Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Ray, Colin and a Couple of Harbaughs

The Super Bowl matchup is set: the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers will square off in SB XLVII. Now we know there are two weeks (well, a little less than that now) in which to absorb as much as humanly possible about the teams and their players.

The main focus for each team?

Ray Lewis For the Ravens, it is undoubtedly Ray Lewis. While many are quick to praise Lewis for his NFL career, there are detractors which bring about events that transpired in Atlanta over a decade ago.  Honestly, I don't need to delve into those events.  After the Ravens defeated the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship, more than just Wes Welker's wife reminded us of what happened. (Since her statement, Welker's wife has issued an apology.)

Lewis is the face of the Ravens. I know there are those that will mention Ray Rice and Ed Reed, but make no mistake about it. The Ravens are Ray Lewis' team. Ever since the day he was drafted it was his team.

We will be lambasted with video, audio and written word of all Lewis has brought to the Ravens franchise. Some of us will quickly grow weary of such for as much as Ravens fans love "Ray Ray", there are those that despise him. The ring matters to him in this his last "ride". We will witness that last time Ray Lewis don a Ravens uniform.

Think what you will of Ray Lewis, the person. No one can ever doubt Ray Lewis, the linebacker, the football player.

For the record, this isn't a salute to Lewis.

And looking over at the opposing sideline, it can only be Colin Kaepernick.


Colin Kaepernick | San Francisco 49ers We are quick to point out that Niners head coach Jim Harbaugh made a bold move in naming Kaepernick as his starter. Alex Smith had suffered a concussion in a week 10 game against the St. Louis Rams (a 24-24 tie), was replaced in that game by Kaepernick, and was unable to go the following week. Kaepernick seized the reins of the Niners offense (with Harbaugh's endorsement) and has had few hiccups in guiding San Francisco to the Super Bowl.

Okay. They have a good defense, too.

I guess you could say the Niners made that deal with Broncos pan out pretty well. San Francisco traded to the Broncos the 45th, 108th and 141st picks to move to #36 and select Kaepernick with the second round's 4th pick.

For the record, Denver selected S Rahim Moore with pick #45 (ironic?), S Quinton Cater at #108 (irony again?) and the Broncos would then trade that 141st pick to Green Bay in exchange for the 129th pick and Denver grabbed.TE Julius Thomas.  Denver got a pretty good haul, too.

And we will also grow weary, even tiresome, of the term "Har-Bowl". (Please, no T-shirts.)

I was already dreading the sound of such after the Niners beat the Atlanta Falcons. Yes, The Ravens-Patriots game was after the Niners-Falcons tile, and I knew what was to unfold if Baltimore won. We would be trolled to the outer limits with it.

And on Jim Harbaugh. If San Francisco does win, he will be heralded for his move from Smith to Kaepernick. He should be. He made the move of the season. If the Niners lose, he could be frequently reminded of what some will perceive as a folly. It wasn't.

For his brother John, he didn't have to deal with a QB controversy. Could never envision Joe Flacco being unseated from his starting job by Tyrod Taylor. The Ravens got a new offensive coordinator in former Colts head coach Jim Caldwell. (That was John's big move for the season.) Getting back Terrell Suggs back helped his cause.  Having a somewhat healthy Ed Reed didn't hurt either considering how awful the Ravens D looked early in the season.

Three stories will greatly consume our Super Bowl by-lines this year: Ray Lewis, Colin Kaepernick and the Harbaugh brothers.

And we will be reminded of each with every NFL related show we see over the next week plus. Gotta love the 24/7 news cycle.

The outcome? Here ya go!

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