America has always made a point of poaching the most talented Canadians – whether it’s talented athletes like Wayne Gretzky or Sidney Crosby, or cultural icons, musicians such as Neil Young, or comedians like Jim Carrey. This is a simple fact of life and we Canadians are mostly happy to see our compatriots find success south of the border.

But I believe I can speak for millions of Canadian sports fans when I lament the departure of SportsCentre morning hosts Jay Onrait and Dan O’Toole, who have been lured away by Fox Sports for their new Los Angeles-based sports network, Fox Sports 1.

You see, Fox is attempting to go head-to-head with ESPN and the American SportsCenter for the top spot in the competitive sports media market, but challenging a media juggernaut like ESPN is no small feat. Fox Sports is looking for any and every edge that they can get over their competitor, and it would seem that their plan includes the quirky appeal of two of the most beloved sportscasters Canada has ever seen.

Onrait and O’Toole sat behind the TSN sports desk as co-hosts since 2003. Over the past 10 years, this dynamic duo of sportscasting has refined their chemistry and style down to a science. They stood out from the rest of the sportscaster pack with their ability to seemingly get away with the most ridiculous gags and hilarious behaviour. Their reputation for shenanigans ensured that fans would tune in daily not only to catch up on all the sports news from the previous day, but also to see what sort of wacky antics would be interspersed between highlight packages.

Those who don’t follow sports or watch TSN will surely fail to understand the impact that Jay and Dan had on TSN and the SportsCentre program. Furthermore, there are sports fans, likely those among the older generations, who will say good riddance to Onrait and O’Toole’s foolish behavior.

To that point, it’s hard to pinpoint the full cultural impact that Jay and Dan have had on the Canadian sports scene. Their popularity peaked thanks largely to clips posted on YouTube, especially those posted by a user named MrLogue1021. His videos and the “best of” packages created based on his uploaded clips have collectively garnered millions of views from both fans and curious observers.

With all the corporate concern over protecting the unauthorized posting of copyrighted material on the Internet, CTV Bell Media—the company that owns and operates TSN—were quite progressive in their reaction to Jay and Dan’s new Internet fame. While they certainly had to crack down on MrLogue1021’s personal page, they followed up by hiring him on as an official YouTube partner, and gave him full control over posting future clips from Jay and Dan and other TSN packages.

With appearances on CTV during the 2010 and 2012 Olympics, Jay and Dan’s visibility steadily rose. Their onscreen popularity finally leaped off the television screen and into the world of podcasting with the first episode of the Jay and Dan Podcast, published to iTunes on Sept. 5, 2012.

For fans of “Andre” and “Toolsie,” the podcast is a weekly booster shot of all the Jay and Dan shenanigans you can handle, delivered via a portable medium in an unfiltered format. If their shows on TSN were focused on sports while occasionally drifting into the absurd, then the podcast is the exact opposite of that. It defies proper description. If you’re a fan and you’ve never listened to the podcast, you should know there are 42 episodes. Riddled with jokes, sound bytes, and a unique behind-the-curtains look at the world of TSN, it’s definitely worth a listen.

The official announcement that Jay and Dan were headed Stateside rippled through Canadian social media, even eliciting a response from Prime Minister Stephen Harper through his Twitter account. Their final show aired on June 29, and was a crazy celebration of their TSN careers. As usual, the best clips from that show are available online.

Fox Sports 1 doesn’t hit the airwaves until Aug. 17, and it’s uncertain whether or not Canadian audiences will get an opportunity to check in and follow Jay and Dan’s careers. It is also uncertain whether the guys’ very Canadian-based humour will go over on American television.

It’s still too early to tell how American audiences will receive the crazy Canuck co-hosts, but with how calculated Fox Sports has been in making this move well ahead of the network’s launch, they clearly see the value and appeal that Onrait and O’Toole brought to TSN. They are banking on American audiences embracing Jay and Dan just as much as Canadians have.

Fox Sports’ gain is TSN’s huge loss, and replacing the void that has been created by Jay and Dan leaving will be nearly impossible. On the bright side, it should allow room for new up-and-coming Canadian talent to take a crack at manning the sports desk on Canada’s biggest sports network. And in the worst-case scenario, if things don’t work out in Los Angeles, I’m positive that Jay and Dan would be welcomed back to Canada with open arms.