Bosh expressed his frustration at the lack of support displayed by his fellow Raptors after the incident, telling Toronto Star reporter Dave Feschuk (via FanHouse):

"Yeah, I'd like to see the team more passionate. I look at their bench and they're all up standing at half-court, and nobody from their team was down on the floor. I think we would react better to just be out there for one another and just stay together."

Clearly, Bosh feels that his team lacks toughness and he is sick and tired of no one doing anything about it:

"I'm tired of talking about toughness. We talk about it too much. We talk about everything too much. We've got to stop talking about it and just do it."

Antoine Wright appeared to be the only Raptors player other than Bosh to articulate his disappointment at how things went down, saying after the game that the Raptors "just got punked."

Sitting at 7-10, it probably isn't time yet to push the panic button in Toronto, but the Raptors did fall to 2-8 on the road, a statistic that backs up Bosh's assessment that his team lacks the requisite toughness needed to play well in opposing arenas.

But more than anything, I bet Bosh simply hopes that his teammates will allow him to take an extra long soak in the ice tub today. Ouch.

Bosh Gets Pounded, Wonders Why His Teammates Don't Care [Fanhouse]
Feschuk: Raptors bow down meekly to Celtics 116-103 [Toronto Star]
Paul Pierce Not a Big Fan of Chris Bosh's Junk [Last Angry Fan]

•Bosh won a suit against a cybersquatter, and gained control of 800 domain names. On a related note, welcome to Boshspin.

•Our top story this morning: In a preseason loss to the Celtics, Chris Bosh led all scorers with 21 points in just 28 minutes. He also added four boards and three assists, and is clearly primed for an MVP-caliber season.

•In non-Chris Bosh news, Michael Vick reportedly declined an invitation to visit with eight of his former pit bulls. Good move. I know a trap when I see one.

•Stafon Johnson appeared healthy and smiling, but didn't speak at a press conference yesterday. He's a walking metaphor for the Trojans: looks good, but falls silent under the spotlight.

•On the eve of the NLCS, Dodgers owner Frank McCourt is separating from his wife. California is a community state, so the former Mrs. McCourt is entitled to exactly half. She will receive two losses to the Phillies.

•Boise State squeaked past Tulsa, probably the team with the best chance at ending the Broncos' undefeated season. And when you read that, you realize just how relative it is and why the BCS is a joke.

•Well, fuck it, if he can't heal himself, how can he be the Chosen One? LeBron has the flu, and he and the team is being tested for H1N1.

•Want to know how the young season is going for the Maple Leafs? Their defensemen are headbutting in own goals:

Just two guys, chillin' outside a convenience store in Yorkville. But when your wingman is a seven-foot NBA forward—and you're hanging on a street in Yorkville during the middle of the day—you've got to do a little bit more to make yourself stand out. Wacky t-shirt, it is. Well played, sir.

[Click to embiggen. Full picture by Votreceinture on Flickr]

* * * * *

Thanks for your support. And R.I.P. John Hughes. Petchesky's on deck, but if you need me I'll be at the gym or at the uh, gun club.

According to court papers filed in Maryland, Chris Bosh and his ex-girlfriend, Allison Mathis, were living together last year when they agreed to have a baby. She alleges that all was going well, until he returned from the Beijing Olympics in August—when she was already seven month pregnant—and he decided to end the relationship and kick her out of the home. She also claims that the stress of the situation, as well as his refusal to support her, led to complications with the pregnancy. (The baby was born via C-section in November and has only been in the same room with Bosh twice.)

Interestingly, the Toronto Star ties the lawsuit to Bosh's performance on the court, pointing out that his fortunes (and the Raptors') declined dramatically once he learned of it:

But Mathis filed suit on Nov. 26, 2008, and, not long after, Bosh and the Raptors fell into an abyss. Bosh, who averaged 26 points a game on 54 per cent shooting in November, averaged 21 points a game on 44 per cent shooting in December, and the team he leads, after putting together a win-loss record of 8-8 in October and November, went 4-12 for December, a stretch of abysmal play that saw coach Sam Mitchell fired and a hotly anticipated season began to disintegrate into its current tatters.

Ouch. Bosh denies the allegations in the suit and says he will "take care of my responsibilities," but this whole incident may also explain Bosh's curious choice for his favorite movie:

Raptor Bosh a deadbeat dad, lawsuit says [Toronto Star]
Hmmmmm..... You Got Served it is!!! [Hugging Harold Reynolds]
Chris Bosh's 25th Birthday Bash [My HogTown]

Via Ya-to-the-Hoo!:

"He was just camping down in the lane," Bosh said Friday night, after O'Neal's biggest scoring night in six years led Phoenix to a 133-113 victory over the Raptors. "I mean, if they're not calling three seconds-I thought it was a rule, but I guess not."

