National Flag League

NFL is coming into it's own after a shaky start on the field for offenses over the first 3 weeks. The quality of the games is now again where it needs to be. The Packers-Cowboys game this weekend was even better than advertised. Watching Aaron Rodger play QB is a unique experience. Nobody quite conducts himself in the field with his confidence and swagger, not even Brady or Manning. But let's get back to the play on the field later. First, the topic thats sweeping the league. For a couple of weeks, the league has been all about the anthem protests as Trump stirred the pot in the deep south. The issue is still lingering on. As most of you know by now, he called the protesting players "SOBs" and asked the owners to fire them on the spot. He also asked the fans in the stadium to walkout and boycott these games if players kneeled and protested. VP Mike Pence actually walked out of the Niners @ Colts game yesterday in his home state of Indiana in what appears now to be a well-orchestrated stunt. But then again, thats what politicians do best!

There is no question what Trump did was unacceptable and offensive. First off, you don't use that kind of language as the president of the United States. That's not leadership nor is it classy. Secondly, it was a divisive ploy at a time when the country is already dangerously divided. And he was being totally insensitive to a part of our citizenry he is supposed to represent. The predominantly Black athletes who are protesting are not fighting for more sugar in their coffee for God's sake! They are concerned about a serious life-or-death issue in our country and their community. For the President to be so flippant about it tells them that he just doesn't care. Thats really the last message our President should be sending to anybody in our country, let alone an entire race. What he did is all bad and that's even before we get in to whether his message is right or wrong. His stand is clearly wrong in my opinion, but he shouldn't have inserted himself into this issue in this manner regardless. Sometimes in life, right and wrong are overrated and perception is reality. Thats the most interesting part of this for me.

That last part is also why I am not a big fan of the flag protests themselves in the first place. You maybe surprised to hear that after reading the first 2 paragraphs. Colin Kaepernick's actions do not upset me one bit and I am totally onboard with the social cause he is espousing. I couldn't agree with him more on issues of systemic racism and criminal justice reform, which is what these protests are supposed to be about. And I respect and want to protect his constitutional right to protest peacefully. None of this offends me personally, not one bit. With all that said, I think disrespecting the flag and the national anthem is just bad strategy for a protest. Socio-political change in a democracy is fundamentally a fight for people's hearts and minds. I don't see how you win over people by disrespecting the anthem and the flag. Lets also be clear on one thing. The players who kneel are of course disrespecting the flag and the anthem. They have the right to do it and I do get where they are coming from. It doesn't upset me personally, but let's go ahead and call a spade a spade. I stand for the anthem only out of respect and not because I want to stretch my legs or anything like that. So, when I don't stand for the anthem, I am refusing to respect it, if not outright disrespecting it.

By the same token, Kap and these athletes are absolutely NOT disrespecting the military. I have no doubt about that. There is a straight line from the idea of us standing for the anthem to respect for the anthem. There is also a straight line in my mind from us standing for the anthem to the flag just because the anthem is not a physical entity and the flag is always around to be that physical representation of nationhood. But the line people draw from respecting the anthem to respect and love for the military is more of an implicit and imagined relationship. It's convenient for some politicians on the right to draw that line and paint the Kaps of the world as anti-military, but even for some normal people, the flag and the anthem have a symbiotic relationship, if not a symbolic representation of the nation's military. We can sit here and debate whether that connection is logical and real or not, but like I mentioned already, sometimes in life, perception is reality. Thats exactly why I think this is not the best form of protest. Instead of debating the fundamental issues it's supposed to highlight, we are all caught up in these philosophical nuances and emotional interpretations about our flag and the military.  None of this is coming anywhere close to solving the original issue at hand.

Call me an optimist or call me naive, but I do believe the criminal justice issues at hand can be solved from within the system. It's not going to be easy or simple, but we can achieve the progress we want if we have the right leadership and work tirelessly. Thats why I don't like protesting the flag for it. To me, going after the flag is an extreme form of protest. You do it if you are running a separatist movement, which clearly is not the goal here, or if you just want to shock the system and shake things up. This protest clearly has shaken things up and of course the President's comments has resurrected it and made it worse. But I would rather work within the system for these types of issues. Of course, I am not a Black man in America and I have no idea what it means to walk a mile in those shoes. If Black America feels completely disappointed in the system and betrayed by it, I totally get it and who am I to argue against those sentiments? But I am just not there myself yet in terms of shocking the system. If that was the goal, this protest has definitely achieved that.  But it has also made a lot of enemies and distracted us from the core issues. Thats to be expected when you go after symbols of nationalism and thats why I am not a big fan of this form of protest. This protest is starting interesting conversations about individual rights and first amendment etc., but it's not hitting the sweet spot in my opinion.

