A season oozing storylines

27 July 2010 No Comments Mark Heller

At Hamilton’s practice the other day, I chatted with a fellow media brethren, followed by a Huskies school administrator. Both have been around here a long time and knows the East Valley high school football scene pretty well.

The conversations were independent of one another, but every 15 seconds a different topic, question or subject was broached.

Except for Bernie Busken and Basha. That conversation lasted several minutes.

I was probably the harshest on Basha for hiring Busken (moreso than Busken himself who had every right to go after jobs here), but either way, Busken is the No. 1 storyline heading into practice and the 2010 season.

Every year has storylines, questions and curiosities that surface in August and are often (not always) answered by mid-December, but this year seems to possess the most interesting sideshows of the past few:

•Busken’s return to the East Valley.

•Will the Huskies three-peat?

•With the best quarterback in the state and one play away from doing it last season, will Chandler finally beat Hamilton in Wolves’ coach Jim Ewan’s 40th and final year coaching?

•What will happen in the Jordan Morgan hardship appeal as he attempts to move from Valley Christian to Chandler, possibly the best player to go through this process in years?

•New coaches who are trying to make changes after significant voids were left at Red Mountain, Queen Creek and Corona del Sol.

•Speaking of Corona del Sol, will new coach Zane Zamenski’s tenure actually make it to the start of practice? Why are players and staff still waiting for a resolution?

•Can Chaparral repeat with Davonte Neal now in the mix?

•Can Valley Christian repeat with a new coach (Kevin Allen) and without its best player?

•Can anyone be this year’s Mesa or Mountain Pointe?

Answers to those and many more unlisted questions await, but the wonderment surrounding this season has reached higher than any point since at least 2006.