\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Art Abreu was head coach in the early \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc90s when the Robertson High School football Cardinals traveled to Lovington to take on the Wildcats. Abreu\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s players lost 40-22. Although many New Mexico players may think of having gone against Brian Urlacher \u00e2\u20ac\u201d even to have been pureed by the future Pro Bowler \u00e2\u20ac\u201d he wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a factor as a skinny eighth-grader or freshman player for the Wildcats.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Urlacher, who had his eyes set on Texas Tech, didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get offered anything of substance in Lubbock, Abreu said, and didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t soar at the University of New Mexico until he started working the weights. A proven superstar, Urlacher \u00e2\u20ac\u201d many people believe \u00e2\u20ac\u201d may make the difference in the Super Bowl Sunday between Urlacher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts. Abreu, now head assistant coach and defensive line coach at Highlands, said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Everybody would like to be associated with Brian Urlacher. When Brian went to UNM and did everything \u00e2\u20ac\u201d he returned punts and kickoffs and would run fade routes \u00e2\u20ac\u201d some of my Robertson players would ask me if Brian was on the team when the Cardinals played against Lovington.” Obviously, most Robertson-Lovington tournament clashes have occurred in the post-Brian era.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Urlacher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s New Mexico connection endears many to the Bears. One who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s endeared is Joan Boliek of Las Dispensas, who points to the contributions the middle linebacker makes to youth, such as conducting annual summer camps.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 A fan of the Patriots, Joan is pulling for the Bears \u00e2\u20ac\u0153because of No. 54 from Lovington.” Even though she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hoping the Bears win it, she likes the Colts\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 quarterback Peyton Manning. The Bears will win by three, on a field goal, Joan predicts.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Carlos Lovato of Las Vegas and owner of an Albuquerque sand and gravel business, sees it differently. He gives the Colts a 10-point advantage, 34-24. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Colts are hot now, the special teams and defense are good, so is their quarterback, Peyton Manning,” Lovato said. As for the Urlacher factor: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not going to make a difference. Remember, the Bears won only because they played at home.”
\nJeff Romero, former Bernalillo County district attorney, has jumped on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Da Bears\u00e2\u20ac\u2122” bandwagon. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a Raider fan, which speaks volumes about his good taste. And why do Da Bears deserve such an honor, a three-point victory?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well,” says Romero, about the linebacker who likes to turn quarterbacks into ectoplasm, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Brian is 9 feet tall and 9 feet wide, and I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like to be on the receiving end of his tackles.”
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 District Judge Eugenio Mathis is a 49er fan who picks the Colts by a
\ntouchdown. Why? Bear quarterback Rex Grossman \u00e2\u20ac\u0153can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t handle pressure.” He adds that Urlacher and the Chicago defense will indeed be a factor but not enough to give the Bears the win. Prediction: Colts, 24-17.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Another predictor of a Colts victory is Margie Seay-Maez, in her 42nd year of teaching for West Las Vegas Schools. She predicts a 28-21 victory for the Colts but has loads of respect for Urlacher \u00e2\u20ac\u0153because he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s from New Mexico.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 We have a lot of people from New Mexico and even Las Vegas who have impressive jobs,” she said. But few New Mexico products can match the millions Urlacher earns. Seay-Maez, like Art Abreu, is a loyal Dallas Cowboy fan, even when a botched extra point eliminated the Cowboys from further contention.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Speedy Faith, Abreu\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Lovington coaching counterpart, said the Bears
\nlinebacker donates chunks of money to the Wildcats weight training room and each year buys new athletic shoes for every Lovington player, regardless of the sport they enter.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 James Lovato, who performs maintenance at the Abe Montoya Recreation Center, predicts a one-touchdown victory for Indianapolis, with the score in the 20s. Lovato said the experience of the Colts\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 signal-caller Peyton Manning will cancel out any of Urlacher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s assets.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Ray Sanchez, an elementary education major at Highlands, likes the Raiders, who surprisingly didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make it to the Super Bowl. He picks the Bears by eight points, 28-20. Brian factor: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yes, he has speed and knowledge of the game. The Bears will win as long as quarterback Rex Grossman gets help,” Sanchez said.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Lynette Vincent of Las Vegas, a New Orleans Saints fan, has a friend who went to school with Urlacher. Lynette thinks the Colts will win it, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not really sure. Maybe it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just that I want them to beat Chicago.”
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Jacob Archuleta of Mora, full-time Highlands student, said he expects the Bears to win by 10. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be high scoring, 27 points plus,” Archuleta said. And why will the Bears win? \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Because of Brian Urlacher.”
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Katie Linder, a ninth grader at RHS and a Patriots fan, expects the Bears to win. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think Brian Urlacher will be much of a factor,” she said.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oh yes he will,” says her younger brother Charlie, a sixth-grader at
\nMemorial Middle School. Charlie, who likes the Philadelphia Eagles, says the Colts will \u00e2\u20ac\u0153win it by five touchdowns.” And even though Urlacher may be an issue, Charlie surmises, that won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be enough to stop the Colts.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Abreu wants this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Super Bowl to last forever. Accordingly, he says the Bears will win 24-21 in triple overtime. Abreu said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Colts have a great offense, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m for the Bears because of their defense and because of Brian, the New Mexico connection.”
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 We go from the confidence of Charlie Linder, predicting a 35-point Colts victory, to the almost total lack of concern on the part of Richard
\nLindeborg of Las Vegas, a retired speech writer for the Department of
\nAgriculture in Washington. When asked his prognostication, Lindeborg responded with, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s playing?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Last week I saw a picture in the paper of someone in orange catching a ball. Was that a player on one of the teams?” Did you say orange? It must have been a Denver Bronco, whose team isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t making the trip to Miami Sunday.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 You can have all the Peyton Mannings and Brian Urlachers you want, says Lindeborg. His favorite team is the Green Bay Packers of old. But the Cleveland Browns had \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the greatest football player of all time: kicker Lou \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcThe Toe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Groza,” Lindeborg believes. You may be right, Richard, but wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Groza\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s career shortened after he severely injured his knee and developed a tarsal infection from kicking all those field goals and extra points? We heard he finally hung up his kicking tee after suffering from Toe-maine poisoning with complications from Knee-monia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Art Abreu was head coach in the early \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc90s when the Robertson High School football Cardinals traveled to Lovington to take on the Wildcats. Abreu\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s players lost 40-22. Although many New Mexico players may think of having gone against Brian Urlacher \u00e2\u20ac\u201d even to have been pureed by the future Pro Bowler \u00e2\u20ac\u201d he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}