There is also this argument that these protests are always unpopular when they happen, but they start a movement that wins people over eventually and America embraces the protestors and their ideas later. Mohammad Ali, Tommie Smith, and John Carlos are examples of this phenomenon, though they lived in a different time and place. To that I say it's too simplistic to assume that this is what is going to happen to Kap and these protests as well. Also, we are the best marketing people in the World and nobody keeps up appearances like America. I can totally imagine us as a nation celebrating Kap as a hero and placing his picture in a stamp 30 years from now while also not giving an inch on the criminal justice or racial reform. Lets not assume that respecting and recognizing Kap 30 years from now is progress. Social change and progress is typically engineered by smart and strategic leaders and movements. Leaders like Gandhi and MLK Jr were not great just because they were on the right side of history and morality, but they also knew how to fight, when to protest, when to lie low, who to go after, etc. etc. They were brilliant and strategic leaders.

Of course, it's a totally unfair comparison to put Kap along with those giants, but my point is, not all protests are made equal and what we have on our hands now may not be effective. When Trump brought this issue back into focus, many owners ripped him and supported their players. This brought the players and the owners closer than ever for a moment. There was a lot of show of solidarity and holding hands, though I never understood what holding hands actually meant. I did like Jerry Jones and the Cowboys kneeling together as a team before the anthem to show solidarity for the cause and the standing during the anthem to show respect to the anthem. I thought that made sense. But now, Jones has come out and said he won't let players who don't stand for the anthem play for him and is bossing them around. All of that so-called camaraderie between the owners and players is out the door just like that. The Dolphins are also instituting some form of "no kneeling" rules. These developments must warm the cockles of Trump's heart. Basically, things are now beginning to move sideways. Where actually are we headed and are these protests being effective? I have no idea and I have serious doubts. Only time will tell. In the meantime, let's hope for the best and keep working towards eliminating systemic racism.

Football is rolling already.

The NFL season kicked off in style and is off and running in full force already. We got some great games, fantastic finishes, and good story lines as always. The Carolina at Denver game on Thursday night kicked things off  with a close finish. Despite my reduced expectation for that game, it gave us fans exactly what we wanted. Trevor Siemian's play and Cam Newton's beating were the headlines from that game. Cam is an absolute baller. He had a great game despite the monster hits he suffered. Both the man and his game are large and the zebras are having problems officiating him appropriately. Some of the hits were brutal, especially for a QB, and the flags were nowhere to be found. This may change how the Panthers play Cam in the near future. They need to protect him. They should cut down on his scrambles and runs, though a lot of his hits in this game happened in the pocket. But why increase his exposure anyways? He is too important for the reigning NFC champions. Big win for Denver and Siemian. The Broncos have a good team with that defense and a running game centered around C.J.Anderson.

It's been a while since the Raiders were the top story of the week. They sure were the headliner this week as coach Jack Del Rio went for 2 and a win at the end of regulation instead of a tie and overtime. I have never seen that in the NFL. Definitely not in week 1 with a young team trying to make the playoffs for a franchise coming of several horrible years. You see such calls once in a while in college but only towards the end of the season in the NFL with real bad teams that have nothing to play for. Del Rio nailed it here and this win should give the Raiders a tonne of confidence and self-belief. Saints D is horrible and the Raiders D didn't play much better either, but the Raiders are going to truly believe they are playoff-bound after this road win. It's about time for the silver and black. Packers, Chiefs, Giants, Lions, Cowboys, and the Patriots won close and exciting games on this fun NFL Sunday.

That last game in that list between the Patriots and the Cardinals was a heart-breaker for us Cards fans. Kicker Chandler Catanzaro missed what should have been a game winning field goal. The Super Bowl dreaming Cards lost to Hoodie who came in without his pretty boy QB, super star TE, and couple of other key players and still stole a win. Tough loss for the Cards who have to be now satisfied with a good week for David Johnson coupled with a decent performance by Carson Palmer and live to fight another day. They better win next week against Tampa Bay. Dolphins almost knocked off the Seahawks, but "almost" doesn't get you a "w" in the standings. The Monday night games were duds as  Pittsburgh crushed Washington and the Rams looked so horrible that the LA fans probably want them to move back to St. Louis after just one game. The Rams made the 49ers look like world beaters. Blaine Gabbert and the Niners offense were turrible as Chales Barkley would say, but they still won 28-0. Kaep's protest is spreading as many NFL players either kneeled, locked arms, or raised their fist during the anthem even on 9/11. Peaceful protests continue. As always, injuries in the NFL blows and Keenan Allen's season-ending ACL tear was unfortunate. Poor guy can't catch a break.

No more Honey-dues!

There is a funny radio AD playing these days. I think it's on Fox Sports radio and is a promotion for the upcoming NFL season. It warns all women that they should be ready to "lose" their boyfriends and husbands to football. The implication being that men are going to be glued to their TVs watching football starting soon. No time for honey-dues rest of the year! It's a funny AD, but also a fairly accurate depiction of the American reality. Most Blue-blooded American males and some females are so in love with football, both college and pro, that weekends will be exclusively reserved for appointment TV watching if left to their own devices. Thats the power of football and fantasy and gambling only help turbo-charge football's popularity. Every year, the pain of summer's exit is offset by the pleasure of football's arrival. College ball started last weekend and served as a nice appetizer before the main course, the National Football League.

