Sportsman of the Week Ending 4/20/2025

While everyone presumed the Los Angeles Dodgers would coast to the NL West Championship, if not the NL Pennant.  The San Diego Padres are reloaded and ready to challenge.  There may not be a better all-around player on the planet, if not the hottest, than Fernando Tatis Jr.  FTJ is playing high level MVP ball if not Triple Crown.  This week he was 9-24, 9 runs, 7 RBI, 4 HR and walked 5 times.  He's a problem for opponents leading off with artillery behind him.  It's crazy he just turned 26.  By now twice Top 5 MVPs, two silver sluggers, and a gold glove.  With the COVID year, he's only played 130 games or more twice.  What does this look like for 150 games for a few years in a row?  We'll find out, but Fernando Tatis Jr. is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 4/13/2025

One of the greatest feats in golf is the career grand slam.  Only five golfers have every done it since World War II and it's a who's who of modern golf.  Actually, many before the more competitive era.  Nicklaus.  Hogan.  Player.  And more recently, Woods.  But most recently, Rory McIlroy.  After a decade of trying to win his first green jacket at The Masters, McIlroy finished the job.  Coasting with a comfortable lead most of Sunday (which he earned with near flawless play the first 54 holes), things got sticky when fellow Briton Justin Rose posted a 66 including six Birdies.  Meanwhile, McIlroy flubbed three holes for bogeys plus a double.  On the 72nd hole, McIlroy just needed a par, but bogeyed.  As criticisms of "can't finish the job" echoed over Augusta National, the Northern Irishmen nailed his second shot on the 73rd hold in easy birdie range.  Rose couldn't hole the birdie and Rory won it.  The Masters.  The Career Grand Slam.  And Legend.  Rory McIlroy is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

This is the second Sportsman of the Week for Rory McIlroy the last coming over 10 years ago (which is probably a record).

Sportsman of the Week Ending 4/6/2025

He is.  The Greatest.  Of All Time.  Goal scorers at least.  Washington Capitals sniper/winger Alex Ovechkin defied father time and the history of the National Hockey League in scoring his career goal number 895, breaking what many thought was an unbreakable record held by "The Great One" Wayne Gretzky.  This may finally be unbreakable, to average 45 goals for 20 years is just something hard to do, especially as physical as the game is in the 2020s and beyond.  He broke the record on Sunday with a national audience tuned in, but overall, for the week he scored 5 goals in 4 games (scoring at least one in all four).  He's actually scored a goal in 5 straight games and sits fourth in the league in goals despite missing five weeks due to a knee injury.  The Soviet Superstar has gas left in the tank, and is a deserving Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 3/30/2025

March Madness swings into the second weekend and the top seed just keep winning.  All four Number 1 seeds made the NCAA Men's Tournament Final Four, and Auburn was a part of it.  Led by Johni Broome.  Broome torched the state of Michigan, with two performances of 22+ points and 14+ rebounds.  And in an efficient 30 minutes per game.  The Auburn Tigers reached their first Final Four since 2019 (and only their second in history) with a thrilling comeback victory against the Michigan Wolverines (78-65) and Michigan State Spartans (79-64).  The former was more of a challenge with Auburn trailing by 8 points midway through the second half.  Johni to the rescue.  Auburn looks to continue its run behind the broad shoulders and strong play of Johne Broome, the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 3/23/2025

For some the greatest annual weekend in basketball if not sports is the opening two rounds of the NCAA tournament.  Between Men's and Women's, you get 96 of the eventual 126 games played (even excluding the play in games).  And there will be close games and buzzer beaters.  The University of Maryland had both in a thrilling victory over the Colorado State Rams.  Freshman Derik Queen capped off a team-leading 17-point performance with the shot of his life, with 3.6 seconds to play, taking the inbound step and some monster steps for the banker on the win.  Game over.  You just can't do it better than that.  Queen was a constant force for the favored and 4 seeded Terps over the season averaging 16.2 points and 9 boards per game while shooting over 50% from the field.  The future NBA big man hopes to carry his teams hopes to a deeper tournament run and is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 3/16/2025

