After two weeks of endless interviews, human interest stories, and back and forth banter, the Super Bowl yesterday turned out to be as good a game as we could have wanted, even with a power outage at the Superdome that lasted over half an hour. The Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers 34-31, putting an exclamation point at the end of Ray Lewis’ great career as he heads to retirement. Ravens QB Joe Flacco was deservedly named the game’s MVP, after completing 22 out of 33 passes for 287 yards, three touchdowns, and, as he did all through the playoffs, NO interceptions. More impressive was the fact that he completed 7 out of 10 passes for 158 yards on third down situations, including 4-4 when he targeted WR Anquan Boldin. Flacco picked a good time to win the Super Bowl at the end of his present contract. In three playoff games this postseason, Flacco had 11 touchdown passes with no interceptions. Can you say “Big Money”?
The Ravens got off to a great start, scoring on their opening offensive drive, culminated by a Flacco to Boldin 13-yard scoring strike. The 49ers responded with a David Akers 36-yard field goal, and the first quarter ended 7-3. The Ravens added two more TD’s in the second quarter, TD passes from Flacco to TE Dennis Pitta and Jacoby Jones. San Francisco closed out the half with another Akers field goal, and the teams went to their respective locker rooms with the Ravens ahead, 21-6. The second half opened with a bang, as Jacoby Jones took the opening kickoff eight yards deep in his end zone and 11 seconds later, he was in the 49er end zone after an electrifying 108-yard return, to give the Ravens a seemingly comfortable 28-6 lead. That is when the power went out at the Dome, and after a 34-minute delay, the 49ers were revitalized and took off, scoring 17 unanswered points in the third quarter - a Colin Kaepernick 31-yard pass to Michael Crabtree, a 6-yard TD run by Frank Gore, and David Akers’ third field foal of the game, this time from 34 yards out. The Ravens responded with a Justin Tucker 19-yard field goal, before the 49ers made it a two-point game on a Kaepernick 15-yard TD run. They went for two, but Kaepernick’s pass fell incomplete. Tucker added another field goal for the Ravens, to set up a frantic finish. Kaepernick completed a 24-yard pass to Crabtree down to the Ravens 40, and Frank Gore exploded for a 33-yard run that gave the 49ers a first down and goal at the Ravens seven-yard line. LeMichael James ran for two yards down to the 5, but three Kaepernick to Crabtree pass attempts were incomplete and the Ravens had their goal-line stand. Baltimore punter Sam Koch ran into the end zone on fourth down for an intentional safety, allowing the Ravens a free kick and the game was in the books. Ray Lewis will go into the sunset with two Super Bowl championships on his resume, and former Canes Bryant McKinnie and future hall of famer Ed Reed got their first taste of a Super Bowl championship. Reed, by the way, had an interception, his 11th all-time in the post season, an NFL best. (I told you to expect a Reed pick) That interception was the first INT thrown by a San Francisco QB in their six Super Bowl games.
The Ravens 34-31 win was only the second game of the ten that have been played in NOLA to end with a winning margin of under 10 points. It was also only the second game in Super Bowl history in which both teams scored over 30 points, the first being Pittsburgh’s 35-31 win over the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XXIII back in 1979. The “under” didn’t pan out, but my pick of Baltimore by 3 was right on the money. I should have gone to Las Vegas.
Today’s featured articles:
The Miami Herald talks about the upcoming battle to host Super Bowl 50.
Yahoo! Sports has their take on the power failure and what it may mean to New Orleans:
TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Counting last night’s game, five out of the last six Super Bowl games have been decided by six points or less. Which of those recent games was the exception? Tell you later, alligator.
The Miami Heat split their two games this past weekend, losing to the Indiana Pacers on Friday, 102-89, and then beating the Toronto Raptors yesterday 100-85. In yesterday’s win, it was the big three with the big bats, as they combined to score 81 of the team’s points. LeBron led the way with 30 points, Chris Bosh had 28, and D-Wade added 23. The road trip ended in a Toronto sports bar so the team could watch the Super Bowl, and they returned home immediately after, as they return to the court tonight as they welcome the Charlotte Bobcats. Game time tonight is at 7:30 pm, and you can watch the game on Sun Sports on your cable or satellite system. The rest of the week, the Heat will host the Houston Rockets on Wednesday, the LA Clippers visit the AAA on Friday, and the Lakers will come calling on Sunday.