Week one in college football usually features a bunch of cupcake games. It was a pleasant surprise this season as we had a whole bunch of stellar non-conference matchups last weekend. We can all thank three major reasons for this positive development. One, the increase in neutral site games and the financial ramifications of this ensured these sites got some meaty matchups. The 4-team playoff also means one loss does not completely destroy a team's season like in the old days. Superpowers are more willing to take on great challenges, especially early in the season. Also, the playoff committee looks at strength of schedule. This means teams are better off playing some real games instead of scheduling North East Appalachian state at home during the pre-season. With all that said, most teams are back to playing North East Appalachian state in week 2 coming up here. But week 1 was truly awesome and they will all be jumping into their conference contests soon anyways.

We got to see fun non-conference games like Stanford-V-Kansas State, LSU-V-Wisconsin, Notre Dame-V-Texas, Florida State-V-Ole Miss, Texas A&M-V-UCLA, and USC-V-Alabama. Most of the games were close contests with a couple of them even requiring overtime. It reminded us right away why we love football and what we have been missing for the last 7 months. Only the most hyped game of them all, Alabama-USC, disappointed as Alabama annihilated USC. Alabama seems to be on a planet of its own and even it's SEC counterparts didn't look too great in week 1. Neither did Pac-12, though Pac-12 might still be a deep and dangerous place. These games also featured amazing freshmen QBs. Quarterbacks are coming into the NFL more and more prepared and it turns out, the high school QBs are coming into college well-rounded as well. Just another sign of how professional and well-organized the entire sports pipeline has become.

That was fun, but the main event starts tomorrow. Super Bowl rematch on Thursday night kicks off the NFL season. The excitement of NFL being back is undeniable, but I have to admit, this season opener is a little less exciting than usual. Peyton Manning's retirement and the unknown Trevor Siemian working under center are the main reasons for it. However, in real football terms, there is probably not much missing for Denver from last year as Manning was just a name and a shell of his former self. But he was still Peyton and must-see TV every week for the fans. Tom Brady will be missing in action too due to his suspension and that takes a lot of excitement out of the Pats-Cards Sunday Night matchup. I am still excited for it as this is a very important season for Arizona. The Kaepernick story is still out there and I am happy and proud of him. He has really started something interesting here and the story is going much better than I expected for him personally. He is talking well on the issues, making some adjustments like kneeling instead of sitting during the anthem, attracting support from fellow athletes, and is raising general awareness on a tricky topic. Kudos and good luck to Kaep.

Kaepital Punishment!

Colin Kaepernick is being put through the wringer this week over the national anthem and flag controversy. He refused to stand up during the anthem in protest over the racial and social injustices happening in the great nation of ours. Every time some athlete refuses to salute the flag or refuses to stand for the anthem, he or she is asking for a lot of criticism and attention and Kaep should have expected this. He sounds like he is comfortable about making this statement and seems prepared to face the wrath of the general public. I commend him for his courage and for standing up for what he believes in. It's not easy to be the rebellious outsider and he is being one here despite his on-field and injury troubles. In general, most people, even his critics, seem to agree that this country bestows on him the right and freedom to protest in peaceful ways and they don't have a problem with that. I am on that boat as well. I am glad he is doing what he feels is right and I will never be the one to argue to take that right away from him. However, many people don't agree with his opinion and his approach here. Disrespecting the flag or the anthem is an emotional issue for most people and they are going to spew a lot of venom towards him.

A topic like this also becomes a political topic, especially in an election year, and is not confined to just sports talk shows. In any country, flag, anthem, nationhood, and military are all related concepts, but it's an even direct straight line from the anthem to the military in America. This is probably due to the fact that the country is pretty much in one war or the other at all times. So a lot of people look at any perceived slight to the anthem as disrespecting the military. In reality, the flag and the anthem stands for nationhood and is all encompassing. It is actually even bigger than the military, but many people see the military and veterans when they see the flag or hear the anthem. While insulting the concept of America and our nationhood is far more controversial in spirit, it goes after some abstract concepts and people are not that offended. But any criticism of the military is personal and directly offensive to many Americans. Military is too real and close to heart for people as they may have sons or daughters or cousins or neighbors serving right now. Or they may have lost their granddad or uncle to wars of the past. What Kaep is questioning here is certain fundamental concepts of our nationhood and how our culture works today. I don't think he is anti-military, but thats the perception he has to fight and the angle he has to explain whether he wants it or not.

