Living Like Royalty

Through an unlikely but fortunate string of events, I wound up with 5 tickets to yesterday's Royals-Tampa Bay baseball game. But not just any seats - Crown seats. A few yards behind the homeplate umpire, buffet before the game, all you care to consume food and beverage during the game, brought to you by waitstaff.

Gold parking pass that put us between the two stadiums.

A 6-1 victory over Tampa Bay.

Hot weather, but plenty of beer and ice water to keep comfortable.

Most importantly, 4 good friends to share the game with.

The Crown seats are amazing, and I hope, if you're a baseball fan, you get to sit in them someday. Seeing the game with your eyes at the same level as the players' is really something special. I'm not sure I would ever pay the $185 face value, but it was nice to live like royalty yesterday.

Setting Benchmarks - How Many can the Royals Lose

The Royals have lost 10 in a row - a pretty impressive achievement of futility for a team that started the season with a sweep of the Tigers.

But let's not get too excited . . .

A few short years ago, the 2005 Royals managed to piece together a 19-game losing streak, and (seriously) toasted themselves with champagne when they completed the streak.

Lots of teams set their goal at winning 100 games. The Royals do, too, but they are content to take a couple years reaching that goal.