Sportsman of the Week Ending 5/17/2026

An amazing weekend of sports action from the college level (softball and baseball), NBA Playoffs, NHL Playoffs, WNBA. EPL soccer, Preakness Stakes, and yes, the PGA Championship.  And for the golf major, we have a new winner.  The humble and grounded Aaron Rai surged through a crowded Sunday field that started Sunday with nine golfers within 3 shots of leader Alex Smalley.  But it was Rai who played flawless Sunday over the last ten holes.  Through the first eight holes he sputtered to a one over par before hitting an Eagle on the 9th that launched him to a six under par over those ten holes.  With a comfortable, but not yet insurmountable, lead he made the tournament academic with an amazing 68' birdie putt on the Par 3 17.  Tournament over.  While his rivals sputtered in the rough off the tee and off the green on the approach.  Rai was a machine.  The 31-year-old Englishman son of immigrants is now, a Major Champion.  And Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 8/24/2025

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.  No more.  The best player to never win a PGA event has won one and it was the literal Tour Championship.  Tommy Fleetwood had too many runners up to count, including Majors.  Including recent events.  Playing the best golf on the tour by a duffer not named Scottie.  This week.  He did it.  Finished three shots clear of the field and an elite field at that only the 30 best that qualified.  Nobody nailed an impossible putt against him.  He didn't get the shanks on the last couple of holes.  Closed.  With ease.  By all counts one of the best gentlemen and sportsmen on the tour, and now the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 6/19/2022

A thrilling weekend of golf culminated with a surprise United States Open champion fending off both veterans and younger players alike.  27-year-old Matt Fitzpatrick dazzled on Sunday, outlasting several strong contenders like John Rahm and Scott Scheffler.  But it was Will Zalatoris who's hunger for his first major proved the last opponent standing.  Fitzpatrick played near flawless golf, hitting every green and ensuring success with a great shot on 18.  Zalatoris had a long-shot birdie putt that missed by an inch and Fitzpatrick won his first tournament in the Americas, and his first major.  Consistency was the Englishman's calling card all weekend, with a 68-70-68-68 to finish 6-under par.  An effort more than worthy of Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 4/24/2022

In one of the grandest and most traditional sports, perhaps one of the greatest in that sport etched his name into history in what may be his final competition.  Tyson Fury proved his heavyweight boxing championship meddle with a 6th round knockout of contender Dillian Whyte in front of a phrenetic 90K plus home crowd at England's Wimbley Stadium.  Whyte seemed overmatched by the largish champion Fury as he faced a constant barrage of punches, with 76 landing including 47 power punches.  As the waning seconds of the 6th round ticked down, the referee stopped the fight for a TKO.  Fury finishes his career undefeated, with a 32-0-1 (only 10 fights going the distance, none lost).  In an era where boxing is finding itself among other combat sports, Fury ends with a record in some of the annals of history.  And is a worthy (second time) Sportsman of the Week!

Sportswoman of the Week Ending 7/7/2019

Another week, and another woman takes center stage.  The United States Women's National Team (USWNT) lived up to the billing by winning their fourth World Cup over the Netherlands 2-0, the second Cup in as many tournaments, but perhaps never facing stiffer competition.  The USWNT stormed through all the best European teams on European soil.  In order: Sweden, Spain, France, England, Netherlands.  Outside of their matches against the United States, they were a combined 20-2-1, with only Netherlands beating Sweden, and Spain going 1-1-1 in pool play as the losses.  Against the USWNT?  0-5.  Led by goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, who was able to stymie opponents to only 3 goals throughout their 7 games (0.4 goal average).  In the finals she could not be scored upon, but really saved the team in their semifinal battle against a resilient English team that controlled the ball 58% of the time and matched the US with 4 shots on goal.  Naeher stopped them all and is a worthy Sportswoman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 6/24/2018

World Cup 2018 is dominating the world sports stage and new stars are already emerging.  While some favorites have struggled out of the gate (Germany, Brazil), England has taken care of business behind their superstar and Golden Boot candidate striker Harry Kane.  In his first World Cup, the superstar is already doing things that Lion legends before him could not.  Like 5 goals in 2 games.  In the World Cup opener, Kane struck twice against Tunisia including a stoppage time game winner (2-1), then followed it up with a hat trick 3 goals against hapless Panama (6-1).  The 24 year old from the Walthamstow borough of London, England by way of professional club Tottenham Hotspur may be the answer to England's 52 year World Cup drought.  After a relatively meaningless game to wrap up pool play against Belgium this week (both teams are through to the knockout round), the competition will step up and we'll see if the young Brit can match.  But for this week, Kane is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsmen of the Week Ending 4/10/2016

For the SECOND time in Blog history, we are going to have TWO Sportsmen of the Week.  The first was on 1/5/2014 where I just couldn't decide.  This decision was even worse.  An historic start to a major league baseball season versus a first time major winner who defied all odds to beat what many thought was a foregone conclusion of a winner.

