OT- Vincent Smith, the painter?
The day started out with a bang, and plenty of good news, but it's been kind of slow for the past couple of hours. So I signed on to Facebook and the first thing on my news feed is this picture Doobie put on his page of him painting, and to be honest, the painting is really, REALLY good.
Love to see athletes doing something they enjoy other than their sport!
Art is all subjective of course, so I'll stay away from judging his, but great to see him getting involved in the creative arts. Side note: is that a "Eatin" wristband he's wearing? The one that Martavious made to benefit Pahokee?
he's from Pahokee so I can see him wearing it.
Had no idea he had such an artistic side. Hoping for him to catch a few slippery screens against the Alabama rush.
It's upside down from the vantage point in the picture...but it says #EATIN on it.
Obama, The Dictator, Studies in Red and Green, What appears to be the Eye of Sauron, and an eyeball. Plus a yellow patch. Vincent Smith has varied interests.
Not the Eye of Sauron but a circle of people dressed in red.
Circle of people dressed in red or Eye of Sauron...I go with Eye of Sauron. It is far more interresting even if it isn't right.
All seeing eye!
WANTS you to think.
It's really good. One of my favorite players showing some real talent for art.
It's a painting of everything he thinks is a joke.
there are plenty of rules on this board about politics. Knock It Off
You guys know "The Dictator" was just a movie, right?
Yes but there is a picture of out current president as well. Like him or hate him, republican or democrat, please at least show respect on an unrelated message board. Statements like that are sure to offend others.
I think our coastal friend was kidding
What are you talking about? That is Forest Whittaker.
This is, in fact, quite awesome. It looks like an excellent work, I really do like this painting as it is - it is great to see this expressive side of our team.
Yeah this just makes our team even more awesome. Gotta love the kids, they're more than just football players for sure.
Love the duece..Screen against ND was a thing of Beauty..Love his toughness
Doobie?? Where's Herm when I need him to ask for further explanation?
The last Vincent who painted a lot ended up cutting off his own ear.
Just something to keep an eye on.
You keep your eye on it and I'll keep my ear on the ground...
Vincent van Gogh has nothing on Vincent van Smith
Correction, Vincent smartcar Smith.
All jokes aside...
Take a step back for a second and realize where Vincent Smith comes from. A small, rural, town in the muck of south Florida. Rough area, not many positive things going on around him. A WORLD away from Ann Arbor, Michigan. I've lived in Ann Arbor and been to Pahokee, well, you can only imagine.
But think about the entire picture, not just the painting.
Here are my thoughts:
#1 --- This is the TRUE STUDENT-ATHLETE. What a concept.
#2 --- This is why I love sports...I'm willing to bet there is no way Vincent Smith makes it into this picture without football. Does he go to college? Maybe, maybe not. But does he go to the University of Michigan, one of the best academic institutions in America. An out of state school so far north. Does he grow as not only a football player, but as a student and a man with all the resources this place provides? I don't think so.
#3 --- For all the bad things that make our headlines...how come we never hear these stories?
#4 --- This is a blessing. I know we're supposed to keep words like that off this board...but it truly is a blessing. To see this young man taking advantage of everything the University of Michigan has offered him...it gets me fired up. Like I said, I've been to Pahokee, FL...and there isn't much to it other than football, violence, depressed areas and many examples of "what once was." I look at a kid who made it out...even if he didn't come from a bad circumstance, he still expanded his horizons and did something the majority of his high school classmates wouldn't DARE do. He left home, the area, the state, the region, the culture...he left everything he knew...came to a foreign land and he's going to go back home and better person for it.
To me, the painting is wonderful, but the picture damn near brings a tear to my eye. Congrats to Vincent Smith for being different, for stepping out of his comfort zone and becoming a man. I just hope his story gets the attention of gate bashing and car hood sliding...maybe it'll inspire someone else to be different and take on the world as Vince did.
Props to #2. We're rooting for you.
you inspire me man
Couldn't have put it any better.
All this reminds me of what Brandon said at the end of the press conference announcing Hoke's hire:
"This game is about the players. Yeah, we need fans, we want fans. You're [the media] all important, we need the coverage that you bring and visibility that you bring. But this is about football players. This is about changing young men's lives. This is about bringing leadership in here who makes a difference in the lives of young men. And they leave here with a championship ring and they leave here with a great education and they go out and do great things in life. That's Michigan. Michigan men do that."
Tell me something, Dad, I can't see real good, is that Vincent Van Gogh over there? Huh? (For those of you who get the Matt Foley reference.)
But no, in all seriousness, this is really impressive. Far better than anything I could ever paint. Glad to see he is a true student-athlete.
last night, but when I googled his name with "Art" all I could find was related to Art Modell.
Of course the picture above shows his branching out from watercolors to performance art.
We've heard a lot about the downside of Twitter, Facebook and all the other trappings of the information age - especially last week - but this is one of the great parts of today's open world.
When I was at U-M (early 90's), I never interacted with any of the football/hoops players (other than the Intro to Urban Planning class that the Fab Five attended) so I just eyerollingly assumed that they were all big dummies who lived in South Quad (though Jalen and Chris were pretty funny in class discussions). Now that I've been away from college for some time, absence does make the heart grow fonder. Especially after reading about a lot of our guys off the field - It really makes you root for them that much more. RichRod and now Hoke have really brought in some high-quality kids, and even if Vincent Smith never runs another yard for the team and never mountain goats another blitzer, he still gets mad props for how he's repped our University.
Damn double post, please nuke. Apparently, I too am doing my part to turn the tide on the rivalry.
Another reminder of the NCAA commercial that shows athletes who will be "going pro" in something other than sports.
Always good to see positive evidence of what college athletes are doing away from the fields, courts, pools and lakes where they’re usually working at their "first job" after high school. I’ve often heard college athletes say that one of the biggest adjustments they make after high school is understanding that, especially in Division One, participating in college sports is a full-time job.
Nice to see that there is some more artistic talent on Michigan Football’s Team 133.
Liquitex acrylic. You can mix any color under the sun with five tubes of the stuff.