Sportswoman of the Week Ending 8/9/2026

The "in-between" summer sports season (post basketball/hockey, pre football) continues, and the WNBA is capitalizing with headline after headline.  Some not so good.  But some good.  This is a blog celebrating sports, so let's look at a WNBA record set for three pointers in a game.  Minnesota Lynx guard Kayla McBride broke the WNBA single-game record with ten (10) 3-pointers in a win vs. the Dallas Wings.  Overall 43 points in an eye popping 16-21 field goal effort.  The 5'11" Guard has had a working-woman's career now in her 13th season at age 34.  A decent scorer, good for 15 PPG scorer is enjoying a late career boom up at 18.4 PPG, good for 10th in the WNBA in scoring (no player higher than her is older) and 9th in 3PT FG% (42.4%).  For pop culture reference, Caitlin Clark is at a pedestrian 35.5% 3PT FG%.  The WNBA needs to celebrate those who are setting records and Kayla McBride is that player.  the Longhorndave Sportswoman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 8/2/2026

As we hit the dog days of summer, baseball enters the home stretch for playoff pushes.  And no team has made a bigger push than the Boston Red Sox.  Given up for dead, fired their coach, but now they are storming up the American League East standings and look poised for a playoff run.  No player has been more in the center of it than Ceddanne Rafaela.  The centerfielder at the top of the lineup has been a spark plug since the All-Star Break and especially this week.  Rafaela torched the Los Angeles Dodgers and Athletics for a Ted Williams like .419 average while clubbing 5 HR, 2 2B, 11 RBI and scoring 7 times for the week.  The Red Sox went 6-1.  Since the All-Star break, the Sox have gone 14-3 sweeping the Tampa Bay Rays (best team in the AL), Los Angeles Dodgers (best team in the NL), and, just before the break, swept the Chicago White Sox (first in AL Central) and New York Yankees (second best AL team).  The native of Curacao is mimicking his best recent Hall of Fame inductee and countryman Andruw Jones in his star play, and is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 7/26/2026

The late summer sports season is upon us, and while all four golf majors have been finished for the year, that doesn't mean the season is over.  And a surprise winner emerged on the PGA Tour in only his third professional start.  At the age of 21.  Jackson Koivun held off the best player in the world in Scottie Sheffler to win the 3M Open at Twin Cities TPC in a record 25 strokes under par.  The Auburn golfer didn't flinch as Scheffler charged showing nerves that will serve him well in his burgeoning pro career.  His win by three strokes took away drama at the end, but he earned it with his steady play over the four days.  Earning a smooth $1.5M in the process.  Is this the first of many PGA Tour wins?  Inevitable.  Will he be the next star on the Tour?  Stay tuned.  But for now, Jackson Koivun is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week! 

Sportsman of the Week Ending 7/19/2026

Two weeks in a row of World Cup greatness and two weeks in a row of Spanish greatness.  The backdrop for the World Cup Final was perfect.  A Spanish team that was stingy on defense allowing one goal leading into the Final.  And an Argentina defending World Cup Champion team that has been completely resilient scoring late when they needed to in order to beat all the big boys.  The result was an action-packed scoreless tie.  Until in extra time, a new hero emerged.  In the opening minutes of the second half of extra time, Ferran Torres finally broke through.  Argentina goalie Emiliano Martínez set a World Cup final record with 11 saves, but it wasn't enough.  Torres struck a great center with no chance for Martinez for what ended up being the deciding goal in a 1-0 victory.  Torres came on in the 62nd minute with fresh legs and made history for Spain.  Their second World Cup final and second World Cup in history.  Ferran Torres is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 7/12/2026

Another amazing week of the World Cup as the field winnowed down to four teams.  The four teams aren't necessarily a surprise, but one of the heroes is.  Spain midfielder Mikel Merino has been the death knell for two teams this week.  Coming off the bench in a tie game, he's scored the eventual winning goal twice.  In the final moments.  After subbing in the 85th minute, Merino broke open a scoreless tie in the first minute of injury time (90+1) to score the only goal in a 1-0 goal against Cristiano Ronaldo and rival Portugal.  Then he doubled the achievement in even less time, subbing in the 86th minute, and dealing a 1-1 tiebreaker against Belgium for Spain to advance to the Semifinals in the 88th minute.  In about the 80th minute, watch for Merino to step in and see if he has the same luck against Spain.  Our Sportsman of the Week cannot be doubted!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 7/5/2026

