The Gilbert Mesquite boys soccer team may not have the happiest of memories from this holiday season.

Had Tom Lehman not lost a playoff to Dean Wilson at last week’s International, we might be looking at the first U.S. Ryder Cup team since 1963 to boast a playing captain.

His adventurous nature has led him to run with the bulls in Spain as well as explore Antarctica. He's also determined enough to have climbed to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest peak in Africa. Three years removed from coaching what he thought would be his final game at Cactus, Jack Altersitz, couldn't resist the challenge to lead the 4A West Valley Region program once again. "I never thought I'd be back doing this," said the man who gave birth to the Cobras soccer program. "The three years I've been retired have been unbelievable. Coaching is such a commitment, but when I got word that Garrison (Harmann) was giving up teaching and coaching, I called to get the details of what they were going to do." After a brief discussion with athletic director Brian Duguid, it became clear that the Cobras wouldn't mind having their old coach back. Altersitz spent the last three years travelling. He was also a familiar face at West Valley high school soccer games. He bounced between Cactus, watching his former assistant Harmann lead the Cobras, or games coached by his former players; Steve Ybarra at Centennial or Tim Beck at Ironwood. "Being a small part of it was enough, but I'm enjoying being back," he said. That was his evaluation as of Monday, one that had been revised. "After the first two days I was thinking to myself, ?what did you do you fool?' I was coaching the way I coached before," said the coach of six champsionship teams. "That had worked because the players knew me. They knew the expectations. I'm the new guy in town to these guys. They don't know what to expect from me. It used to be every year, the older guys taught the newer guys what the expectations were. Now, I've got to reestablish what our expectations are. Since the first two days, I've become more relaxed." As he prepared for his first game in his second stint as Cobras coach Altersitz, who is 322-81 in 23 years of coaching, said the talent is in place for the Cobras to compete. "Garrison left the cupboards full," the coach said. "They went 17-6-1, which is a very good record. I've seen a lot of these guys play the last couple of years, so it's more them getting used to me than me, having to get used to them." Two players Altersitz said his team will be able to depend on night in and night out are seniors Tim Mead and Nick Gaber. Altersitz has converted both players into midfielders. Defensively, junior John Pearman will be the team's sweeper. He'll be joined in the back by a group that includes seniors John Lamoreaux, Devon Beck and Chris Trujillo. Altersitz said the four Cs to Cactus's success during his first go-around were: commitment, communication, composure and confidence. This year's team, he said, has some of those things in place. "Communication is the one I really am stressing," he said. "There is talent, but they lack cohesiveness because they all come from different clubs and playing different styles. Because of that, you have to talk out there if you're going to play well together." While club commitments have kept Altersitz from getting to spend much time with his entire squad, he said making progress on a daily basis will get the Cobras where they want to go. "They want to win which is important," he said. "A lot of people hate to lose. But the question is, are you willing to do the work ahead of time to put yourself in position where you're working towards being a winner. It's easy when things are going well. The question is do you have the fortitude to dig deep when you face adversity." If they need a bit of advice on how to endure such situations, they can assuredly turn to their coach who had the moxie to elude being gourged by bulls. Considering he's reached the heights of 15,100 feet and that he's won six state championships, Altersitz has first-hand knowledge that the sky is the limit.

A Lisfranc sprain in his left foot will keep Ryan Torain from taking the field for Arizona State, but the senior running back plans to keep performing his responsibilities as a team captain to the fullest.

Batman began -- again -- last year. Both the X-Men and Superman return to the big screen this summer. And the third installment of Spider-Man's saga is currently in production.

Shane Doan slumps in his stall, his warm, coffee-brown eyes clouding the workings of his mind.

TUCSON - In the Chicago White Sox’s first full-team workout since winning the World Series, Paul Konerko found himself in the center of a dozen cameras. Every swing, every ground ball, every conversation was a photo op.

He's played the first line and the fourth. Known the highs of scoring a game-winning, overtime playoff goal, and the lows of being benched and shipped to the minors. He's played right wing, left wing, and even center when injuries demanded it last season. And he's done it all with the same Coyotes organization — one that now calls him captain.

The Coyotes will have four assistant captains this season, two at home and two on the road, coach Wayne Gretzky said Thursday. Mike Ricci and Derek Morris will wear the "A" on their jerseys for home games, and Brett Hull and Sean O’Donnell will do likewise on the road.

Scott Bordow: Amaré Stoudemire has been named a Suns captain. It's time he started acting like one.

Two Scottsdale Fire Department captains have been recognized for saving a man’s life in July during the new department’s first-ever structural fire.

Two Scottsdale Fire Department captains have been recognized for saving a man’s life in July during the new department’s first-ever structural fire.

When Arizona State’s captains take the field for the coin flip before Saturday’s home game against Oregon, senior receiver Moey Mutz will be among them as the coaching staff’s pick as single-game captain.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A U.S. underwater archaeology team announced Thursday it has likely discovered the shattered remnants of a ship once captained by the notorious buccaneer William Kidd off a tiny Dominican Republic island.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Teppo Numminen filed a grievance against the Buffalo Sabres for suspending him without pay after the veteran defenseman failed a preseason physical because he required open-heart surgery.

Apparently, good guys do finish first — at least some of the time.

It wasn’t easy for the Arizona Cardinals to decide who would be their captains this season.

NAIROBI, Kenya - Navy snipers on the fantail of a destroyer cut down three Somali pirates in a lifeboat and rescued an American sea captain in a surprise nighttime assault in choppy seas Easter Sunday, ending a five-day standoff between a team of rogue gunmen and the world's most powerful military.

The Mountain View swim teams looked to their leaders as both team senior captains, Courtney Haney and George Bock, led their squads with pentathlon victories — good for 80 points each — on what was a banner day for the Toros at the Mesa City Swimming and Diving Meet on Wednesday afternoon at the Shepherd Aquatic Complex.

Expressing his frustration with an offense that is having trouble scoring, Cardinals coach Dennis Green made it clear Monday his team should have more than eight offensive touchdowns this season.

The scoreboard on Friday night showed a decisive 72-44 win for the Pinnacle boys basketball team over Sandra Day O’Connor, but really, it was Brandon Wechsler 1, Duchenne muscular dystrophy 0.