Nothing changes without protests and major social ills are not easily reformed without disruptive and controversial movements. Aside from Kaep having the right to do this, I do relate to the issue and his cause as well. So, it's hard for me to criticize Kaep at a moral, ethical, or political level. But I am still going to criticize him for sports reasons. As sports fans, we all know his career has been in a downward spiral and is just returning from an injury which seems to have physically weakened him quite a bit. He does not need this distraction right now and the last thing he needs is for the league or teams to blackball him. It's also a huge distraction for his teammates at the start of a season which is probably going to be rough on them anyways. I always ask myself and others "is the juice worth the squeeze" when certain decisions has to be made. Basically you need to do a cost-benefit analysis at every turn in life. The juice is definitely not worth the squeeze for Kaep. He thinks he has a platform and is using it for the grater good of the society. He is, but his platform is not as big as he thinks it is. America loves winners and stars and he is neither right now. NFL will have no problem casting him side in a heartbeat. The platform is a lot bigger for Cam Newton or Tom Brady, not for Colin Kaepernick right now. Thats the sad truth.

At the end of the day, the flag is purely symbolic. Respecting or disrespecting the flag has very little effect on real life. He is going through all these pains for making a largely symbolic gesture while also risking his future. Instead, he would be better off continuing to tweet about it, join the "Black Lives Matter" movement, go on marches, or donate money to the cause. All those actions are a lot more impactful and much less controversial. It will have zero impact on his teammates or his future and achieve better results for the cause. You may ask if I am asking him to compromise his values or his beliefs for some peace or  a better career or more money. Isn't that spineless? Yes and no. Life is all about compromises. One of the reasons we like sports is that you either win or lose at the end of every game. There is a finality and clarity to it that our everyday lives rarely offer. Real life, unlike sports, is not binary and doesn't happen in black and white. It usually happens exclusively in the grey area. So compromises and finding an amicable way forward is often the most effective approach in life. I am all for disruptive movements, but 2016 Kaep with these niners is neither the right person, time, nor the place for this. If I were him, I would have found other ways to contribute to the movement in question. Thats just me and of course Kaep is his own man.

Kaep chose to do what he believes is the right thing to do.  I am OK with it, but I am afraid the country may not be. The supposedly liberal Bay Area will criticize him, but may not be that rough on him. His situation on the road will be much worse. Then again, he may not be in the team long enough to even get on the field either at home or away. He did not look good on the field last week and there are rumors that the niners might cut him. That can be another tricky situation for coach Chip Kelly because any action against Kaep will now be perceived as a reaction to this controversy even if the team just makes a purely football decision. Thats not good for Kelly who came in with some racial accusations leveled against him and did not cut Riley Cooper in Philadelphia after Cooper was caught using the N word. Now, a Kaepernick punishment will be compared to that and might even cause some resentment in the locker room. The other interesting aspect here is how racially divided the support or opposition for Kaep has been among his peers. Breaking news folks - race matters in America! Almost to the exclusion of everything else. Going after the flag or the anthem is always a ultra touchy subject and we may not have heard the last of this controversy. I will bottom line this as follows. I like athletes making socio-political statements. I support Kaep's right to protest peacefully and I even support this particular cause. But his particular method of protest is not smart and might end up distracting his team and hurting his own future. Also, the reaction he is facing is to be expected. I wish him good luck and he is going to need every bit of it.

Random Musings from Week 1 of the NFL

The return of NFL is so exciting and fantas(y)tic that I can't even muster a cogent blog post. I just decided to list some random musings from what I saw in week 1.

1. The Steelers are a bunch of hot garbage. I can't remember the last time they looked this bad. Mike Tomlin better have a lot of cute one-liners ready to deal with this mess. He once told us there is a difference between smashing grapes and drinking wine. His team is currently doing neither.

2. Peyton Manning is back all the way. His throws were wobbly early last season, but 7 TDs to open this season is all you need to know if you are wondering how his arm is doing these days. He has always been a definition of a franchise QB, but he has now elevated another franchise to the Super Bowl level all by himself.

3. I wonder how many years Peyton's got left in that 37 year-old body. Some Colts fans are probably missing him, but I still prefer the talented Lucky boy who is 14 years younger.

4. Tom Brady needs receivers. If Gronk is not back soon, Danny Amendola will be in a body-bag by week 6. But he will probably be on the injury report by then anyways. So that's neither here nor there.

5. Raiders are not as bad as we thought. Terrelle Pryor could be this year's Tim Tebow. And by that I don't mean he will be out of the league in 2 years.

6. Saints won the game against the Falcons, but didn't look super impressive doing so. Coach Sean Payton better bring his supposed magic to the party starting with game 2.

7.  I was surprised that the horrible late hit call in the Jets-Bucs game didn't create more controversy. Jets won the game because of it and only because of it.

8. Colin Kaepernick almost proved Jaws's point in week 1. He seems to be as legit as they come. He is not a running QB. He is a good QB who can run if needed.

9. What a start to the season for Adrian Peterson. He took the first hand-off to he house. But Ponder has to improve for this team and AP to realize their potential.

