Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Half Man, Half Megalomaniac


Barry Bonds once complained that they don't make statues of black folk. Well I guess Barry never met Vince Carter's mom. After Vince Carter donated $2.5 mil to build a new gym for his old high school, his mother surprised some members of the school board by donating a statue of Vince to be put in front of the gymasium.

"There have been many students graduated from that school who have made wonderful contributions to their fellow man -- in science, health, theater. Where are their statues?" (board member) Conte asked.
She said statues should be erected by someone other than the subject's family in recognition of a "life of contribution."
"I think it sends the wrong message to students about what we value," Conte said of the Carter statue in a later interview. "I think we're saying we value you if you can make a lot of money, and that troubles me."

The board debated the issue, but ultimately decided to accept the statue, along with the 2.5 mil. I guess they decided that what really mattered is that 2.5 mil is a lot of money, and turning it down would be far more troubling than any of those values they were worried about.

What would have been more troubling, albeit appropriate, is if they'd gone with this Philip Hitchcock design for the statue. Regardless, the new Vince Carter statue is a fitting tribute. Carter is one of the games greatest jumpers, tho his level of commitment is flawed to say the least. And this statue will be a place for slackers to get high. Well done, Vince's mom.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home