Taking a week of vacation is like jumping off a building. It’s not the fall that gets you, it’s the sudden stop at the end. Trying to reboot a brain that’s been idling for most of the past three weeks is difficult, to say the least.

It’s been hard to even form coherent thoughts. So instead I’ll give you some random ones as we begin our final approach to football season.

• High school football practice begins Monday, when Mississippi Association of Independent Schools teams hit the field. Since it’s still the middle of July, and summer won’t actually end until teams have played four or five games, why is it still called “fall practice?”

That’s always been a pet peeve of mine. It’s “preseason practice” or even “training camp.” It’s not fall when the calendar still says July and it’s 97 degrees outside.

• Football isn’t the only high school sport starting up next week. St. Aloysius’ girls’ soccer team will play its season opener next Friday at Jackson Academy.

The other soccer teams play in late fall and winter, when unprepared fans can suffer frostbite. The MAIS plays in the summer, when they might get heat stroke.

Why can’t you find a happy medium, soccer?

• The Warren County Golf Championship is scheduled for July 29 and 30 at Clear Creek Golf Course. The entry fee is $20, and you can register at the clubhouse or by calling 601-638-9395.

Earlier this year, I was driving a golf cart around Clear Creek and got a little too nonchalant. I hit the gas and it took off on me as I had one leg sticking out the side. I made two complete circles at top speed, somehow did not tip the cart over, and then promptly sent a thank you upstairs as soon as I wrangled control back.

Do not mess with the power of a golf cart, people. Those things are deadly.

• Next week will mark the start of my 19th year as a sports writer for The Vicksburg Post. I’d try to calculate just how many stories I’ve written in that time, but I didn’t get into this business to do math.

I would like to say thanks to the folks who have read my articles over the years, allowed me to write about them, given me tips and information, sent in pictures, and helped in any number of other ways. The Vicksburg Post is a community newspaper, and I know I couldn’t do my job well without the help of you in the community.

Whaddya say we try to keep this thing going a while longer?

•

Ernest Bowker is a sports writer for The Vicksburg Post. He can be reached at ernest.bowker@vicksburgpost.com