10. Carson Palmer once again played good enough to give his team some hope, but not good enough to give his team a win. Nobody fumbles the ball from blind-side hits more consistently than Palmer. But the Cardinals at least have somebody they can finally call a NF quarterback.

11. Happy to see Alex Smith and Andy Reid start off in style for the Chiefs. AFC West suddenly looks better than expected, but are they good to disturb the peace in Peyton's division? Time will tell.

12. Same old Chargers and Rivers. They gave the game away to Houston in a way that would have impressed even Norv Turner.

13. NFC East is competitive as always. Dallas. New York, and RGIII played horrible first halves and a slightly better second half. Philly under Chip Kelly looked great on offense and might be fun to watch all year if Vick stays healthy. But thats a big if.

That's my baker's dozen from week 1. At least it's not just 10 things. If you still accuse me of being a Peter King wannabe, I will take that as a compliment.

A dark, ravenous Super Bowl

ESPN is featuring Michael Jordan highlights in it's sportscenters to commemorate his 50-Th birthday.  That's when you know the Super Bowl is over and we are in one of those sports dead-zones on the calendar. ESPN always goes to MJ for help during these challenging times. It was a great Super Bowl to wrap up the football season. Some things in the Super Bowl worked out as expected - the game was close and Beyonce was hot. There were a few surprises - a long power outage and the niners lost. I wanted and expected the niners to win. The interesting thing was, the niners were down but never out. Joe Flacco was on point in the first half and threw for 3 TDs. The vaunted niners defense looked toothless and fell behind 21-6 when Beyonce started dancing at halftime. The niners had made a habit of coming back from large deficits with Kaepernick at the helm and with the Ravens defense being good but not great, everybody assumed it was only a matter of time before the niners made a comeback in the second half. But Jacoby Jones retuned the second half kickoff back for a TD to put the Ravens up 28-6. The niner faithful was worried, but still hopeful. That's when the power went out.

It was ironic that the niners, who suffered through an embarrassing blackout one Monday night last season on national TV against the Steelers at their home at candlestick, were now experiencing a blackout in the middle of the Super Bowl. NFL was caught unawares at the biggest event in all of sports. The delay was more than 30 minutes and something happened to both the teams during that break. The niners started coming back furiously when the game resumed and by the time the 4-Th quarter rolled around, we all had a tight game on our hands. Kap was playing a perfect second half and the Ravens looked lost and confused. If the niners had won the game, the NFL would have been in trouble because the power outage would have been the focus as far as why the ravens lost. Luckily for the NFL, the niners came back but not all the way back. They had a shot at the end to win and it would have been an all-time classic if they had sealed the deal. It was still a great super bowl, but the comeback story fell short. The niners had multiple shots at the goal line at the end, but a ravens blitz on 4-Th down stopped Kap from throwing the go ahead TD. Harbaugh wanted a holding call, but Michael Crabtree didn't get it.

Lot of the niner fans are still upset at that non-call and some others are more bothered by the missed penalty on the kickoff return by Jacoby Jones. Whatever it was, it's nothing more than water under the bridge now and only Flacco and the Ravens are still smiling. There is some talk about Jim Harbaugh's lack of composure during the game. I wonder what the media would have said if he had won. Even the niner fans are now questioning his demeanor. In reality, that was and will continue to be a non-issue. Both Jim and the niners should be good for a few years. It's a young team with a younger QB who looks like a superstar in the making. The real concern is, their defense has been giving up tonnes of points every game since the last couple of games of the regular season. Their secondary is week and the league seems to have figured them out. This league is a copycat league and every team is now ripping them apart. It is now on Trent Baalke and Jim Harbaugh to make some adjustments with free agency and all their draft picks. Flacco had no issues against this defense and earned himself a well-deserved MVP trophy. I have always been a Flacco fan. He is sometimes elite, often unreliable, mostly understated, sporadically arrogant, and definitely clutch. The ravens have to pay him through the nose now that he is a super bowl champion and a free agent. At least they don't have to pay Ray Lewis anymore. The Ray Lewis era is officially over with him going out on top. We can only hope Ray stays retired and doesn't pull a MJ on us.

Who's got it better than the fans of the HarBowl? Nobody!

HarBowl is for real and almost here. I love everything about this Super Bowl, which is now less than 2 days away. Some people in the media were put off by the very thought of the harbowl from day 1, even before any of the expected overexposure started. Super Bowl stories tend to run it's course in a couple of days and bore us for 10 more days as the non-stop hype machine bombards us for 2 straight weeks. But I was happy to hear the harbowl stories of brotherly love on ESPN instead of it being Ray Lewis's retirement channel, 24 X 7. Both are strong story-lines, but brothers coaching against each other in a Super Bowl is beyond fascinating and may never happen again. Only thing better could be the Manning boys playing each other in the big game and time is running out on that ever happening, though we have 2 years of clock left on it. I also like it because these 2 guys are great coaches, and I don't usually throw around the word "great" without meaning it. Jim Harbaugh is flat out a witch and his head coaching record in both the college and the pros speak for themselves. 

