Picture day equates to all kinds of craziness with football because of its sheer size and number of teenagers involved, and Zane Zamenski is being pulled in a dozen different directions before Thursday’s practice at Corona del Sol.

Ahhhhhh, the holiday hangover. Arizona State went through it a little upon their three-day hiatus (even coach Herb Sendek said he didn’t watch film on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but we aren’t fully convinced).

A couple weeks ago I promised to divulge the Pac-10 preseason basketball ballot upon its return to the league office, so here it is:

Mum was the word when it came to transfer talk during the Arizona Interscholastic Association Executive Board meeting on Monday. Amidst a flurry of off-the-field activities and issues, the issue wasn’t really discussed, instead being workshopped and further explored through August, likely to be discussed in the August meeting and possibly have a resolute decision one way or another come late September.

I called 10 people around the Mercury Tuesday asking who the next coach was going to be. I got three answers: "I don't know," "You'll find out Wednesday," or voicemail. Whiff.

It's one of the biggest and best coaching jobs in Arizona's high school landscape. There's a good case to be made that it's become the best.

This is supposed to be the tense time of year in high school football. Two weeks left in the regular season, and, with a new scheduling and playoff structure, all the ecstasy and agony of trying to decipher who is going to make it. Who's going to move up or down? Who's going to fall on its face?

Ah, memories.

Life moves at 4G speed these days, which is bad news if you’re 61 years old, took your first weeklong vacation from work in more than 40 years and have a hip replacement and knee surgeries.

The “what” behind two of Arizona’s best high school softball programs is easy: State championships, deep playoff runs and keeping kids out of trouble and in the classroom.

Highland lost what would have been its best returning soccer player, Ari Sanchez, to the new Real Salt Lake Arizona youth academy this winter.

Until Jan. 3, Eddy Zubey wasn’t thinking about leaving St. Mary’s.

Two questions in, and the writing was on the wall that this conversation wasn’t going to reveal some watershed explanation.