was the two year anniversary of his wife's passing.

As we all know life is short. We have to savor every day we're given. You never know when your time is up.

Think about people who are diagosed with SADS. Life is even shorter for them.

I'm doing this special post on Bob's behalf to create awareness amongst us all that SADS is a killer disease and we need to find a cure for it.

Please help join the team to strike out SADS and help save lives.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

     

Monday, September 6, 2010

Oregon Diner

Oregon Diner
Lamb Chops, Corn & Apple Sauce


















When I have time between games in Philadelphia, I prefer to have a quality meal at the Oregon Diner. The Diner is located at 302 Oregon Avenue at 3rd Street which is conveniently located within walking distance of the best sports complex in the country. If you don't have the time to make the walk it's a short drive to get there.

On Labor Day, we saw a day/night doubleheader at Citizens Bank Park so it was a perfect opportunity to go there and wisely we did.

This time the King and I drove over. 

In the past, I've had a full course meal for only $15-$20.

This time was even better since they marked down their special meals to a mere $9.99. I thought it was great before, this time was beyond belief.

As you can see in the picture above, I ate well. I had Lamb Chops, corn and apple sauce plus I had a cup of soup instead of a salad and I even got dessert with my meal so I chose tapioca pudding with whipped cream. 

It was a great deal and meal. 

I strongly suggest if and when you're in the City of Brotherly Love and you're attending a sporting event that you make time to go here before or after the game to enjoy a meal like I do.

It's just another reason why when you take advice from Royalty you can't go wrong.

For more details, here's the link to their website:

      


Royalty w/o 8/30 in review

10his week was a busy one home and away.

Monday night after work I went to Yankee Stadium to see the Yankees take on the Oakland Athletics.

More importantly before the game my goal was to get downstairs before batting practice ended.

Luckily I walked into the stadium just in time.

I went to the leftfield bullpen area because I wanted to try and see Gio Gonzalez who pitches for the Athletics.

Afterwards, I went upstairs to my seat in section 420B row 7 to eat the corned beef sandwich I bought at the Court Deli Restaurant on the way in to the Stadium.

After I ate, I was ready for game action.

With Trevor Cahill, the A's ace on the mound, I expected to see a good game.

The A's got him 3 runs before he even threw a pitch.

I got my hopes up only to have them dampened in the bottom of the first inning when the Yankees came right back with 3 runs to tie the score after the first inning.

Dustin Moseley who started the game for the Yankees, settled down and pitched well.

Trevor Cahill, much to my surprise got rocked again in the third and fifth innings.

He gave up back to back home runs to Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano. Marcus Thames added a three run shot to finally send Cahill to the showers after he gave up 8 earned runs.

He came in with a 2.43 ERA before that game.

I guess he was due to get bombed and he did.

The Yankees went on to win, 11-5!

Tuesday night it looked like a replay in the Bronx as the A's got hammered again by the Yankees, 9-3!

The Yankees scored all 9 runs in the first four innings.

Nick Swisher, Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson led the assault of Vin Mazzaro, the Athletics starter by hitting home runs.

Wednesday night I left work knowing I had 5 days off until I returned to work.

I went back to Yankee Stadium hoping to see the Athletics win a game before I left town.

This time they came back from a 4-0 deficit after 2 innings thanks to poor defense by their starting pitcher Brett Anderson who couldn't catch a ball at first base that lead to 3 unearned runs.

His teammates fought back to get within one but they couldn't take the lead and they wound up losing, 4-3!

Thursday morning I went to Seattle to spend the Labor Day weekend in the Great Northwest!

For the rest of those details, please stay tuned.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Schedule for w/o 9/6

Here's the game plan:

Monday, September 6th  Marlins at Phillies 1:05PM & 7:05PM Day/Night Doubleheader

Tuesday, September 7th Orioles at Yankees 7:05PM

Friday, September 10th Phillies at Mets 7:10PM

Saturday, September 11th  Phillies at Mets 4:10PM

Sunday, September 12th Panthers at Giants 1PM First Regular Season Football Game at New Meadowlands Stadium

Please check back to see how it turned out.

