Seriously.

It went here:

Ahh, Comic-Con. You invade my neighborhood with your costumed nerds and overweight spandex Spidermen people. And I love it. Cause you’re silly. And I’m silly. Here’s an example:

Thirsty. Silly.

Del Mar! … I reported live for 7 hours at Opening Day of the Del Mar races. It was my first time to Opening Day. I was amazed by it. The pageantry, the hats, the beautiful horses, the people who arrived looking so fresh and left looking so … worn. 😉 I didn’t bet — saving that for a time when I’m off the clock — but I had a lot of fun doing reports from the barn, anchoring the show and meeting all the people who work behind-the-scenes, like the guy who plays the bugle and the guy who opens the gates and the guy who is a therapist for the horses. Yeah, you read that right.

Continued my “Overtime with Annie” series with Kendall Reyes (second-round pick, defensive end) and Edwin Baker (seventh-round, running back). We went to Sea World to see a little of San Diego before training camp started, and to talk about life as a rookie. I kid you not, they are both two of the nicest players I’ve met. Respectful, humble, appreciative … and FUNNY. Hilariously funny. Don’t believe me? Watch this. … Props to them both for being on time to the shoot and for genuinely having a great time. I’m watching them battle it out in training camp right now and remembering how just yesterday, we were eating funnel cake. Ahhh, how time flies.

Words can’t do this one justice, so here you go. Just watch that.

Padres! Here I am with ball girl Nina, who is a STUD. More on her (and how she became a ball girl) later. As for the Padres … they found some new life after the All-Star break, and I like it. They might not be winning every game, but they’re winning more. They might not have EVERYTHING coming together, but they are starting to weave more consistency into their playing. I think you have to be thankful for the little things, the small triumphs. They could have thrown in the towel a long time ago but they’re still fighting. That’s respectable.

This is the first installment of my “Adventures With Annie” series. I took trapeze lessons. Here’s the thing: I didn’t think I’d be scared to do this. I don’t know why. It just didn’t seem scary to me when I thought about it. I like risks and I like adrenalin rushes and I like being forced out of my comfort zone. So I was amped to take on the trapeze. BUT … When I climbed that sucker, and I stood at the top and had to jump, I was scared out of my mind. The nerves settled, but never really went away. It was a huge thing for me — one of those cool empowering things where you feel like you’re ready to kick-a** afterwards, you know? But I can tell you right now, I about peed my pants before I jumped off that platform. I mean, I didn’t. But I about did.

A photo shoot for a new Sports show on UT-TV with Kevin Acee, sports columnist.

And, of course … FOOTBALL!!!! Listen, I can’t lie. I love football and I love this time of year and I love the sweating and the grunting and the hitting. I love the grass all over me when I come home and the crazy tan lines from standing on a football field all day. I love it. I love this time of year, when anything is possible. I love the predictions and the assumptions and the optimistic fans and the bitter fans and the players who are FIGHTING like crazy to make the roster. I love getting to know the players and the coaches and the fans and the equipment people and I love the quiet times at Chargers Park, when the Super Bowl … could … belong … to … them. Or any of the other 31 teams. But you feel me.

So that’s where July went. It’s an extra long blog post since I failed miserably to blog this past month. I figured a long one would be like several short ones, right? … No? That’s not how it works? Okay. I’ll do better in August, peeps.

Really!