High heat, drop kicks, random observations and points that amuse are all part of the wide, wide world of sports at the community and national levels.

It’s time to tweak a common metaphor among coaches and athletes: “This is a marathon, not a sprint.”

I recall at least one Major League Baseball manager comparing a season to a marathon years ago when I covered Major League Baseball – and still cared about it. And indeed, a pro baseball season at about any level seems like a marathon, given the volume of games. The season-as-marathon analogy also seems apt for the NBA and NHL, where the ever-lengthening playoffs make those sports increasingly exhausting for aging fans like me to follow (maybe they should say, “This is an ultramarathon, not a regular marathon”).

On the other hand, a football season is not like a marathon. It seems I’ve heard a pro coach or two compare an NFL season to the 26.2-mile distance race that traces its roots to ancient Greece. If memory serves, I heard the comparison…