My puppy has thick black hair and its ALWAYS burning up. It will play for like 2 seconds then have to run over to the vent where cool air blows.. any ideas?

Make sure he's getting enough water, a puppy should be able to play for a while without overheating. If he's dehydrated it could be causing him to exhaust himself faster.

A good brushing would remove any loose excess hair. I use a wire slicker brush on my Labs.

http://www.photolocker.net/images/Labman/knitanewaster.jpg

Some people have the dog clipped for the summer.

Outside, I often wet them down. Even then, the heat was too much for my 9 month old yellow Lab yesterday. It was 97 degrees and almost no breeze. I finally had to tie her in the shade while I stayed out in the sun selling pop for my service club.

I agree with the experts =)
I have two huskies and huskies have thick coats all year around.
I suggest possibly buying a small-medium sized pool, the blue plastic children's pools.
Fill it half up with water and let your dog get in it and play in it when he feels hot. This will cool him off a great deal.
Please supervise him as he's in or near the pool, make sure he isn't chewing on it or anything, as plastic can harm him severely if he swallows it. It can also cut his gums and sometimes they can get their teeth snagged on it and hurt themselves.
As said above, make sure he has plenty of water to drink so he doesn't dehydrate =)