“All that matters to me is that the Raptors play hard every game; if they do that, if they give a good effort and the games are close, I can still enjoy watching the team on a game-to-game basis, even if the season as a whole is a colossal disappointment.”

– Me, January 19

So, I said that. And I meant it. All I ask for, as a fan, is effort. Judging by the crowds in the last two games, that’s all most fans ask for - yes, we want a win, but if we can’t get a win, we at least want effort. And frankly, I don’t think it’s too much to ask.

Apparently, the Raptors think it is; they seem to think it’s OK to go out and give 40 or 50% effort, to go through the motions and hopefully beat the traffic home.

Well, the fans called you out on out, fellas. That level of effort is not acceptable.

I mean, no one really expected the Raptors to take this one - Orlando is every bit as good as their gaudy record - but the poor effort is what hurts, especially coming off the poor effort in the game against the Bucks. We expected more.

And then, trying to turn it around on us, the fans, and say “the energy in the building is not good?”

Wow.

I cannot even believe Chris Bosh said this: “If you have a bad fiscal year, how about I boo you?”

Double Wow.

Um, Chris? These are paying customers you’re talking about, and booing, much as it sucks, is the only way - repeat, THE ONLY WAY - we get to voice our displeasure.

Think about it this way. You’re at a restaurant. You’re paying for a meal. But let’s say your steak isn’t cooked right, the service is slow, and the waiter is rude. You can send the steak back to the kitchen. You can complain to the server about the wait and to management about the poor service. If all that does nothing, you can leave a lower tip. If the service is that bad, you can leave no tip it all! That is your right as a paying customer. You’re not obligated to be happy about a poor meal and crappy service, you have a right to complain.

But an attendee at a sporting event? They can’t complain to you or Bryan Colangelo that the team is playing like crap, that they came to see you play hard and you didn’t. They can’t express their displeasure by not leaving you a tip. All they can do is boo.

Again: They’re not obligated to be happy about watching a team of professionals play like they’d rather be at home watching 187 hours of Super Bowl pre-game shows. They’re paying customers: They have a right to complain.

And frankly, it is shocking to me - absolutely shocking - that an intelligent young man such as yourself does not realize that.

Look, Chris, I don’t like booing either, and I’ve never booed the home team myself (and I sat through some AWFUL games as a Raps fan). And earlier this year - the time Bargnani got booed after missing a free throw - it was not justified. But yesterday? 100% justified and I don’t see how you can argue that. The Raptors were missing simple defensive rotations, were not hustling after loose balls, and were settling for long jump shot after long jump shot.  Add in the turnovers and offensive rebounds, and the most upsetting thing in my mind, the terrible transition defense (some no-name scrub with a girl’s name went coast to coast for a dunk and not one Raptor even ATTEMPTED to stop the ball) and it’s clear that you were not giving your best effort out there. It’s not acceptable; and although you can say you were playing hard, actions speak louder than words, my friend.

Chris, you’re a great ball player and you seem like a good person, but it’s time to rise above that garbage, OK? You’re better than that. At least I think you are - please don’t let me down. I know there’s a lot of negativity out there, but try and rise above. Thank you.
PS As for Stephen A Smith and his ludicrous report? Not worth getting worked up over. The man is a fraud and a hack. I can just as easily declare “sources say Chris Bosh told BC he’s re-signing in 2010!” because I have as much insider information as he does (read: none) and guess what, one of is going to be right. Only difference is, I won’t crow about it, because I know and fully admit I’m making it up - but I can all but guarantee that if Chris signs elsewhere, Mr. Smith will be on air declaring how he broke this story in February of ‘09 and saying “I told you so” to anyone who will listen.

Tags: Chris Bosh, Orlando Magic, Toronto Raptors

This entry was posted on Monday, February 2nd, 2009 at 12:26 pm and is filed under Game Wrap-ups, Toronto Raptors.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.