FRIDAY FOOTBALL PICK
SUPER BOWL EDITION

Okay, so it comes down to this:  who do I like in the Super Bowl?
Baltimore Ravens vs San Francisco 49ers.  My pick:  RAVENS.  And of course all of you who are fans know--there are tons of reasons not to pick it this way, and to pick the Niners instead.  San Francisco has a running game, a good defense, and Kaepernick has done a great job.

But--here's what I like Baltimore in this one:  1] 2 weeks off:  the Ravens have had two weeks to prepare for San Fran.  They have veteran coaches and many veterans playing on defense.  I think they'll come up with schemes to give the Niners some trouble.  2] Ray Lewis:  he provides leadership, he provides emotion, he gives them an extra oomph, and it's something you can't quantify.  It's not that Baltimore will do better because they all want to win it for Ray.  They'll only do well if they want to win it for themselves.  But Lewis adds something, there can be no doubt.  3] Joe Flacco:  has outplayed, the last two weeks, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.  Pretty impressive.  4] Ray Rice:  is a pretty good running back himself (to counter the Niners Frank Gore).  5] Baltimore:  a team of destiny.  I mean, they win 2 straight games on the road; they win in Denver in kind of a miracle fashion, then they totally outplay the Patriots in Foxboro.  They're a hot team.  How many times have we seen teams do this lately--get into the playoffs by the skin of their teeth, then get hot, win on the road, and go all the way?  Well, the Giants last year, the Packers the year before that...

Hey, it's a trend.  Don't forget in major league baseball, same kind of thing--teams get hot at the right time, like the San Francisco Giants, the St. Louis Cardinals, etc.  I'm not bucking this trend; instead, we should embrace it!  Again, I like the BALTIMORE RAVENS to win Super Bowl 47. 

"You've failed many times, although you may not remember.  You fell down the first time you tried to walk.  You almost drowned the first time you tried to swim, didn't you?  Did you hit the ball the first time you swung a bat?  Babe Ruth struck out 1, 330 times, but he also hit 714 home runs.  Don't worry about failure.  Worry about the chances you miss when you don't try."--United Technologies