Sportswoman of the Week Ending 4/21/2024

Last week we recognized the most dominant gentleman golfer on the PGA circuit, this week we recognize the most dominant lady.  Nelly Korda can't stop won't stop on the LPGA tour and dominated again in the Chevron Championship, the first Major on the Tour.  Most impressively it was Korda's fifth straight tournament win, tying a record among Ladies golf legends Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam.  Korda was lurking around the top but not dominating but consistent play netter her her second Major Championship.  Consistent like 68-69-69-69, 3 under par every round at the Woodlands, Texas.  At 25, greatness stands in front of the American Korda as there may be nothing standing in her way to her own Hall of Fame Career.  Nelly Korda is the Longhorndave Sportswoman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 4/14/2024

He's a machine.  Best player in the world and proves it.  Again and again.  And for the second time in 730 days he's wearing the Green Jacket of The Masters.  Scott Scheffler has the amazing consistency we haven't seen since Tiger Woods and reminiscent of Jack Nicklaus and his peers and before.  He doesn't have to play his best round on any given day.  He just needs to do what he's capable of and not make mistakes.  At The Masters this week, Scheffler took a crowded field into Sunday and made it academic on the last four or five holes.  No mistakes.  Making putts.  His four under par was the best round by anyone in the Top 29.  We're watching greatness and appreciate.  Scott Scheffler is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week! 

Sportsman of the Week Ending 4/7/2024

Major League Baseball has kicked off into full gear with 30 teams optimistic for a pennant.  One of those teams has won four of the last 7 in the American League and, although off to a rocky start, has had a new superstar arm emerge.  Ronel Blanco may be the most unassuming "next man up" pitcher in the Astros golden era.  The 30-year-old third year pitcher became the first one to throw a no-hitter in 2024 by blanking a powerful Toronto Blue Jays lineup with just two walks and maybe one ball that might have flirted with a hit.  It was the earliest no hitter in history.  To follow that up, on national television Sunday Night Baseball, Blanco flummoxed the defending World Series Champion Texas Rangers for 5 2/3 no hit innings, left after 6 with just one hit.  He left leading the AL with 2 wins and a 0.00 ERA (and accounted for two of the Astros three wins on the year yikes).  Blanco is the next Astros arm to watch and is a worthy Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 3/31/2024

The Road to the Final Four "March" -ed on with a number of top seeds holding serve, but it was a double-digit seed that stole the headlines of the Sweet 16 round.  The North Carolina State Wolfpack are partying like it's 1983 with huge upset after huge upset sending them to their first Final Four in 40 years.  Senior guard DJ Horne has been the consistent energy propelling the Pack and he led by example over the weekend.  Horne netted a consistent 19, then 20 points in wins against 2-seed Marquette, and 4-seed Duke.  Add 9 total rebounds and 4 assists.  All of this coming off a miracle ACC Tournament run (in which Horne had 29 points in the final) to seal their NCAA bid which was in doubt.  Will this Wolfpack mimic the Jim Valvano miracle run of 1983?  Tune in, with Horne at the helm, I would not bet against them!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 3/24/2024

It's the time of year.  March Madness!  Circled on the calendar for many as a highlight of the Sports calendar (so robbed in 2020 for the pandemic) but this year it's in full swing.  One of the short list favorites to crash the Final Four in Glendale are the top seeded Purdue Boilermakers.  Led by senior Zach Edey who dominates on both sides of the floor.  Through the first weekend, Edey showed why he will make Purdue a tough if not impossible out.  In two textbook wins, national scoring title holder Edey scored 26.5 PPG and 17.5 RPG.  In limited minutes of blowouts over outclassed Grambling State and Utah State (averaged 29 minutes).  That's a point per minute and three rebounds every 5 minutes of play (rounded).  The Canadian hit 19-28 from the field with 12 offensive boards and 23 defensive wipes.  Throw in 5 assists, 2 steals, and 6 blocks and he was a one-man wrecking crew.  Purdue is looking for their first basketball title after two Final Four appearances and this may be the year thanks to the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 3/17/2024