In the rest of the NBA yesterday,
Boston 106 LA Clippers 104
Paul Pierce finished with 22 points, Jeff Green and Leandro Barbosa added 14 points apiece. The Clips are on a bit of a tailspin, having lost six out of their last eight.
LA Lakers 98 Detroit 97
Pau Gasol scored 23 points and collected 10 rebounds, Kobe Bryant added 18 points and dished out 5 assists.
TONIGHT’S GAMES:
Charlotte @ Miami 7:30 pm Sun Sports
Orlando @ Philadelphia 7:00 pm
LA Clippers @ Washington 7:00 pm
Chicago @ Indiana 7:00 pm
Detroit @ New York 7:30 pm
Dallas @ Oklahoma City 8:00 pm
Portland @ Minnesota 8:00 pm
Sacramento @ Utah 9:00 pm NBA-TV
In college hoops, the University of Miami continue to surprise the world, and they came back to defeat North Carolina State in Raleigh on Saturday by the score of 79-78. The Canes are now 17-3, including a perfect 8-0 in ACC action. Could a top-ten ranking be in the cards this week? The rankings come out a little later today. This week, the Canes are back home at the BankUnited Center to take on Boston College tomorrow night at 7:00 pm, before another marquee-matchup against North Carolina at 2:00 pm on Saturday.
The FIU basketball team recovered nicely from a last-second loss on Thursday, and beat Louisiana-Monroe by the score of 76-73. This week, the Panthers host Florida Atlantic on Thursday, before heading out to North Texas to take on the Mean Green on Saturday at 8:00 pm.
Nothing new to report on the latest PED scandal in MLB. In case you missed the original articles, here they are as published in the Miami New Times:
I again want to take a minute to congratulate the Marlins ownership for causing us to lose out on another All Star game. Everyone had their sights set on getting the 2015 midsummer classic, but thanks to the dismantling of the team this winter, MLB has again decided to punish Miami and will award the 2015 game to Cincinnati. If this sounds familiar to you all, it should. We were supposed to also host the 2000 All Star game, but after the 1998 dismantling of the 1997 world championship team, MLB also dissed South Florida.
Dear Santa Claus Tooth Fairy Cupid Easter Bunny Jeffrey Loria and minions:
What do you mean, you still haven’t sold the team? You’re still here? The Super Bowl is history! What are you waiting for now? Valentine’s day? Easter? Next year’s HOF election?
Your inept management allowed the Marlins farm system to deteriorate to the point of being horrible, and now have dismantled the major league roster while pissing off the players on the roster and the entire South Florida community. This latest dismantling now cost Miami the 2015 All-Star game. You really didn’t think that MLB would award you the game after this offseason, did you?
How soon before you get rid of Giancarlo Stanton for another group of so-called prospects, as you continue to allow your management to “sell low and buy high”. Please sell the team so we can once again enjoy baseball in Miami.
All kidding aside, your window of opportunity to get out of town is opening up in just a few weeks. The five-year anniversary of the Marlins and Miami-Dade County agreement for the baseball stadium is coming up on February 21, 2013. After that time, the “penalty” for selling the team is only 5%, a mere pittance, based on a $250 million value of the team. You’ve already saved much more than that on the salary dump this season alone. Of course, you and your minions have already decided not to field a quality major league roster this coming season, hopefully setting up the sale of the team.
We’ll continue to keep our fingers crossed and light a candle in the meantime.
Here’s the answer to today’s question: Counting last night’s game, five out of the last six Super Bowl games have been decided by six points or less. Which of those recent games was the exception?
Super Bowl XLIV (44), played at the Seven Names Stadium here in South Florida, was the exception when the New Orleans Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts 31-17.
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SB XLII
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Giants 17, Patriots 14
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SB XLIII
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Stelers 27, Cardinals 23
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SB XLIV
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Saints 31, Colts 17
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SB XLV
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Packers 31, Steelers 25
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SB XLVI
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Giants 21, Patriots 17
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SB XLVII
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Ravens 34, 49ers 31
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