More on "Bills in Toronto"

What the hell does this statement mean? (Emphasis mine)

“I think it’s the first of many steps,” Rogers vice-chairman Phil Lind said yesterday. “It’s a major step because the Bills are now officially ensconced in Toronto, as a team. And they’ll be here for five years, and we have a minimum of eight games — a minimum of eight games — so they’re going to be here. They’re now part of the Toronto scene.”

Clearly, Rogers Communications expects to buy more games from Ralph Wilson. And, make no mistake, the term “buy games” is exactly what is occurring here.

I also got a kick out of this one:

“Some people will look at this thing tonight and see that not every seat is filled and they’ll say, ‘You see? Nobody likes the NFL in Canada,’ ” Lind said. “What a ridiculous thing to say.”

He pointed to Buffalo’s pre-season opener in Washington last weekend, where at least a third of the stadium sat empty. The Redskins are one of the more profitable teams in the NFL.

“All I know is that there are going to be more fans in this park than there’s been in most, if not all, NFL parks in the pre-season,” Lind said. “Ask me in December if there are any seats kicking around because, already, we know what the demand is for December. It’s huge.”

(again, my emphasis)

Just to be clear, the Bills have sold out all their home games this year except their “home” game in Toronto. So let us not lecture anyone about the “demand” for tickets in Toronto. That’s right, you can’t buy a Bills ticket for any game in Orchard Park, but plenty of good seats are available to watch them play in Toronto.

And is anyone saying “nobody likes the NFL in Canada?” Lind’s attempt to use a false argument to support his position is the only “ridiculous” thing I read there. I would say that “nobody wants to be gouged for ridiculous prices to watch an event they can see for 1/4 the cost by driving to Orchard Park” in Canada. As was stated by a commenter in a Toronto paper, you could buy four tickets to a Bills game in Buffalo and hire a limo to drive you from Toronto for the price of two tickets to the event in Toronto.

Again, I have no doubt that the game in December against the Dolphins will be a real sellout, as opposed to the farce that Rogers Communications is pulling tonight. But it’s fun to see it all blow up in Professor Dickweed’s face.