Here’s a painting of Gary Carter I did in 7th grade, I think.

(Sunday Paper, Year VI, Issue 38)

This week I was reminded of something I drew years ago.

Like…20 years ago.

Even though it’s not something I look at often, I knew exactly where to find it…

And then it led to me looking at a bunch of stuff I had drawn years and years ago.

There’s a bunch of it that I would like to share with you…

So maybe this will become a somewhat regular occurrence.

But for today?

I’ll start with a little history.

I drew a bunch in my teens.

I was never a great artist when I had to draw something from my head.

Those drawings were always a little blocky.

You can see a bit of an example of that in the drawing to the right - it’s probably from 1988 or so - which I didn’t intend to show today but when I was looking for something else I came across it and thought it was too good not to show.

(I like that Howard Johnson is surprised that the ball is in his glove…it might have been an indictment of his defense.)

But at some point I realized I could draw quite well when I was copying a drawing. I started to do that with Disney characters. I have a few notebooks filled with drawings of Disney characters….among them, Scuttle from The Little Mermaid.

There are others that I like, but this is a pretty good indication of one of my good ones.

Now, apologies for all of the sports drawings the rest of the way, but that’s mostly what I drew.

And that’s what I’m showcasing today.

Here’s what happened this week - ESPN aired a documentary on the 1986 Mets. And there’s been some 1986 commemorative memorabilia going around…including a picture of Jesse Orosco and Gary Carter after the final out of the 1986 World Series. When I saw that picture I remembered my drawing and found it.

It was better than I remembered.

Then I looked through some of my other drawings in that book and found a couple of my favorites - I had drawn all the MLB logos (that existed at the time) and then did the same thing with the NBA. I remember so distinctly doing this - it was the first time I really appreciated how well-designed those logos were. It’s where I discovered the M and the B hidden in the Milwaukee Brewers logo.

This is how I spent many summer nights when I was younger - just watching sports and drawing sports.

Back then I was a much bigger basketball fan, too. And I had a poster of John Starks dunking in the 1993 playoffs against the Bulls. I remember drawing that and thinking it was a huge undertaking. This week I texted my friends some of these pictures, the Starks dunk among them…and apparently my friend Justin still has the poster hanging in his basement. So he sent me a pic to compare. My drawing holds up OK.

Notes

*I was never good at drawing people - even the Disney character cartoon people. Maybe that will be the next installment of ‘Art Show’…there are a couple of self-portrait attempts that aren’t as bad as I remember but are still a little uncomfortable for me to share. Maybe I’ll take another shot at one - it’s been years since I drew at all.

*One of my ‘365 New Things In 2013’ was a drawing of Fenway Park, inspired by a picture a friend sent me. I’m pretty proud of that one. That was one of two drawings I’ve done in the past decade (not that I’ve done a ton) I really liked.

*This personalized knockoff of the Mets logo is the other one.

*Running Update: Saturday’s run was 21 miles - the longest of the long runs before the Boston Marathon. Next week we begin the tapering process, taking it a little easier on the body until Marathon Monday.

I feel like what I’m doing is working. I felt great for 16 miles Saturday, and then I started to get pretty sore, but the hills weren’t as bad as they’ve been for me. I could actually feel the muscles I’ve been working on with squats in cross-training working as I ran up the hills.

I also had the most consistent pace I’ve had for a long run yet….and I had a good plan for fueling while I ran that I can replicate for the actual marathon.

*I wrote something to this effect on Facebook Saturday, but it bears repeating: I am so grateful for all of the donations and good wishes and support. This is literally a dream come true for me, running the Boston Marathon. And the donations are the reason I can do it.

*If you haven’t given yet and you’re able to, just as a reminder I am running for Team Framingham, raising money for the Framingham History Center. You can click here for more details and to give and help us reach our fundraising goals. Thank you.

*Here’s where you can find me on social media - click here for Twitter, click here for the Facebook page. The #EveryWeekOnWednesday posts right up through the marathon will be fun, including a couple more “John As His Strava Run” pics. I am particularly excited about this week’s Boston Marathon-related post. I am telling you…it is a good one.

*Matt Tour Update: Matt (check out his website to find his social media and connect and listen to his music!) is in Texas, working his way back east. One of my favorite things to see when he shares audience video of his performance is when the crowd goes silent because they’re listening to him. You know how crowds are - there’s always ambient noise. But it always happens in bars or performance spaces - the crowd there to see him goes silent when he starts playing his music. It’s cool to see that doesn’t change in bigger venues and in front of strangers.

*It’s kind of shocking, actually, how much people who are there to see Counting Crows are listening to the opening acts. Good for them. I’m a big opening act watcher just because I feel badly no one else is really paying attention. Nice to see so many Counting Crows fans fall into that category.