Come on, what's stealing a NFL team between friends?

Honestly, the belief here was that everything was cool sports-wise between Buffalo and Southern Ontario.

Toronto's tried to be considerate of Buffalo's inferiority complex. The Leafs are doing an exceptional job of not showing up the small-market Sabres. There is no denying that wheels are in motion to spirit away the NFL's Bills, but don't worry, Western New Yorkers will have regular visitation. To help ease the sting, those n the Canadian side would like to pump plenty of dollars (or as they say in upstate New York, dallars) into the sluggish Western New York economy by crossing the border to see Russ Adams, mostly the Jays' future stars perform with the Buffalo Bisons at Dunn Tire Park.

Apparently Buffalo's not feeling it. Man, you can almost taste the bile from this Buffalo News story, which says the Bisons' will soon have an affiliation agreement with the New York Mets:

The Blue Jays are enamored with the idea of having their Triple-A club 90 minutes away, but the Bisons are less enthused by a parent that has not won a single game in the International League playoffs since 1994 and hasn't qualified since 1997.

To quote Lisa Simpson, you can't help but feel a little rejected. Buffalo doesn't want the Jays' second-teamers. Fine, be that way, Buffalo. The Jays will just try their luck with Alburquerque or New Orleans. It's going to be wild. Those cities can do things that -- well, it's best not to mention it in mixed company -- that Buffalo would never do.

Having their top farm club being in the Pacific Coast League will be bad for the Jays' bottom line. It will be great for night owls who have nothing better to do at 1 a.m. than keep tabs on minor-league ballgames three time zones away, unless there's a good Scrubs rerun on TV.

As a commenter at The Axeman put it, if Syracuse ends up getting the Washington Nationals as its (obstensibly) major-league parent, they can bring back the Syracuse Nationals name. That hasn't been in use since the 1950s, the decade where the Chiefs' operation is squarely rooted.