Sportsman of the Week Ending 6/18/2017

It was high drama on the Wisconsin hills on Sunday with a dozen or more golfers within striking distance of their first golf major in the United States Open.  By the time the last streak of sun peaked over the horizon onto the fairway, there was one clear winner in historic fashion.  On a weekend in which "to par" records were falling like dew off the fescue rough on an early summer morning, Brooks Koepka lapped the fading field by four strokes.  Koepka finished 16 under par, the only golfer with 4 rounds at 2 under or better, and the only golfer with 3 rounds of 4 under or better.  A first time major winner, Koepka was stoic as he tapped in a par on the 72nd hole, but his name goes down in the record books as the lowest scoring U.S. Open champion, and a major champion.  He is our Sportsman of the Week!

Sportswoman of the Week Ending 6/11/2017

From unseeded to Champion, the women's side of the French Open produced a surprise winner.  The door for a new champion was left open, as four of the last five champions (Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova) did not play due to vastly different circumstances.  However, Jelena Ostapenko came from no where to capture the title.  The 19-year-old Latvian overcame a set deficit to beat 3rd seed Simona Halep 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.  It was the third time in the last four matches Ostapenko had to overcome a first set loss, and all four of her last matches went to a decisive third set.  With the Williams sisters getting older, and the likes of Sharapova perhaps never being the same as she was in her prime, is Ostapenko the new face of women's tennis?  Time will tell, but she is the Longhorndave Sportswoman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 6/4/2017

As the sports calendar turns past May, baseball becomes the national pastime.  And one of the best parts of any baseball season is to see history made.  Edinson Volquez of the Miami Marlins did just that.  Volquez pitched the first no-hitter of 2017 (and first in more than a calendar year) against one of the better National League teams in the Arizona Diamondbacks.  He walked two, but induced two double plays to face on the minimum within 98 pitches.  Much of the game clinging to a 1-0 lead, the 33-year old Dominican Republic native fanned 10 with nary a close call.  And the feat was not without emotion.  It happened to be the birthday of fellow DR native and 2015 Kansas City Royals World Champion teammate Yordany Ventura, who died tragically in a car accident less than 5 months earlier.  And to boot, Volquez got a hit himself, finishing 1-4.  Volquez is a worthy Sportsman of the Week!

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.

Sportsman of the Week Ending 4/23/2017

Baseball enters the last week of the opening month, and perhaps the game's best player shined.  The Washington Nationals Bryce Harper lit the National League East on fire, on the way to what might be his second MVP in three seasons.  The Nationals marched through Georgia and Queens with a 6-0 record, establishing themselves as the team to beat in the East.  Harper led the Nats batting 11-20, with 7 of those 11 hits for extra bases (4 2B, 3 HR).  He also scored 10 of his teams 33 runs over the six game span.  The Nationals ended the week with the best record in baseball, and it might be time that Bryce is mentioned as the top of MLB elite.  For the second time in blog history, he is a worthy Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 4/16/2017

It was the initial week of Stanley Cup Playoff action, and with eight hotly contested series, the action was plentiful.  Seemingly more than any other sport, playoff wins on the road seem more plentiful despite rabid crowds.  One way to win on the road is to not allow any goals.  And that's exactly what Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators did.  Two games, 59 shots on goal, clean slate.  And this wasn't against just any team, but the number one seed Chicago Blackhawks, who many had penciled in as a Stanley Cup favorite.  Rinne continued his success into Monday with an overtime win with just two goals.  The Blackhawks may have played their last game at home in the 2016-17 season, and if they have, there will be bad memories of being stonewalled by the Finnish superstar goalie Rinne.