2007-08 Chris Bosh Video:
	Blane Harrington Interviews Chris Bosh 03:50 | Play | Sun, 4 May 2008 Blane Harrington attempts to interview Toronto Raptors Forward Chris Bosh.
	Chris Bosh - April 29, 2008 18:27 | Play | Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:30:48 GMT Chris Bosh talks to the media after locker clean out day.
	Five Star: Chris Bosh 00:22 | Play | Sat, 26 Apr 2008 21:32:07 GMT Chris Bosh gives the Magic the shake-n-bake for a bucket and one.
	There Can Only Be One: Howard and Bosh 00:32 | Play | Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:31:39 GMT For Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh, fear is an emotion they are not afraid to deal with.
	Block of the Night: Chris Bosh 00:16 | Play | Wed, 23 Apr 2008 06:41:01 GMT Chris Bosh swats away a driving attempt by Jameer Nelson in Game 2.
	NBA Access: Chris Bosh 04:54 | Play | Tue, 15 Apr 2008 22:54:46 GMT Take a look at the off-court life of web-savvy Raptors All-Star Chris Bosh.
	Block of the Night: Chris Bosh 00:00:12 | Play | Thu, 10 Apr 2008 05:28:12 GMT Watch Chris Bosh come from behind and swat away the Michael Ruffin shot attempt.
	NBA TV News: Raptors Visit Childrens Hospital 00:02:03 | Play | Wed, 05 Mar 2008 15:45:58 GMT The Raptors visited patients at Sick Kids Hospital, Toronto's largest Pediatric Center.
	Tuesday Night with Ahmad: Chris Bosh 00:03:02 | Play | Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:31:13 GMT Chris Bosh chats with Ahmad about his knee injury and the Raptors' chances in the East.
	Chris Bosh On The Hour On CBC 11:17 | Play | Fri, 29 Feb 2008 Chris Bosh talks Raptors, Life, and Motivation with George Stroumboulopoulos
	Chris Bosh & Will Ferrell - Feb. 27, 2008 00:03:11 | Play | Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:23:00 GMT Watch as Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh interviews Semi Pro star Will Ferrell.
	Who Is Blane Harrington? Chris Bosh CBTV Exclusive! 02:02 | Play | Thur, 31 Jan 2008 Who is Blane Harrington? When will he meet Chris Bosh? Stay tuned...
	Bosh Busts A Move 00:01:43 | Play | Sat, 12 Jan 2008 07:35:03 GMT Chris Bosh scored 40 points on Friday to lead the Raptors over the Knicks.
	Chris Bosh All-Star Campaign Video 00:01:48 | Play | Wed, 02 Jan 2008 21:48:45 GMT Check out Chris Bosh's campaign video for the 2008 NBA All-Star game.
	Top 5 of Inside # 1: Bosh's Campaign 00:02:36 | Play | Fri, 04 Jan 2008 19:09:54 GMT TNT's crew takes a look at Bosh's campaign to be voted a starter in the all-Star Game.

by Mike Ulmer
--raptors.com
May 26, 2008

(TORONTO) - Hutchins, Texas is named after William J. Hutchins, the man who brought the railway to town.

There are 2,805 people who live there and they are not big on pretence. Rather than use it to advertise progress or a certain local ingenuity, the sign in front of the community office bears the slogan “SOUTH GATE TO BIG D.”

But while Hutchins sits only 10 minutes from downtown Dallas, it might as well be a million.

There are trees and vacant lots and space. This is where Chris Bosh learned how to be a kid before he learned how to be a basketball player.

“It wasn’t a farm it was more like rural Texas,” recalled his little brother Joel, himself a basketball player at Alabama State University. “There were some cows and other animals down the street and we had a nice piece of land.”

Adjacent to the Bosh property was another where Joel and Chris’ paternal grandmother Eileen Bosh lives. Everyone knows her as Motherdear.

