• UTAH SUMMER GAMES: Consider these the Olympics for ordinary — and, yes, some extraordinary — athletes from around the area. The 23rd edition of Utah's summer sports extravaganza goes from June 4-22, mostly in and around Cedar City. There is no short supply of sports to pick from, either. There are about 50 events — from bass fishing, pickleball, sculling to horseshoes — and oodles of age categories and skill levels to accommodate all wannabes and has-beens.

• FOOTBALL: Believe it or not, you really don't have that much time to burn before the 2008 football season kicks off. If you can't wait for the end of summer, the Utah Blaze can tide you over a bit. They have one home game left on their schedule against the Los Angeles Avengers on June 9. That game is also on ESPN2.

As for the two major Division I pigskin programs, the Cougars and Utes both return to the gridiron for games on Aug. 30. Both are playing traditional powers, too. Utah gets to take a trip to the Big House in Michigan that day, while BYU hosts a Football Championship Subdivision mammoth in Northern Iowa. (Please, Cougar fans, try to contain your hysteria for that match-up.)

There are some dates to keep in mind leading up to the season kickoffs. BYU fall camp begins on Aug. 1, while the Utes report back on Aug. 3. U. practice begins Aug. 4. This means by Aug. 5 the media should be reporting about how far ahead the teams' defenses are of their offense, how much potential they have and how excited players are to hit somebody other than their teammates. Just a hunch.

A date some Utah football players might want to forget: Aug. 9, the beginning of two-a-days.

• FISHING: You can teach a man to fish and he won't even have to pay for it this Saturday. That's "Free Fishing Day" across the state. Extra fish will even be stocked as officials hope to, um, hook anglers onto the sport.

And if that's not enough for you to do, there's always boating, jet- and waterskiing, hiking, camping, kayaking, backpacking or sight-seeing at Utah's state parks or five national parks, not to leave out the great sports of s'moreing and barbecuing.

Good luck trying to get it all in by next fall. Hopefully by then, who's-best debates will include guys like Brian Johnson and Max Hall instead of Gilligan's favorite redhead and brunette.

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E-MAIL: jody@desnews.com