Sportsman of the Week Ending 8/12/2018

Back to baseball, as the busy sports summer season hits it's peak with the pennant race.  And no team is in more control than the Boston Red Sox.  Led by an unlikely hero.  Unlikely because he was an unsigned free agent until late in the offseason.  February 26.  Now he's an odds on favorite for the American League Most Valuable Player.  J.D. Martinez has earned every dollar of his contract.  This week, Martinez batted .464 with 4 HR and 11 RBI in seven games.  Games in which the Red Sox went 6-1.  Piling on to their 4 game sweep of the rival Yankees last weekend, the Sox are 10-1, literally just one loss in August.  But back to Martinez, his season totals are staggering, batting .333 with 37 HR and 104 RBI.  The last Red Sox hitter to hit for the triple crown was Carl Yastrzemski, who finished at .326, 44, and 121.  J.D. is on pace to shatter those numbers, although the triple crown may remain elusive due to teammate Mookie Betts amazing batting average.  Either way, Martinez has been the offseason signing of the year, and is a worthy Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 8/5/2018

Ninety nine races to find Victory Lane, but here's betting it won't be the last time.  NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series phenom (by blood and skill) Chase Elliott was constantly hounded by "when are you going to win a race).  And it was legit, since his debut in 2016, the 24 year old had 28 Top 5 finishes and over 1000 laps led.  But none of the Top 10 finishes were first.  And none of the 1000 laps led were the last lap.  But Elliott looked both aggressive but smart at Watkins Glen, NY, as he constantly pressured the leaders until finally, they were looking at his tailpipe.  Elliott finished the race holding off 2017 Cup Series Champion Martin Truex Jr. who was the only other competitor who could give him a run.  And he got the run, but ran out of gas, as Elliott accelerated through the finish line for his first victory. 

Sportsman of the Week Ending 7/29/2018

The Tour de France wrapped up an exciting three weeks of grueling mountain top finishes and harrowing crashes.  And there was a new winner for the first time in 4 years.  Geraint Thomas from Wales beat his own teammate favorite and a stacked field of up and comers to win the 2018 Tour de France.  Thomas along-side Froome protected the presumed Team Sky leader but consistently shaved time off in chasing down the other contenders.  Then in the decisive stages of the Pyrenees, Thomas accelerated to attack and Froome was cracked.  Thomas becomes the third winner from Great Britain in the last 7 years along side Froome and Bradley Wiggins (who combined have won 6 of the last 7).  But Thomas defied the odds, kept the title with Team Sky, and is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 7/22/2018

First time major winners are what we love.  First time major winner from an entire country is even better.  Francesco Molinari fits the bill.  Having not won a PGA tour event since 2010 before a win just three weeks ago, the Italian may be the hottest golfer on the planet.  In The Open Championship (a.k.a. British Open), Molinari held off prior major winners such as Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, and yes, some veteran named Tiger Woods with whom he was paired on Sunday and at one point had a shot lead.  Steady was his hand, as he finished the last 37 holes at par or better.  Meanwhile, rivals succumbed to a missed shot here, sand trap shot there, three putt bogey.  Molinari just plowed clocked consistent shot after consistent shot and built a 2 shot lead in the clubhouse.  Rivals couldn't match.  Molinari seems to be getting better with age (now 35) and with this Claret Jug, has stamped his name in golf's elite forever.

Sportsman of the Week Ending 7/15/2018

To win one of the greatest championships in your sport is quite an accomplishment.  To do it after an injury from which few thought you would ever get back to the top?  Career defining.  Novak Djokovic is already a legend of modern tennis, with 13 majors titles, but it seemed as if father time was catching up to the Djoker.  After 5 major titles in 6 tournaments in 2015 and first half of 2016, he seemed to have lost it.  The second half of 2017 he sat out recovering from injury.  He started Wimbledon as the #12 seed, but ended up number one.  His toughest match was the semifinals against #2 seed Rafael Nadal for which he won a tiebreak, then the fifth set 10-8.  Other than that, he only dropped 3 sets, none in the final to Kevin Anderson.  As Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are toward the end of their careers (against which, he has a winning record against both), it looks like Djokovic isn't going anywhere.  And for the second time, he is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week.

