Sportsman of the Week Ending 3/17/2019

March is for NCAA basketball Madness and it starts with the conference tournaments.  After 2+ months of beating each other up in the regular season, every conference goes to a major city in its region to battle again over the weekend to determine who is the champion, or at least the other champion and get that automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.  In rare cases does it matter for a major conference in terms of the berth, but for the Duke Blue Devils, it was time for revenge.  Led by the acclaimed most talented freshman in college basketball Zion Williamson, the Dookies avenged regular season losses to Syracuse (quarterfinals) and North Carolina (semifinals) before dispatching of Florida State for the ACC conference title.  Williamson, who hadn't played in 3 weeks since he blew out a shoe and hurt his knee in a second regular season loss to North Carolina, led the way.  Over the three games, Zion poured in 33 field goals on 43 shots, including 3-6 beyond the arc to average 27 points and 10 rebounds in a dominating effort.  Zion looks poised to lead Duke to their potential sixth national championship and first in 4 years, and it looks like he may not be stopped.  Zion Williamson is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 3/10/2019

The spring sports season is filled with a lot of variety, and the NHL regular season is winding down with stars emerging.  The Florida Panthers left wing star Jonathan Huberdeau netted 9 points, all in his last 3 games as his team went 2-1 as they try to angle for a Wild Card spot.  Huberdeau has reached the 20 goal plateau for the 3rd time in 4 years, and his 74 points are a career high.  Hard to believe he is in his 7th year as a 25 year old, he will surely be a force for future years.  And is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 3/3/2019

In the calm before the March Madness and baseball storm, a new PGA Tournament Champion emerges on the sports scene.  Keith Mitchell beat some heavy hitters to win the Honda Classic.  Mitchell birdied 4 of his last 7 holes to hold off Rickie Fowler and Brooks Koepka.  That Koepka that won the U.S. Open and PGA Championship in 2018 and is poised to be a force in all majors this year.  Sergio Garcia and Justin Thomas could be seen further down the leaderboard.  The 27 year-old Mitchell had nary a win even on the Web.com tour, but now he registers as a legit PGA champion.  And that can be said by few.  Our Sportsman of the Week!

Sportswoman of the Week Ending 2/24/2019

There's an American sports legend among us, but not nearly appreciated enough for her dominance.  Mikaela Shiffrin.  At the age of 23, she rocked the World Championships of skiing with gold medals in Slalom and Super G with a bronze in the Giant Slalom.  Winning her fourth straight Slalom title was a challenge, given her health.  She went from a tickle in her throat to borderline pneumonia in about a two hour span (credit Denver Post).  She currently sits at the top of the World Cup standings with top points in the Slalom, Super G, and Giant Slalom.  Her dominance continues the rest of the ski season, but she is a worthy Sportswoman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 2/17/2019

It was a redeeming end to a tough month for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR).  Having lost the former Super Bowl champion coach's son J.D. Gibbs to a neurological disorder just over a month prior to the season opening race, JGR managed a nearly unprecedented sweep the podium at the Daytona 500, led by prior champion Denny Hamlin.  With three major crashes in the final 20 laps, Hamlin skillfully stayed out front and let the chasers knock each other out, while holding off JGR teammates Kyle Busch and Erik Jones along with defending Cup Series Champion Joey Logano over the final Green-White-Checkered overtime finish.  Masterful use of pit stops along with execution throughout the afternoon, Hamlin's car was clean and fast.  But it was the 21-car-pileup with 10 laps to go that broke the field wide open and left a handful of other decorated veterans like Busch, Kevin Harvick and Logano as major threats to Hamlin's victory.  But Hamlin held them off and took home the trophy for his team.  And most importantly, JGR and J.D. Gibbs.  Hamlin is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week.

