Land of the Leaf

Chris Bosh faced the media in Toronto yesterday amid allegations that he was a “deadbeat dad”.  He handled the throng of reporters well, I mean it was awkward as hell (you could hear nothing but basketballs bouncing in the background), but he was in decent spirits and it was his birthday.

“All I can say is I’m willing to take care of my responsibilities like I’ve been doing in the past and in the future and have respect for everyone,” Bosh told reporters Tuesday. “I love my daughter, I love myself and I respect her mother.”

This will all likely sit somewhere simmering for a good while, and the truth will play out in court.  I’ll say this though regarding newspaper headlines:  If Chris Bosh were a Toronto Maple Leaf, that “deadbeat dad” would likely be an estranged father.  Read what you will into that.

In a stunning display of journalism, Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star has increased traffic to the paper’s website and probably set newsstands ablaze with his latest display of typed-diarrhea entitled:  “Raptor Bosh a deadbeat dad, lawsuit says”.  According to a lawsuit filed by Bosh’s former girlfriend Allison Mathis, she and Bosh planned on having a child and that Bosh had paid for fertility drugs, then he dumped after the Olympics leaving her pregnant and “destitute”, and there is a bunch of other shit that has yet to be proved in court.

He then goes on to answer the riddle on everyone’s mind, what happened to the Toronto Raptors’ season with pure investigative journalism:

“The case, perhaps, is the missing piece in explaining a sometimes puzzling decline in the on-court performance of Bosh and the Raptors. Bosh, an iconic figure in Toronto and beyond known both for his athletic prowess and his gift for starring in viral Internet videos, was proclaiming himself a candidate for league MVP in the midst of a stellar November. But (Allison) Mathis filed suit on Nov. 26, 2008, and, not long after, Bosh and the Raptors fell into an abyss.”

Oh, by the way, today is Chris Bosh’s birthday!  Happy 25th Chris from the loving and painfully fledgling Toronto media.