Who am I?

I'm from Houston, a graduate of the University of Texas, a fan of the Houston Astros and Houston Texans. But this blog will be about the "greater sports", whatever that means.

Follow me on Twitter: @lhd_on_sports

Labels

LHD_PotW (612) MLB (184) NFL (165) NCAA (127) NFL Playoffs (73) NBA (67) NHL (63)

Monday, March 11, 2024

Sportsman of the Week Ending 3/10/2024


It's March.  It's time for Madness.  As conference basketball tournaments dominate the week, it was an historic rivalry that took center stage on Saturday with an ACC regular season title on the line.  And the North Carolina Tarheels went into Duke's house and took their lunch money.  Led by an unsung senior no less.  Cormac Ryan leveraged his experience at Cameron Indoor Stadium to quiet the Crazies and deliver.  Cormac the Magnificent (you know I couldn't resist) was cold blooded with his scoring touch, missing just five times in 22 shots from the field, with two of those being behind the three-point line.  And he did it in the clutch, with ten of his teams last 12 points in the final 3:54, including 7 in the last 108 seconds.  No answers did Duke have.  Ryan sealed the Heels Conference Championship and is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Monday, March 4, 2024

Sportsman of the Week Ending 3/3/2024


The NBA is hitting the home stretch with teams emerging as Championship favorites while others vie for playoff seeding and positioning.  One of the spots that seems locked up is the first seed in the Eastern Conference.  The Boston Celtics continue to turn up championship quality eras and this team is poised.  Having made at least the Eastern Conference Finals 5 of the last 7 years, and the NBA Finals just two years ago, the Celtics look to win their first title in 16 years and currently have the best record in the NBA.  At 48-12, Boston has lapped the field with a ballooning 8 game lead thanks in large part to Jaylen Brown.  Brown averaged over 28 points a game as his Celtics blew out three opponents by 18 or more points, including a 52-point drubbing of the Golden State Warriors, the fading dynasty of the last 10 seasons that beat them in the summer of 2022.  Brown also cleaned up 5 rebounds and 3 assists per game, proving a second punch behind team scoring leader Jayson Tatum.  A force that the Eastern Conference may not have an answer for now, or in the years to come.  Jaylen Brown is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Monday, February 26, 2024

Sportsman of the Week Ending 2/25/2024


One of the great stories of the hockey season has been the emergence of Canadian Hockey Teams with a chance to win their first Stanley Cup in over 30 years.  The Toronto Maple Leafs are in the middle of the discussion, and they are led by a Captain that is pushing goal records.  On Thursday, Auston Matthews scored his 52nd goal in 55 games, imagine a player that gets one you netter per game pretty much.  A 70 goal season, very much in play, puts him in elite company of Gretzky, Lemieux, Brett Hull, and more.  But most important the Leafs have won seven straight and may be peaking at the right time.  Matthews is one of the best NHL stories this year and is a worthy Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Sportswoman of the Week Ending 2/18/2024


We enter the inter-regnum (used loosely) portion of the Sports Calendar when there are no playoffs going on, March Madness isn't queued up yet (neither is The Masters), but many sports are going and lots of action to watch every night.  Perhaps there is no more action captivating the country than Caitlin mania.  Caitlin Clark that is, who has captivated not only the women's basketball sports landscape, but the sports landscape in general.  The Iowa Hawkeye scoring machine became the all-time leading scorer in NCAA women's basketball history this week, passing Washington Huskies Guard Kelsey Plum (former Sportswoman of the Week) with her 3,528th career point and she's not slowing down.  So much so, she likely will pass men's basketball hoops legend Pete Maravich in points before the conference tournament season. Worth the ticket of admission (as evidenced by the full houses she plays to) Caitlin Clark is the Longhorndave Sportswoman of the Week (repeat winner).

Monday, February 12, 2024

Sportsman of the Week Ending 2/11/2024


One of the highlights of the American Sports Calendar is the Super Bowl, that cannot be disputed.  And the Kansas City Chiefs are becoming synonymous with the big game, at least the last 5 years, in which they've been a participant four times, and winners now three.  Super Bowl LVIII did not disappoint as two evenly matched teams, the aforementioned Chiefs and the NFC Champion (and top seed) San Francisco 49ers squared off for the second time in five years in the Big Game.  The Niners were slight favorites.  But the Chiefs had Patrick Mahomes II.  After a stumble start with just 123 yards going into half and his team trailing 10-3, compounded with an interception coming out of halftime, the next generation dynasty QB got lit.  Hit for 201 yards and 2 TDs over the last 24 minutes of regulation and an overtime period.  The overtime period in which he stamped his third title in five years and second straight championship.  Mahomes II was also the Chiefs leading rusher with 66 yards on 9 carries including several back breaking scrambles.  The greats win and the greats get recognized as the Sportsman of the Week! 