It's March, and Madness is in the air as the major conference championships wound down in both men's and women's college basketball with top programs taking trophies and the high seeds to go with them.  A number one seed was taken by Florida, who dominated the SEC Championship Tournament to take the title.  In a landscape of one and done's and transfers, it was a senior that paced the Gators to the title.  Walter Clayton Jr. In his second year for Florida, Clayton Jr. provides the leadership needed as well as the points.  Averaging 21 points per game, to go with 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals per game all against ranked opponents because that's how the SEC is.  With a record 14 teams in the NCAA tournament, Clayton Jr. netted tournament MVP honors and will be heard from over the next two, maybe three weeks.  Walter Clayton Jr. is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 3/9/2025

In advance of the NCAA March Madness, the NBA has a week of epic games and performances.  One stood out as a stat line never been done before.  Two-time prior Sportsman of the Week winner Nikola Jokic doubled down on a triple double, or a 30-20-20.  Technically a 31-21-22 in a 140-127 overtime win against the Phoenix Suns.  Incredible involvement across the board (or scoring on, passing to, and clearing the boards).  While the game included overtime, the numbers are unreal for 45 minutes of action.  So that's 2 points every 3 minutes.  And a rebound AND assist 4x every 9 minutes.  Scoring.  And passing.  And rebounding.  Suddenly Jokic and the Nuggets are right there as a team of concern for frontrunners like Oklahoma City and Los Angeles as they seek their second title in 3 years.  If they do it, you know the Serbian Assassin will be the one to make it happen.  The Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week.

Editors Note: With his third Sportsman of the Week, Jokic ties fifteen others for most recognized in this Blog history.  He's the sixteenth in the club (nobody has won four).

First Recognition (2/9/20)

Second recognition (6/18/23)

Sportsman of the Week Ending 3/2/2025

In a bit of a lull between early year NFL action and Australian Open, but before March Madness, Golf majors we get a few ordinary time candidates for Sportsman of the Week.  The NBA is in full swing just past the All-Star Break and hitting a long stretch of great playoff jockeying.  Our Sportsman of the Week is from a team that is surging toward a playoff berth in a major market.  Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks is stepping up as the leader to take them to a title for the first time since 1973.  And their first Eastern Conference Title since 1999.  Brunson averaged over 29 PPG, with 5 RPG and 6+ APG. Leader.  Three wins against two strong playoff contenders, the Knicks may peak at the right time and if they do, they'll need our Sportsman of the Week to lead them to a title!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 2/23/2025

In what turned out to be the most exciting sports competition so far of 2025, the 4 Nations Face Off Hockey Tournament was a smash hit by any measure.  Endless action.  Physical (despite it being an "exhibition").  Dropped glove fights at face off just to set the tone.  Non-hockey fans drawn in to see what happens next.  And Canada and the United States renewing a decades old "rivalry" in huge games, which is tough to call it that when Canada has always been so dominant to their little brothers to the South.  Well Little Brother got in the first lick, beating Canada in pool play in a 3-1 regulation decision, which put Canada in a must win in their final game of pool play to even make the finals.  Well they did that, defeating a scrappy Finland team 5-3, in a game in which a comfortable 4-0 lead got to 4-3 late.  Then in the finals, it was a heavyweight fight.  Canada struck first.  The United States got in two power punches to push them to a 2-1 lead.  Then Canada tied it last in the second period to go to sudden death overtime after a scoreless third.  And die did the United States at the stick of Connor McDavid.  McDavid pumped a wrister past American goalie (and fellow namesake) Connor Hellebuyck in what was more or less a defensive goof as McDavid was abandoned 15 feet from Hellebuyck with nobody in between.  Game.  Over.  McDavid also had a goal and assist in the Finland tilt, earning second star in that game, and top star in the 4 Nations Final.  McDavid is an elite player and thrust the dagger into the hopes of Team USA.  He is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportswoman of the Week Ending 2/16/2025

Spring sports are in full swing and the surging interest in women's basketball is palpable.  After a banner Spring 2024 with Caitlin Clark (2x Sportswoman of the Week) and Angel Reese bringing the most exciting college basketball season in history, followed by an amazing Women's Olympics Gold Medal performance by Team USA, a new star has emerged on the college scene.  Vanderbilt true freshman Mikayla Blakes is rewriting the record books.  The guard is a scoring machine, tallying 55 points in a big overtime victory against Auburn (erasing a double-digit deficit).  This broke her own 53-point record earlier in the season.  Both are SEC single game records regardless of class, and we're talking about a conference with superstars from Tennessee and South Carolina over the years.  Only 19 and still growing into her body, the future is bright.  And she continues to excite young female athletes (and sports fans in general) about where the sport is going.  Mikayla Blakes is the Longhorndave Sportswoman of the Week!