John Harbaugh is even more fascinating. I have always been intrigued by his success given that he started of as a lowly special teams coach in the NFL. For him to go into that Ravens locker room with strong personalities like Ray Lewis and Ed Reed and earn their respect and build an identity for himself takes some serious leadership and people skills. It's not surprising anymore given that he has been successful and nothing builds credibility in sports quite like winning, but coaches like him rarely survive the first 2 or 3 years. I knew he was a stud when he established himself in that town beyond those first couple of years and of course, he will become a legend if he wins the Super Bowl on Sunday. I can't even imagine the mindset of his parents during this Super Bowl. I am glad they got a news conference too during the hype week. They deserve it and their mindset as they watch their 2 sons compete is as good a side-story to follow as anything else. As for the sons, John is a lot more level-headed and normal while Jim is a football psycho. That almost makes me want to pick the older and saner John to win, but Jim is a better coach. Plus he has the better roster. So advantage Jimmy boy.

Speaking of the rosters, the game itself is going to be very interesting and tight. I am expecting a high-scoring game and mistakes will decide it. Turnovers are a story in any football game, but it's going to be even more of a factor in this one as I expect it to be close and swing back and forth. Kaepernick seems to be everybody's favorite QB all of a sudden and Joe Flacco has been playing great in these playoffs too. The Ravens defense has improved over the course of this season, but I don't think they are still good enough to stop what Kaep and Harbaugh will throw at them. The niners do have a far superior defense, but at a neutral venue, against a good offense, I expect them to be good, but not great. Plus Flacco plays well ONLY in big games and all he needs to do is connect on a couple of long bombs to put the Ravens in a good spot. I expect him to do that and I expect Kap to keep up with him and the guy throwing a bad pick or 2 wil decide this game. Or may be a fumble. The running backs in the game are worthy of a lot of attention too, but Frank Gore and Ray Rice have not gotten much airtime due to the other stories in play. Late in the season, their backups LeMichael James and Brandon Pierce have become effective X-factors too. There is enough talent on the field on both sides of the ball to make this Super Bowl a classic. I expect a TD win for the niners. 31-24, San Francisco 49'ers.

In Harbaugh I trust. I meant Jim Harbaugh, but I would neither be surprised nor too disappointed if it ends up being John Harbaugh.

Where has all the parity gone?

Parity. This has been one of NFL's selling point for over a decade now. Parity means every team has a shot at a great season every year. Teams go from top to bottom and bottom to top in no time and there is no stability in the NFL power structure from year to year. But surprisingly, this years conference championship games will feature 3 of the 4 teams from last year's games. This is a rarity in the NFL. In the NFC, no team has been been able to get to the championship game in back to back years since the Philadelphia Eagles in 2005. But the San Francisco 49'ers are back and ready to roll, albeit with a different quarterback this year. In the AFC, both the Patriots and the Ravens are back. That has not happened in a long time. Where did the parity go this year? I am surprised, but I am not complaining because we have 2 great games waiting for us this weekend. A re-run of championship games only adds to the intrigue and the rivalry.

The Ravens almost beat the Patriots last year - if only Lee Evans had squeezed that TD pass. But "almost" is nowhere near the promised land. They want to go further this year, but the problem is, they are on the road again and the Ravens have been a little worse this season overall than last. They didn't earn a bye week like last year and had to win a close one at Denver to get here.  But they are motivated to extend Ray Lewis's career - who he is retiring after this season, and they always seem to play well against the Patriots. Flacco doesn't inspire a lot of confidence on Sundays, unless he is playing against the Patriots in the playoffs. The Ravens need him tomorrow more than ever because Brady will get his scores one way or the other against a shaky Ravens defense. The Patriots defense is not much better, but they do stop the run and that means Flacco and the receivers better show up and chuck the ball all over the yard. I expect a tight, high-scoring game. I think the Ravens will win this one. I don't want to see Brady and Belichick in the Super Bowl again, though I wouldn't be surprised if it happens.

Just like the Patriots, it's no surprise the niners are in the championship game, though they got there behind Colin Kaepernick after benching Alex Smith for no good reason except Kaep is better. The niners brought back the same team this year - especially on defense, and their only challenge was supposed to be a tougher schedule and possible injuries. They had to face a little bit of both and the schedule especially made sure they didn't end up at the top of the NFC standings again. So they have to now go to Atlanta unlike last year when they hosted the NY Giants. The Giants showed them that a road team can win and the niners hope to do the same this year. In fact, everybody seem to expect that and the niners are a 4 point favorite on the road. Nobody seems to respect the Falcons and after the near loss last weekend against the Seahawks, they expect the falcons to crash and burn against a slightly better opponent. As good as Russell Wilson was, Kaep is a better physical talent though not as poised and mature as Wilson - no young QB has ever been that poised. But Keep's stock is high right now and that combined with the niners defense gives them the edge.

