The Bills Belong to Toronto (Gulp!)
Published October 11, 2009 @ 17:54 in Toronto Bills

The Buffalo/Toronto Bills faced a winless team this afternoon, managed to hold the opposing QB to a mere two completions for 23 yards and zero TDs, yet still managed to lose. That's unbelievably brutal.

A full week before this epic FAIL, the Bills were busy losing to another winless team. That's when I wrote the following tweet.

That prompted several Buffalonians to pounce on me for claiming ownership of the Bills. As I see it, any team that regularly plays regular season games in a second city is a shared team. The Bills still belong to Buffalo, but they're also ours. At least that's my humble opinion.

Our new Google Street View will help me show my friends in Buffalo how the Bills are marketed to us here in Toronto. Sandwiched between two Blue Jays on the outer wall of the Rogers Centre is Bills QB Trent Edwards.

Buffalo, we're now sharing this brutal franchise. With the dismal Bills in tow, joining the lifeless Blue Jays, Argos and Leafs, and playoff-less Toronto FC and Raptors, I do believe you won't find a city of equal or greater futility.

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City of Losers
Published March 12, 2009 @ 14:42 in Toronto Argos, Toronto Bills, Toronto Blue Jays, Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto News ~ Toronto Focus, Toronto Raptors

My city is a city of losers. At least when it comes to our primary professional sports teams. We suck.

Our Maple Leafs of the NHL are 27-28-13, which puts us 11th in the conference and well outside the playoffs.

Our Raptors of the NBA are 23-42, which puts us 14th in the conference and well outside the playoffs.

Our Blue Jays of MLB were 86-76, which put us 4th in the division and well outside the playoffs.

Our Argos of the CFL were 4-14, which put us 3rd in the division and well outside the playoffs.

Our Bills of the NFL were 7-9, which put us 4th in the division and well outside the playoffs.

There is little hope for any of the above. In fact, I'm willing to bet all miss the playoffs again next season.

Welcome to Loserville.

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NFL Regular Season Debut in Toronto
Published December 7, 2008 @ 09:56 in Toronto Bills

Ten years ago, this would have been a huge day for me. My favourite NFL team is calling the stadium formerly known as SkyDome home for a game that actually counts in the standings. At 4pm today it's the Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins, live from the Rogers Centre.

I'll probably tune in for a bit, a novelty first in my own backyard, but I don't really care. It's not like it's the Toronto Bills... we're just borrowing Buffalo's team to make a bunch of rich guys richer and officially extend the boundaries of Bills Country. I'm not even sure I want the Toronto Bills for fear that would be the final blow to our CFL. If it comes down to the CFL vs. NFL, my heart's decided.

Maybe I'm just bitter because I felt mislead by the so-called ticket lottery. Maybe I'm still upset that Flutie didn't start the Music City Miracle game. Maybe this game just makes me, as a Torontonian, feel a little used. After all, this ain't Buffalo.

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Ticketmaster Couldn't Find Tickets That Matched My Request
Published June 4, 2008 @ 12:41 in Toronto Bills

Armed with a secret password, today I tried to buy tickets to see the Buffalo Bills play at the stadium formerly known as SkyDome. You may recall I wrote all about this decision here.

I was unsuccessful. I didn't have a chance. I was set up ahead of time and started hammering away but Ticketmaster couldn't satisfy my demands.

I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

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Toronto Bills Tickets and Argonaut Guilt
Published June 1, 2008 @ 12:00 in Toronto Argos, Toronto Bills

Thanks to Ajax Mike, I've won the Toronto Bills lottery. On June 4th I'll try and buy a couple of cheap seats to the 8 Buffalo Bills games at Rogers Centre SkyDome. I'd love to be there on December 7th when the Toronto Bills squish the fish.

As I crunch the numbers and see who's willing to buy some of the tickets off of me, especially for the August 14th game against the Steelers I can't make, I'm feeling a tad guilty. You see, I actually like the CFL and our Toronto Argonauts. I have tickets to our season opener and I'm pretty psyched about the arrival of Kerry Joseph and the return of Mike Vanderjagt. Even though I believe myself to be more of a CFL fan than an NFL fan, I'm about to buy 16 tickets to see NFL games here in Toronto. How do I explain that?

The fact is, I'm a homer. I prefer the CFL and the Argos because they're based in Toronto. If the Bills were based in Toronto, I'd be a huge NFL fan. I'm buying Bills in Toronto tickets because it's going to be a big-time event and I want to be a part of it and because I know I'll be able to sell the tickets I don't want.

Speaking of that, if you're interested in buying Toronto Bills tickets from Toronto Mike, leave a comment on this entry and you might just get that chance. Non-family members may have to pay a moderate Toronto Mike service fee.

Oh yeah, about that guilt... My penance will be the purchase of more Argo tickets and a promise to raise my children as CFL fans.

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Toronto Bills To Play Eight
Published January 30, 2008 @ 21:33 in Toronto Bills

The Toronto Bills have the NFL's blessing. The National Football League has reached an agreement with the Buffalo Bills that will allow them to play eight games in Toronto over the next five years, starting in 2008.

We won't be able to just buy a couple of tickets to a Toronto Bills game. First crack goes to Argos and Ticats season-ticket holders, then Bills season-ticket holders. The average price would reportedly be $250 a game and fans will have to purchase all eight tickets and pay for them upfront.

In a perfect world the Bills would come to Toronto and change their name to the Argonauts and the Classic Argos would continue to play in the CFL.

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The Toronto Bills
Published October 18, 2007 @ 14:25 in Toronto Bills, Toronto News ~ Toronto Focus

The Buffalo Bills are seeking approval to play a preseason and at least one regular season game in Toronto. When I followed the NFL, the Bills were my favourite team. If anything can bring me back to the NFL, it's the relocation of the Bills to Toronto.

Yes, this is only one preseason game and a single regular season game, and it has to get both county and state approval, but this could be the beginning. Ralph Wilson is 89 years old and won't live forever, and I have no doubt a Toronto NFL franchise would be wildly successful, and I don't believe such an occurrence would kill the Argonauts. The Toronto Bills would be fantastic.

And it all starts with a regular season game in 2009.

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