Sorry all I wanted to get this out on monday but have had a busy week at the office so far this week. Well I started off the week at Minute Maid as the Astros hosted a 3 game series against the Miami Marlins. The Astros were hoping to finish out what had been a great homestand as the first two series they were able to sweep the Mets and take 2 of 3 from the division leading Cardinals. However Marlins pitching had another idea as they took 2 of 3 from the Astros and the Stros finished out the home series 6-3.

In game one on monday archnemesis Carlos Zambrano shutout the Astros and only allowed four hits as the Marlins won 4-0.

Game 2 was a lot more entertaining from the Astros perspective but they were still unable to handle Marlins starter Anibal Sanchez as he blanketed the Astros through five. However once the Marlins bullpen took over the Astros were finally able to get the bats going and after an Omar Infante error, Brian Bogusevic was able to hit a double to knock in the game winner in the bottom of the 8th as the Astros took it 3-2.

Game 3 pitted young gun Lucas Harrell against Marlins Josh Johnson. Both pitchers pitched well and the Astros were able to tie it up in the bottom of the 9th off a Bogusevic single but Infante got his revenge from the night earlier with a two run rbi single in the 12th that sealed the deal 5-3 for the Marlins.

On friday I left work early and picked up mini Puma and headed toward Arlington to see a much talked about series between the Rangers and Angels. The first game pitted the Rangers newly acquired international sensation Yu Darvish against ex-Ranger C.J. Wilson.

Unfortunately I only got to see one inning of Darvish vs Wilson as the sky opened up and a biblical monsoon started coming down. After about an hour and a half the game resumed with Darvish continuing to run the helm for the Rangers but the Angels pulled Wilson and played him in game 2. As for the game Josh Hamilton continued his offensive barrage homering twice and leading the Rangers to a 10-3 beating of the Angels.

Game 2 was a little less of an offensive showing as C.J. Wilson was able to calm down the bats a bit for the Rangers and pull off a 4-2 win for the Angels. However Josh Hamilton was still able to knock number 18 out of the park continuing his amazing season.

Game 3 was a ESPN sunday night shellacking as the Rangers beat up on star pitcher Jered Weaver handing him his first loss of the season as well as had him singing "hit the road jack" on his way back to the dugout. Nelson Cruz was the star power for the Rangers hitting a grand slam in the 3rd to help the Rangers win the series with a 13-6 beatdown.

Once again it was an amazing week of travels. I asked that you continue to read and if you are ever in the area make sure to hit me up. Stay tuned next week as I talk about my visit to the Houston Dynamo's new home BBVA Compass Stadium.

Sorry for the delay everybody it has been a busy week thus far. I hope everyone had a wonderful safe Christmas holiday! As 2011 continues to wind down I look forward to a great 2012 full of some great sports and new venues. I want to start by saying if you haven't voted on the poll for where Pick and I will go in 2012 please do so as I will be closing the poll at the 1st of the year. It was another great week in sports for me as I not only got to see some great local college basketball but also my first bowl game of the year.

I saw the battle of the Owls on monday as Rice hosted Temple. The game was a lot closer then I thought it would be as Rice hung in all the way till the end eventually losing by 7. Props go out to Arsalan Kazemi who had 13 points and 11 rebounds for Rice and definitely kept them in the game but they just couldn't cool the hot hand of Juan Fernandez who had a career high 23 points and was 5/7 from beyond the arc.

On tuesday I headed out to Rice's archrival the Houston Cougars to watch them take on the UTSA Roadrunners. This was my first trip to Hoffheinz Pavilion this year and it wasn't any more impressive then last year. The students and fans just haven't rallied around the basketball program like they did in the late 80s and early 90s this is probably largely due to the product the Cougars are putting on the court. As for the game it was definitely a close one from start to finish as Houston stayed ahead off of team high 22 points from Jonathon Simmons but the Roadrunners kept fighting back and had a chance to win it but Melvin Johnson missed a 3 as time expired.

Wednesday night I might the trip back to Sharp Gymnasium to watch Houston Baptist take on the Santa Clara Broncos. Sants Clara was definitely favored in this game but I was glad to see that the student section at Sharp Gymnasium didn't really care and kept the gym rocking all night long. It was a close game that Santa Clara had a chance to win but when it was all over the Huskies got the W with a 72 to 71 victory. The huskies hit a set of free throws with 6 seconds left to put them up by 1 and then they fouled Santa Clara guard Evan Roquemore with 2 seconds left on the clock and he failed to hit either free throw. A big heartbreak for the Broncos and huge win for the Huskies.

