Author: David Shama

President Barack Obama is making history this month but there’s another significant African American story, too.  Mike Tomlin, three seasons ago the Minnesota Vikings’ defensive coordinator, coached the Pittsburgh Steelers to an AFC championship win on Sunday and will lead his team against the Arizona Cardinals in next month’s Super Bowl.  Tomlin is now the third African American head coach in three years to have his team in the Super Bowl and can become the second to win it.

Tomlin’s win on Sunday against Baltimore comes during a week that Obama is inaugurated as the nation’s first African American president and the country celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.  Tomlin will try to win a Super Bowl almost two years to the day that Lovie Smith of Chicago and Tony Dungy of Indianapolis made history.  They were the first African American head coaches in the Super Bowl and Dungy was the first black coach to win it.

If Tomlin can win the Super Bowl he will do so on Sunday, February 1, becoming the second African American head coach to win pro football’s biggest prize and doing it during Black History Month.  Smith and Dungy’s historic Super Bowl also came during February.

A football team’s performance, perhaps more than in any sport, is impacted by its coaching.  The fact three of the last six teams to qualify for the Super Bowl have been led by African Americans will probably lessen remaining prejudices in the NFL and perhaps in college football, too, where head coaching opportunities have been far fewer.

Tomlin, 36, impressed observers here with his football knowledge and calm leadership style.  His success in just two seasons in Pittsburgh, with a 22-10 regular season record and two AFC North titles, has come despite not having previous head coaching experience.

Tomlin deserves praise but so, too, do those who have helped him including the Pittsburgh organization and coaches like Dungy and the Vikings’ Brad Childress.  The Steelers are part of the gold standard among NFL organizations.  The Steelers make wise personnel decisions (see former No. 1 draft choice and franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger) and encourage stability within the organization, having hired just three head coaches since 1969.

Dungy, another former Vikings’ defensive coordinator, hired Tomlin for his staff when he was head coach at Tampa Bay.  He saw a bright young assistant and let him coach the defensive backs.  Dungy, also known for his steady approach and calm leadership, had once been the youngest assistant in the NFL at 25 coaching the Steelers’ defensive backs.

Dungy, who recently retired as Indianapolis coach, will make his home in Tampa, site of next month’s Super Bowl.

The late Cal Stoll, the former Gopher head coach who recruited Dungy to play quarterback for Minnesota in the 1970s, was proud of the emotionally strong Dungy whose accomplishments include coaching Tampa Bay to the first winning season in franchise history.  “All football teams reflect the personality of their head coach,” Stoll once said.

In 2000, when Dungy was coaching in Tampa, Stoll said that he expected his former player to become the first African American head coach to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  There’s no doubt that will happen.

Tight end Visanthe Shiancoe was a major disappointment after joining the Vikings in 2007 as a free agent but he was much improved last season, including statistically going from 323 yards in receptions and one touchdown to 596 yards and seven scores. Earlier this month coach Brad Childress described Shiancoe as a “different cat” now.

“I’ve just seen a quantum change in him as a person. (It also) reflected on the playing field,” Childress said. “He’s comfortable with what we’re doing. He understands the work ethic here. He understands, I always talk about, the mantle of what it takes to be a starter, the importance of being out at practice and taking those reps. … What it was that led to that epiphany, I don’t know. I just think he’s pushed through it and worked himself into a really different cat right now.”

Jason LaFrenz, Gopher assistant athletics director for marketing and ticket sales, reported via e-mail earlier this week that about 1,500 tickets were available for tomorrow night’s basketball game at Williams Arena.  Purdue, 3-2 in the Big Ten Conference and 14-4 overall, is a favorite for the league title.  The Gophers, 16-2 and 4-2 in the conference, can take a major step toward a first division finish in the league with a win against Purdue, ranked No. 18 in the country.

The Gophers, ranked No. 20, received a wakeup call on Sunday about how difficult winning away games can be when Northwestern, previously winless in the conference, beat Minnesota 74-65.  The Gophers had won their first two conference road games, at Iowa and Wisconsin.  With a win at Evanston on Sunday they could have won three straight conference road games for the first time since 2005.

The Northwestern loss exposed a season long weakness: ball movement.  The Gophers couldn’t solve Northwestern’s trapping one-three-one zone defense, holding the ball too long before passing.  Point guard Al Nolen led the futility and contributed six turnovers to the team total of 19.

Former Minnesota North Stars fans will watch with nostalgia when Mike Modano plays in the NHL All-Star game on Sunday in Montreal.  Modano, 38, was the first overall pick in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft when the North Stars chose the Michigan native to play for them.  He moved with the franchise to Dallas in 1993 and has been with the Stars since then.  He is tied for second on the team in goals with 13.

Goalie Niklas Backstrom will be the Wild’s only representative in the all-star game.  Last year Marian Gaborik was the one player from the Wild.

Mike Gartner, whose NHL career included playing for the North Stars, holds the fastest skating time of 13.386 seconds for making a lap around the rink in the 1993 all-star weekend skills competition, according to www.nhl.com.

Twins catcher Joe Mauer, who spends part of the off season in Southwest Florida, flew back to Minneapolis from Fort Myers on Saturday night.  He’s scheduled to be at TwinsFest this weekend at the Metrodome.

Mauer is featured in Twins’ ads for spring training tickets appearing in the News-Press newspaper serving Southwest Florida.  The Twins, who open their spring training home schedule in Fort Myers on February 25 against Boston, started selling exhibition game tickets on January 10.  At 4 a.m. gates were opened at the Lee County Sports Complex to accommodate fans who wanted to be among the first to buy tickets starting at 9 a.m., according to the News-Press.

By 2012 the Twins could be sharing the Fort Myers area with two major league teams, the News-Press reported recently.  The Baltimore Orioles, whose president is former Twins executive Andy McPhail, are interested in moving from Fort Lauderdale.  The Red Sox are already in the Fort Myers area and plans are developing for a new ballpark replicating a smaller version of famed Fenway Park.

There’s a website devoted to Bert Blyleven and his deserving to be voted into baseball’s hall of fame, www.bertbelongs.com.  Blyleven didn’t receive enough votes earlier this month to be voted in but is deserving of being in the hall of fame with a career that included 287 wins and clutch pitching, often performing with mediocre support.

Coach Steve Fritz and his St. Thomas men’s basketball team is undefeated at 15-0 and ranked No. 2 in the country by www.d3hoops.com.

Former Wayzata High School tennis player Karl Gregor is an assistant volunteer coach for the men’s team at Harvard.  He is a graduate of the Air Force Academy.