Lobos Coach King ‘wins’ Lobo chainsaw sculpture raffle

LONGVIEW, Texas (KLTV) - Lobos Head Football Coach John King had hopes of winning a Lobo chainsaw carving recently raffled off by the Longview Arboretum. Although he bought many tickets the prize went to someone else. But the winner decided it needed to be part of the team.

Coach King carried on football practice as usual, drilling his players at Lobo Field. Little did he know what was about to be wheeled into the stadium. Robin Maley’s Husband Michael had won the Longview Arboretum’s raffle.

“Did he buy a lot of tickets?” I asked Robin.

“Yes, he did. He bought a lot of tickets,” Maley said.

Her husband was working out of town and couldn’t be there.

“But he wanted to make sure that “Lobo” got back to what we consider his rightful owner, which is Coach King and his staff and the players here for years to come,” Maley said.

So, staff and board members of the Longview Arboretum decided to deliver the 600-pound sculpture right to the stadium, and to a surprised Coach King.

“We wanted to present it back to you, your staff, and your players to keep here at the athletic department,” Maley said.

“Yes, ma’am, it’s going to have a special place in the Lobo Den,” King said.

“That is wonderful,” Maley said.

And with that King unwrapped the Lobo sculpture called “Lobo” in honor of the Lobos. The players were blown away.

“It was a fundraiser for the Longview Arboretum. They sold raffle tickets, and they sold them here at the stadium and the Lobo wolves that are on it, it represents Longview High School. So, it needs to be at Longview High School,” King said.

“I wanted to win that thing. Somehow, I did,” King said.

He says it’s the first raffle he’s ever won, although he had a little help. Robin is on the board of directors at the arboretum and:

“Every person I sold a ticket to, I told them, I just hope if you win that you’ll consider donating it back to where I felt like it always needed to be,” Maley said.

“It happened. Somebody made it happen,” King said.

He says he’ll let players touch it for luck before a home game.

The sculpture was the work of Texan Cam Dockery who has done thousands of chainsaw carvings over the last two decades. “Lobo” will reside in the Lobo Den at Longview High School.

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