On monday after Christmas I headed out to Shreveport for my first bowl game of the year the Independence Bowl with paired the Missouri Tigers against the North Carolina TarHeels. The crowd was pretty dismal a lot like last years crowd. I was suprised to see a good showing of fans for Missouri though. I watched the first half of the game on the field which was pretty neat for me being my first time on the field. Unfortunately though the weather got colder and the rain got harder so I made my way back to the press box for the 2nd half. As for the game I thought it was going to be a great one at first as UNC QB Bryn Renner hit Dwight Jones with a nice touchdown pass on the first drive but it all went downhill for the Heels after that. Missouri quarterback James Franklin ran his way all over the Heels and straight to the INdependence Bowl MVP as he racked up 142 yards on 18 carries and scored twice. Frankin only a sophmore is definitely someone to keep an eye on next year as the Tigers make their way to the SEC.

This week will be another eventful one for me as I make my way to 2 new bowls the Alamo Bowl and the Meineke Car Care Bowl as well as a trip to see the AFC South champion Texans play. Once again remember if you are ever in the area hit me up and we can catch a game together. I hope everyone has a great week and happy new years! 

Well another week in the book and unfortunately I didn't really cover a lot just made a return to Sharp Gymnasium to watch Houston Baptist put down a little revenge on Campbell for an earlier season loss. I was hoping to go see the Texans sunday but unfortunately it didn't work out that way but I willl be at the final regular season home game January 1st to see them take on their division foe the Tennessee Titans. It is going to be a somewhat busy week for me as I'll be catching a couple of local Houston college basketball games this week and getting ready for a big end to the year and amazing start to 2012.

Another successful week in the books. Well things didn't go as originally planned but it all worked out. I was hoping to see Southern in action but I overlooked they were playing in a classic in New Orleans rather than at home. Fortunately it all worked out as I was able to see Alabama State and Texas Wesleyan play sunday as they were also playing in a classic in Nacogdoches. Overall another great week for the Puma. I am still trying to get everything worked out to be at Reliant sunday to see the AFC South champion Houston Texans. Hopefully everything will work out for that. In the meantime check out Pick's corner for all the latest ramblings.

Hey everybody well I pulled off another successful week in seeing Sam Houston State and Rice basketball this week, both of those are firsts for me. This week I have on tap Southern, LSU and Stephen F. Austin should be a lot of fun. Well bowl season is here and these are my plans as of now I will be attending the Independence, TicketCity, Meineke Care Care, Alamo and Cotton Bowl if everything goes well. I hope everyone has a great weekend and remember if your ever in the area hit me up and we can catch a game together.

Well as I head toward wrapping up the end of the college football season I can say it has been a great year. I saw 10 new college football venues and some great games including TCU at Baylor at the beginning of the year and the great Oklahoma at Florida State game which so far is one of my all time favorite games. I'm hoping to catch a couple of bowl games, so we will see how that goes. Next up is college basketball though as I start knocking some of those venues this year. Some of the ones I'm looking forward to are LSU and Arizona. Well hope everyone has a great weekend and make sure and check my schedule maybe we can meet up some day!

To our few fans sorry for the lapse in posts it has been a wild stretch. As college football starts to wind down I am finishing up with a couple of North Carolina schools while I'm in the state visiting family. Stay tuned and make sure to check out Pick's Corner as he will be updating soon.

After a nice little stay in Aberdeen we cruised over to Ripken Stadium to take a glance at where the Aberdeen Ironbirds play. After that Gary, Mike and I headed out toward Philadelphia for the first part of our doubleheader. We made it easily into Philadelphia and over toward Citizens Bank Park the home of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Once we got into the game I got to meet up with some of Royalty's fellow roadtrippers Frankie Centola, Frank Anichiarico,Phil Butleman and Bryan Gilligan. The game interestingly was Christmas in July day. Santa Claus and the Phillie Phanatic
were in full christmas attire. Unfortunately San Diego didn't have a win to give the Phillies as Cliff Lee and the Phillies fell short 5 to 4. After the game Mike headed back with Bryan to New York to catch the Yankees and Gary and I headed toward Wilmington, Delaware to see the Wilmington Blue Rocks in action.

Before the game Gary and I met up with Baseball E-Book writer Kurt Smith. We caught a meal across from the ballpark at Joe's Crab Shack it was a definite feast well worth the cost. We then headed over to the ballgame to see the Wilmington Blue Rocks host the Potomac Nationals. Unfortunately for us it wasn't meant to be as the game was called due to rain after 4 innings. It was a great visit though as we had some great company to enjoy it with. After the game Gary and I headed back toward Hancock, Maryland to spend the night as we had a long trip to Cincinnati the next day.

The Journey continued as we headed from Somerset, PA to Baltimore for a another first visit for me, as we headed out for our first doubleheader on this journey. We would be visiting Camden Yards in Baltimore for the first part then visiting the Orioles AA Franchise the Bowie BaySox in the evening.

