Superbowl XLVII

*This was the column I wrote for the Wave this week, but as often happens, it came out a bit too long for the printed page... or should I say a bit too interesting... so it was chopped in half.  Here is that column in it's entirety. 

It is upon us.  The stage is set.  Once the teams who will actually play in the game were determined, it’s all but countdown to kickoff.  The site of the game was chosen years ago.  Commercial airtime was spoken for the week after last year’s game was barely over. The halftime show performer was announced in the summer.  The lines have been posted.  There’s nothing left to do but put the teams on the field.

This year those two teams are the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49’ers.  That’s correct… not a New England Patriot, New York Giant, Pittsburgh Steeler or Green Bay Packer in sight.  This year’s NFL championship game will take place between two teams that have been there before, but have distinctively different histories behind them.  It’s probably why I’m looking forward to this one more than the last two… or three.

The National Football League and its sponsors love nothing more than the big market fan favorite teams to make it to the big dance.  Its guaranteed money.

The Ravens post a little bit of a threat to that notion, but in reality, they have been a very good team and a marketable one for several years now.  Thanks most in part to their all-world linebacker Ray Lewis, who, for better or worse, has been under the bright spotlight the NFL beacons out since he joined the league 15 years ago.  Lewis, aging and slower and less of a factor than ever this past season – or so we thought – already had a Superbowl contending team when he decided to announce that he was retiring at the end of the season.  No matter how or where it ended.  Baltimore hasn’t lost a game since.

The Ravens, dressed in their black and dark purple uniforms, have plenty of thugs on defense to keep their reputation in tact, but it’s their offense that has blossomed and taken them to sites unseen.  Quarterback Joe Flacco, who quietly has been in, and won at least one playoff game every season of his five year career, is poised to break out as a big time QB.  The league wants this.  They need that to happen to validate Jersey Joe even being in this game.   If he falls flat, so does Baltimore as a legitimate contender, not to mention Joe’s agent who is set to renegotiate for the 20 million the Maryland product will be asking for.

They have other studs on the offensive side of the ball worthy of this game.  Ray Rice, their powerful runner who has led the league for the past several seasons in all- purpose rushing yards is a likeable guy worthy of a ring.  Big game wide receiver Torrey Smith, who tragically lost his brother earlier in the season and played a game for the ages on national television the night after his brother’s death to endear himself to throngs of bleeding heart fans, is certainly a candidate for a nice bow to wrap around his season.  Dennis Pitta, a BYU product and starting tight end for the Ravens, is coming into his own and could be a major factor in a game decided by a possession extending catch.

On the other side is the storied San Francisco team.  A mere three years removed from being a laughing stock.  Coached by a Hall of Fame linebacker who was so gifted and intense as a player, that he had no idea how to coach a guy up.  They were a team built on 10 years of solid draft position due to crummy seasons yet had a head coach who only knew how to scream at them because they lacked his all-star ability.  Well, they had it… he just didn’t know how to get it out of them.  So, exit Mike Singletary and enter Jim Harbaugh.  Funny.  Both members of the Chicago Bears in the late 80’s/early 90’s.  One on his way to defensive immortality, the other barely good enough to hold his starting position.

Harbaugh instantly turned the ‘Niners around with his brash, college “we can do it” approach to beefing up his teams pyschy while sticking to his Midwestern “10 yards and a cloud of dust” style of x’s and o’s.  That got him to the championship game last year where his team’s glaring weakness was exposed by the New York Giants.

That weakness was San Frans inability to make the big play and allow defenses to key on their short passing game and their number one weapon, running back Frank Gore.  So Harbaugh jumped at the opportunity to replace quarterback Alex Smith of Utah, with second year man Colin Kaepernick when Smith missed a couple of games with a concussion.  Kaepernick, a promising yet unproven player, broke out in a huge way running and passing from the position in a way that many say they’ve never seen.  Now he’s on the verge of stardom wearing the same uniform as the greatest quarterback to ever Superbowl a Superbowl, Joe Montana.   It could be the 49’ers missing piece to the promised land.

Oh brother… what a juicy bunch of story lines for this Superbowl.  Wait?  Did I just say brother?  Oh yes!  Let’s not forget the biggest storyline of all… the Harbaugh brothers.  I guess I forgot to mention that Jim Harbaugh’s older brother John is the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens.  Okay… so maybe I didn’t forget, but I wanted to build up the drama because I believe it will be the deciding factor in the game.  The coaching.

John Harbaugh is a player’s coach who inspires his team without fanfare or hoopla.  He is a smart guy with a nose for all aspects of the game.  He is a former special teams coach for heavens sake!  If you can wrap your head around that, you can pretty much handle anything in the NFL I say.  John’s team beat Jim’s team on Thanksgiving last year 16-9.  No revenge for young Jim just yet.  This is big brother’s year.  His team has snared the proverbial lightning in a bottle and they are poised to put a cap on it.  The Ravens will win this Superbowl with a crafty scheme on defense, slowly frustrating young Kaepernick, letting him believe that he’s okay until shutting him down in the red zone forcing the 49’ers to turn to much maligned kicker David Ackers.  Ackers will not be the goat, but the field goals will not be enough to hold up when Flacco hits just enough big passes deep downfield to get the Ravens the touchdowns they need to win the game.

Baltimore Ravens 27   San Francisco 49’ers 23