The Baltimore Ravens are Super Bowl Champions.
I don’t want to say, “I told you so,” but if you were to ask Vegas, we (my brother Jake and I) called it. I knew it all the way and never lost faith in our boys since we had Mom (shout out to Mom!) place the wager in August. Well, maybe that isn’t entirely true. During the 1-4 stretch to close the regular season I may have lost some faith.
But what’s done is done, now is the time for some final thoughts on this glorious season.
The Super Bowl started at 2:30 a.m. Amman time
Despite the late start I was joined by about 10 of my fellow study abroad-ers at Buffalo Wings & Rings off First Circle. The 10 of us put away about 150 wings and several pitchers of beer (18 drinking age in Jordan) mostly during the 2-½ hour period between our arrival and kickoff. The bar is an American hangout spot and was crowded with young Americans, the majority of which on study abroad programs like mine. I was one of two Ravens fans (the other from the Eastern Shore), among half-dozen or so 49ers fans. I was loud, proud, and purple as an old song goes. And only got crap from one 49er fan who disappeared during the games final moments. By the time the trophy was presented to owner Steve Biscotti it was nearly 7 a.m. and I was shouting “Ain’t the beer cold!” to nobody in particular. The only member of the smallest, indoor, insane asylum of Amman. Just me, my friend Jarvis, the busboys cleaning up, remained in the restaurant.
Earlier that day, one line from my host-mother made me very confident
Two weeks ago, the morning after the AFC Championship, (a game I was unable to watch, the first game I have missed in over five years) my host-mother tried to calm me down. I was frantically searching for the results on TV and she said, “They have won, Inshallah.” Inshallah translates to “if God wills it” and is used extremely often in Jordan. For some reason, her confidence then stuck with me. The night of the Super Bowl, I listened to In the Air Tonight and the Ravens’ Fight Song one more time before heading out. David did the talking, as I was too nervous to say a proper goodbye. But right before we left I repeated the line my Dad said before I went to the Ravens-Indianapolis game, “Come home carrying your shield, or on it.” Without missing a beat the reply was, “Carrying your shield, Inshallah.” And as they say, the rest is history.
Baltimore football teams are now undefeated in championship games that have odd stoppages of play
The 34-minute delay due to power outage during Super Bowl XLVIII was the second time a Baltimore victory was delayed. The first was the 1958 NFL Championship Game in which the Baltimore Colts beat the NY (Football) Giants 23-17. During that game, a Baltimore TV guy ran onto the field to intentionally stop play. Allegedly, to delay the game long enough so the TV feed could be restored to those watching in Baltimore. (Of course, I must admit, I did not think of this during the game.)
Ray Lewis gets the ending Cal Ripken didn’t
Cal Ripken was my favorite athlete during my childhood. I never saw him play a meaningful game after the age of five and was born 8 and ½ years after his only championship in 1983 (a year before my parents got married). I was alive for Ray Lewis’ entire 17-year career. This game was not Ray’s defining moment, nor was it a top performance. The past two years he has struggled in pass coverage and we all wondered if he should continue to play every snap on defense. Ray was exposed on several plays in the Super Bowl, but he still exits a champion. I am terribly afraid of next year and a Lewis-less Ravens team. It took the Orioles over a decade to find a franchise third-basemen to be the next Cal Ripken.
Chris Culliver had it coming
If you don’t know who Chris Culliver is watch the highlights of every Ravens completion; he is the 49ers defensive back getting burned. I wondered Tuesday if what the Ravens were doing to him could be labeled as “abuse.” But my sympathy for Culliver disappeared when I remembered the anti-gay comments he made before the game. (On that same note, look out for Brendon Ayanbadejo on Ellen, as the part-time pro-Equality activists and full-time Super Bowl Champion, will be appearing on her show sometime soon.)
The best coaching moment of the Super Bowl was an intentionally safety
John Harbaugh made the best coaching decision of his career when he instructed punter Sam Koch to run out of his own end zone and eat as much clock as possible. That part was good, but the decision to instruct every single blocker to hold was brilliant. The penalty for holding, had a flag been thrown (none were…for reasons beyond me), is a safety, the result the Ravens were hoping to accomplish.
Anquan Boldin is a top-5 receiver
The Ravens’ receiver should never face criticism from any Baltimorean for the rest of his life. He can make fun of The Wire, National Boh, say crab cakes suck, and pit beef is overrated I would still love him. (Hint: NEVER do any of those things in Bawlmer.) He has been the safety blanket for Joe Flacco the entire year (even more so the Ray Rice at times) and was incredible in the Super Bowl. For years the Ravens have been cursed with inconsistent receivers (and QBs, more on that later), finally, Boldin exorcised some demons.
Joe Flacco is the second best quarterback in Baltimore football history
The best quarterback in Baltimore history, Johnny Unitas, has a statue in front of Ravens stadium and if Joe Flacco continues to play like he did during the postseason, he could have his own. But first he needs a new contract and I think the Ravens will sign him up.
Local boys do hometown proud
Jacoby Jones and Ed Reed returned to Louisiana and became champions. Reed added a Super Bowl interception to his Hall of Fame resume (How many of Reed’s interceptions have come against QBs facing him for the first time?) and Jones a 108-yard kickoff return for a TD and a 56-yard TD catch.
Brothers matter, but not the ones you are thinking of
The above-mentioned Ayanbadejo became the second Ayanbadejo brother to win a Super Bowl with the Ravens, joining his brother Obafemi. Obafemi was a backup running back on the 2000 Super Bowl squad and has the great distinction of never hearing his name pronounced correctly on television.
Was this the best Baltimore sports year in 40 years?
The was the first year in which both Baltimore sports teams reached the playoffs since 1970 when the Orioles won the World Series and the Colts won Super Bowl V in January of 1971. The Ravens just won the Super Bowl and the Orioles ended their 15-year playoff drought this past October. And now that football season is finally over, I can for the first time look fondly ahead to baseball season and ask this question with sincerity: When do pitchers and catchers report for spring training?
From First Circle, Amman, just after 7 a.m. on Super Monday Morning
Shawarma for Breakfast 