Sports Reporter, The Monitor (McAllen, Texas)

Yeah, worked down there for 2 years as assistant SID at The University of Texas-Pan American and radio broadcaster for the minor league baseball team. It was a job (didn't pay all that well at the time), but the isolation and ethnicity (heavily Hispanic) really wore on me.

The paper was decent. University and preps were the main beats before the other minor league teams moved in. And, yes, it does get very hot in the summer months. Like over 100 degrees more often than not.

 

Yep, made that drive more often than I care to remember, coming back from Houston and/or San Antonio.

 

Yeah, the population is heavily Hispanic with very few African-Americans. They just don't generally have the speed or size to compete with the big city schools.

I remember saying to a colleague once, "these schools should put more emphasis on soccer, baseball and track, where they have the potential to be really good. Football is a losing game for them."

 

yeah, South Texas teams are completely hopeless when it comes to football. They have a bit better chance at basketball, but not much. Baseball, soccer and track and field. That's pretty much it.

 

um, so hispanics aren't your cup of tea?

 

Not really. The large number made me, as an Anglo, feel like a minority in comparison. Walk into a store or through the mall and everyone jabbering away in a different language. It was certainly different than anywhere else I had worked before.

And this was in the pre-internet era, which added to the feeling of isolation. Plus, it was flat out weird wearing shorts on Christmas Eve day one year with the temperature around 75F.

 

Unless you didn't do your homework before taking the job, then you should have known that the Valley is very isolated geographically and also 85-90 percent Hispanic.

I worked there in the late 1990s and had no problem with the area at all. Of course, I speak Spanish and had a Hispanic wife and a half-Hispanic child, so it was a little different for me.

Be that as it may, I have very little sympathy for the area "wearing on you." And as for feeling like a minority ... congratulations. You've now seen how the other half lives. Hopefully the experience made you look at minorities and their struggles in a little different light.

 

Sportsguydave. Thank you. I couldn't have said it better myself. As a Valley native I try to refrain from replying on posts like this, particuliarly on how it pertains to South Texas living. Yes, the Valley is isolated, but there are worst places to live. Of course, it's home so maybe I'm a little biased. I'm also Hispanic who isn't a fluent Spanish speaker. Believe it or not, most people speak English down there. And all this talk about Mexican drug lords is ridiculous. Unless you go into Mexico and/or are dealing drugs, you probably don't have much to worry about on that front. There, I feel better.

 

I'm a Hispanic as well, also not a fluent Spanish speaker, and everything groovy says is on point. The Mexican drug thing is completely overhyped and exaggerated. Unless you're directly involved, you won't be touched at all, not even close. McAllen is also a prospering city. I've worked in South Texas the last two years and if there's a "dream destination" city here, it's McAllen. Has a load of room for potential.

 

I never worried about drugs or violence, even on the times I ventured into Mexico.

I did some research on it, but in hindsight I reached too much because of a couple of minor aspects of the job. Oh well. Hindsight is 20/20 and I suspect we've all made moves we later questioned. Live and learn.

The culture was just different, that's all. Maybe some other people like it and that's fine. Just wasn't my personal bag of tea, and I realized that and left. No biggie.

 

well just as long as you were able to get away from those hispanics who really wore on you

 

It wasn't really just that. Combination of things. Just not my favorite place. Someone else may find it to be paradise.