Sportswoman of the Week Ending 2/10/2019

The greatest female alpine skier in American history retired on top.  Well, maybe not on top.  But still impressive.  Lindsey Vonn (USA) won a bronze in the World Championship Downhill in her final competitive race.  At 34 years old, she is the oldest lady to win at the Worlds.  She beat fellow American, Lindsey Vonn who won two years ago at age 32.  She won the bronze in the downhill following a crash in the Super G less than a week ago.  She becomes the first female skier to win at six Worlds.  She won 82 World Cup races.  But her body is done.  The surgically repaired knees, worn out neck, sore back, hours in the training room.  She won again.  Maybe not gold, but bronze.  Which is enough to be the Longhorndave Sportsmwoman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 2/3/2019

The Super Bowl is America's biggest sports stage and the world watches its players.  All season, fans and pundits discounted the New England Patriots as not being what they once were.  But in the Super Bowl, they were who they thought we were.  For the sixth time, Tom Brady led his team to a Super Bowl championship (defeats of the St. Louis Rams, Panthers, Eagles, Seahawks, Falcons, and now the Los Angeles Rams).  This time the final was 13-3.  But it was a receiver who was the most unstoppable force.  In a defensive struggle, where very third down counted, Julian Edelman was the key to moving the chains, keeping time of possession, and willing the Patriots to victory.  at 5'10" and 198 pounds, he looks a lot more like a normal guy in your gym than the best player in the Super Bowl.  But in Super Bowl LIII, he garnered 10 catches (on 12 targets) for 141 yards.  Both were season highs.  He had a carry for 8 yards as well.  Brady will always be remembered for the glory and rightfully so.  But it was Edelman who stole the Super Bowl LIII show.

Sportsman of the Week Ending 1/20/2019

Two games, two overtimes, the Conference Championship Game weekend was full of excitement.  And controversy.  But we leave that for another day.  The New England Patriots are no strangers to the Super Bowl, nor having winning Sportsmen of the Week.  But it's a rookie that stole the show this week.  Running Back Sony Michel was a key factor in the Patriots controlling the clock at nearly a 2:1 ratio and keeping the Kansas City Chiefs offense on the sideline.  Michel toted the rock 29 times for 113 yards, nearly 4 yards a carry but they were tough yards (11 yards was the longest...he was grinding).  Add two key touchdowns (to go with his 3 last week) and it was the respect for the run that opened up passing lanes for Brady to score TD on the last 3 drives.  Michel now has 3 100 yard games out of 4, and seems strong for the Super Bowl.  Yet another key weapon for the Patriots, and our Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 1/13/2019

The NFL Playoffs are reaching a crescendo as the Division Playoffs yielded the four finalists for the Super Bowl.  While the winners were all the home team favorites, it was a surprise player that carried the Los Angeles Rams to their first NFC Championship Game in 17 years.  Veteran running back C.J. Anderson stepped up as a 50/50 back to superstar Todd Gurley and delivered.  Having been the Rams featured back in the final two regular season games (which were of little importance to the Rams playoff seeding), Anderson eclipsed 100 yards on both occasions.  Now he did it when it mattered most.  Anderson notched 123 yards and 2 TD against what had been considered a stingy Cowboys defense.  And the yards were hard earned, as no carries were longer than 15 yards meaning Anderson made each and every carry count.  The Rams moved on with a 30-22 victory that was less in doubt than the score seemed.  And the 27-year old veteran looks poised to provide balance to MVP candidate Gurley.  Which will be a lot for the New Orleans Saints to handle.  Anderson is the epitome of Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 1/7/2019

Another week, another dominant performance, and another National Championship for the Clemson Tigers.  Led by super freshman Quarterback Trevor Lawrence (and last week's Sportsman of the Week Justyn Ross), the Alabama Crimson Tide were overmatched.  Lawrence torched the Tide defense for 347 yards and 3 TD in a flawless performance with no interceptions.  Lawrence also scrambled effectively for 27 yards on six carries.  The end result was a dismantling of the number one Alabama 44-16, the worst loss in the Nick Saban era.  It marks the second title for Clemson in 3 years, as well as the third straight title game loss for the Southeastern Conference.  And the best may be yet to come for Trevor Lawrence who will have at least two more years at Clemson.  But for now, he is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!