DON McDERMOTT MORE COLUMNS Advertisement

More notes from here and there...

First, I will not be in Pahrump most of next week ... I am going to observe my _____ (fill in the blanks) birthday Saturday, then continue the observance most of next week in Reno; the Biggest Little City in the World is one of my favorite hangouts.

Second, did you notice the size and layout of the Pahrump Valley Times has changed this week? I like it; then again, in my 56 years in this profession, I have seen at least seven redesigns of newspapers I have worked for across this great country, and at least a dozen methods of production used. At my first paper, I used a 1926 Underwood the typewriter to crank out the news; now, this column is being produced on an IBM NetVista personal computer.

I have seen the hot-type days ... when linotype machines were used to produce "lines of type" ... then came the IBM selectric typewriter (remember the ball and the special pencil to 'erase' mistakes?) ... and then we switched to the Mykrotek system ... Ah, ain't modern inventions just snazzy!

Third, in case you were wondering, there were no candles on my birthday cake. We didn't want the fire marshals crashing the party.

Now, to the news...

Item: Pahrump Valley and FaithLutheran girls soccer teams were involved in a unique experiment Thursday. While both schools are in Class 4-A, they were given permission to play in the Southern Nevada Class 3-A League this fall, to facilitate scheduling for not only their teams, but the remaining 3-A schools (Boulder City, Virgin Valley, Moapa Valley and Ely White Pine) as well.

The experiment had the Trojans and Crusaders clash on the Faith Lutheran artificial turf in a play-in game for the Nevada state 4-A tournament. Either Pahrump Valley or Faith Lutheran will head to Reno to join three Northern teams in the semifinals, to be played Friday.

During the regular season, the Crusaders (16-1-1) defeated the Trojans (11-6) twice; which meant homestanding Faith Lutheran was awarded the home-field advantage. Whoever wins will be up against it in the state semifinals; there are some potent teams up north and they've been at this playing for state titles business for a long time.

Item: It's been a while since I've pushed this idea.

Artificial turf is needed at Pahrump Valley High School, especially if the $34 million construction project becomes a reality. The soccer field is destined to disappear because a new building reportedly will be constructed on that site.

Put an artificial turf field in at the football stadium and both that sport and soccer could be contested on it.

The word is that the current wrestling and weight-lifting rooms will be wrecker-balled to make room for a new athletics department facility. Why not make that new building big enough to handle both the weight room and the training facilities for the wrestlers, as well as incorporate offices for coaches, equipment, meeting rooms ... and another gym, to replace the one currently being used by PVHS basketball, volleyball and wrestling teams.

Check out what Kettering (Ohio) officials did -- build Trent Arena (www.trentarena.com/facilities/facilities.html). That's one idea of what to build on campus at PVHS.

Item: The realignment committee, formed to discuss how best to solve many problems facing the NIAA and its member schools, meets in a couple weeks at Legacy High School in Las Vegas.

One idea was -- Just place Pahrump Valley and Faith Lutheran back into the Southern Nevada Class 3-A League .... as a start to solving many of the problems. That may be against the long-term goals of Faith Lutheran (one of the more progressive academic institutions in Nevada), so tread carefully here.

As long as that group does SOMETHING positive, everything will shake out all right.

Item: What is going to happen to the PVHS football program? I dunno, but we'll be seeking answers to that qiuestion after I get back from Reno.