DON McDERMOTT MORE COLUMNS Advertisement

It's been a trifecta for important stories in Nye County sports over the past week. So, let's clear the disa and data off the sports desk and tell it like it is ...

Pahrump Valley's football team, 3-13-1 in its last 17 games, is facing even more problems in the future, if there isn't more emphasis placed on the fundamentals, like blocking and tackling, at the Pop Warner and Rosemary Clarke Middle School levels.

Producing skill-level people -- quarterbacks who can throw, receivers who can catch, and defensive secondary people who can cover receivers, in particular -- is essential.

And the most important aspect concerning the football program? Whoever coaches the team in 2008, if he isn't already, he has to be in Pahrump as soon as possible. There was no high-profile presence of a head coach each of the last two summers. The program cannot survive another summer without significant connection possible between athletes and coaches.

The athletics department is in good hands, with Bob Hopkins as the acting director and Sherry Allison in the office. Hopkins is one of Nevada's winningest girls' basketball coaches; how will his added duties affect that job will be seen shortly. The season starts at the end of November.

The Terrible's Town 250 will no longer be contested in Nye County, because the Herbst family made a solid business decision and chose to move the off-road race near its properties in Primm.

Best in the Desert will, however, continue to sanction the Vegas-to-Reno off-road race, with Johnnie outside Pahrump the likely starting point.

That's good news for those people who care about competing in, or watching trucks, cars, quads and motorcycles speeding Hell-bent for leather through the desert.

Finally, hats off to a gutsy group of girls who play golf for the Pahrump Valley High School team. Tuesday, coach Julie Floyd's team claimed its third consecutive state Class 3-A state championship.

The team had no star, but it did have six girls who never took their eyes off the prize: winning another title (the school's fifth in 10 years in that sport and 10th in four different sports since 2002). That list includes four for golf, three for fast-pitch softball, two for basketball and one in track.

I've been told by some sources that the primary reason why Virgin Valley and Moapa Valley voted against PVHS at the NIAA realignment meeting in September was because of the domination of Trojan girls teams.

I've got to be honest here. I would rather see the PVHS girls' teams play as successfully as they have been than to be one of the decision-makers at Virgin Valley and Moapa Valley. They did not know what havoc they were wielding at Class 3-A athletics in Nevada.

With Pahrump Valley gone in golf, for instance, what will motivate Southern 3-A League teams in 2008 without having the Lady Trojans to chase? In this corner, effort and excellence are always appreciated.