Sportsman of the Week Ending 7/19/2026

Two weeks in a row of World Cup greatness and two weeks in a row of Spanish greatness.  The backdrop for the World Cup Final was perfect.  A Spanish team that was stingy on defense allowing one goal leading into the Final.  And an Argentina defending World Cup Champion team that has been completely resilient scoring late when they needed to in order to beat all the big boys.  The result was an action-packed scoreless tie.  Until in extra time, a new hero emerged.  In the opening minutes of the second half of extra time, Ferran Torres finally broke through.  Argentina goalie Emiliano Martínez set a World Cup final record with 11 saves, but it wasn't enough.  Torres struck a great center with no chance for Martinez for what ended up being the deciding goal in a 1-0 victory.  Torres came on in the 62nd minute with fresh legs and made history for Spain.  Their second World Cup final and second World Cup in history.  Ferran Torres is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 7/12/2026

Another amazing week of the World Cup as the field winnowed down to four teams.  The four teams aren't necessarily a surprise, but one of the heroes is.  Spain midfielder Mikel Merino has been the death knell for two teams this week.  Coming off the bench in a tie game, he's scored the eventual winning goal twice.  In the final moments.  After subbing in the 85th minute, Merino broke open a scoreless tie in the first minute of injury time (90+1) to score the only goal in a 1-0 goal against Cristiano Ronaldo and rival Portugal.  Then he doubled the achievement in even less time, subbing in the 86th minute, and dealing a 1-1 tiebreaker against Belgium for Spain to advance to the Semifinals in the 88th minute.  In about the 80th minute, watch for Merino to step in and see if he has the same luck against Spain.  Our Sportsman of the Week cannot be doubted!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 7/5/2026

Another week of exciting World Cup action as the knockout round begins to take shape.  A strong team that has not made a run this deep in recent, and even not-so-recent memory is Norway.  Placed in a bracket with Cup champion favorites France, Norway battled their way to a second place Group finish, poised to run at the Cup starting with Ivory Coast.  Ivory Coast battled to a tie in the waning moments before Norwegian soccer god Erling Haaland scored the deciding goal in the 86th minute to send Norway to their first knockout round victory in the history of the squad.  Then facing Brazil, the formidable foe who won the last World Cup held in North America, Haaland got even better.  Tied the game in the 79th minute, Haaland struck twice in eleven minutes to put Norway up 2-0, ultimately resulting in a 2-1 win sending Brazil home early.  Norway is through to the round of eight, and Erling Haaland has etched his name in the pantheon of great Norwegian athletes.  He is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 6/21/2026

The World Cup has taken the entire planet by storm, and especially in North America where they are hosting it for the first time in 32 years.  A South American player is etching his name amongst all greatest soccer legends not to exclude his fellow continental star Pele.  Lionel Messi is the all-time leader in World Cup Goals.  Period.  Messi scored a hat trick, the only in the 2026 World Cup so far, in easing to a victory in Argentina's opening match.  Then followed up with two more goals against Austria.  The 38-year-old gets better with age.  And has a World Cup title for his proud nation defending this year.  Will he repeat?  No reason to doubt him.  Lionel Messi is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week! 

This is Messi's third Sportsman of the Week becoming the 20th athlete to do so.  

December 2022

March 2012

Sportsman of the Week Ending 7/6/2025

As the calendar turns to July, the summer variety of sports season starts, with Baseball, Golf, Tennis, and Soccer taking center stage.  No bigger soccer stage than the Gold Cup settling North America's greatest eleven.  Not surprisingly, the United States and Mexico weaved their way through the group and knockout rounds for a winner take all brawl in Houston.  And a brawl it was.  Estados Unidos struck quickly for a 1-0 lead within the first five minutes, and the crowd went wild.  But that was all the goals they would score.  In the 27th minute, veteran Raul Jimenez netted El Tri first goal on a soft entry and defense and punch of what would be two.  He was the one who scored the lone goal for Mexico in the semifinal to defeat Honduras 1-0 as well.  Mexico finished the task in the last 15 minutes to retain the Cup.  No glory in the United States, the Cup is to Mexico and the Sportsman of the Week goes to Jimenez.