Sportsman of the Week Ending 7/8/2018

While this Blog recognizes a Sportsman of the Week, this is closer to recognizing a simple Sportsman of the Day.  Mark Reynolds of the Washington Nationals had an historic day on Saturday.  Ten RBI in a single day.  That's a decent month for many players, and a good week for the best players.  In his performance, he hit two home runs, a double, two singles, and did I mention the TEN RBI?  The day before he hit a pinch hit walk off home run.  The next day, a single and a double and a walk.  So it wasn't just one day.  But Mark Reynolds certainly raised eyebrows with his performance on Saturday and is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 7/1/2018

The FIFA World Cup continues with new stars (and new scapegoats) in every match.  In a thrilling knockout round opening day, one of the most anticipated round of 16 matchups was Argentina with the best player in the world Lionel Messi against France, featuring professional star Paul Pogba.  But it would be neither of these that would be the man of the match.  Kylian Mbappe of France announced his presence on the World Stage with two huge goals in the see-saw affair.  The 19-year old scored twice in the second half, the first to break a 2-2 tie at 64', then again just 4 minutes later in the 68' to push the Les Bleus up 4-2, a lead that secured the world quarterfinals.  Mbappe's first goal was a nifty move in traffic to create space and strike the ball just under the goalie.  The second was on a long attack in which he made no doubt of the goal from the right.  Mbappe looks all the part of international soccer legend, and is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 6/24/2018

World Cup 2018 is dominating the world sports stage and new stars are already emerging.  While some favorites have struggled out of the gate (Germany, Brazil), England has taken care of business behind their superstar and Golden Boot candidate striker Harry Kane.  In his first World Cup, the superstar is already doing things that Lion legends before him could not.  Like 5 goals in 2 games.  In the World Cup opener, Kane struck twice against Tunisia including a stoppage time game winner (2-1), then followed it up with a hat trick 3 goals against hapless Panama (6-1).  The 24 year old from the Walthamstow borough of London, England by way of professional club Tottenham Hotspur may be the answer to England's 52 year World Cup drought.  After a relatively meaningless game to wrap up pool play against Belgium this week (both teams are through to the knockout round), the competition will step up and we'll see if the young Brit can match.  But for this week, Kane is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 6/17/2018

Winning one is nice.  Defending a championship is golden.  Especially the United States Champion.  But Brooks Koepka held back a talented field over tough (some might say impossible) conditions to defend his 2017 United States Open Championship with a second title.  And he did it without much drama, needing only a bogie on 18 of Tommy Fleetwood who had been in the clubhouse for hours.  As the field faded on the back nine where birdies were scarce at Shinnecock Hills, Koepka remained poised, driving long, hitting greens, and saving putts and par.  And is now the 2018 United States Open Championship.  Still only 28 years old, he may have several more majors in his future.  But he is our Sportsman of the Week!

Sportswoman of the Week Ending 6/10/2018

An action packed week of sports saw two of the major four North American team sports settle their titles, along with a Triple Crown winner.  But we turn to tennis for this week.  Simona Halep captured the 2018 French open and became the first Romanian to win a tennis Grand Slam final since 1978 (and is our first Romanian Sportswoman of the Week).  Halep is the World's Number 1 player and after three prior Grand Slam finals defeats, finally broke through against American Sloane Stephens after going down a set.  The only other set she lost in the tournament was to former Sportswoman of the week Angelique Kerber while dominating other prominent and ranked ladies players like Garbine Muguruza and Elise Mertens.  Halep is the next big star in ladies tennis, and is the Longhorndave Sportswoman of the Week!