We got a little bit of a late start heading to Baltimore so I was afraid I wouldn't get to enjoy the royal breakfast at the Eichenkranz Restaurant, but boy was I wrong. Royalty Tours has its perks. Breakfast at Eichenkranz usually ends at 11:30, we made them aware we were on the way and they extended thier great breakfast another thirty minutes for us. If you are in Baltimore a meal at Eichenkranz is a must, it is great food at a very affordable rate. When we stopped at Eichenkranz I got to meet up with some of Royaltys fans Peter and Carmen Agnew. Both Peter and Carmen are great people and made this breakfast even more worthwhile for me.

As for the game at Camden Yards it was unfortunately another blowout loss for the home team. The Orioles kept the game pretty close till the 8th inning when the Angels put 5 runs on the board. Three of those runs were attributed to MLB's number one prospect Mike Trout's first career major league homer. The final count was the Angels 9 and the Orioles 3. It was another interesting game in which Royalty met some new friends. During the first inning a gentleman two rows behind us asked if we kept our ticket stubs. At that time we got into conversation and introduced ourselves to the gentleman and went over some of the King and Prince's credentials. The mans name was Steve Porcelius and he was on a Winnebago baseball road trip with his two boys and his brother in law Mark and his son.

After that game we headed 30 miles south to Bowie for the second game of the doubleheader. After game one we stopped right by Bowie and head a light pre-game meal at McDonalds. Then we headed over to Prince George's Stadium to watch the Bowie BaySox play the Trenton Thunder. When we arrived Trenton's radio play by play announcer Hank Fuerst made sure to note to listeners that a special guest the Strikeout King (Mike Casiano) was in the house. As for the game it was close one that Trenton pulled off in the top of the 9th off a wild pitch. The final in that one was Trenton 5 and Bowie 4. We then headed to Aberdeen to get some sleep and refuel our bodies before heading out on another doubleheader Monday, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Wilmington Blue Rocks.

Well yesterday morning we got all packed up and headed toward Pittsburgh. We made a smart stop about 25 miles outside Pittsburgh and had a delicious four course meal at a King's Resturant, we ate like royalty at a great price.

As for the game St. Louis came out hot scoring two runs in the first and never looked back. My boy Big Puma hit a three run homer in the fifth as the Cardinals chased Pittsburghs Kevin Correia out after 4 2/3 innings after giving up seven earned runs. The Cardinals Jaime Garcia had another quality start as he pitched 7 1/3 and only
allowed eight hits and one earned run striking out five. The Cardinals easily won taking game two of the series 9 to 1.

After the game we headed southeast toward Somerset which is about three or four miles from the 9/11 plane crash in Pennsylvania. We got into the Day's Inn in Somerset right around midnight and bedded down to recharge our batteries for our trip to Baltimore and our first doubleheader of the trip.  

Well the trip has started and it definitely started with a bang. After making my way flawlessly to New York I dropped off my bags at the King's (Mike Casiano) place I headed toward Manhattan to meet up with the Prince (Gary Herman).

I met up with Gary around 2 and had a little time to burn till he got off work, so I burned some time cruising around Times square. After Gary got off work we headed to Yankee Stadium and thats when the royal treatment began. Gary showed me how to beat the high ballpark stadium fares by grabbing a great sandwich at Court Deli Resturant before the game and taking it inside the ballpark. We then took the "Royal" entrance into Yankee Stadium.

As for the game Oakland jumped out to an early lead but quickly fell flat on thier face as the Yankees started blasting starting pitcher Trevor Cahill in the second. Cahill only ended up making it 2 innings and gave up a monstrous 10 runs, including a homer to Nick Swisher and a grand slam to Mark Texiera. After it was all over it was an NFL score in the books as the Yankees won 17 to 7. Today Mike, Gary and I packed our bags and headed to Pittsburgh to see the Cardinals play the Pirates. Stand by for details.

Well my big trip has almost arrived. I'll be leaving out friday morning for New York and am looking forward to some great travels and even better baseball!!

Well my 9 day trip is getting closer and closer and me and Gary Herman are working out all the little details to make sure this goes flawlessly. I am definitely looking forward to this trip and learning from one of the best sports travelers there is.

Well its been a bit since my last update,I have been a tad busy with my new job as well as have been planning the latest journey which will be occuring at the end of July. As me and the Prince of sporting Gary Herman will be setting off on quite the excursion, it will be a great journey and a good chance for me to learn from one of the best sports travelers there are.

Well I had a successful week of travel this week. Stay tuned for updates.

Well its been a bit since I've gave out an update. Sorry had a few family issues and was in the middle of a job change but the Puma is back and ready. So stay in tune

Finally posted my upcoming schedule if anyone is interested in attending any games along the way just let me know.