I expect a close game here as well. As good as the niners defense is and even if they stop the run, which they probably will, Matt Ryan and those talented receivers will not go away without making some noise. Kaep has to stay on top of his game and not not get flustered or intimidated. It will be a test, but he has shown he is capable of passing such tests. The real problem for Atlanta is that they are too happy just to be here. They feel like a huge monkey was removed off of their shoulders with that playoff win last weekend. The niners are way more focussed and motivated to do bigger and better things. If Kaep plays a good game, the niners should win this one. I pick the niners to win and the underdog Ravens to show Vegas that the 7.5 point spread is uncalled for. A Har-bowl would be great for the media except for the Harbaughs themselves. Their parents would obviously be conflicted and confused, but I am sure Jim Harbaugh would hate all the attention. I don't know much about John Harbaugh. He looks a little more normal and less psycho than Jim, but it will be tough on him too. I say bring on the Har-Bowl. I want it and expect it. It's both my preference and prognostication.

Pissed off for greatness

Ray Lewis is still balling. His career is alive and kicking for at least one more week after the Ravens beat the Broncos and Peyton Manning today. He is not the same player he used to be even 5 years back, but I am happy that his 17-year career is continuing for now. Ray Lewis is an amazing story of redemption, especially from my perspective. We live in a culture that loves winners and we forgive any kind of sin as soon as the accused athlete wins the Super Bowl or the World Series or the NBA championship. Nothing makes us fans forget a murder or a rape faster than a championship ring and MVP honors. But I am personally pretty unforgiving when it comes to these athletes with a sketchy past. I sometimes think I need to be a little more willing to give people a second chance - everybody needs one at some point. For some reason, Ray Lewis is one athlete who has come full-circle in my book from the bad guy who was accused of murder to an interesting, talented, and almost an inspirational figure I have learned to like. And it has very little to do with the fact that he was a Super Bowl MVP the season after he got into legal trouble.

I am a Ray Lewis fan for many reasons. He has kept his nose clean since the incident. He invokes the name of God, which many guys do especially after running into legal issues. They either truly find God during their troubled times or their agent tells them to become more godly to fix their public image. But Ray sounds genuine when he talks about God or anything in general - not that his godliness is relevant or important to me. His genuine passion about life and football is endearing and he has been consistent with that passion for more than a decade now. His teammates seem to love him too and his talent on the field of course speaks for itself. Guys who are such high-level performers definitely work hard and have a level of drive and love for the game that is hard to dislike. On top of that, Ray gets high marks for his leadership skills from everybody around him. Last, but not the least, I have become a big fan of his inspirational speeches. The man can talk. Both his style of delivery and the content of his words make for some great sound bites. If you have not seen the video below of Ray talking to the Stanford basketball team before a game last season, I would strongly recommend it.

"Pissed off for Greatness" and "effort is between you and you" may end up being 2 of the classic quotes ever. Ray is nowhere near greatness at his age right now, but Joe Flacco might be considered great as of today. This guy is the most inconsistent quarterback in the league and today, he beat Peyton Manning - on the road, in cold weather, under hostile conditions, with impressive numbers, and long touchdown passes. Flacco might be a better quarterback in the playoffs than the regular season. That definitely seems to be the case with road games as he goes AWOL on the road during the regular season. But the guys just wins playoff games and every time we say he is not elite, he looks super elite. He has won playoff games in every year he has been in league and thats a pretty impressive stat for any young quarterback. He may be the only elite, inconsistent, playoff tested, and unreliable winner in the NFL.  He is going back to the conference championship game and so are the Harbaugh brothers. They are both in the championship round just like last year and the talk of Har-Bowl shall begin in right earnest.

Colin Kapernick was brilliant today in a game that presented a weird vibe for the Niner fans going in. They felt very diffident with some injury concerns and with an unproven, young QB at the helm. While Kaep had shown some promise, he had also shown his inexperience and made some "rookie" mistakes.  It was only to be expected that he would face his toughest challenge under the glare of the playoff lights against a MVP caliber QB in Aaron Rodgers. Sure enough, he came out and threw a pick-6 and I bet most Niner fans imagined the worst from Kaep and the niners the rest of the way. But he shrugged it off and was just unstoppable the rest of the way. He is just unbelievably FAST! One expert called him "Cam Newton with a brain" a few months back and he looked every bit like that today. The Packers had no answer to his legs as he out-rushed Michael Vick and every other quarterback in the history of the game with 181 rushing yards. He showed why Harbaugh and some fans are excited about him. While his inexperience is what made Harbaugh's mid-season QB switch scary and confusing, his innate talent and abilities were never in question and it was all showcased in full tonight. His legs were awesome, but he also made some throws that Alex Smith can never make. In fact, very few QBs in the league can make those bullet passes with accuracy. Good day for him and the Niners and a bad day for the Packers. Their defense was bad and their offense and special teams had one crucial turnover each that donated points to the Niners in the first half. Now we get to see Kaep in the NFC championship game next week. Good for the kid. He better be "pissed off for greatness" next week.

