Publisher's Point Of View
Robert Allan Hooftallen

I had an odd feeling as I added my flavor to what is the biggest story in Cameron County right now.

The train crash and resulting chemical spill is huge, for sure.

But, the 15 and 16-year-old all-stars bid for the state championship has been bigger.

And I suspect for a few more days, it'll stay that way.

Our coverage in this edition is very good, thanks to two very important people to the Endeavor, Heather and Mike Bauer.

Like many of you, they lived and breathed that tournament. And they saw clearly how important its coverage was.

As our team progressed, I kept it in their minds that there would be two stories that would develop: the true sports story- pitching, hitting and fielding, winning and losing; and the human story about how this group of young men brought a community of people, diverse in many different ways from age to lifestyles, together.

I was amazed at the Jimmy Buffett-like tailgating I saw and the way the players were looked up to as heroes by the younger, aspiring athletes or athletes-to-be, or just regular old kids who looked up to them.

These times are not easy for young kids. They have access to more negative stimuli before they are 10 than most of us did by the time we were 20. That is the reality of our age of instant communication.

Baseball was more than a once-in-a-lifetime attraction here over the weekend, it was a reminder that it is an even better distraction from the sedentary past times that are changing the way young people develop.

The community is a better place today because of that team, its managers and coaches, parents and families.

It was a deserved toast, too, to the people who made the Sr. Little League Tournament a reality here and who have worked hard to keep it here.

Hats of to them, too.

If anyone needed a reminder that this is a special town in a special county, full of special people, these kids took care of that.

I can only imagine what the experience will do for them as they move ahead in their lives.

They lost. Yea, right. They finished second in the state, that is a victory many, many other all-stars their age would gladly have taken.

They are winners. And more than that, they are art imitating life. The good news story this community needed and the one the rest of the world could use.

I am speaking for everyone when I say this.

Thank you very much, young men. You did your community proud. And you made history.

Winning can do that.

Playing like winners always does that.

You did both.