Cousins could be found right down the block and the neighborhood kids mingled with the Bosh clan. It was a safe spacious world with plenty of football and baseball. The fifty yards between the Bosh home and Motherdear’s was traversed by the boys as if they were passing between rooms.

“We were always surrounded by family, playing outside, getting exercise and that really helped us,” said Chris Bosh. “It helped with our fitness and with our creativity. If we didn’t know what to do out there in that field, we made up a game.”

Motherdear turned 90 this February.

“She played a very instrumental part in how we grew up,” said Bosh. She was our babysitter and when Mom and Dad were out of town or working, we went there.

She was disciplinarian. You did your homework, “no cryin.’”

If you are looking for hints to the serene superstar that is Chris Bosh, you had best start with Motherdear and his parents, Freida and Noel and Hutchins and the field between the houses.

There is, in Bosh, an overlaying decency and calm. It was evident the day he stepped into the Raptors lineup after one season at Georgia Tech and time has served but to deepen that well of self-control.

“It’s hard to find players who have the kind of impact he has on the court and are still so humble or comfortable with themselves,” said Raptors General Manager Bryan Colangelo. “A lot of times the star players tend to expect a little more in terms of the way they’re treated. Chris obviously wants to be treated with respect, but he is one of the guys.”

NBA Hall of Famer Walt Frazier has seen talented players come and go since 1967. He compares Bosh’s countenance to that of another all-time great.
“His demeanour on the court reminds me of Bill Russell,” said Frazier. “He’s unflappable. He’s also lefthanded like Russell and that affects the way he carries himself.”

In 2007-2008, Bosh followed a strong regular season with an even better playoff. He averaged 24 points and nine rebounds a contest as the Raptors lost to the Orlando Magic in five games.

Stepping up his production after a spotty performance against New Jersey the year before, Bosh realized he needed a playoff series to understand the rules of the post season.

“I did take a lot pride in doing better. It took me a while to realize that every thing they did was designed to slow me down. Last year, I wasn’t used to the aggressiveness of the defence I was seeing.”

Bosh has established himself as one of the NBA’s top stars by polishing every element of his game, from outside shooting to his work in the low post. He is a six-10 power forward who has the footspeed and ballhandling abilities of a much smaller man.

“Honestly, He’s a match-up nightmare,” said the Knicks Jamal Crawford. “You bring your big guy out, he goes around you or you run into foul trouble. You double-team him, he makes you pay. He’s a very willing passer. A guy like that, there’s really no match up for him.”

Injury has proven itself one of the few things to slow down Bosh. He missed 10 games with a sore right knee and five more with a strained groin.

He missed a dozen games in each of the previous two seasons with a bruised knee and a thumb injury.

Bosh believes he has found a way to counteract injuries.

“It’s really about getting to know yourself. What I found out is that I had taken a lot of time off in the off-season. I realize now I took too much time off and that bit me in the butt because one injury can sort of flow into others.”

Bosh is facing a defining off-season. He will be among the U.S. Olympics representing his nation at the Beijing Olympics. The U.S., he said, has been knocked off its perch in World Championships and Olympics.

Bosh uses that fact as fuel.

“We have no reason to be complacent,” he said. “We haven’t won anything in the last seven or eight years. It’s going to be very intense. There is so much talent around the world. Having the strongest team might not be enough. What we need is the right combination of talents.”

To make himself more available to fans, he has cobbled together videos that he posts on his homepage. Two feature Blane Harrington, an effete journalist type with an English accent. He expects to put Harrington on hold and develop other characters but only in this, is Bosh vague.

“We’re going to try some different things,” he laughed. “I want to do a whole lot of things. I want to do some more new stuff before I get back to him. Maybe we’ll put something up around the Olympics. We’ll have to see.”

For now, Chris Bosh will concentrate on being Chris Bosh, pride of Hutchins, Texas.

The secret, he says, is to let the good things come to you.

“For me, it was always about not trying too hard. People put a lot of pressure on who they are. I don’t think that way anymore. If you relax, your personality will come out.

“Some people just try too hard.”