One last post from Alabama

We have been in St. Augustine, FL since last Thursday, arriving just in time to partake in the campground Christmas party.  A fair number of people showed up and we met several couples.   The campground provided all of the food and drink, we didn't even have to bring a dish.  They are having a  dinner today, but we decided to just spend a quiet day just the 2 of us.   We have a few items on our list of things to see while here but wanted to wait until after Christmas.

One site we toured while in Alabama that I missed blogging was the United States Sports Academy Museum in Daphne, AL.  The museum is located on the main campus  of the academy.  The academy is a non-profit, private graduate school. Their mission is to serve the nation and the world as a sports education resource for instruction, research and service.  The role of the academy is to prepare men and women for careers in the profession of sports.   It is the first and only of its kind in the US.   Established in 1972 to turn around new scientific finding that linked poor preparation of coaches to the injuries incurred by the athletes they supervised.   It awards the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree. All of their classes are on line.

The museum dedicated  in 1984 to the preservation of sport art, history and literature through the acquisition and display of works from around the world in many different medias...   It is believed to be the largest collection of sports art in the world containing over 1,500 pieces of art.

Front entrance sculpture.

"A Tribute to the Human Spirit"  A mural found on the face of the main building dedicated to the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in professional baseball.  One of the largest public offerings of art in the US standing at 27 feet high, 12 feet wide and valued in excess of $2 million. 

 "Borzov the Sprinter" by Bruce Larsen

 The Black Wall featuring a sampling of baseball art paintings and sculptures.   

The two rows at the top of the wall represent paintings by Cristobal Gabarron for 100 years of Olympics from 1896 to 1996.  

This is his painting from the 1904 St. Louis Olympics.   The red figure at the bottom right represents the human figure and is found in every painting.  The dove represents international peace and is also in every painting except 1916 and 1940 when there were no games due to the wars.

Paul "Bear" Bryant by Leroy Neiman.

Tribute to the Negro League.  "Kansas City Dugout" by Kadir Nelson.

 "Beyond Parameters" by Abiola Akintola

 "Jordan the Basketball Player" by Bruce Larsen.

Created from scrap metals.

"Pele"

A bronze bust sculpted by renowned St. Louis artist Harry Weber.  

Larry Bird

Indiana Hoosiers

These 2 pictures are for Ron's brother Bob who resides in Indiana.

"Super Bowl MVPs" by Bernie Fuchs

Sculpture of Lou Brock by Harry Weber.

"Walk of Fame"

Over 2,000 engraved bricks with the names of those who achieved renown in their respective sports.

A couple of individual bricks....lifetime Cardinal Stan Musial.

and Albert Pujols...remember him?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!