Monday, January 29, 2024

Sportsman of the Week Ending 1/28/2024


The NFL season entered its penultimate weekend card with the AFC and NFC Championship games and a veteran superstar stole the stage for his team trying to win their fourth conference championship in five years.  Mission accomplished.  Kansas City Chiefs All Pro Tight End Travis Kelce reminded fans of how dominant he's been in the postseason with a much needed performance in carving up the favored and home-standing Baltimore Ravens for 11 catches and 111 yards and a TD, doing most of his damage in the first half when the Chiefs ran up 14 points on their first two possessions (6 of his catches including his TD) en route to a 17-10 win.  In the meantime, Kelce passes Jerry Rice for the most postseason catches in the history of the NFL.  History.  Of.  The.  NFL.  Travis Kelce was an unstoppable force and the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week! 


Monday, January 22, 2024

Sportsman of the Week Ending 1/21/2024


An amazing sports weekend with Australian Open tennis, NFL Playoffs, NBA and NHL action had perhaps the most shocking result in the third PGA tournament of the year.  For the first time in over 33 years, an amateur won a PGA tour event.  20-year-old (barely) Nick Dunlap shocked a pretty deep PGA field to win the American Express in La Quinta, CA.  Dunlap torched the courses for a -29 total, including a 60 on moving day Saturday.  He held on a shaky tee shot on the 72nd hole to par out for the win.  And this was no watered-down field.  Justin Thomas.  Xander Schauffele.  Scottie Scheffler.  Jason Day.  Patrick Cantlay.  All the big names were distanced by the sophomore from Alabama.  A name to remember as only the third amateur victor in a PGA event since 1957.  Dunlap is a worthy Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week! 

Monday, January 15, 2024

Sportsman of the Week Ending 1/14/2024


In one of the most anticipated College Football Playoff Championship games in recent memory, two 14-0 teams geared up to battle in Houston.  Intrigue skyrocketed as two conflicting styles of play... Michigan's running and defense versus Washington's weapon-laden, diverse offense and points would be settled on the field.  The former proved superior.  The tone was set early on two early breakout runs by Donovan Edwards, who had been relegated to more of a change-of-pace back through the year behind workhorse Blake Corum.  But it was Edwards who burst through the Huskies defensive line twice in the first 13 minutes of the game to stake the Wolverines to a 14-3 lead, after which Washington never got closer than a TD.  Both Edwards runs were 40+ yards and hit paydirt for the first two touchdowns of the game.  He totaled 104 yards on just 6 carries, but his strong start is worthy of the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Monday, January 8, 2024

Sportsman of the Week Ending 1/7/2024


A thrilling opening semifinal of the College Football Playoffs commenced with both games going down to the last play and both undefeated teams moving onto their first Playoff Finals.  Despite being undefeated, the Washington Huskies were slight underdogs to the brand name Texas Longhorns but for most of the 60 minutes, had control of the game thanks to their Heisman runner-up quarterback Michael Penix Jr.  Penix Jr. was familiar with the Longhorns from the 2022 Alamo Bowl but took his game to a new level in near perfection in defeat of the Longhorns in the 2024 Sugar Bowl.  Penix Jr. was 29/38, with 2 TDs and 430 yards as the Longhorns had no answer for him.  He took no sacks and also scrambled for another 30 yards.  Penix Jr. takes his act to the Championship game where he'll face Michigan, his toughest defensive test of the year, but for now, is the worthy Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!


*Editors note* the Sportsman of the Week goes through Sunday, therefore any result of the College Football Playoff finals will not be rendered until January 14. 

Tuesday, January 2, 2024

Sportsman of the Week Ending 12/31/2023


It's a Longhorndave on Sports tradition that Bowl Season the big players in Bowl games get the nod for Sportsman of the Week honors and this week is no different.  While some complain that the Bowl Season was watered down with too many, now watered down with opt outs, the Chick-Fil-a Peach Bowl brought two heavyweight conference contenders who were within a game or two of the College Football Playoff in Ole Miss and Penn State.  Two great coaches and loads of talent in a hotbed of college football, Atlanta, GA.  And Ole Miss was all gas and no brakes in running up the score on a strong Penn State defense.  Rebels Quarterback Jaxson Dart shredded the Nittany Lions defense for 379 yards and 3 TD.  While the other 15 yards of passing for Ole Miss was caught by the junior while running for 14 yards and a fourth TD.  Ole Miss looks to be a force in the SEC for years to come, including next year when Dart has professed to come back and will be on the Heisman short list.  It was a big win led by our Sportsman of the Week!