Three. Three-and-half. Five. What's the difference? The real melodrama from this little war of words has yet to fully happen. As we all know, Shaq's Twittering habits are otherworldly and he has a very devoted 196,000+ following. Bosh is also a full-blown member of the Twitterati, but has a less devoted following, most likely due to his Toronto address and not openly inviting his followers to touch him at a mall.

But, what if Shaq retaliated to Bosh's diss by ordering his pro-active Twitter army to attack Bosh's feed with merciless vigor? We could have a Big Lead/Cowherd situation on our hands. Stay tuned.

Bosh Says O'Neal Cheated in 45-Point Night [Yahoo! Sports]

Hmm, I hope this doesn't hurt Stephen A's impeccable journalism reputation.

On Sunday, Smith reported on ESPN that Bosh "had already told" the Raptors that he wouldn't re-sign in Toronto when he contract expires in 2010. Not so, says Bosh. From the Toronto Star:

The apparently non-issue arose Sunday when ESPN entertainer Stephen A. Smith boldly stated that the 24-year-old Bosh had told team officials he was leaving in a season and a half, not even citing anonymous sources. It brought a quick denial today from both Bosh and Colangelo.

"It was a surprise to me and I can't be responsible for what other people say so ...," said Bosh, his voice trailing off in disgust. "I understand people are entitled to an opinion but making stuff up? We can't do that. Let's all be fair."

So the question here remains, does ESPN have any editorial oversight whatsoever? How do you report on something like this and not even cite an anonymous source? Stephen A. addressed this on his blog last night.

In case anyone didn't comprehend what I reported first on ESPNews Sunday morning, then SportsCenter Monday night, let me be clear: My sources tell me Chris Bosh wants out of Toronto. Preferably before 2010, when he's free to opt out of his contract. They've also informed me Bosh has quietly made the Raptors aware of this, that he wouldn't mind interest from Miami or Dallas, at all, and that he's hopeful his days as a Raptor will come to an end sooner than when the LeBron James' Sweepstakes hits the fan in 2010.

Both Bosh and Raptors' President, Bryan Colangelo have emphatically denied Bosh has made the Raptors aware of anything. Feel free to believe them if you want to. And while you're at it, feel free to to conveniently forget that Damon Stoudamire, Marcus Camby, Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter all echoed similar sentiments before they skipped town, too.

So "Bosh has already told the Raptors" has been downgraded to "Bosh has quietly made the Raptors aware of this." But how quietly, one wonders? Hallmark card? Twitter? Honey bee hive colony dance?

By the way, is the comments section on Stephen A's blog being censored? I looked over the past seven posts, and not a negative comment to be found. That seems very odd ... unbelievable, actually.

Bosh Shoots Down Trade Talk [Toronto Star]
Boshed [Stephen A. Smith Blog]

"He's stupid," James said of Barkley. "That's all I have to say about that."

Hey now, Mr. Potty Mouth! That sort of filth won't fly in Cleveland! They may encourage that talk in some cesspool of a city like, oh, I don't know, New York, but...oh. Gotcha. Carry on then.

In actual basketball news, Cleveland stayed perfect at home with a 112-97 win over the Warriors. Lebron had 23 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, and 4 extremely weak taunts.

• Chris and the Hastily Installed Waterfront Condo Elevator: Ominous news for Raptors fans: Chris Bosh has only been a legitimate "super"star for about a month, and he's already showing up late to games. Sure, it was because he was trapped in the elevator of his condo building for almost an hour, but that's still no exc...what's that? I'm now being told it's "the perfect excuse".

"I was just heading to the game and I got stuck," said Bosh, who shook off an understandably slow first half to erupt for 15 of his 30 points in a decisive third quarter for the Raptors. "So I sat and reflected on life. Just chilled."

I think I know what he means: I often reflect on life by furiously clawing at the walls of enclosed spaces while crying like a little girl. And all that reflection seemingly paid off, as Bosh was able to focus the Raptors in a big 93-88 home win over the still-good Hawks (a game I was lucky enough to attend). Toronto now hits the road for games against the Lakers, Nuggets and Jazz. Good luck with those.

• That Old Gang of Mine: In other news, Kobe Bryant scored a season high 35 points as the Lakers beat the Dallas Insider Traders 114-107. Meanwhile, Shaq's other superstar former teammate (you know, the one who didn't go public about Shaq's alleged habit of paying women to keep quiet about sex) beat up on his old buddy in a different way - Dwyane Wade dropped 43 points as the Heat spanked the Suns 107-92. It was the first meeting between the teams since they swapped Shaq and Shawn Marion back in February. Steve Nash didn't play for Phoenix, as everyone knows Canadians don't play on American Thanksgiving weekend. It's a respect thing.

Charles Barkley trades barbs with Cleveland Cavaliers star Lebron James [Cleveland Plain Dealer]

Bosh elevates his game [The Globe and Mail]

Proving once again that it's funny when a child gets hurt, we present the end of the Raptors game yesterday, when a small child reaches out to touch the hand of Chris Bosh ... and pays the price.

Make sure you watch the left side of the screen. And listen for the yell. Wee!