Pretty cool stuff …

To say it’s been a tough summer is an understatement, what with all the gunplay, death and disaster around the state, country and world.

But as we ease into autumn, it’s reassuring to know that there has been some pretty cool stuff, too.

Like, for instance, tennis superstar Serena Williams smashing through a career that has propelled this “kid from Compton” to 23 Grand Slam titles and a slot in the record books that will likely never be matched.

But now, just three weeks shy of her 41st birthday, she has announced that the 142nd U.S. Open will be her last and, of course, she’s going out in style.

Serena served her way through the first two rounds by decisive victories over opponents that included the world’s second-ranked player.

And she’s not calling it ‘retirement’ (she doesn’t like that word) but just another phase in her life, which includes wanting to spend more time with her family.

“I don’t have anything to prove,” she said after her first victory this week at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York. “I just want to have fun, enjoy the game and show how much I appreciate my fans.”

Indeed.

Another star on a different kind of court also accomplished a lifetime goal this week when NBA standout (and MVP and four-time national champ) Stephen Curry, a Charlotte native, was awarded his Bachelor of Arts degree at tiny Davidson College and was immediately installed in the Hall of Fame at the basketball powerhouse school and had his number (30) permanently retired.

“I made a promise to my wife and mother that I would get my degree, and though it’s taken 13 years, I’m proud that I got it done,” Curry, 34, said after a three-day celebration at the school this week.

Looking on with pride were his wife, Ayesha, their three kids and his parents, Dell (one of the original Charlotte NBA Hornets) and Sonya and his long-time coach Bob McKillop, who Stephen said instilled in him the “determination to always do your best and be persistent to the very end.”

It was also a significant week for a top performer in another sport as PGA golfer Rory McIlroy picked up the FedEx Cup and tour championship trophies after the final round of the playoffs at Atlanta’s storied East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

McIlroy, 33, who won his first PGA tournament at Charlotte’s Quail Hollow Country Club in 2010, capped off a year where he’d been mostly a runner-up, save for his win at the RBC Canadian Open, but the FedEx prize was his third (he was the first to do so) and the $18 million bonus was icing on the cake.

He’s also risen as a champion, defender and leader of the PGA Tour amid the controversial abandonments in the league as some of the game’s big names have opted to join the fledgling LIV Tour sponsored by Saudi Arabia.

So all of the news from the long, hot summer of 2022 hasn’t been bad.

And maybe, just maybe, some of us can continue the trek toward ’23 with a tad more optimism.