The college basketball season is entering its pinnacle with conference tournament championships and top teams emerging.  One of the big conference winners from the Big 10 is a favorite to crash Glendale in the Final Four was the Illinois Fighting Illini.  Senior guard Terrence Shannon Jr. was a big reason why.  There's always something about senior guards and the leadership they provide in tournament style play.  And Shannon Jr. answered in leadership and play.  In the three games in the Big 10 tournament, he averaged 34 points in 35 minutes per game, 27-57 from the field (10-22 beyond the arc) field and 38-44 from the line.  Scoring.  Machine.  The Illini have a 3 seed in the East and poised to push on a week or two.  Terrence Shannon Jr. is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 3/10/2024

It's March.  It's time for Madness.  As conference basketball tournaments dominate the week, it was an historic rivalry that took center stage on Saturday with an ACC regular season title on the line.  And the North Carolina Tarheels went into Duke's house and took their lunch money.  Led by an unsung senior no less.  Cormac Ryan leveraged his experience at Cameron Indoor Stadium to quiet the Crazies and deliver.  Cormac the Magnificent (you know I couldn't resist) was cold blooded with his scoring touch, missing just five times in 22 shots from the field, with two of those being behind the three-point line.  And he did it in the clutch, with ten of his teams last 12 points in the final 3:54, including 7 in the last 108 seconds.  No answers did Duke have.  Ryan sealed the Heels Conference Championship and is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 3/3/2024

The NBA is hitting the home stretch with teams emerging as Championship favorites while others vie for playoff seeding and positioning.  One of the spots that seems locked up is the first seed in the Eastern Conference.  The Boston Celtics continue to turn up championship quality eras and this team is poised.  Having made at least the Eastern Conference Finals 5 of the last 7 years, and the NBA Finals just two years ago, the Celtics look to win their first title in 16 years and currently have the best record in the NBA.  At 48-12, Boston has lapped the field with a ballooning 8 game lead thanks in large part to Jaylen Brown.  Brown averaged over 28 points a game as his Celtics blew out three opponents by 18 or more points, including a 52-point drubbing of the Golden State Warriors, the fading dynasty of the last 10 seasons that beat them in the summer of 2022.  Brown also cleaned up 5 rebounds and 3 assists per game, proving a second punch behind team scoring leader Jayson Tatum.  A force that the Eastern Conference may not have an answer for now, or in the years to come.  Jaylen Brown is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 2/25/2024

One of the great stories of the hockey season has been the emergence of Canadian Hockey Teams with a chance to win their first Stanley Cup in over 30 years.  The Toronto Maple Leafs are in the middle of the discussion, and they are led by a Captain that is pushing goal records.  On Thursday, Auston Matthews scored his 52nd goal in 55 games, imagine a player that gets one you netter per game pretty much.  A 70 goal season, very much in play, puts him in elite company of Gretzky, Lemieux, Brett Hull, and more.  But most important the Leafs have won seven straight and may be peaking at the right time.  Matthews is one of the best NHL stories this year and is a worthy Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportswoman of the Week Ending 2/18/2024

We enter the inter-regnum (used loosely) portion of the Sports Calendar when there are no playoffs going on, March Madness isn't queued up yet (neither is The Masters), but many sports are going and lots of action to watch every night.  Perhaps there is no more action captivating the country than Caitlin mania.  Caitlin Clark that is, who has captivated not only the women's basketball sports landscape, but the sports landscape in general.  The Iowa Hawkeye scoring machine became the all-time leading scorer in NCAA women's basketball history this week, passing Washington Huskies Guard Kelsey Plum (former Sportswoman of the Week) with her 3,528th career point and she's not slowing down.  So much so, she likely will pass men's basketball hoops legend Pete Maravich in points before the conference tournament season. Worth the ticket of admission (as evidenced by the full houses she plays to) Caitlin Clark is the Longhorndave Sportswoman of the Week (repeat winner).