The recent cool, damp weekend was a friendly reminder that the dog days of summer will soon be making way for fall and everything that goes with that in Maine. Some tend to view the autumn as a harbinger of what follows; I prefer to take a deep breath of that chilly morning air and celebrate what I think of as the best our state has to offer.

It's too easy to take potshots at this year's incarnation of the Olympics Games. The Zika, the air and water pollution, the body parts washing up on shore - the punchlines are there to be had for even the worst late-night staff writer. And I have long held the opinion that the Olympics are the longest running and most boring reality television series in the history.

Outfielder becomes 30th to reach MLB milestone

With a triple off the wall at Coors Field in Denver, Ichiro Suzuki became the latest and perhaps the most unlikely member of Major League Baseball's exclusive 3,000 hit club; unlikely not because of his talents he has always shown himself more than capable of racking up base hits but because of his circumstances.

By the time you read this, the major league baseball trading deadline will have come and gone, the 'experts' will have weighed in on the winners and losers, and the Red Sox will likely find new ways to disappoint fans down the stretch. New Red Sox boss Dave Dombrowski has been proactive both in the offseason and in advance of the deadline but while he may have made some good deals, Double-D has a way to go to join the ranks of truly memorable trades that I've assembled in my unscientific list of the greatest moves in the history of the game.

Trade deadline thoughts

Things certainly heated up in a big way at the Major League Baseball trading deadline.

In one of the most active periods perhaps THE most active - in the history of the deadline, a whole lot of teams made some major changes to their squads; some were aiming for a championship today, while others were looking down the road and building for tomorrow.

And the rollercoaster ride continues.

The Red Sox have had an OK July in terms of their record; they remain solidly in the playoff hunt despite the unexpected competitiveness at the top of the AL East. They've won more than they've lost for the month, though they certainly missed opportunities to have a much better stretch.

MONTREAL I'm not sure just when I decided that my first in-person professional football game experience was going to be a CFL matchup.

Two more greats to grace the gallery at Cooperstown

It would seem that the voters for baseball's Hall of Fame have finally eased up the tight-fisted take on enshrinement that had hobbled the process for so long, with two more inductees made the grade this year. Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza will see their plaques go on the wall in Cooperstown this summer. That makes nine that have been elected in the past three years.

I've been part of several odd coincidences lately - one of which is directly related to the column I write in this space.

The Tom Brady saga appears to finally be over, ending not with a bang but with a whimper.

The future Hall of Famer opted to take his four game vacation and move on with his life, perhaps understanding that as time went on, this case became less about him and more about the ongoing power struggle between the commissioner's office and the NFL Players Association.