To Kaep or not to Kaep

The call Jim Harbaugh had to make a couple of weeks back was indeed tough. He decided to switch to Colin Kaepernick, who finally lost a game today against the Saint Louis Rams. Kaep made 2 or 3 costly mistakes that betrayed his inexperience. This is not to say Alex Smith is a better QB or even that he would have won the game against the Rams, but Smith probably wouldn't have made those exact mistakes. He could have made 2 or 0 or 10 other mistakes, but not those specific ones. Kaep ran back almost 20 yards and ended up in his own end-zone taking a safety. Even if Smith wanted to make that same stupid play, he couldn't have because he is not as athletic as Kaep to run away from the pass rush for 20 yards backwards. The other big mistake was Kaep's pitch to Ted Ginn Jr. deep in his own territory that flew over Ginn's head resulting in a fumble recovery and a TD for the Rams. That was a bad play-call more than anything else, but it was still Kaep's fault for not executing it right. It's hard to speak in hypotheticals, but a seasoned QB like Alex Smith would have had a lot more experience making such pitches, or any other play for that matter. Kaep is inexperienced and that increases the exposure to risks of all kind as we saw today.

This was the most baffling part of this whole saga for me especially if we rewind the clock 2 weeks back going into the Saints game, which Kaep eventually started, played well, and won. I was surprised at the media and some fans even asking for Kaep. Young QBs are going to lose you some games just on their own. That's true for even top prospects like Andrew Luck and RG-III. You pay that price and accept that risk for the rewards down the road. Colts, for instance, are hoping to be a perennial playoff contender between 2014 and 2025 or whatever and they are more than happy to let Luck take his lumps in 2012 and crash and burn and learn. They probably cheer every time he throws a pick because a smart, talented QB like that is going to learn from it and get better every day. They don't care a whole lot about their win-loss record this year, though that is changing fast with the way Luck is already leading them to the playoffs. Same with the Redskins and RG-III. Kaepernick is in the same growth phase too, but the difference is, his team is not. The niners are a legitimate super bowl contender in 2012 and they cannot afford losing a game or 2 because of Kaep's immaturity. A single loss could be the difference between the niners hosting the NFL championship game or a playoff game at the stick versus going to a hostile environment on the road. That's no joke. The safe option would have been to stick with the veteran Alex Smith and mitigate the risks. Why fix something that ain't broken?

On the flip side, I do agree with all the expert's analysis that Kaep's upside is probably better than Alex and he has the potential to be a deadlier, better, and a more accurate passer than Smith. Harbaugh obviously agrees with that given that they traded up to draft him last season and he has been sneaking him in through those wildcat packages all season, much more than Rex Ryan has been doing with Tebow. Harbaugh finally slowed down the wildcat experiments when it clearly started affecting Alex Smith's rhythm, but then Smith got hurt and we all got to see Kaep play complete games. Harbaugh couldn't resist putting his boy in and taking the risk hoping for the rewards of the higher upside. I am sure he agonized over this decision. On the one had, he had a QB in Smith who had won him a tonne of games including the playoff game against the Saints last season where he was brilliant, and was completing over 70% of his passes this season. On the other hand was the perceived limitations of Smith which were exposed by the NY Giants in the other playoff game last season and the hope that Kaepernick does not suffer from the same limitations. If Kaep was going to be the future, why not start the future today? But the safer choice would have definitely been to stick with Smith for this year and if he loved Kaep that much, turn the reins over to him next year right from the start.

Super Bowl contenders don't change their starting QBs halfway through the season. Most super bowl contenders are not led by first year starters either. I am not saying Kaep cannot do it for sure this year and it will all play out soon in front of your eyes. Dan Marino and Tom Brady have taken their teams to the Super Bowl in their first year as starters - Marino as a rookie and Brady won the Super Bowl as a second year, injury replacement much like Kaep. But it's definitely not a common occurrence. My gut says it won't happen with these niners either. I pick Kaep and the niners to fall short of the Super Bowl again making us wonder what would have happened with Smith at the helm. I think Kaep will play well, show flashes of brilliance, and realize some of that potential everybody sees, but won't go all the way this season. The real unlucky guy is all this is Alex Smith. Not only did he lose his job to a concussion, he lost it while having the best season of his career and as a league leader in completion percentage. Things always seem to work against this guy. Harbaugh doesn't seem like the sentimental type, but many people say he should have gone back to Smith out of loyalty and fairness. But some people agree with him and say he should stick with the guy he thinks gives him the best chance to win the Super Bowl and that clearly is Kaepernick in Harbaugh's mind. So he went with the bottom line - loyalty be damned. Nice guys finish last. Harbaugh is a lot of things, nice is not one of them. But he might now have to deal with some bad karma.