"Should I stay or Should I go....." Chris Bosh bares his soul, it's time we listened

On Friday afternoon Chris Bosh, the star power forward for the Toronto Raptors tweeted a simple but loaded phrase "Should I stay or should I go" The conjectures were flying, rumours spread, management probably held their breath, but we now finally have a window in to the soul of Chris Bosh.

Today, I'm not going to be a Raptors fan, nor a Chris Bosh fan. Today I'm not going to care about more wins, more losses, playoffs or who earns what, what's best for the team. Today, I'm going to be a human being, and a friend.

Chris Bosh came to Toronto as a young man, barely in his 20s full of hope and talent to a team that needed both. He was drafted 4th overall after Lebron, Darko, and Carmello. He came into the mess that was Vince Carter, and really, walked into a management situation that simply wasn't fair to a young man looking for guidance in to his bright future. But he solidered on, quiet, conteplative and hard working. There's a reason why this town loves Chris Bosh, it's not simply because he was talented. There were plenty of athletes that had the talent here. It's the fact that he represented all the characteristics that we Canadians valued. Hard working, blue collar attitude and humble to the core. Chris' parents raised him right that's for sure. For these last 7-8 years, he's given nothing but the best to the city.

Toronto can be a cruel town. They love you one minute but they hate you the next. SOme say that is the price you pay for earning millions in professional sports. But I recall the time when the fans broke Darryl Strawberry. I remember the look on Jason Giambi's face when the world wanted his head. Athletes are human too, they break when the pressure is too much to bear. Just because you pay someone a million dollars a year to shovel shit doesn't mean they will enjoy shoveling shit. They'll do it for the money, but it's still shoveling shit. Chris Bosh is a young man who is going to do what's best for himself and his family and no one can stop a man from that pursuit, nor should they. He has ever right to leave this town, and no one should do anything else except tell him thanks and good luck. Because he has at least earned that much.

So here's what I will say to Chris if he asked me that question "Should I stay or should I go..."

Chris, I've seen you grow from a boy to a man. I've seen you carry yourself with class, I've seen you work your tail off and I've seen more often than not, characters tics that many athletes should strive to acquire. If you must go, I understand, and it's your right to try new things, take new road which will bring forth new experiences. Good luck and I wish you all the best.

But I'd like you to stay. Because you have friends here who have grown up with you over the last 8 years, and would be sad to see a beloved friend leave. Because championships are that much sweeter when you build it from the ground up, not as a paid free agent who walked into a championship. Because here, you have a chance to write a legacy that so few athletes in their time have the opportunity to do. I would like to tell you, stay, don't go join the crowd that you know will win one and play Robin to someone else's Batman. I say, stay and drag this idiotic team, kick and screaming to an NBA title, because that's the kind of leader I know you can be!

Blog – 2 years, 0 months ago by Megatron to Basketball. 1858 views, 1 comment.