Sportsman of the Week Ending 12/21/2025

The college football playoffs kicked off with a bang, with chatter around of who should be in and who shouldn't.  Didn't matter to the teams that played.  A team that many panned as not being worthy were the Miami Hurricanes, who got the last at large bid to face the Texas A&M Aggies in College Station, a place their fans believe teams go to die. Despite a defensive struggle, one player put on an offensive masterpiece to secure the Canes a spot in the quarterfinals.  Miami Hurricanes tailback Mark Fletcher Jr. looked all the part of the roles of previous great Miami backs.  From Frank Gore to Edgerrin James to Clinton Portis., they always came up big in big games.  Overall, for the game, he surged for 172 yards on 17 carries in a game the offense only had 278 yards total.  But in the biggest drive, tied 3-3 with under 4 minutes left, he took control.  Surging for 56 yards in the play to start the drive, carrying the next 4 times, including another 12-yarder for a first down (killing A&M time outs).  The drive ending in a Miami TD as they showed the world they belong and he is a force to be reckoned with in the next round.  Mark Fletcher Jr. is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 12/14/2025

The NFL Playoff picture is heating up and also becoming clearer as there are three weeks of the regular season left in a season that seems like new teams are emerging.  Out are the Kansas City Chiefs.  In are the Denver Broncos.  In one of the marquee Sunday games, the Broncos surged past another Super Bowl Contender for their 11th straight win, a playoff spots and hope for their next dynasty.  Budding superstar Bo Nix answered all the critics with an MVP level performance in leading his Broncos to a 34-26 win over the Green Bay Packers.  And Nix was the engine, connecting on 23-34 passes for 302 yards and four touchdowns. Down 23-14 early in the third quarter, Nix struck twice before the quarter was out for the lead they would not relinquish.  It was only the second game this year the Packers gave up a 300-yard passer, the first being super QB Dak Prescott.  Nix appears to be the next great AFC QB next to other MVPs and is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 12/7/2025

After a run of College Football starts, we turn to another sport that wrapped up its season in dramatic fashion with a first-time champion.  And truly a world champion.  British driver Lando Norris broke a 4-year winning streak from Max Verstappen to win his first Formula 1 Championship and along with it goes the title of World's Driving Champion.  He along with McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri upset the Red Bull blockage in getting first and third overall (with Verstappen in between).  Ironically, the Bristol, England, native did not win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Verstappen did.  But he had enough points in his pocket to take home the season championship.  It was a rare season coming down to the last race, when Verstappen took the title from legendary Lewis Hamilton in 2021.  Is this a changing of the guard that we'll see Norris win 3 more titles or more?  Will Verstappen bounce back?  Will Piastri continue his surge?  2026 will tell, but the 2025 champion is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week! 

Sportsman of the Week Ending 11/30/2025

For all its warts, College Football remains the sport of many fans in November, especially Thanksgiving / Rivalry weekend.  While our Sportsman of the Week wasn't in a pure rivalry, his performance upended the college football playoff in a huge win in their season finale.  California quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele had nearly a perfect day in shredding 2024 playoff participant and expected ACC Championship Game contender Southern Methodist.  Sagapolutele hit all but 9 of his 40 passes, and four of the 31 completions went for touchdowns.  To four different receivers.  The four TDs and 330 yards in the game were a career high.  He was sacked never.  He threw no interceptions.  And the freshman led the kinds of two-minute drives legends do.  JKS went 5 for 6, making his biggest completion to the 5-yard line with 40s left before having his RB punch it in.  Cal ends the season at a quietly good 7-5 and will be bowling.  Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele is a big name to watch in the future and is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!