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

Please bear with me as I try to play catch up on the w/o 8/30 in review.

Trust me it will be worth the wait.

Thank you for your continued support.

If you need any assistance to make your life better just let me know.

I'm always willing, able and ready to help.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Joey Kraft joins me again at Safeco Field for the weekend finale!

Me & Joey Kraft


















Sunday morning, I checked out of Super 8 in Wilsonville, Oregon and I drove back up I-205 to I-5 North to Seattle to go back to Safeco Field to see the Mariners play the Indians at 1:10PM.

I called my buddy Joey Kraft a few times to give him a progress report.

He told me he scored some free tickets for us.

He decided to exchange the four tickets he got so we could upgrade ourselves to some great lower level seats behind home plate.

We wound up 21 rows up from the field.

A similar view at Yankee Stadium would have cost a fortune not the case in Seattle though.

It worked out beautifully especially since Mariners' ace Felix Hernandez was pitching.

I saw him pitch twice against the Yankees this year at Yankee Stadium. He shut them out both times. One was a complete game and the other was 8 shutout innings of domination.

With that being said, I had high hopes that Felix would pitch well again.

Unlike most good pitchers I see pitch, Felix lived up to the hype again.

This time he shutout the Indians for 8 innings allowing just 4 hits and striking out 9.

The Mariners cruised to a 3-0 victory.

During the game, a young man in front of us got a foul ball that caromed over from the next section. I just missed it.

After the game, Joey went down to the tunnel where the umpires go to the clubhouse and he saw home plate umpire Jerry Layne and he wound up getting the game ball which he decided to give to me.

That was a very nice gesture on his part.

In addition, during the game we met a few guys from the Anaheim, California area. They were Kevin Gallagher Senior & Junior.

This father & son combo said they go to a new ballpark every year. This year happened to be Safeco Field.

They made a great choice.

Kevin Senior told me he has season tickets for the Angels just 5 rows from the on deck circle.

When I mentioned I was from NYC he said his wife is from Brooklyn. It's a small world he said.

He told me he's originally from Chicago on the South Side.

He grew up a big White Sox fan.

We enjoyed each other's company during the game.

Afterwards, we exchanged contact information.

Hopefully our paths we'll cross again in the future.

As for Joey & I, we went to the waterfront area again near Puget Sound to have a farewell dinner at Cutter's Bayhouse.

After that, Joey went home and I headed back to the airport to make it home temporarily.

I returned the car to Alamo and I proceeded to catch my US Airways flight to Philadelphia then to NY LaGuardia airport.

I drove 731 miles over the 4 days.

My time in the Great Northwest was well spent.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Volcanoes Stadium in Salem-Keizer, Oregon

Volcanoes Stadium
After watching the Ducks play in Eugene, I went to see the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, the San Francisco Giants affiliate play a minor league baseball game against the Eugene Emeralds, the San Diego Padres farm club.

The stadium is known as the "Crater" and it's located right off I-5 exit 260A which was on my way back to Wilsonville where I was staying for two nights at Super 8.

In addition, my friend Kevin Feist, who coaches high school baseball played at that field. His son Caleb played there and won back-to-back State Championships on that field as well.

It's quite ironic that the Feist family had such an impact on me on Saturday.

Kevin also told me to ask for Jerry Howard, who's a team executive.

After getting settled in, I walked around and I asked a gentleman with a staff shirt on if he knew where Jerry Howard was. He said I'm Jerry Howard so I introduced myself to him.

I told him I know Kevin Feist. Just like that I received royal treatment.

Jerry told me he's a 68 year Duck so he was very happy with the Duck game. I told him I was at the game.

He also introduced me to the owners of the team who were from NY as well.

