Tebow homers in first at-bat

Tim Tebow hit a home run in his first official at-bat as a New York Mets minor leaguer, a charmed start Thursday night for a popular yet polarizing athlete who seems to have a knack for these remarkable moments.

Playing a sport where many thought he didn’t even belong in the batter’s box, the former NFL quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner launched a two-run drive for the Columbia Fireflies in a Class A South Atlantic League game against Augusta.

With a 15 mph wind blowing out, Tebow hit a shot just over the 372foot sign in left-center field. He stopped at second base, thinking it was a double — but the ball hit a railing above the fence, and an umpire twirled his hand to indicate it was a homer.

Tebow pumped his fist in the air as he rounded the rest of the bases in the second inning as the crowd, already going wild, went into a frenzy. His teammates rushed the dugout railing, waiting for him.

NCAA

DIVERSITY RESULTS “DISHEARTENING” » A study finds racial and gender hiring in college sports in 2016 has declined from the previous year and still lag behind those in professional sports.

The annual report card from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport on Thursday gave college sports a grade of C+ for racial hiring and a C for gender hiring.

The combined grade of C+ overall for racial and gender hiring was the lowest among all sports studies covered by the institute.

Richard Lapchick is the primary author of the report and director of University of Central Florida institute. He calls the report “disheartening.”

Hockey

MALKIN STILL HOPEFUL FOR OLYMPICS » Evgeni Malkin wants to go to the Olympics next February and he hopes the Pittsburgh Penguins will allow him to do it.

Malkin told Russian sports daily Sovetsky Sport he was surprised by the NHL’s announcement Monday that it wouldn’t halt its season for players to go to South Korea.