Some numbers jump off the pages of sports screaming for attention.

It has been 81 summers since Major League Baseball witnessed Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak and Ted Williams batting .406.

I don’t know if I’ve ever been more excited about the start of a new school year and the return of fall sports.

It has been way too long since I was on a high school football sideline for games that matter. I can say the same thing about high school volleyball.

In the coming weeks there will be a lot going on as fall sports arrive full blast.

This is the time of year I most need help from local coaches. Preparing for the start of the school year and all that goes with it means getting everyone’s information updated, with schedules for your teams and a team photo. And I’m not just talking about football.

It seems as if the so-called Power Five conferences of college sports are quickly becoming the Power Two or perhaps the Power Three.

It was recently announced that the University of Southern California and its Los Angeles neighbor, UCLA, will be moving to the Big 10 Conference in time for the 2024 football season.

Summer officially arrived less than two weeks ago, but long before that, Northwest Florida was feeling stifling heat.

Many of us can avoid the heat by staying inside or taking a dip in a pool, or even the Gulf.

My recent story on former Baker football standout Joe Brunson stirred some memories.

Joe was born in the late fall of 2002 about the time his dad, Matt, was leading the Crestview Bulldogs to their best football finish in history. Crestview played in the Class 3A state championship game that year and lost to Rockledge.

It has been good seeing former Crestview football standout turned coach Denzil Ware in recent days.

Denzil is one of the good guys who worked hard on the field and in the classroom and made the most of his football opportunity.

I was at the Pensacola Sports Association All-Star Baseball game last Thursday watching some local baseball players in their last high school game.

Crestview teammates Bryce Dolce, Maddox Wesolowski, Brady Vann, Joe Thomas and Tison Breen played their last game together and it was clear to see the Bulldog brotherhood they shared.

When I was previously at the News Bulletin, I knew many of the young people as I had covered their games since many of them were at Davidson or Shoal River middle schools.

I felt a connection with those students as I watched them grow up.

Summer 2022 is officially here, at least from a school year perspective.

The days are getting longer and hotter. We are about to enter hurricane season, as if a tropical weather system knows when the first day of June might be.