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The Super Bowl is so wack.
Why? A few reasons. For one, the off week in between the big game and championship weekend feels like an eternity. Then you have the media endlessly making stories out of non-stories in the two weeks leading up (although this deer antler extract thing is kind of interesting). The game itself is sort of a drag, lacking any kind of flow, especially after a 90 minute halftime (we’ll allow Bey, though). Worst of all, it signifies the end of another NFL season.
There’s no more football after Sunday! The seven month death march to Week 1 of the 2013 season begins Sunday night at about 10:30pm EST.
Yet and still, the Super Bowl is EVERYTHING!
It’s why we care. It’s why these articles are written. It’s why these coaches work upwards of 18 hours a day. It’s why these players sacrifice their bodies, and in some instances, their lives. It’s why millions watch every week and billions are spent every year. The most influential country in the world unites one day every year that isn’t related to religion or the birth or advancement of this nation.
So yeah, the Super Bowl is a big deal. Especially when the two competing franchises are a combined 6-0 on Super Sunday and the two head coaches grew up sharing the same breakfast table.
The San Fransisco 49ers and the Ravens from Baltimore will square off this weekend, with “Pastor” Ray Lewis stealing all the headlines, and the show on Saturday Night Live last week.
Sidebar: “Pastor Ray” even stole some shine from Kendrick Lamar.
Interestingly, both of these teams were excruciatingly close to making the big game a year ago, but both fell short in the conference championship game after a couple of footballs flukishly bounced the wrong way. But this year, you can’t say the word “redemption” without the adding the word “Harbaugh”.
Sidebar: That storyline is obviously being run into the ground. But the most underrated storyline of this game is that on Sunday, either Randy Moss or Ed Reed will finally be a Super Bowl champion. Long overdue for two of the best of their generation.
John and Jim have moved mountains to get the Ravens and Niners to this point. The quarterback change made by Jim midway through San Francisco’s season has been well documented. Some thought it was a stroke of genius right from the start; still others thought it would ruin the 49ers (moron). But the risk proved to be worth the reward as the 49er offense has reached new heights with budding star Colin Kaepernick under center. Young Kaep’s average QB rating for his first two playoff outings is a scintillating 109.2, which when added to his 202 rushing yards, two rushing TDs and zero turnovers, basically means the Niners offense has been unstoppable.
Colin Kaepernick is 7-2 in his role as starting quarterback; one of those losses came in overtime on the road against a divisional opponent, while the other came in a prime time game at Seattle.
Sidebar: You must understand: NOBODY wins in Seattle. Not the Packers, not the Patriots…the ’85 Bears would’ve gotten 21’d up in Seattle this year.
Older brother John put his neck on the line earlier this year by serving offensive coordinator Cam Cameron his walking papers in early December (aka just over six weeks ago). Since then, the Ravens are 4-2 (with one of those losses coming in a meaningless Week 17 tilt, in which the starters sat out the majority of the game) and the offense is averaging 28 points per game in the five contests they actually tried to win.
Obligatory Harbaugh brothers photo.
It’s clear that Baltimore’s offensive unit is peaking at the right time. In addition to the spectacular play of their rearranged offensive line (referenced in the conference championship article), the Ravens offense, under Caldwell, have undertaken a noticeable shift in philosophy. They have averaged 35.7 rushing attempts (for 155.3 yards per game) since Caldwell came on, compared to just 25.7 rushes per game under Cameron. The success of the ground game has kept defenses honest, thus giving Flacco plenty of time to survey the field before airing it out. Look for BMore to try to give Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce heavy work once again.
While the Ravens defense has turned back the clock this postseason, the vaunted 49ers defense have turned out two less-than-stellar performances, especially when defending the pass. Matt Ryan moved the ball with impunity in the first half of the NFC Championship game, as San Fran allowed 24 points in the first half. Though the Niners D did shut out the ATLiens in the second half, much of that can be attributed to self-inflicted errors by the Falcons. The 49ers also gave up 31 points to the Packers three weeks ago, including 21 in the first half.
If San Francisco’s defense, the supposed strength of this team, decides to get off to a slow start once again, this emotional, yet extremely savvy Ravens team will not allow that opportunity to slip away.
Sidebar: The Niners defense also took the second half off against the Patriots in December…not a good trend.
San Francisco is favored to win by 3.5 points (at the time this was written), which is most likely due to the Ravens late season stumble into the playoffs, losing four of their final five games. But make no mistake, in the postseason, these two teams have been as evenly matched as the two men that are in charge of directing them to a Super Bowl ring.
After wrestling with myself to determine an outcome to this game for the better part of a fortnight, I’ve concluded that this game is too close to call. So in times of uncertainty and doubt, where does one typically turn for guidance?
Divine inspiration???
Maybe.
If you’re Ray Lewis…absolutely!
The notion of the divine having an impact on sporting events is one that, in recent years, has never received more attention. The more I’ve given thought to it the last few years, though, the less I’ve granted it any credence. I’ve even debated this point with my own mother on more than one occasion (she might not be an avid sports fan, but she is a Christian woman), but I’ve just never bought into the logic behind it.
