Sportsman of the Week Ending 9/22/2024

An historic season for a legendary player, our Sportsman of the Week entered a club that nobody else has even sniffed.  50/50.  Shohei Ohtani has been a unicorn to say the least since entering Major League Baseball in 2018. After six years of futility in not making the postseason, he jumped across LA to join a winner, the Los Angeles Dodgers.  And has thrived.  While recovering from Tommy John surgery which derailed his dual threat hitting/pitching amazingness, he's put together a season that nobody will ever forget.  Fifty home runs.  Fifty steals.  He leads the league in HR.  Second in SB.  On top of that, he recorded perhaps the best statistical night in baseball history on Thursday September 19.  He went 6-6, five extra base hits and knocked in 10 runs.  17 total bases.  As if that wasn't enough, he also went 8 for his next 12 two more bombs.  That's 14-18, 5 HR.  Beer league softball like numbers and he did it in the majors.  Amazing player remains amazing, the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 9/15/2024

The second weekend of NFL action was filled with unexpected results as experts thought who were the best teams but oh were they wrong.  The Dallas Cowboys, in perennial fashion, were media darlings after a dominant win over the favored Cleveland Browns on the road in Week 1 in a game they looked like a team their fans expected.  Enter Week 2.  As heavy favorites in their home opener, the Cowboys found themselves down early and often, specifically as Alvin Kamara tore through them via land and air.  The veteran running back (and second time Sportsman of the Week winner) scored 3 TDs in the first half and had 180 combined yards as the Saints drilled the Cowboys 44-19 in a game that wasn't as close as the score if you can believe it.  Now the Saints are suddenly the talk of the NFC while Kamara is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 9/8/2024

Are we finally to a changing of the guard for Men's Tennis elite after a decade plus of what might be considered the greatest three men's tennis player ever (and 6x Sportsmen of the Week among Nadal, Federer, and Djokovic).  Italian Jannik Sinner took the Big Apple by Storm, slicing through all contenders with ease.  By with ease, I mean dropping only one set and never trailing in sets.  He finished off the popular American finalist Taylor Fritz in straight sets only the last going to a tiebreak.  A machine. The 23-year-old is poised to be the next thing (along with Alcaraz) for years to come.  Meanwhile, Sinner is the United States Open Champion and the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 9/1/2024

A second thrilling weekend of college football commenced with a handful of big national matchups between big conferences.  The weekend spanned five full days (Thursday through Monday) giving fans a holiday weekend buffet of action.  Sunday night may have been the peak game with a huge SEC and Big 10 matchup at a neutral site and it didn't disappoint.  Teams that have each won National Championships in the last 20 years squared off in Las Vegas as the 13th ranked Louisiana State Tigers and 23rd ranked Southern California Trojans went toe to toe for 60 minutes.  In what many expected to be a high scoring game (having seen USC defense the prior year) was a slugfest with body blows thrown throughout but coming down to the fourth quarter.  With the game 17-13 entering the fourth quarter, USC excelled with two huge scoring drives to win it led by heir apparent to the USC QBU franchise Miller Moss.  Moss ended the day 27-36 with a TD, but had two go ahead drives in the fourth quarter with a TD throw, and a two-minute drill drive in which he was 5-6 and led a 1m 39s drive with ease.  They could have gotten a FG but got the TD on a run.  Moss was patient behind Heisman Trophy winner and eventual top NFL draft pick Caleb Williams and the reigns are now his, and he is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!