Lately, everybody’s talking about the cleats.
Not that they’ve forgotten the 6 a.m. workouts and the trainers who showed up, or the sweatshirts, or the rides to practice.
Or the inspiration.
We know they haven’t forgotten, because they wrote to us, 16 of them, to say Mark “Dolo” Harris should be the All-Metro Sports Awards Difference Maker for 2024.
Now he is. How are we supposed to fight a movement like that?
Harris — Dolo, as he’s known — went this school year from being a familiar face around Minneapolis Henry (soon to be renamed Camden) to being a godsend, those nominations said.
Assistant football coach Rob Neumann explains: “I’ve been a coach for over 20 years at multiple levels, and last year was my first experience at a city school. Seeing the effort Dolo puts in to help these kids is inspiring. Last year was as much fun as I’ve ever had coaching, and his passion is a big part of that. Kind of relights the fire, if you get what I mean.”
Zivad Robinson, a left tackle and defensive end who will be a sophomore in the fall, summed up Harris neatly: “When he yells at us, he’s not mad. He’s like a hype man.”