Sure, God has a hand in sports in the same sense that He has His hand in everything. But does He really have a vested interest in who won the Kings/Bucks game the other night or any other specific sporting event? If so, then shouldn’t teams practice & scout less and pray & tithe more? And what about the losing team? How come they never thank God after a loss? I’m sure there are devout Christians in the Colts, Broncos and Patriots locker rooms. So why exactly has God shown Lewis and the Ravens favor at the expense of these other men?
One could argue that He is using Ray Lewis to spread His message, much like He did with Tim Tebow last season. But if you notice, these days Tebow is struggling to find a job as a backup in the NFL, and could very well be selling insurance come next fall.
Where are all the on-field blessings that were sure to be coming Tebow’s way after living Christ-like and preaching the gospel at every opportunity? And to take it a step further, why is Tebow forced to flounder when a guy like Brett Favre had an embarrassment of riches bestowed upon him throughout his career? Countless records, millions of dollars and a Super Bowl ring (ironically won in the Superdome), all for a quarterback who at various points in his career battled alcoholism, drug abuse and an (alleged) propensity to send picture messages of his unit to young female sideline reporters. It just doesn’t add up.
Sidebar: I am in no way passing judgement on Brett Favre. None of us are perfect & I’m far from a saint; he was just a good example for the point I’m trying to illustrate.
But admittedly, there’s a flip side to all of this…
Maybe it doesn’t matter.
Who am I, or anyone else for that matter, to judge God’s plan? To keep it 100, who am I to even suggest what may or may not be in it? And I’m definitely not in any position to levy any type of critical analysis on God’s impact on Ray Lewis’ life. That’s obviously waaaaaay out of my level of comprehension. Perhaps this is a classic real life example of Jules’ dilemma in Pulp Fiction.
(Quick synopsis: Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta play two hitman, who when on a routine job one morning, were ambushed by a guy hiding out in the bathroom with a revolver. The guy opens fire on both men from pointblank range, but doesn’t hit either man once. Afterward, Jackson & Travolta have this discussion about what they just witnessed.)
Sidebar: Please excuse the language in this video and for my relating it to religious discussion.
Life imitating art? Could be. But we now know we’re dealing with two very obvious facts here:
1) Ray Lewis has felt the touch of God.
and…
2) Ray Lewis has the ear of every man in that Ravens locker room, as much as any leader has had the ears of any team, in any locker room.
After Lewis’ remarkable recovery from a near murder conviction to winning Super Bowl MVP back in 2001, and following his miraculous return from a torn triceps injury that was supposed to end his season, why wouldn’t Ray Lewis believe that God is entrenched in his corner?
And please don’t misunderstand my initial stance. There is certainly nothing wrong with holding your religious convictions close and sharing them with others when asked. And as my Super Bowl XLVII pick teetered back and forth, I started to wonder whether or not it even mattered that I believe the San Francisco 49ers are the better football team. Besides, the Ravens had already beaten two teams that were supposedly better than them.
Two weeks ago, I had suggested that the Ravens might be a team of destiny, and now, it had happened.
Ray Lewis had broke through all of my rationality and had buried my conclusions into the turf like they were attached to Darren Sproles.
The Baltimore Ravens were the pick to win the Super Bowl. And then I saw this…
Sidebar: Full disclosure— I read the title of SI’s article just after posting this photo into this column…then the depression kicked in.
And just like that, the pendulum that is my take on this year’s biggest game had swung again.
While his intentions are all good, personally I find that picture hard to root for. This imagery is a borderline Diddy/Steve Stoute situation. And what about the SI cover jinx? It’s the last cover before Sunday; are we supposed to accept Lewis’ proclamation but ignore the history of this curse?
Yep, it’s all coming back now.
Even though I fully expect a close game, one in which the Ravens will cover (10-0 picking against the spread in these playoffs, 7-3 overall), the 49ers will win Super Bowl XLVII.
But what about Ray Lewis and the seemingly unstoppable dogma that he’s laid out? Well, there is only one authoritative body that has the moral capacity and the societal understanding to make sense of this level of theology:
The Simpsons.
For the good of the court, I present to you episode 8F12, also known as “Lisa the Greek“. I’ve decided to adopt Lisa’s Super Bowl method for sorting out life’s tough decisions for this game. The 1992 episode saw her renounce her love for her father if the Buffalo Bills won. However, a Washington Redskins victory would mean she still had love for Homer (thank goodness for Mark Rypien).
So here it is: If Baltimore wins, God truly does play a role in the outcome of sporting events. If San Francisco wins, God has no interest in the outcome of said events and we’ll know once and for all that games are won and lost strictly on the field.
It’s no intention of mine to cast the 49ers as “evil” in this scenario, but doesn’t it feel kind of right? The Niners have the far more cantankerous of the Harbaugh bros. on their sideline, you’ve got the Chris Culliver thing, they’re the favorites to win the game (and the “good guys” are always the underdog, right?) and if there’s any truth to this…game over!
And then you have the Ravens. The “nobody believed in us” team that got healthy and hot at the same time, led by the linebacker with a heart of gold.
I guess this is why they call it “Super Sunday”.
What do you think? Does God care at all about the outcome of sporting events?