The Super Bowl is here. The moment we’ve been
waiting for. All season we’ve cheered and jeered. Thought about why our team
couldn’t win or if the reason we were winning was legitimate or not. Did we
just win that game? How do we win this game but lose this one? Now it’s
officially the end of the road. We have
come to the finale, some of us happy and most of us picking a team based on
some random rationalization of our football knowledge.
The Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers, or for some
of you, the Niners and the Ravens. Who will win? Who is better? These guys can
do this but those guys can do this. My favorite part of the Super Bowl might be
the two weeks leading up to the biggest spectacle in all of sports.
Of course watching the game is cool too, watching the
commercials is fun and gathering watch parties is always a blast. But the fun
facts that pop up on a daily basis before the game actually gets played are so
intriguing.
Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis announced his retirement just
before the playoffs began, sparking a momentous occasion worth discussion every
time he did anything. The fun fact, Lewis’ first sack was against the 49ers
head coach Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh would play against Lewis in practice everyday
just two years later.
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| (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) |
Speaking of Harbaugh, if you haven’t been tuning in, there
are two of them. Brothers, friends, comrades and opposing coaches. What a
storyline. It has dominated the two-week layoff pre-Super Bowl. They played
against each other on Thanksgiving in 2011 with Baltimore nabbing the victory.
John Harbaugh of the Ravens and Jim Harbaugh of San Francisco will provide the
most fascinating storyline.
These go on for days, 14 days to be exact. Following their
respective victories in the Conference Championships, these two teams instantly
became the topic of discussion and have frequently been so since.
The next quirk and very interesting factor is that of the
49ers and their starting quarterback. Colin Kaepernick, starting quarterback
for San Francisco for exactly nine starts in a season of 16 games. Two playoff
starts included, Kaepernick has shocked the world by replacing a starting
quarterback who took this team to the doorstep of last year’s Super Bowl and
actually doing better.
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| (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) |
Reminiscent of the year a certain Tom Brady replaced the New
England staple Drew Bledsoe at quarterback and turned out to be… The best
quarterback of our generation. Also, the last time the Super Bowl was in New
Orleans, a second year quarterback, Brady, took over at starter following an
injury won the Super Bowl. Get ready New Orleans.
All of the storylines are interesting and all of the talk
about them is fun. The debate over who will win the game is just as interesting
and a lot more intense. Baltimore has a stingy defense and when done right their
offense is rather efficient. (Another quirk: The Ravens fired their offensive
coordinator in week 14.) But Baltimore has 44 touchdowns in 16 games and they
came from a balanced attack, 17 rushing and 22 passing. For San Francisco, 44 touchdowns, 17 from
rushing and 23 from passing.
The comparisons continue through kickoff when the teams
actually play the game. Who will win? Baltimore, 27-20.
