By Kwame McDonald
MIKE TOMLIN is the youngest coach to lead an NFL team to the Super Bowl twice. The 38-year-old coach’s charges won their second semi-final game on Sunday, January 23 by beating the New York Jets 24-19. They will face the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, February 6 in Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, Texas, at 5:30 pm.
Younger Robinson a Hampton sprinter
STACY ROBINSON, JR., son of former Central great STACY ROBINSON, is a sprinter and jumper for Hampton University of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
Gophers men at fourth
The Gophers are tied for fourth in the Big Ten with Illinois and Michigan State, all with 4-3 records. Overall, Minnesota’s 15-4 record puts them ahead of the Illini and Spartans.
Hoffarber, Mbakwe
lead Gophers
BLAKE HOFFARBER, the former Hopkins star, leads the Gophers in scoring and assists with 13.7 points and 4.4 assists. TREVOR MBAKWE is the second-leading scorer and leading rebounder with 13.2 points and 10.8 rebounds.
Love, Beasley pace Timberwolves
KEVIN LOVE and MICHAEL BEASLEY are leading the Wolves in scoring and rebounding respectively. Love has an average of 21.3 points and 15.6 rebounds per game. Beasley has 20.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.
MN languishes in basement
KIARA BUFORD, a St. Paul grad, continues to lead the last-place Minnesota Gophers. Her 24 points included 2-4 three-pointers. She hit nine of 18 shots. Her support came from benchwarmers COTTON and AMBER DVORAK with 10 each.
Concordia men,
women rising
Both of Concordia’s basketball teams are moving into contention after very slow starts this season. The women are 8-5, tying them with Augustana and Winona State for third place in the NSIC. It took a 69-59 win over Minnesota-Crookston.
The men, also 8-5, are now in sixth place after beating Minnesota-Crookston 70-66.
Hill doing her part
TAYLER HILL, a sophomore at Ohio State, continues to perform as a starter for the underachieving Ohio State team. They now languish in sixth place in the Big Ten.
Taylor leads Wisconsin
JORDAN TAYLOR, a graduate of Benilde-St. Margaret’s is leading the Wisconsin Badgers in scoring.
HBCUs competitive too
Hampton and Bethune- Cookman lead the Mid-Eastern Conference with 5-1 records. In the Southwestern Athletic Conference, Texas Southern is number one with a 6-0 record.
Desegregation hurt
In the future, this column will consider the damage integration has done to Black Colleges’ and Universities’ athletic programs. Look at teams such as Auburn, Duke, Texas, and even northern schools like Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa.
Kwame McDonald welcomes reader responses to kmcdonald@spokesman-recorder.com or by phone at 651-398-5278.