Sitting behind me at the last soccer game I attended was a British man with his two school age children muttering about the 鈥渆ffing rules of the game.鈥�

It may have had something to do with the referee, the Team Canada member on the ground flailing about, or the man streaking across the pitch. Who knows, who cares?

Given the setting, the smell of stale beer that had permeated the air and the thousands of others with throbbing veins in their temples, it wasn鈥檛 even mildly offensive. It was ambiance.

It seemed almost exactly the same as the ambiance at Stampeders鈥� games years earlier, only the seats in Calgary were slightly less comfortable than those in Vancouver.

Going back even further, if you exchanged the smell of stale beer for that of chlorine and juice boxes, I鈥檇 say it was all quite reminiscent  of  my childhood swim meets where the stands were even less comfortable.

Sports fans, you see, are an interesting lot. In fact, as someone who doesn鈥檛 particularly care for sports, but loves seeing a live match, I can say with absolute certainty they鈥檙e the best part of the show 鈥� err, game.

That brings me to some of the mess leaking out of Toronto.

During a Blue Jays game some moron threw a beer at Orioles left-fielder Hyun Soo Kim. He missed  and Kim still made the catch, but a nationwide episode of stupidity has ensued.

First, police released the picture of the man with bad aim, then amateur sleuths across the country launched a manhunt.

Pictures were published, theories offered up and a suspect was identified. Said suspect later denied his role and it all keeps going.

I resent knowing this much about this story, for the record. But it鈥檚 appeared in my social media feeds, the news sites I frequent and even on my radio.

It鈥檚 actually the only radio news story that has ever prompted my toddler to ask for more information.

Is that the appeal? That it is easy enough for a toddler to understand?

Because otherwise I can鈥檛 fathom how the 鈥渨hy did the man throw his drink?鈥� story became one of the top news items on the CBC and every national paper.

Surely beer has been thrown on sports fields before鈥攅ven on the hallowed ground of the Toronto Blue Jays?

Maybe I鈥檓 wrong. Maybe it鈥檚 not just space-filling drivel designed to get hits on news sites and monetize a suffering industry.

Let鈥檚 hope this is a moment to collectively have a conversation about civility. If so then, hallelujah. It鈥檚 been a long time coming.

Personal attacks have long since replaced reasoned arguments to the contrary, which has been made more than evident not just on sports fields, but also political arenas and in the comment sections of every news publication.

While I鈥檒l miss the ambiance at sports events, I鈥檒l definitely toast鈥攏ot toss鈥攖o that. The greater likelihood is that I鈥檝e finally become invested enough in a sports stories to mutter obscenities to my child.

Kathy Michaels is a reporter for the 琉璃神社.