Another week of exciting World Cup action as the knockout round begins to take shape.  A strong team that has not made a run this deep in recent, and even not-so-recent memory is Norway.  Placed in a bracket with Cup champion favorites France, Norway battled their way to a second place Group finish, poised to run at the Cup starting with Ivory Coast.  Ivory Coast battled to a tie in the waning moments before Norwegian soccer god Erling Haaland scored the deciding goal in the 86th minute to send Norway to their first knockout round victory in the history of the squad.  Then facing Brazil, the formidable foe who won the last World Cup held in North America, Haaland got even better.  Tied the game in the 79th minute, Haaland struck twice in eleven minutes to put Norway up 2-0, ultimately resulting in a 2-1 win sending Brazil home early.  Norway is through to the round of eight, and Erling Haaland has etched his name in the pantheon of great Norwegian athletes.  He is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportswoman of the Week Ending 6/28/2026

Crazy time for sports indeed.  Certainly, one of the most passionate among fans is the WNBA, the single basketball league going during the summer months.  And a surprise star has emerged.  Marina Mabrey of the Toronto Tempo scorched the Los Angeles Sparks for an WNBA single game record 53 points in 32 minutes.  Mabrey gathered points from all spots on the court, 17-28 from the field, including 9-18 from beyond the arc.  Which leaves 8-10 from inside.  Also 10-12 FG with six boards and a couple of assists in a dominant 125-97 Tempo victory.  She's not the first name you think of from what the media is feeding you about the WNBA, but the 6'1", 29-year-old is a star and her star is shining.  Marina Mabrey is third in the league in scoring and is the Longhorndave Sportswoman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 6/21/2026

The World Cup has taken the entire planet by storm, and especially in North America where they are hosting it for the first time in 32 years.  A South American player is etching his name amongst all greatest soccer legends not to exclude his fellow continental star Pele.  Lionel Messi is the all-time leader in World Cup Goals.  Period.  Messi scored a hat trick, the only in the 2026 World Cup so far, in easing to a victory in Argentina's opening match.  Then followed up with two more goals against Austria.  The 38-year-old gets better with age.  And has a World Cup title for his proud nation defending this year.  Will he repeat?  No reason to doubt him.  Lionel Messi is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week! 

This is Messi's third Sportsman of the Week becoming the 20th athlete to do so.  

December 2022

March 2012

Sportsman of the Week Ending 6/14/2026

Both the NBA and NHL finished amazing and dramatic Finals.  While neither went the full seven games, each game within was dramatic to say the least.  One of the most exciting games in Stanley Cup Finals history was Game 3, where the Las Vegas Golden Knights seemingly were putting a beat down of the Carolina Hurricanes both in the game, and maybe in the series, as they scored 4 second period goals to take a commanding 4-0 lead, looking to go up 2 games to 1.  This after torching the Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen for 5 goals in Game 1.  Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'amour had seen enough.  He pulled his goalie for a journeyman first-year player who had never played in the playoffs, let alone in the Stanley Cup Finals.  Brandon Bussi put up 45 straight minutes of scoreless hockey as the Canes came roaring back to force double overtime.  It was into second overtime before his Canes fell.  They would not fall again.  Bussi ran off three straight wins, the Cup winner a shutout of the high-flying offensive Knights in Game 6.  Bussi came from nothing to win it all.  And is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportspersons of the Week Ending 6/7/2026

This Blog has seen dueling winners for Sportsman of the Week, but never a Sportsman AND Sportswoman of the Week in the same week.  Until now.  Mirra Andreeva and Alexander Zverev both surged through fields to win their first Grand Slam tournament at Rolland Garros, the French Open.  In Andreeva's case, it may be the sign of the next superstar of ladies' tennis.  She's 19 and this was her first Grand Slam Final.  The Russian teen cruised to victory over qualifier Maja Chwalinska, who shocked the whole tournament just by getting this far.  In fact, Chwalinska earned more money at the 2026 French Open than she had in her pro career to date starting in 2019 before the COVID disruption.  Meanwhile the talented German Zverev hasn't been able to break through the best players in any tournament, being denied titles in Grand Slams in 2020, 2024, and 2025. But at the French Open, he surged past Flavio Cobolli in a five-set thriller for his title.  2026 was the year for this pair, winning their first Grand Slams and, especially in Andreeva's case, one of more to come.  Congrats to Mirra Andreeva and Alexander Zverev, the Longhorndave Sportspersons of the week!