People often joke(?) that the day after the Super Bowl should be a national holiday. Considering most people at work today are probably nursing hangovers / talking about what they did for the game all day, I would say that’s not such a bad idea (but what do I know, I just blog and go to class, I really don’t have enough stake in this debate to have an opinion, what do you guys think?)

I would like to give a big shout out to the Baltimore Ravens, Super Bowl champions. I can’t believe I picked against the Ravens 3 times these playoffs. Out of the 5 playoff games I got wrong, 3 were picking against the Ravens.

I think I should defend my position with a little context, as I certainly do not hate the Ravens. The Ravens are actually one of my favorite teams in the league. I picked against them twice because I wanted to see specific matchups (first Luck v. Peyton, then Peyton v. Brady), but in the end Ravens wins produced arguably the best Super Bowl matchup possible (so long as the Giants weren’t in it of course; next year the Manning brothers will face off in the Super Bowl).

Not only did I go to high school with Ray Rice, I also went to college with Joe Flacco, there are only a handful of people who can say that! But the 49ers were my favorite team growing up, not root for them would be caving to peer pressure (Jerry Rice and Steve Young were my favorite players, Young was a lefty just like me and I was so fierce a 49ers fan I once accidentally broke my brothers arm for making fun of them losing).

I actually liked the Ravens to win the Super Bowl when the season started. They got off to that great start and looked unbeatable. Then they cooled off and so did my opinion of then. Ray Lewis got hurt and Suggs was out. But the team got healthy at the right time, and sometimes it’s better to be the “hot team” then the “better team” (just ask Giants and Patriots fans). I may have been rooting for the 49ers but I was playing with house money, as the Niners and Ravens are my second and third favorite teams respectively.

Again, congrats to the Ravens and Ray Rice specifically; Ray is a true American success story of a kid who came from nothing and worked his way to the top. Throughout all the fame and success he never forgot where he came from and continues to give back to the city of New Rochelle. Although I do not know Ray personally, I feel like I’ve gotten to know him a bit by following on Facebook. He regularly posts inspirational messages, is outspoken against bullying, and seems like a very socially conscious person. Every sports superstar has the opportunity to use their success as a platform for disseminating a positive message, but not every superstar takes that opportunity. The fact the Mr. Rice has stepped up to the plate in this way speaks volumes about who he is as a person and the environment he grew up in (NEW RO!!!!). If you do not already follow Ray on FB, I highly suggest you do.

So there you have it, the Ravens fairytale season concludes with a fairytale ending. Torrey Smith lost his little brother this season; hopefully this victory helps ease his pain in some small way. Ray Lewis put an exclamation point at the end of a first-ballot-H.O.F. career, and New Rochelle gets to bask in the reflective glory of the Lombardi trophy.

There you have it folks, it ended up being a great Super Bowl. The 49ers almost made the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history but fell a bit short. Football is over for now, which only makes the hangover from Super Bowl Sunday that much harder to stomach.

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In other sports news, baseball is around the corner! Pitchers and Catchers will be reporting to spring training in about 2 weeks, and the World Baseball Classic starts in a little less than a month. I even got A glimpse of some Caribbean winter league action over the weekend. While nothing quite compares to football Sundays, at least we still have Basketball, Hockey, and {soon) Baseball (not to mention  NY teams with championship aspirations in all three sports!).