DON McDERMOTT MORE COLUMNS Advertisement

What did you do this summer?

I don't know what y'all did, but I know what I did. Except for covering the Inferno golf tournament on the 4th of July and the Goins Memorial July 27-28, I did nada, zilch, zippo. And it was fun!

The busiest people this summer were race car drivers and motorsports fans. There has been a racing program at Death Valley Raceway at least twice a month and action at the Pahrump Valley Speedway every other Saturday night for several weeks now.

As recently as early spring, no one, except maybe Chad Broadhead, throught the Pahrump Valley Speedway would be back on the Southern Nevada racing circuit. But Broadhead, with a lot of community-wide support -- as well as his own initiative -- got the Basin Street facility ready for competition early this summer. On the track Web site, there are indications he plans to feature motorsports shows every other Saturday indefinitely.

Death Valley Raceway was supposed to close down in June, July and August because the weather ... it gets hot! (One day earlier this week, it was 120 degrees in Death Valley, just on the other side of the mountains that separate that treacherous geographical center from Amargosa Valley.

Instead, Jason Pike, et al, decided to keep racin'; in fact, the next DVR race is Saturday night.

The summer would have been even more interesting had jet-ski racing returned to the Terrible's Lakeside Casino's 6.5-acre pond, after a two-year absence. Those shows were colorful, fast, competitive and just plain fun to watch.

A new event is coming to McCullough Arena Sept. 5, when barrel racers and all-terrain vehicle riders compete against each other (not directly, but in a time trial mode). Barrel racing is one of the major events at a rodeo and ATV owners/riders are always looking for a safe way to be in action.

Speaking of rodeo, we've heard this will be the final year the Pahrump Fall Festival will include that event on its schedule. Say it ain't so, Joe! Rodeo has been an intregal part of Pahrump Valley life for more than 40 years. You might as well say there ain't a Santa Claus than to kick rodeo down the road.

It is always exciting to see how successful youth golf is in the valley. More than a hundred kids 7 to 18 play regularly, either at Mountain Falls or the Lakeview Executive course. What is disheartening is to see the collapse of the Willow Creek course; eight years ago, it was one of the best golf layouts in Southern Nevada. Now ... well, it's a joke, a bad joke at that.

Girls softball teams had a big season, with three local all-star teams qualifying for the prestigious California Games in July. What an experience that had to be!

Unfortunately, the American Legion baseball program regressed sharply this summer. Not enough Pahrump Valley High School boys played and too much dependence was made on boys who will not be playing PVHS baseball next spring. That is a situation which must change for the better in the coming years. Either do the program the right way, or find an excellent alternative, one that will inspire more Trojans -- and future Trojans -- to play.

All any baseball fan has to do is be aware of the success Bishop Gorman has had the last two years. The Gaels were 110-10 in 2008 in their high school-legion games and they finished 103-18 this year. Gorman is in the same high school division as Pahrump Valley. I don't believe anything else has to be said.

Anyway, we're back to do the prep sports beat, so stay tuned!