- 8,102
- 20,385
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2002
ALL-STAR GAME: BOSH STARTS HIS CAMPAIGN
MATTHEW SEKERES
December 31, 2007
Houston -- Chris Bosh may not be criss-crossing Iowa or heading to New Hampshire any time soon, but during primary and caucus season in the United States, the Toronto Raptors forward has his own campaign.
Bosh is trying to send himself to New Orleans this February for the NBA all-star game, and spent his Christmas break producing a humorous video to boost his candidacy. The video is available on YouTube.com and on Bosh's website, chris-bosh.com, and features Bosh like you've never seen him before.
"I wanted to do something different, and I noticed that I was behind in the polls," Bosh said with a laugh.
As of Friday, Bosh was third among Eastern Conference forwards, behind Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics and LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Fan voting continues until Jan. 20, with the starters being announced four days later.
"I know those guys are going to get the majority of votes and I wanted to do something to get me an edge," Bosh said.
The 77-second long video features Bosh in his best used car salesman outfit, complete with cowboy hat and bolo tie, and speaking in his best Texas twang. The spot was filmed just outside Bosh's house in Dallas by Bosh, his brother and his girlfriend. His brother plays Bubba, the only other on-camera character.
"I had to really, really exaggerate [the accent]. But a lot of people talk like that where I'm from so I know the slang," Bosh said. "I'm a funny person - I think. So I wanted to surprise a lot of people because I knew people didn't see that coming. Plus, I want to get my website a lot more traffic."
Bosh said the theme was inspired by a recent Snoop Dogg video, which got him thinking about motifs. "I saw that video and said 'Man, what's old and corny and cheesy?' And I thought a used car salesman."
Bosh is normally laid back and his indiscernible accent does not suggests he's from the Southwest. But in the video, Bosh lays it on thick.
His energy, accent and delivery are all amplified as though he were a huckster shilling used pick-up trucks.
Bosh tells viewers "we don't want your money, we just want your vote" and that "filling out these ballots is easy as cow-tipping."