Taking the field at Wayne's Wiffle for a Wish

BANGOR There's something wonderful about having a great time for a great cause, and that's just what I did this past weekend.

When you have a passion for something, whether it's a sport or other interest, it can help inform what you do on trips or even in your own backyard. I've had a few of these experiences this summer, and they are both things I won't soon forget.

Rich Kimball and Bob Lucy enter 20th season calling UMaine football

ORONO On September 1, the University of Maine Black Bear football team will travel to Connecticut to take on the UConn Huskies.

By the time you read this, the Major League Baseball season will be three-quarters complete. There will be a scant 40ish games left as teams go into the home stretch, battling it out for postseason spots or playing out the string and dreaming of next year's glories.

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.