Caravan.

Cara-van.

What an awesome word, what an incredible concept. A bunch of guys going from place to place doing stuff, maybe its good, maybe its bad, but they're a caravan and they can't be stopped. I feel American just thinking about it.

Sadly, the Royals caravan through Nebraska ended yesterday, with Alex Gordon the main attraction in Omaha and Lincoln.

While visions of driving through Nebraska do not quicken the heart of many, feel no sorrow or pity for your Royals, who according to the Team's Official Blog, traveled in style.

My favorite element of the story was this sentence:

Yesterday, we took in several episodes of "The Office" as well as the latest "King Kong" movie.

Why exactly would a baseball player find this funny?

This really really fascinates me because I would have never thought that professional athletes and front office types would enjoy "The Office". While the NBC version has definitely veered into generic "zany" comedy with a heavy dash of pointless love story between two attractive people, at the heart of the show remains a certain despair about the sad joke of life. The most-cited (rightly) example may be from the "Take Your Daughter to Work Day" Episode, when a young Michael answers the question "What do you want to be when you grow up," with "I want to be married and have a hundred kids, so I can have a hundred friends, and no one can say no to being my friend." This leads to the following exchange between Michael and the visiting children:

If there anyone on the Royals Caravan who really fits this description? Well, probably Sluggggggrrr, I suppose and maybe whoever is driving the bus (although the blog post made him seem like a badass). Think about it. Even a minor-league baseball player has been a minor celebrity and the most talented guy he knows for the better part of a decade. Many fans may feel bad for a guy like Frank White, who the Royals have jerked around a few times, but still, you pull 1000 names out of a hat and won't come upon a better life than Frank White.

Perhaps I'm overstating the point: but right now I'm sitting here in Iowa actually excited and interested about the #*&#ing Royals Caravan, even to the point of feeling bad I won't see a stop. Shortly, people will be reading this blog for much the same reason: we're fans, we're jealous, we idolize.

So how do a bunch of guys with dream jobs, huge salaries and a workplace thats a baseball field find "The Office" funny? Perhaps this signals the transition of "The Office" into just another sitcom. Maybe they weren't even really paying attention, or maybe they didn't even watch it. Maybe they really watched Saw III and an adult film and need a better story. All that taken into account, I'm actually horrified at the possibility that they can only find it funny by laughing at the rest of us, by laughing at a world they only know as something they've escaped. Maybe "The Office" gives them real world training on how to deal with non-talented, small, petty men and women 40% less attractive than those they date.

In that case, its the perfect training video for the caravan stop in York, Nebraska.