We'll start with the most improbable hero of the first week of the Major League Baseball season.  Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story was a virtual unknown on opening day, but has most resembled Babe Ruth incarnate.  To the tune of SEVEN home runs in his first six career games (yes, that's a record).  To go with 12 RBI, and before you think it's all Coors Field, 4 of the 7 HR were on the road.  He just won't stop, and could not be denied a piece of the Sportsman of the Week.

Turning over to The Masters, one of the greatest sporting events in America, it was a Britain that surprised.  England's Danny Willett leaped from obscurity to torch the back nine (at the same time fan favorite Jordan Spieth was collapsing).  Willett shot a 67 on the final round, the second best round of the tournament (to Spieth's 66 on Thursday).  Talk about clutch.  Bogey-free Sunday, and -3 in the last six holes, that's how you win majors.  And a major winner is Willett.

Sportsman of the Week Ending 11/29/2015

Upsets are what makes sports go around, and this week there was an upset nearly 12 years in the making.  Ukranian Wladimir Klitschko had dominated the heavyweight boxing ranks since taking the title in 2006.  21 straight fight wins had somewhat relegated the heavyweight division to an exhibition.  Enter Tyson Fury (perhaps the best heavyweight boxing name ever) who pulled off a 5:1 upset to win a unanimous decision in Dusseldorf, Germany.  The 27-year-old British behemoth Fury outboxed the suddenly aging Klitschko to a relatively non-entertaining, but decisive effort.  If nothing else, this shakes up the heavyweight division in the near term, perhaps brining back fans who remember the Tyson-Holyfield, Holyfield-Lewis bouts of a bygone era. Tyson Fury is our Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 6/16/2013

Another week, another tour sport Major winner.  And a first one for someone who has been an elite player for years.  England's Justin Rose "survived" unpredictable weather, the usual USGA-groomed rough and lightning fast greens, and a strong field of contenders to win his first Major tournament just a stroke over par.  And some say, it doesn't get bigger than the U.S. Open.  The 32-year-old Briton had been frequently referred to as one of the best to not win a major, he doesn't need to wear that albatross around his neck anymore.  He is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

The Lance Armstrong Elephant

Those following my blog know I'm a big fan of competitive cycling. You can see previous posts of Longhorndave Sportsmen of the Week, tweets on @lhd_on_sports (on twitter), etc.  I more or less came around to the sport toward the tail end of Lance's domination.  I've definitely watched 10x more coverage since he's retired.  But I always had some pride that an American could do so well.  There are so many cyclists representing their country, you just needed to watch last year to see how important it was to England when Bradley Wiggins won (right).  I was extraordinarily proud of Tejay Van Garderen and the way he represented the Stars and Stripes.  But what Lance did was beyond that.  It was Babe Ruth, it was Johnny Unitas, and it was Michael Jordan sport domination in an arena that Americans were usually also rans.

But to paraphrase many who have been caught in the PED age, "the proponderance of evidence can no longer be ignored".

Specifically, he won his titles in an era in which dozens, if not hundreds of cyclists have been caught up in scandal, positive tests, and general consensus that testing was years behind practice.  This is like looking at McGwire, Sosa, and Bonds shattering records, then deciding that Sosa was probably clean but the other two were definitely guilty.  Uh, you're fooling yourself.

The famous "look" in 2001 (click for video)

He didn't just win, he dominated.  Most of his wins were more or less landslides by the last few stages.  Again, not in and of itself damning, but when nobody breaks Roger Maris record for decades, then guys plus it by more than 15% in several years in a row, then you might be onto something.

There's a 1000 page report of testimony, evidence, accounts of practices.  There can't be that many people conspiring against him if he's innocent.  I admit that there are agencies and organizations that have biased reasons to bring him down.  But when teammates, former associates, etc. are involved, we have to listen. It's beyond "he said, she said"

Stepping back, I think the Tour De France (and other organization) authorities need to make a sweeping adjustment to results in these years.  Not just pick and choose who's titles to vacate.  But start with the first time it was obvious someone did it, and wipe them out through a point in which reasonable testing can account for a clean winner.  Which is probably within the past couple of years.  Most of that era had cyclists implicated or associated with scandals, just because resources weren't available to develop aforementioned 1000 page reports doesn't mean their title shouldn't be vacated, too.

And if there is a winner that never tested positive ever in his life, maybe he, and only he, should keep the title.  Wait, that's Lance.  Then wipe it.

Sportsman of the Week Ending 7/22/2012

A fair bit of foreshadowing took place last week, but there is no question in this blogger's mind who the Sportsman of the Week is.  Bradley Wiggins made history in the Tour De France, becoming the first British rider to win the General Classification (i.e. Yellow Jersey) in 99 years of the race and doing it with style.  He dominated the final Time Trial, led his teammate Mark Cavendish out for a win on two stages, had another third place finish, and gave up no time to any main rival all week.  He clearly was the class of the 2012 field and looked like he was in an armchair all week in doing it. A deserved Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!