The Hawk, Drawing & God

Andre Dawson was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday. Andre "The Hawk" was one of my favorite Cubs back in the late 1980's and as much as I admired him then, the things I've read about him these last two days make me admire him more. Dawson was a star for the Expos with his excellent defense and his speed of light base running. But after ten years on astro turf his legs were in decline. When his contract was up he still wanted to play the game he loved so he sent the Cubs a blank contract. He told them he still wanted to play and if they'd hire him, they could just fill in the amount of money they wanted to pay. The Cubs offered a minimum amount and Dawson was in their Spring Training facility the next day. He carried no puffed up sense of pride (even though he had a superstar past) but only a genuine love for the game.

Another story he shared in an interview sheds some light on his character. He was always very quiet in the locker room and on the field but he said that a few times his temper got the best of him and he had a couple of heated conversations with the umpires. He said that each time this happened he'd get a phone call as soon as he arrived home from his mother. She would ask him, "Just who do you think you are acting like that?" and he said that was always just enough to put him back in his place.

Imagine that.....humility and class in professional sports.

More deliberate sketching in 2010. It's so easy to fall into lazy habits but sketching is such a good thing to do. This one shows the clothing layers I've resorted to these past few days. It's been quite cold here in God's Country.

Speaking of God....I love this movie frame.

Another one in the new drawing series. This one's been hard to finish. Babies are cutting teeth, kids are having ear infections, the Steelers tanked and the Spring semester begins in 4 days. And it's cold.

But.......buck up little campers. Pitchers and catchers report in just over a month.