Sportsman of the Week Ending 5/28/2017

It's the biggest racing weekend of the calendar year, and the biggest race in the United States did not disappoint.  The Indianapolis 500 had spectacular crashes, legendary winners, and rookie Formula 1 drivers to whet the palate.  But it was a relative novice with nerves of steel who pulled it out. Honda driver Takuma Sato edged 3-time winner Helio Castroneves for his second Indy car win, and by far the biggest victory of his long career.  The 40 year-old Japanese driver for Andretti Autosport persisted after favored drivers crashed, lost power, or just didn't have the moves.  It was the biggest win of his career, and he is our Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 5/21/2017

While the NBA and NHL playoffs are in full swing, there just hasn't been a single star show up and dominate.  I'm sure the finals will begin to take over this space.  In the meantime, we go back to Triple Crown horse racing, which is one of my favorite sports.  This time, it was an underdog.  Cloud Computing was given long odds on a short 10 horse field and nipped co-favorite Classic Empire at the wire, primarily due to the brilliant ride by jockey Javier Castellano.  While Classic Empire and Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming were 1-2 the entire race, Castellano bided time and picked his moment down the stretch.  Cloud Computing roared past Classic Empire at the wire, and the 12-1 long shot paid well.  The Venezuelan Castellano is our Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 5/14/2017

Busy times continue in sports, but a surprise winner in the unofficial "fifth" major in golf won the week.  21 year-old Si Woo Kim of South Korea showed flashes of greatness in remarkably consistent performance for the week, with a 69-72-68-69 to win The Players Championship by three strokes over Ian Poulter and Louis Oosthuizen.  He wasn't really challenged down the back stretch.  It was Kim's second tour win, following up the Wyndham Championship last August just after he turned 21.  Will Kim be the next big threat to the precocious Jordan Spieth?  Is there a shot he makes a run at another major this year?  Time will tell, but Si Woo Kim is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 5/7/2017

The first Saturday in May is a rite of the sports season, as twenty colorful jockeys mount twenty beautiful thoroughbreds and race under the blue Kentucky sky for a shot at glory.  The 143rd running of the Kentucky Derby was as wide open as ever, yet one horse clearly established himself as the class of the field.  It was veteran jockey John Velazquez who ran a near perfect race in sloppy conditions to guide 2017 Kentucky Derby Champion Always Dreaming to a comfortable victory margin.  From an ideal 5 post, Velazquez ensured Always Dreaming saved track down the first and second turn, while staying clean from the mush of a track.  Surging down the back stretch and clear down the home stretch, the Puerto Rican jockey simply asked for more and got it from the Todd Pletcher trained best horse in the field.  It was the 45 year-old Velazquez's second Kentucky Derby win (after leading Animal Kingdom to the rose blanket in 2011).  A master of his craft, his is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 4/30/2017

The Utah Jazz are the team that nobody expected at the NBA Conference Semifinals party, but here they are.  The only lower seed to take down a (slightly) higher seed Los Angeles Clippers, the Jazz relied on underrated Gordon Hayward.  Hayward willed his team through Games 5 and 7 on the road with spectacular performances (and wasn't too shabby in Game 6 at home).  Hayward poured in an average of 28 points per game for the final three games of the series.  But his consistency was interesting.  He had exactly 9 field goals, 8 rebounds, and 3 or 4 assists in 41 or 42 minutes each of the three games.  Most consistent was his free throw shooting, at 21-22 overall (95.4%).  The aging Clippers had no answer, and Hayward finally gets his shot on the big stage against the Western Conference defending Champion Golden State Warriors.  If they push the Warriors to the edge, it will be on the back of their underrated superstar.