For the sake of all humanity, bring on the football season

“Football, please soon come.”

For several summers, the phrase became commonplace among my friends and I on Twitter, typically used in a sarcastic nature or in response to something totally outlandish.

But this hasn’t been an ordinary summer, or a typical year for that matter.

Death, destruction and turmoil have spread around the globe like a plague, seemingly intensifying with each tragic occurrence. Staying positive and worry-free has proven rather tough, anxious about what the next day will bring.

Fortunately, there is a glimmer of hope on the way.

Over the course of the next two weeks, players from all three levels of football – NFL, college and high school – will report for summer drills, thus starting preparations for the upcoming season.

Almost as soon as the first shred of confetti floated into the air at Super Bowl 50, the countdown to the following gridiron campaign began. Finally, months of empty trash talk finally gain some traction, as a new season and team rosters begin to come into focus.

On a more local basis, a few questions come to mind.

▪ What competitive shift – if any – can we expect as a result of the S.C. High School League’s decision to move to a five-class system?

▪ With expectations tempered, can South Carolina bounce back from a less-than-satisfactory 2015 season in coach Will Muschamp’s first year on the job?

▪ Following a 2015 campaign in which it came within a breath of winning a national title, are Deshaun Watson and Clemson primed to take the next step? And will the Tigers’ trip to Florida State this fall prove to be the team’s biggest hurdle in its pursuit of a second consecutive berth in the College Football Playoff?

▪ Will the Carolina Panthers become the first team since the Buffalo Bills of the early ’90s to not feel the effects of a “Super Bowl hangover” and make it back to the big game? Also, how will the Panthers’ defense overcome the loss of cornerback Josh Norman, one of the NFL’s top players at the position?

It sure will be nice to see the weekend return to normal, the three-day gamut – Friday nights under the lights, Saturdays on campus and NFL Sundays – offering a free release from all that ails us.

Every season begins with renewed optimism, and a fresh brand of unpredictability. I’m not alone in thinking that such will be a welcome sight.

Of note …

The Grand Strand has served as a perfect landing spot for its share of tournaments of late. Last week it was the state Junior American Legion Baseball at Socastee High School; this weekend will offer up the Dixie Youth League Softball World Series in North Myrtle Beach. A number of the Southeast’s best softball clubs will take aim at the prestigious title, with tournament play beginning July 31. … The Myrtle Beach Pelicans will host the Carolina Mudcats for a three-game series to begin the week, before taking to road for a four-game set with the Salem Red Sox.

This story was originally published July 25, 2016 at 5:00 AM with the headline "For the sake of all humanity, bring on the football season."