As I write this, my smile is as large as Jose Lima’s ERA.The last season of Royals’ baseball was as enjoyable as a week’s trip to Abu Ghraib. From the Beltran trade to Ken Harvey getting drilled in the back by a cutoff throw, watching the 2004 Royals was akin to viewing a continuous loop of _Dude, Where’s My Car?_It would have been funny if it wasn’t so bad. ![][1]As you can imagine, I quickly soured on the season. From the nightly news to [this very blog,][2] I spent more time bashing the Royals than I did actually watching the Royals. I was a baseball curmudgeon, Lawrence’s latest grumpy old man.People around this fair city caught on to my negativity. One day while having my air conditioning repaired, the repair guy asked, “why don’t you get off the Royals?”Well, this year, I am. From now until the All-Star Break, I’ll be a ball of sunshine. I won’t predict a division title, like one sappy local sports columnist. I will, however, try and provide some daylight on a dark day in KC baseball.Without further ado, here are 10 reasons to watch the Royals in 2005:**10.** You can grab a shovel and a couple of buddies and pretend you’re the groundskeepers from Major League. “Who are these *&)@#S guys?” Ruben Gotay? Andy Sisco?**9.** The Mike Sweeney Injury Pool. Everybody throw five bucks in the pot. Whoever is closest to the date that Sweeney first goes on the disabled list wins the pot.**8.** Mike MacDougal. Did you know that he’s listed as [a switch hitter?][3] Anyways, every time Mac the Ninth goes to the mound, it’s an adventure. Between hitting the mascot and giving up monster shots to Dimitri Young, life with MacDougal is seldom good, but never boring.**7.** Kauffman Stadium. Despite some glaring deficiencies (abundance of bathrooms, the fact that it’s in Missouri, etc.), the K is still one of the top parks in the majors. Too bad it will never host a playoff game again.**6.** Hey, at least the Red Sox and Yankees come to town.**5.** Uh:thinking of ten reasons is tough.**4.** Ever wonder how a minor league team would fare against major league competition? Here’s your chance!**3.** As far as we know, none of the Royals are on steroids (just look at the career home run totals).**2.** It’s not soccer.**1.** Zach Grienke. The only player on the roster worth the legitimate, major league price of admission.**Turning The Page**It was like the Twilight Zone on Monday night.Here was Roy Williams, cutting down the nets at the Final Four, and not a single person in Lawrence was cheering.If we didn’t have enough of a reason before, that image sealed it. It’s time for Lawrence to find a cure for its Roy hangover.He won a national championship. Congratulations. He’s also never coming back. I’ve spent a lot of time in this space over the last month discussing Roy, and it’s going to stop.We need to stop thinking about the past, and look forward to the future. Just because Roy has his national title doesn’t mean Bill Self can’t earn one, as well. It’s time to stop thinking about the former coach and start concentrating on the current one. [1]: http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2004/baseball/mlb/12/25/royals.lima.ap/p1.jose.lima.ap.jpg [2]: http://blogs.lawrence.com/rigg/2004/sep/29/100reasons/ [3]: http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/team/player.jsp?player_id=213680