Published: December 07, 2008 11:31 pm      

SCHMITT: Toronto sure felt far away

COMMENTARY

TORONTO — I’ve tried to stay open-minded about this whole thing. Really I have.

When others cried doom and gloom about the Bills’ newfound connection with Toronto, I stomached the company line about this being a strategic move to fortify the brand. I even swallowed the theory that regionalization was the only way the Bills could stay in Buffalo when I saw Ted Rogers’ zeroes pile up.

On Sunday, I spit back anything I’d ingested.

The first-ever regular season NFL game in Canada was an unmitigated disaster if you’re a Bills fan. A worst-case scenario.

Nearly every section had pockets of empty seats. Half of the crowd that did fork over big bucks wore orange. And when Anthony Fasano hauled in a touchdown pass midway through the first quarter, nearly everybody in the end zone seats jumped and cheered wildly.

Forget home-field advantage. This was more like a road game.

So while I could repeat the same set of gripes about the on-field product — it’s frustrating that J.P. Losman still can’t sense backside pressure, this team’s use of challenges has been downright comical, and the defense needs to gamble on third down and bring more bodies — I’ll refrain.

Instead, I’ve put together a list of discrepancies between a snowy afternoon in Orchard Park and a Sunday spent under the Rogers Centre dome.

n Chad Pennington said after the game he was “excited to play here.” When was the last time a Miami quarterback said he was excited to play an away game against the Bills?

Pennington added this, though: “I was excited to play inside the dome, and not outside.”

n A large sign hanging under the scoreboard had a cutout of the Bills starting quarterback, a pair of Canadian flags and the phrase “In Losman we trust.”

Really? Who possibly could have taken the time to create this?

Like him or hate him — nobody trusts J.P. Not the coaches, not the fans, not his receivers, and certainly not his linemen, who know a lot of time still isn’t enough for Losman. I’ve got it, Joey Porter must’ve whipped it up! Porter and other defensive linemen throughout the league trust that Losman will still be back there, waiting to take a pounding.

Note to Joey — your penmanship needs work.

n Maybe it’s the newspaper buff in me, but you’d expect such a historic game in Canada to merit extensive media coverage, right? The front page of the Toronto Star’s sports section did have a story about the Bills, but it was a tiny strip on the bottom of the front page. And no gameday analysis here — the story was about British Columbia’s Corey Mace being a late addition to the Bills roster.

And why couldn’t this monumental contest get more play? The Leafs lost 2-1 to Washington. The story, column and accompanying photo consumed about 80 percent of the cover.

n A quiz on the scoreboard during the second quarter asked fans a real brain-teaser — who was the Bills first-round draft choice this year?

Hmmm ... just for fun one afternoon, call in to WGR and ask that one. Pretend like you have no idea. Chances are good it’ll take Mike Schopp about three seconds to hang up on you. Wait, chances are good he’ll do that regardless of the question.

n The bottom line is this — there’s too little about the Rogers Centre experience that feels like a home game. If the Bills are going to move to Toronto, fine. It’s a sad thing, but one we’ll persevere through.

But they haven’t been to the playoffs in nine seasons and show no signs of returning soon.

Forfeiting home-field advantage for a game that could have put them back in the playoff picture is inexcusable.

And more than inexcusable, it’s unfair.

Contact sports editor Tim Schmitt at 282-2311, ext. 2266.