Amateurs

I'm finding it difficult to express my feelings around the recent measures that Paul Godfrey and the Toronto Blue Jays are employing to stop the douche baggery that has been occurring in the 500 Level of Rogers Centre.

As the name of our blog infers, we really like to drink and we really like to watch baseball while we do it. In fact, we celebrate getting drunk and watching baseball on an almost daily basis on this site.

The idea that a number of pecker heads armed with a low tolerance for alcohol and the bravado of a heavy drinker can ruin that celebration and soil our name is frustrating to say the least. I don't want to sound over dramatic, but I'm beginning to understand what it's like for strict Muslims to be compared to terrorists, or Southern Baptists to the Ku Klux Klan.

While I'm normally against any policy that restricts freedom, I'm forced into supporting Godfrey's decision to make Twoney Tuesday tickets for non-alcohol seating only. I also hate the idea of physically searching people for alcohol, but I truly believe that if this isn't done, stopping alcohol sales wouldn't work alone.

Do you see what you've done, amateur drinkers? You've reduced me to not only agreeing with a reactionary Paul Godfrey, but also applauding the move to stop selling alcohol.

The key factor for me is that your "good time" should never give someone else a "bad time." And that's exactly what these ruckuses in the 500s are doing. Or as Mike Wilner more succinctly puts it, "People need to be free to have a good time at the game, but they also need to respect others’ rights to have a good time as well."

That right there is the difference between Drunk Jays Fans and drunk Jays fans. As much as we enjoy using alcohol to loosen up and cheer emphatically or drown losing sorrows, we would never presume to interfere with someone else's enjoyment of the game, and even in our drunkest state, we're mindful of that.

Another interesting take can be found on Neate Sager's Out of Left Field. Sager invited Andy Grabia to guest blog about his experiences as a Red Sox fan at the Home Opener, which now has him calling for total prohibition at Jays games.

Any baseball fan should expect a level of idiocy in Toronto on opening day. Honestly, a couple of clothed streakers and drunken insults slurred at Red Sox fans really isn't all that appalling. What bothers me much more are fights in the stands during an early season Tuesday night game against the Oakland Athletics.

Grabia levels a measure of blame for such antics at Godfrey and the Jays who for years have benefited monetarily from the sale of alcohol. While I agree that the Jays may have dropped the ball on security by expecting sixteen year old ushers to stop physical altercations, my finger wagging is directed at the individuals who are actually fighting in the stands.

Unless you're some sort of sociopath, no matter how young you are, you're still aware of a modicum of decorum that should dictate how you behave in certain situations. Those partaking in the drunken brawls are ignoring the wishes of everyone around them. While drunkenness may urge you toward certain behaviour, it doesn't alter your intentions, and should never be an excuse for your actions.

Obviously though, the real blame lies on things like the UFC, and violence in the media. Have you seen the video games that kids are playing these days.