Super Bowl: How to Root When You Pretty Much Hate 'em Both?

Well, the Super Bowl is upon us, like flu season. Considering the teams that are in the Super Bowl, I think I might prefer to have the flu.

Very few players in the NFL have gotten more ebullient and over-the-top praise and love during the 2012 season than Colin Kaepernick and Ray Lewis. And they both play for teams that I despise, so I did not believe the hype.

Ray Lewis has been hailed as a football legend, a proud warrior who will have the distinction of playing in the Super Bowl for his last game. A shining example for future generations of linebackers who receive an OOJ nomination. I respect him as being a very good player, although I could have done without the silly pre-game histrionics. As for off the field activites, I have a more dubious view of him. I won’t bother listing the “up close and personal” items with Ray, but suffice to say – there are some NSFW activities in his life story.

Mr. Kaepernick, on the other hand, has reduced ESPN commentators to puddles of  a fairly embarrassing obsequiousness. They’ve pretty much started inventing adjectives to describe his exploits on the field, as they’ve exhausted the superlatives that do exist in describing him. I acknowldege that he has some talent, and that he is doing things as a quarterback that no other quarterback has ever done. A proverbial “out-Elwayed Elway in Elway’s backyard” (which one broadcaster said when describing a scramble by Jacksonville QB Mark Brunell in the 1996 playoffs, when Denver (haha) lost to the underdog Jags).

Given the amazingly strong character that Lewis brings to the game and the otherwordly talents that Kaepernick brings to the game, it would seem that an epic battle to outshine all previous Super Bowls is certainly on the docket.

It’s just too bad that the teams playing for the trophy have to be two of my least favorite teams. And since they can’t both lose, I suppose I have to pick one, if I choose to bother making a pick at all.

I’ve made it a point to minimize my exposure to sports commentary the past two weeks with an eye toward preserving my sanity from the overwhelming tsunami of inane thoughts, ideas, predictions, analysis and touching stories about players we’ll never hear from again.

No, the best way to make a pick like this is to shut all that rubbish out. But the question remains – if it’s between Darth Vader and the Joker, who do you root for to win?

From what I can gather, a lot of pundits feel that the 49ers have the edge (remember, their quarterback is doing the most amazing things that we’ll never see again) and that the Ravens are in over their heads.

I think that the Ravens have a little more spirit than all that. They won’t be impressed by flashy QB play, and they will probably take it out on Kaepernick should he choose to run the ball a lot. They pride themselves on defense, and I don’t know if the 49ers have the fortitude to withstand the viciousness of the Ravens. They’re also not afraid to cheat to get an edge.

The Ravens will probably come out throwing, and look to keep the 49ers off balance. And they’ll probably make it a point to come after Kaepernick and try to cause him to make hasty decisions, including running when the play breaks down. I don’t think that having Kaepernick running for his life is conducive to winning.

Besides, the Ravens are named for an Edgar Allen Poe poem. That, alone, gives them an edge, to me. Even though they’re the Steelers arch enemy, I think they’ll win. Which, I suppose, loosely translates to me rooting for them.

Ravens 34, 49ers 20.

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