Sportsman of the Week Ending 7/14/2024

An amazing week of international sports culminated with the Copa America Final of Argentina versus Colombia and an epic matchup of superstars of Lionel Messi and James Rodriguez (both former Sportsmen of the Week).  But it was another budding superstar, Argentinian Lautaro Martinez, who stole the glory.  In the 112' of Extra Time, when penalty kicks seemed to be a certainty, Lautaro took it upon himself to decide the practical Golden Goal.  After Colombia stumbled for an entire sequence to get a good set together, Giovani Lo Celso struck a perfect pass to Martinez who beat the Colombian keeper Camilo Vargas hands were too late.  Martinez had five goals in the tournament to lead as well.  As Messi fades into the sunset, Martinez is likely the heir apparent to keep Argentina in the top.  And is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 7/2/2023

Americans have been waiting for their Men's National Soccer Team (USMNT) to step up and play at the top international level and time and time again have been disappointed.  Reaching the round of eight in any major international tournament (e.g. World Cup) seems to be a ceiling.  Even in Western Hemisphere action (e.g. CONCACAF or Gold Cup) it seems farfetched to make a strong run.  2023 may be a corner turner.  No longer are they fighting against Carribean Island teams and losing to Mexico.  But winning and winning big.  Two games this week, albeit against lesser competition, the USMNT surged.  Led by upstart star Jesus Ferreira.  Ferreira may be the superstar to combine with Christian Pulisic to push the USMNT to the next level.  This week it was epic.  Hat trick on Wednesday against Saint Kitts and Nevis.  Hat trick on Sunday against Trinidad and Tobago.  No, this isn't against France or Argentina.  But the team is playing well and confidence is something they need. Led by a future star, Jesus Ferreira, the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!  

Sportsman of the Week Ending 12/18/2022

What a week and what a weekend for sports in the United States and around the world.  No more eyes were on any event than the 2022 FIFA World Cup Semi-finals and finals.  And a legend emerged, cementing his legacy as one of the greatest of all time.  Lionel Messi led his strong, but not favored, Argentina squad to a thrilling victory (3-3, 4-2 PK) over defending champion France in the World Cup Finals as well as Croatia (3-0) the semis.  Messi netted the first goal (on a penalty kick) in the Semis and two goals (first one off a PK) in the Finals.  It was his assist for the third goal in extra time that helped Argentina push it to Penalty Kicks.  Messi netted his opportunity in the PK shootout as part of Argentina's 4-2 victory.  He ended up with 21 World Cup career "contributions" (8 goals, 13 assists) the most since 1966.  He's the best of the era and now has a World Cup to hoist.  The Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportswoman of the Week Ending 7/26/2020

One of the first major team sports to restart in 2020 was the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) with a tournament in a Utah bubble for player safety.  After a four-game round robin, the NWSL Challenge Cup tournament commenced and a surprise winner was crowned.  The Houston Dash, not considered a favorite, came through in the clutch behind the solid goalkeeping of Jane Campbell who didn't allow a goal in the three tournament games and had a clutch stop in the quarterfinals during a PK shootout.  She turned away all six shots in the semifinals and finals to enable 1-0 (vs. Portland Thorns) and 2-0 (vs. Chicago Red Stars) wins respectively.  She had no room for error.  Throughout the tournament she led the league with 21 saves and four shutouts.  A deserving champion and great goalkeeper.  The Longhorndave Sportswoman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 6/28/2020

Major European soccer (or what they call football) is ramping up as Europe returns to sports and there was no bigger story this week than Liverpool winning their first England Premier League title in 30 years.  Thirty.  Years.  Led by stalwart forward Mohamed Salah, they breezed by punch less Crystal Palace by a 4-0 score.  Salah struck what might be considered the back-breaking blow just before halftime in scoring his team-leading 17th goal of the season.  That ties him for 3rd in the league to date, but Liverpool made a mockery of the league, now standing at 28-1-2 and 26 points ahead of second place Manchester City.  A big win for the town of Liverpool and a worthy Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 5/24/2020

Sports continues to expand post pandemic, especially football in Europe.  Where the Bundesliga (Highest League in Germany) storms on, albeit to empty stadiums.  But the goals still count.  Especially this week, where phenom Kai Havertz scored four of them in two decisive victories for Bayer Leverkusen.  The first two came in a relatively easy go of it disposing of bottom dweller Werder Bremen in Bremen, but followed it up with a big win over Borussia Monchengladbach on the road to pull them into fourth place in the league.  In each case, he scored the initial goal to take the lead, then followed an opposing goal against with a tiebreaker for which his team never looked back.  The 20 year-old wunderkind is a name you're going to see surging in the national renown and is already being pursued for elite leagues throughout Europe and will be able to write his own way.  For now, he's a worthy Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 4/12/2020

Belarus is carrying the sports world right now and this Blog is here for it.  This week, we focus on the Belarus Premier soccer league (a.k.a.Vyšejšaja Liha) which in Week 4 is starting to sort itself out with favorites.  One of the stronger teams is Torpedo BelAZ which has emerged as the top team in the league at 3-1-0 with only two goals against.  Brazilian Gabriel Ramos notched his second goal in four weeks in a crucial victory over previously unbeaten Energetyk-BGU in a match of heavyweights.  Unfortunately, only 287 fans attended  The goal tied him for second overall in the league.  The 24-year old midfielder's aggressive style has netted 2 yellows in four games which probably means he's in trouble or has to sit out the next game (I tried to read the rules of the league but they were in Belarusian).  Anyway, Ramos is good and he's our 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!

