Royalty Tours USA

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Royalty w/o 11/7 in review

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

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