With summer comes the realization that every year, our favorite season grows tougher to notice.

Summer jobs and/or classes keep us so busy, we don’t realize this treasured stretch of time has begun until we wake up to 100-degree heat.

Yet as Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out for Summer” slowly becomes a misnomer, sports serve as an effective reminder of what season we are in and gives us something to keep it special.

Misty-eyed ruminations aside, it seems a fitting opportunity for a summer sports primer. Light up the comments section or my inbox with any other events that should make the cut.

COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

It’s a cool sight to see an NCAA championship decided in the summer. This time around, Kansas may find itself in the College World Series, which will take place at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb., June 13-24. Of course, to reach the CWS the Jayhawks will have to survive the May 29-June 1 Regionals and the following week’s Super Regionals.

But this team, worthy of Top 25 consideration, appears as primed as any recent squad for a run. Kansas seems to have cured one of the year’s biggest ills — playing on the road — by taking two of three games at No. 9 Oklahoma last weekend. Kansas has shown it can play with the contenders, with highlights including a sweep of then-No. 1 Texas in March. It’s certainly encouraging to see them gaining some traction on the road, which is imperative to their advance to Omaha.

NFL TRAINING CAMP

If that cracked jaw from your “touch” football game hasn’t healed, trek up to River Falls, Wisc., for the Kansas City Chiefs’ training camp, set to begin July 24. This is likely the last time the Chiefs hold camp at the spot that has hosted them for the last 18 preseasons.

And let’s be honest, NFL training camp is much better than April’s overblown draft. Unless watching analysts collect paychecks to knowingly make false predictions for eight hours is your thing, you will find higher entertainment in HBO’s latest installment of “Hard Knocks.” This year’s focus? The Cincinnati Bengals. I’m still coping with the 2007 departure of “The Sopranos,” so I’m relieved to see the channel take such an original approach to crime drama.

The summer will also give us ample time for mock fantasy football drafts, annual preview mags and release of the latest installments of the Madden, Aug. 14, and NCAA Football, July 14, video game franchises. For an impeccable look at the goings-on at training camps, the late George Plimpton’s “Paper Lion” is a must read.

KC MASTERPIECE

Be sure to get out to the Kansas Speedway and CommunityAmerica Ballpark for a day of racing or T-Bones minor league baseball. Tickets and lists of events can be had at www.tbonesbaseball.com and www.kansasspeedway.com.

FIGHT NIGHT

Save some extra cash for a trip to a sports bar or host a party of your own for the summer’s hottest fights. May 23 will bring UFC 98, when light heavyweight champ Rashad Evans (18-0-1) will defend his belt against Lyoto Machida (14-0). The winner likely to defend against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson later this year.

The Big One will be July 11’s UFC 100, headlined by the tilt for the undisputed heavyweight title between Brock Lesnar (3-1) and Frank Mir (12-3). Lesnar earned the strap with a knockout of Randy Couture last November. Mir is the only fighter to have stopped Lesnar. But, as evidenced by his defeat of Couture, Lesnar has improved much since his loss. Also on the card will be welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre (18-2) defending against Thiago Alves (22-4).

Floyd Mayweather Jr. ended his brief retirement on the eve of Manny Pacquiao’s decimating of Ricky Hatton last weekend. Mayweather, considered one of the all-time best, will return July 18 to fight Juan Manuel Marquez. Should the 32-year-old Mayweather Jr. emerge successful, expect the fight of the century between him and Pacquiao, something this sport desperately needs.

— — Edited by Justin Leverett