Sportsman of the Week Ending 10/6/2024

In an upset-filled weekend of college football, Vanderbilt pulled the most upsettedness of upsets.  Over number one [Forrest Gump Voice] Ahh-luuh-BAAMMMA.  Led by an unlikely hero.  Senior Commodore quarterback Diego Pavia did it with his arm and legs in an efficient performance.  An accurate an efficient 16-20 throwing for 252 yards with 2 TD and no interceptions.  The New Mexico State transfer averaged over 10 yards per attempt and 15 yards per completion.  Long was only 36 yards so it wasn't one or two big plays.  Then mix in his legs at 56 yards on 20 carries (no sacks either).  Protected the ball.  Got tough yards rushing.  Threw efficiently.  And won the biggest game of his life.  Diego Pavia is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 9/29/2024

One of the biggest college football games of the SEC (which means in national college football) was Alabama hosting Georgia and the action did not disappoint.  Alabama surged to a 30-7 half time lead and there were arguments the score did not even reflect the domination of the Tide.  Then Georgia, inspired by a halftime lead, scored 27 of the next 30 points to take an improbable lead.  Enter our Sportsman of the Week Jalen Milroe.  One play for 75 yards to end the scoring.  But it was his dominant effort all game, throwing 27-33 (missed six passes) for 374 yards and two TDs.  He was also the Tide's leading rusher at 16 carries for 117 yards and two TDs.  That's like near 500 yards in their biggest game of the year.  Milroe has ascended to the short conversation for Heisman Trophy and is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

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!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 8/25/2024

College Football is back and what may end up being a Top 10 game of the year was the first game of what is like 2000.  2023 undefeated and playoff snubbed Florida State entered the season reloaded and with playoff hopes abound.  As ten-point favorites against Georgia Tech in a Week 0 kickoff game in Ireland, seemed like a great warm up and easy conference win.  Not so fast.  Georgia Tech has a new attitude and that is tough.  Led by Jamal Haynes, the Rambling Wreck controlled the football and most importantly, the final possession to defeat the number ten Seminoles.  Haynes produced gutsy runs totaling 75 yards on 11 carries, with two TDs.  Toss in a couple of catches for 16 yards for over 90.  No these aren't Heisman type numbers but numbers the team needed in a run first approach with variable weather against a good team.  Haynes and the Yellow Jackets received 0 AP or AFCA votes in the first poll.  Less than Texas State, Texas San Antonio, and Air Force among others.  They'll get votes this week thanks to Haynes the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 8/18/2024

We've plowed through most of the international sports scene (Olympics, Tour de France, Wimbledon, British Open) and so it's time for baseball.  One of the most unusual feats in baseball is the "cycle" in which a batter gets a single, double, triple, and home run in the same game.  Four hit games are rare enough, the cycle makes it even more so.  No hitter type rare.  This week, an unsung hero accomplished the feat.  29-year-old rookie Weston Wilson of the Philadelphia Phillies went 4-5 against the Washington Nationals on Thursday with a double in the eighth to get his cycle.  Not a prospect by any means at that age, he has turned in some pretty good numbers, including 4 HR and over a 1.000 OPS through his first 29 games while batting .333!  Will he likely continue this?  No.  Will he always be in the Philadelphia Phillies record book with just the 10th Cycle in franchise history (like one ever 15 years)?  Absolutely.  Weston Wilson is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportswoman of the Week Ending 8/11/2024

What a week for the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, more commonly known as the Paris 2024 Olympics.  Fast feet lit up the track under the lights with amazing finishes nightly and new superstars being born.  One of those superstars is the United States megastar Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.  The girl brought speed.  World Record Speed.  She started with a completely dominant victory over favored World Champion Dutch star Femke Bol and it wasn't close.  McLaughlin-Levrone torched the field in 50.37s with fellow American Anna Cockrell also outpacing Bol who looked defeated down the back stretch as McLaughlin-Levrone left her in the dust.  But the 25-year-old American legend (who celebrated a birthday in Paris) followed up this performance as part of a completely dominant women's 4x400 relay that set an American Record and beat the rest of the world by four full seconds in 3:15.27.  The distance between 2nd and 7th was more than 1st and second.  McLaughlin-Levrone did it all and is a worthy Sportswoman of the Week!

Sportswoman of the Week Ending 8/4/2024

The "Greatest of All Time" (a.k.a. "GOAT") can be thrown around loosely at times without perspective.  Current best player.  Your favorite player on your team.  But in Women's Gymnastics the debate is over.  Simone Biles cemented her legacy in the sport and Olympic history leading the women's team Gold Medal then following it up with her own All Around.  The level of difficulty.  Execution.  The sub-5 footer jumps like 11 feet in the air.  Speaking of 11, we're talking 11 Olympics medals, 7 Gold (all 2016 and 2024), in each case most of all time.  Not to mention her issues with mental challenges in the 2020 Olympics and what she overcame at age 27 (ancient for a gymnast).  GOAT.  Of Gymnastics.  An inspiration.  And great Longhorndave Sportswoman of the Week!