Sportswoman of the Week Ending 6/30/2019

Round of 16 and Quarterfinals.  Two goals apiece and the United States Women's National Team is moving on to the Women's World Cup (WWC) semifinal [editors note, at time of publication they won that too].  But our Sportswoman of the week has used her veteran savvy and extreme skill to score all the teams' goals in defeat of Spain and France (2-1).  The first two were on Penalty Kicks, the latter two from the field.  And against France, against a hostile environment.  In what may have been the most highly anticipated women's soccer game in history, Rapinoe struck early on a brilliant free kick, and late on a hard counter attack.  Both were needed and Rapinoe earns the Longhorndave Sportswoman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 7/1/2018

The FIFA World Cup continues with new stars (and new scapegoats) in every match.  In a thrilling knockout round opening day, one of the most anticipated round of 16 matchups was Argentina with the best player in the world Lionel Messi against France, featuring professional star Paul Pogba.  But it would be neither of these that would be the man of the match.  Kylian Mbappe of France announced his presence on the World Stage with two huge goals in the see-saw affair.  The 19-year old scored twice in the second half, the first to break a 2-2 tie at 64', then again just 4 minutes later in the 68' to push the Les Bleus up 4-2, a lead that secured the world quarterfinals.  Mbappe's first goal was a nifty move in traffic to create space and strike the ball just under the goalie.  The second was on a long attack in which he made no doubt of the goal from the right.  Mbappe looks all the part of international soccer legend, and is the Longhorndave Sportsman 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!

Sportswoman of the Week Ending 7/5/2015

With a number of major sports events going on, the FIFA Womens World Cup took center stage this week, with four traditional powers battling for the trophy.  It was the United States that prevailed, and the championship game performance by our Sportswoman of the week did what may never be replicated.  American Carli Lloyd not only scored a hat trick, but she did it in the first 16 minutes of the game.  It was her fourth straight game with a tally (during each of the knockout round games). She also contributed a goal and an assist on Tuesday in the crucial semifinal defeat of the Worlds Number 1 team Germany.  On the World's biggest stage, Lloyd is our deserving Sportswoman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 7/13/2014

Third week in a row we go to the World Cup, but why not, it only comes every 4 years.  And there was one game that really mattered, the World Cup Final on Sunday.  After 110 minutes of (a relatively exciting) 0-0 stalemate (no really, there were lots of opportunities), Germany's Mario Gotze broke through with a beautiful goal. On the center pass, he settled with the chest, then pounded with the left foot.  Argentina goalkeep Sergio Romero had no chance.  And Super Mario was the hero of a nation who hadn't won a Cup in 24 years.  And our Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 7/6/2014

By my count, this is only the second time in blog history we've awarded the Sportsman of the Week in a losing effort.  But sometimes, when a player puts his team on his back and still comes up short, it's worthy.  The United States Men's National Team (#USMNT) put forth a valiant effort in the 2014 World Cup, but couldn't quite crack the Final 8.  But not for the effort of goalkeep Tim Howard.  Howard put forth 16 brilliant saves in a 2-1 loss to a persistent Belgian team.  The game was scoreless after the first 90 minutes, then the peppering was too much in extra time.  But the effort is definitely worthy of a nod from our Blog as Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 6/29/2014

World Cup fever has spread throughout, well, the World.  With so many teams and infrequent games, it's difficult to put one player in the spotlight, but I think we've found a deserving one.  The name on the back of his jersey resembles and American sports icon.  "James".  But that's just his first name, Rodriguez is his last name.  And the 22-year old Colombian has quickly become the superstar of the tournament.  Last week, he scored 3 goals in two games (with two assists) as Colombia has surged into the quarterfinals.  His two-goal performance against Uruguay (a 2-0 win mind you) included a "golazo", a spectacular control of a pass to his left foot and a rocket.  He's scored in every Colombian game so far.  James Rodriguez, you are the next great thing in soccer, and you are the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!