Sportsman of the Week Ending 6/5/2022

The Stanley Cup Playoffs continue to march toward a champion, and the New York Rangers are a team that few expected to make a strong run yet are positioned to make their first Stanley Cup Finals since 2014.  And their strong point has been goaltending.  By Igor Shesterkin.  The Russian wall has kept opponents at bay, winning 3 games out of 4 this week.  It started with a clutch 6-2 victory in the Eastern Conference Semifinals Game 7 against the Carolina Hurricanes on the road in Raleigh, NC, where the Rangers had not won all series and were huge underdogs.  Then, starting Games 1 and 2 at home at Madison Square Garden, he held the two-time defending Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning to 2 goals in each game for clutch 6-2/3-2 victories in both.  Three wins on the week and a smooth 2 GAA with a save percentage over 94.5%.  Will the Rangers win their first Cup in over 25 years?  If so, it will be Shesterkin that will be the cornerstone, our Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 5/29/2022

In a thrilling 7-game Epic Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA, another future generation superstar shone on the league's largest stage.  Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum picked up his team from a 1-2 series deficit to the top seeded Miami Heat and led them to a 7-game Copmference Championship victory, including two road wins in Games 5 and 7.  In games 4 through 7, Tatum, averaged 27 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists filling up the scoresheet.  More importantly, Tatum and the Celtics may be the best threat of a young team to take on the veteran Golden State Warriors dynasty.  Will they be able to do it?  Tatum seems to have the confidence and is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 5/22/2022

The National Hockey League Stanley Cup Playoffs hits full stride after an exciting opening round, the Top eight teams are battling for a spot in their Conference Finals.  One of the more intriguing battles is the "Battle for Alberta" in which the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames are battling to be the only Canadian team left in the playoffs.  The familiar foes have lit the lamp at a near unprecedented rate with 36 goals scored in the first four games.  Nobody was a bigger force for either team than the Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid.  McDavid tallied 9 points in the first three games, with 2 goals and 7 assists while skating to a +6 Plus/Minus.  The 25-year-old former number one overall draft pick has cemented himself among the elite in the league.  Can he lead the Oilers to their first title since 1990, and the first Canadian team championship since the Montreal Canadiens championship in 1993?  Stay tuned, but he is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 5/15/2022

In what appears to be a dead ball season in Major League Baseball, seems not that uncommon for a no-hitter to be deep into a game on a nightly basis.  On pitcher finally finished it off.  Los Angeles Angels lefty Reid Detmers finished off a masterpiece CG no-hitter against perennial power Tampa Bay Rays on 108, pitches, 68 strikes.  He walked a man and was the benefactor of a fair scoring decision for an error that was pretty textbook and non-controversial.  Detmers is a 22-year-old rookie and may provide some hope on the pitching side for a potent Angels lineup featuring three former MVPs and to pair next to Shohei Ohtani as a great 1-2 punch.  Will this be the year the Angels get to the postseason?  Detmers may be a reason for optimism.

Sportsman of the Week Ending 5/8/2022

Peak late Spring sports season, we have three of the four major American Sports (five of six if you throw in MLS and NASCAR) with several in playoffs, weather nice.  Etc.  Oh yeah, it's also horse racing's triple crown season.  The first Saturday in May is reserved for the Kentucky Derby.  For the first time in 3 years, full crowd and it was everything it was billed to be.  Especially if you like upsets.  In a 20-horse field, which expanded to the 21st horse just hours before, the longest shot in over 100 years stunned the field.  Ridden by our Sportsman of the Week Venezuela native Sonny Leon, 80-1 Rich Strike (strangely not "Strike Rich" like his bettors did) looked like a Ferrari amongst Kia's down the last furlong as it outpaced favorited lower odds Epicenter and Zandon to breeze to victory.  Sports.  You can't win if you're not in it.  The Kentucky Derby served as another reminder and inducted another amazing Sportsman of the Week! 

Sportsman of the Week Ending 5/1/2022

While the NHL and NBA playoffs heat up, it was the first baseball player in 2022 that caught our attention.  Taylor Ward of the high expectation Los Angeles Angels dominated at the plate in a week in which his team took control of the American League West Standings.  Ward batted .448 (13-for-29) with 10 runs scored, two doubles, a triple, four home runs, 11 RBI, two walks and a 1.000 slugging percentage over seven games played (credit MLB.com).  While the Angels tallied a 6-1 week to lead the ALW by 2.5 games by the end of the week.  On a team with three former Most Valuable Players (Trout, Ohtani, and Rendon), it's Ward who has been the early hero and is the Longhorndave 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!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 4/17/2022

Another amazing week in sports, especially American sports, but we go over to the Pacific Rim for an amazing, near impossible or stuff of legend, story.  Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) has started just like the American Major League Baseball but has a story never matched.  20-year-old pitching phenom Roki Sasaki (佐々木) of the Chiba Lotte Marines in his second and third start of the young season pitched 17 consecutive perfect innings.  Read that again.  17.  Consecutive.  Perfect.  Innings.  Sasaki pitched the 16th perfect game in NPB history (first since 1994, 7+ years before Sasaki was born) on Sunday April 10, on a magnificent 19 strike out (including 13 straight) 27 up, 27 down performance.  He followed it a week later with 24 up and 24 down before being lifted (by his own admission suffering "some fatigue") in a 0-0 game.  For a young arm like that, discretion is definitely warranted.  What will Sasaki do for his next act?  Check it out on Sunday for his next start.  And maybe in a Major League Baseball ballpark in the not-too-distant future!  Sasaki is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 4/10/2022

What a week of sports.  It started with the NCAA Men's Basketball finals, transitioned to the Major League Baseball Opening Day, but finished with the iconic Masters tournament, the first with full fans in 3 years.  And it did not disappoint.  The surging best player in golf lapped the field to win not only his first Masters, but first major.  Scott Scheffler has been one of the best up and coming golfers for over a year now.  Including his inclusion on the dominant American Ryder Cup team in which his inclusion was questioned, as usually spots go to veterans, to a 4-0 matchup performance.  But in Augusta, he was unmatched.  Consistency, big shots, and nerves of steel, and talent.  Lots of talent.  Scheffler is one of the next generation greats, and a worthy Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportswoman of the Week Ending 4/3/2022

The NCAA Women's Final Four ended up with a familiar matchup as two perennial heavyweights squared off to notch another National Title in their dynastic era.  This time, the South Carolina Gamecocks emerged with their second championship in six years (five tournaments).  Led by our Sportswoman of the Week Aliyah Boston, who filled up the stat sheet in both wins in the Final Four.  In a 72-59 victory over the Louisville Cardinals in the National Semifinals, Boston netted 23 points (66% shooting) and 18 rebounds with a block and 4 assists.  In the National Finals domination, she netted another 11 points, 16 boards, 2 blocks, and 3 assists to beat the Connecticut Huskies going away 64-49.  The 2022 John Wooden award winner for National Player of the year stepped up and led her team to a National Championship.  She's a worthy Sportswoman of the Week!