This is a sad story about the deterioration of small town life in West Texas. Yeah, the piece is technically about football, but it’s as much about these communities as it is about sports. I’ve been a lot of places, and there is definitely nowhere quite like the isolated little towns along the Pecos River. As much as we liked to whine then, I think our years as Golden Cranes were pretty good for most of us.

Along with some of you, I grew up in this area in what now seem like the last days before the slow death of life as we knew it. I know the beginning of the end technically came in the 80’s, but there was still some sense of vitality and normalcy when I headed for College Station with Crane in the rear view mirror ten years ago. I guess there wasn’t enough of that to keep any of us there, and I think we could more or less see this coming. But it’s still sad to read about it. The article doesn’t mention Crane, but it mentions every small town within a sixty mile radius — McCamey, Rankin, Monahans, Imperial, Grandfalls, and a few more.