Idle chatter while I prepare for a week-long vacation ?It doesn’t seem possible that fall sports start Monday. I don’t know whether it’s because winter sports didn’t end until June – albeit with a Stanley Cup – or because we were cheated out of one whole month of summer, but it feels like July 4 was just yesterday.But as long as we’re in that mode, here goes ?The Lynn City Soccer Tournament greets us right out of the chute after Labor Day. And it’ll be very strange, and very sad, to note the fact that Art McManus won’t be there to cover it. Arthur, our soccer writer for several years, died in February.I guess this means we’re all going to have to bone up on our soccer lingo. I know I’ll have to.uWith all the Northeastern Conference football teams tossed all over the place as the result of the NEC/Cape Ann League merger, it’s difficult to know, right away, who’ll end up doing what. But wherever they end up, the Swampscott Big Blue will be one of the teams to watch.The Blue have experience galore at quarterback and receiver, and nobody does the spread offense better than coach Steve Dembowski. I have a feeling playing the Big Blue is going to be one heck of a chore this fall.uWhile watching the New York Jets-Pittsburgh Steelers AFC title game last January, it occurred to me that the one thing the Patriots needed was meanness on defense. The Patriots played defense well enough in 2010 to go 14-2, but they weren’t mean. And the Jets proved that by marching them up and down the field at Gillette Stadium in the playoffs.That could very well change this fall, however. It looks, from all appearances, as if Bill Belichick has imported the meanest hombres in the valley to take care of that problem.They were sure pushing people all over the place Thursday night against Tampa Bay.uWhen Boston College decided to cross over into the Atlantic Coast Conference, one of its stated reasons for making the decision was that it felt – in football, at least – that it had to hitch its wagon to Miami’s star.One wonders how the folks at The Heights are viewing that now, with the very real possibility that Miami’s program could be shut down by the NCAA for what would appear to be egregious rules violations.The Big East is doing just fine, thank you, without Miami, Virginia Tech and BC in football. And we know how it’s doing in basketball too – which is probably better than the ACC.The best you can say about this decision, in 2011, is that you can file it under “it seemed like a good idea at the time.”uWe can’t discuss fall sports without bringing up the Red Sox, since the World Series practically extends into winter as it is.What about the Red Sox? Here’s what. They scare me. Unless things change in the next couple of weeks, this is shaping up to be a typical Red Sox season. They’re world beaters until August, then they start scuffling.And then they lose all their momentum.You’d much rather see them go into the playoffs on a roll than limping along, but right now they’re banged up, and one-third of their lineup is occupied by backups ? just when the Yankees are getting healthy.Rinse and repeat.uReading the news that Chris Drury has retired brings me back to that Little League World Series in 1989, when he was a pudgy little pitcher on the championship team. Drury ended up being one of the best Americans ever to play in the National Hockey League, and was also an awesome lockerroom presence.He’ll be missed.uEnjoy my vacation.Steve Krause is the sports editor of The Item