I got to spend most of the game in the diamond club suite as a result.

As for the game itself, it was scoreless for 9 innings then in the 10th inning the Volcanoes erupted when their centerfielder Gary Brown delivered the game winning hit to give them a 1-0 victory.

I want to thank the owners and Jerry Howard for treating me so special.

I had a blast while I was there.

Furthermore, I plan to do a Stadium review for Stadium Journey on this ballpark too.

Stay tuned for my return to Seattle on Sunday.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman


Royalty attracts a crowd at Autzen Stadium-Home of the Oregon Ducks!

Me, Caleb Feist, Casey Heinz, Kieran Colahan & Conor Colahan 
















Upon leaving my hotel in Wilsonville, Oregon Saturday morning which was around 95 miles from Eugene, I didn't expect to have nearly as much traffic as I did.

Being an a very experienced driver, I found a way to minimize the delays along the way.

The traffic moved from time to time but there were pockets of traffic.

I needed to make time so I creatively saw opportunities to get off certain exits where I could just go across to the other side and get back on the highway.

I did that on a few occasions and I passed hundreds of cars in the process.

Royalty knows all the tricks of the trade.

I saw ways to get ahead and I made sure I took full advantage.

Finally I got close to the Autzen Stadium area.

Thankfully I was told by my new found friend and big Oregon Duck fan, Kevin Feist, where to park and pick up a shuttle bus to the game.

I wound up paying $5.00 to ride a school bus to and from the game.

That was the best $5.00 I spent on this trip.

By doing so, I avoided the hassle of dealing with the rest of the traffic that was going to the game.

It worked out perfectly for me.

Once I got to the stadium, I still needed to found a ticket. I wasn't alone others were holding fingers up too.
After looking for a short time, a gentleman approached me and he said he had an extra ticket. I asked him where it was. I looked at my seating chart and I saw it was towards the corner of the end zone right by the gate I was outside of. So I asked him what he wanted for it, he said $20 so I immediately decided not to haggle with him and I gave him a twenty dollar bill.

I proceeded to go inside the stadium.

I got a text from Kevin Feist's son Caleb who was attending the game with his friends.

Ironically, the ticket I bought outside was located in the same section. I was in section 36 row 56 seat 12 and Caleb and his friends were in section 36 row 68 seat 27.

I told him I'll look for him at halftime.

I said I like to keep the play by play of the game.

I proceeded to my seat and I watched and scored the game.

The Ducks got the ball first after the New Mexico Lobos won the toss and deferred the kickoff to the second half.

The Ducks were driving and the Lobos intercepted a pass. That turned out to be the highlight of the day for the Lobos who couldn't do anything else right all day.

The Ducks demolished them, 72-0!

Kenjon Barner who replaced LaMichael James who was suspended for this game, had a career high 147 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns then he caught a 60 yard pass for another touchdown. He did all that in the first half of the game. The Ducks lead at the half, 59-0!

In addition, Cliff Harris ran back two punts for touchdowns of 61 and 64 yards respectively. It was the first time ever a Duck has done that.

The Ducks set a team record for yards in a game with 720.

They also tied the Autzen Stadium record for points with the 72.

It was quite an assault.

The game was over long before the half but for me personally the fun was just about to begin.

I got to meet up with Caleb and his friends as you can see in the picture.

Caleb is wearing a hat and he's to my right. Next to him is Casey, then Kieran is also wearing a hat and Conor who's Kieran's brother is in the front of us.

It was a privilege and an honor to meet these young men who all are from Burns, Oregon which is comprised of 4,000 people.

Being able to meet them made my visit extra special and memorable.

They all seem like very nice kids. I look forward to staying in contact with them.

Royalty attracts people of all ages.

Please stay tuned as I plan to do a Stadium review for my buddy Paul Swaney of Stadium Journey.

In addition, stay tuned to see how the rest of the trip unfolded.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman