CB4 PR War Rages On With Bosh Firing Back

Chris Bosh was back on Canadian T.V on Sportsnet. He did an interview on Sportsnet who has decided to get back into the basketball business again. Earlier in the week on the Fan 590 also party of the rogers family it was Bryan Colangelo firing shots at his former franchise player. Chris Bosh decided to fire back and do it on Canadian T.V. I give him credit for that. I know it is not exactly the cool thing to do supporting Chris these days. But having watched this interview and listened to the Colangelo interview for me Bosh comes off better than B.C.

Colangelo called into question Bosh's effort post all-star break. He said he felt he basically milked the ankle injury he suffered in the first game vs the Grizzlies after the All-Star Break. Bosh fired back with pointing out the fact that in that game after the injury occurred he remained in the game and tried to play through it. Which is 100% fact. It is also true that game went into overtime and Bosh played the entire OT on that injured ankle. Bosh said that the name on the back of his jersey represents his deceased grandfather and his family. His family are hard workers and that is something he takes pride in, and is the reason he plays hard every minute he is on the floor. In his 7 years he says he gave his 100% to the Toronto Raptors and trying to win.

Bosh also put in perspective his comments in the Miami Hearld in which he called Canada different. He pointed out the obvious differences between Canada and the U.S. Pointing out the obvious difference in road signs from kilometers to miles. That being said, he didn't see being different as being bad, that he himself was different. He said he enjoyed every single minute he spent in Toronto. He called it a fantastic metropolitan city. He pointed out the fact of it being difficult to recruit players to come play with him in Toronto. He also continued his disappointment about the Raptors lack of appearence on national broadcasts in the states.

Bosh said he does not want his 7 years with the Raptors to be erased. He does not want people to forget what we all went through together. When asked what Raptor fans should do after watching another player, being him, leave yet again. He said that they should continue to support the Raptors that your team is your team and players come and go. He full expects to get booed when he returns to Toronto. What is different from Vince Carter and Chris Bosh is that it seems Bosh cares about his legacy in Toronto. I am not sure he will be able to save it though.

This was the first time in a long time that I have seen Chris Bosh doing an interview in where he sounded like himself. Even in his radio interview on the Fan 590 earlier this month he was not the guy I got to know over 7 years. Chris, with the expcetion of his exit from Toronto after the season , has for me always been an intelligent and smart guy. It is why I felt the way he handled all of this was so bizziare and out of charcter. What will frustrate people about Bosh is his desire to not just be a great basketball player but to be a famous basketball player. The questions that I have about Chris Bosh have nothing to do with the type of player he is. They have nothing to do with his effort on the floor.

I do question sometimes his desire to build his own brand as much as his own team. Ultimately the reason Chris Bosh and the Raptors are not on national T.V in the states is 2 fold. The first part Bosh may not like and all of you might not like it as well. Vince Carter as much as he was a complete failure at times did create buzz and excitiment. He did things that made you jump out of you seat. Chris Bosh even at his best is not a sportscenter hightlight reel. Vince Carter was able to break the glass roof and get the Raptors on to mainstream T.V in the U.S. Secondly, the simple fact is for U.S networks the Raptors don't make good business sense. There is no extra ad revnue you can generate because they are not allowed to broadcast in Canada. In addition beyond Canada the Raptors to not have a large U.S fan base and generate ratings. Vince Carter was able to overcome those things because Vince Carter had many fans in the U.S. Winning the Slam Dunk Contest and having his highlights on ESPN nightly helped that. The Raptors also were for several years considered a legit contender in the East as well. Something that under Bosh the Raptors were never able to do. Ironically another Big 3 in Boston might have been the major reason for that. Had that not come along the Raptors would be a favourite to win the Atlantic on yearly basis after they had won their lone division title that Carter never did.

Chris will be successful both on and off the floor. He clearly thinks of himself beyond basketball and beyond his career. That is smart to be honest. That being said you need to get the basketball things accomplished first. Going to the Miami Heat likely will do that. However for a guy that spoke passionately about the pride he has in his name and his family it seems odd to swallow your pride and become the 3rd wheel in Miami. That would be a blow to your pride wouldn't it? This was a guy that wanted at one time to be part of the solution in Toronto. He admitted he worked very hard to make that happen. Which honestly is the case. So isn't that a failure? But Bosh seems happy to justifiy it by saying it was the fault of lack of attention and lack of ability to bring talent here. Besides he is living his dream and getting all the attention he wants. Still what does that have to do with winning or basketball? Not really sure.

At the end of the day I agreee with some of things Bosh has expressed. I personally wish, he would make more of a point out of what he did say about Raptors not being a tax team. He made a valid point and it seems clear Bosh or not, the Raptors will always struggle to sign players long term. Spending beyond the tax threshold to be championship team is required and was never done with Bosh. Something the Raptors claim to want to be. It costs money to do that. Regardless of what gets said, for me, Chris Bosh gave all he had for 7 years and it becomes a question of who you believe failed Bosh or Colangelo. Maybe it is both but the battle lines have been laid down. At the end of the day everyone failed, but the mud being thrown at Bosh serves no purpose and Bryan Colangelo never should have went there. He has had a frustrating offseason and it is clear Bosh did shut him out. Bosh, sticking to script saying he did not decide till the very end on Toronto does not pass the believeablity test. But the fact he gave all he had for the Raptors does. While Colangelo comes off like a frustrated guy that took a big gamble and lost.