July in Kentucky.

When haze lifts we notice fields of corn are high as an elephant’s eye.

Family reunions, picnics, community festivals, Little Baseball all-star games and always, the troops. Ahead of all else, soldiers in uniform and civilians who serve, should be close to mind every day and certainly first week of July. A freedom kind of month.

Heroes too. In sports, here’s one.

Mark Grether in Louisville’s Catholic Youth Football League. Man has has logged 27 years as a coach and touched the lives of thousands of children and as many parents.

Emphasizing personal responsibility, Grether’s reward? “It’s about giving three months of our fall to these kids to help make them better football players, better classmates and better sons at home to their mothers and fathers. And hopefully, down the road, they’ll be good fathers to their children,” he said in an interview for CatholicSportsNet.com.

In context, Grether gives the most precious gift he/we will ever have. Time.

July Hero: Mark Grether.

SUMMERTIME SLOWS …

With 60-plus days until college football comes again, the summertime slows have arrived in the Commonwealth. Upside, the Slows give rise to barbershop talking points. Here are a few.

TP. Southeastern Conference directors of athletics made the obvious choice for SEC athlete of the year, right? Heisman Trophy winner at Auburn Cam Newton. Wrong. Honoree is John-Patrick Smith, four-time All-American tennis player at Tennessee. Buzz across the south? Choosing Smith was evidence that ADs believe Newton is a cheat.

TP. Summertime basketball recruiting camps. Coaches can’t talk, but self-anointed recruiting service experts attend camps then, like circus barkers, roll out superlatives which accomplishes little beyond expanding the hat size of a kid’s head. Fans may learn who’s who (for now) and which are being recruited by Kentucky, Louisville, Western and the rest?

TP. College football news involving teams of interest in Kentucky did make it to newsstands. The Sporting News trotted out its rankings of 120 teams and it made for lively discussions up to the first tailgate party on September’s first Thursday night.

TSN ranks Louisville 44, Kentucky 52 and Western Kentucky 118. Murray State and Eastern Kentucky not mentioned.

Spin in the Commonwealth from TSN’s ratings?

• Western Kentucky and Murray State open against UK and UofL respectively Thursday night in Rodney Dangerfield games. All about respect.

• Game 2, Kentucky and Louisville have nine days to prepare for Central Michigan and Florida International then another week before the Governor’s Cup.

• Bulletin Board Factor. Charlie Strong’s team ranks above Kentucky, according to TSN despite the Wildcats having the last four meetings.

• Hot Button Factor. The Cardinals could be the favorite in the Governor’s Cup set for Lexington Sept. 17.

TP. The NCAA took another media thumping for challenging John Calipari’s 500th coaching win 42 short of the mark.

Kentucky’s coach handled it well, some in Big Blue Nation did not.

Consider: You work for company 19 years, come to office one morning and the foreman declares a celebration for your 20 years service, breaks out cake, candles and balloons. ASk yourself, would the CEO show up, shake your hand and give you a gold watch? Or, might he say, “Stop the party, folks! You’re a calendar year too soon. You’re on the clock. Let’s get back to work.”

TP. Ink was hardly dry on John Calipari’s contract extension at Kentucky, $36.5 million through 2019, when the New York Post reported, “Calipari told confidants he would go to the NBA only in a dual role as president/coach, it would be unlikely Knicks owner James Dolan would consider him for both positions. However, it is not inconceivable for Calipari to be considered as head coach once Mike D’Antoni’s contract is up after next season, especially with CAA’s Mark Warkentien helping call the shots and CAA’s Chris Paul on the Knicks’ 2012 point guard radar.

WORTH REPEATING

John Calipari did an interview with ESPN Radio New York’s Mike Lupica recently and said this, “(UK’s) licensing revenue doubled last year and half of that double goes back to the general fund on our campus, $4.5 million in licensing. The other thing is we had 14,000 applicants for 4,000 positions for the freshmen, which is the highest in the history of the school. What you hope is you’ve added value … for everybody, not just me.”

And so it goes.