This story is published in partnership with the Downtown Albuquerque News as a part of our commitment to bringing you the best in independent news coverage that matters to Albuquerque. Thank you to donors whose support allows us to license these stories. Donate to allow us to continue to bring stories like this.
Throughout last summer and fall, the line became a point of levity in a stump speech that was otherwise all business. Whether addressing a neighborhood group, civic organization, or proverbial man on the street, Joaquin Baca, the eventual winner of last November’s City Council election, would launch into a thorough review of the city’s biggest challenges, particularly crime and homelessness. But he would end with this: “I’m hopeful. I’m a Detroit Lions fan. Nobody is more hopeful than I am.”
The quip matches the record of the oft-beleaguered Lions, who have lost 55 percent of their games over the last 90 years and never appeared in a Super Bowl. It also matches Baca: Far from a casual fan, he is a co-founder of a Facebook group for local Lions enthusiasts, a platform he has been using for about a decade to organize watch parties, most recently at Voodoo Girl Pizza and Pints (Second and Summer).
Besides the convivial atmosphere, the venue had two main advantages: the right cable package and “it was the closest to Downtown – closest to my house,” Baca said.
But in recent weeks, that atmosphere has been downright electric: Following a regular season in which they won 70 percent of their games, the Lions defeated Los Angeles in the wild-card round, and last Sunday took down Tampa Bay in the divisional playoffs. About 70 people showed up at Voodoo Girl for that one, up from the usual 30 or so. This Sunday, when the Lions play San Francisco for a spot in the Super Bowl, things promise to be crazier still.
“Word has gotten out throughout the city,” Baca said.
Niners fans, meanwhile, are slated to converge at Salt Yard West, a bar at Journal Center. Watch parties there tend to attract 150-175 people, said Michelle McClenehan-Belton (better known to local fans as “Mama”), the president of a local fan group called the Original New Mexico Niner Empire, but she’s expecting closer to 200 this Sunday.
The festivities, which McClenehan-Belton stressed are strictly family-friendly, will include a raffle and special chants for first downs and touchdowns.
The 49ers are favored to win Sunday’s game. Another game featuring the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens will determine the winner’s Super Bowl opponent.