Because Broadway Joe Is Too Mainstream

Perhaps it was Beyonce's overly elaborate halftime show, the energy flowing in the Ravens' direction, or just simply poor planning that was the reason for Sunday's blackout in the Super Bowl, the game will stand as one of the greatest modern NFL championship games and not because of it being the "Bro Bowl." The blackout completely disrupted the course of the game and the flow of the Ravens offense. Not to make excuses, but that time lapse may have cost Baltimore a ring, had it not been for the lovable Super Bowl MVP, Joe Flacco, and his late game heroics to keep the game at a stalemate. Yes, a stalemate. Most Super Bowl MVP's became known for record setting or clutch performances, but Flacco's main contribution was keeping the game as it was, never allowing the 49ers to take the lead, despite a dominant and frightening 2nd half. Flacco's game basically represented everything about him as a player and a person. Though it may sound cliché, Joe Flacco is what every parent wants their child to grow up to become, by playing in the NFL, but not losing touch with the intangibles that got him there. Flacco may not possess the alien talents of Peyton, the flashiness and conceit of Brady, or the dynamic ability to go from mediocre at best to future Canton inductee of Eli. Joe is just Joe. A good way to imagine Flacco is as gravity, he may not always be visible or receive credit for everything, but he is essential to the well being of the universe and everything that happens in it.

Flacco says that his personality complements his team's low key, blue collar city, in the aspect that he doesn't put up jaw dropping stats, expect to win, or change his whole profile as a quarterback in the 2 minute offense. The way Flacco won the MVP was him just being himself. Although you could argue Jacoby Jones and his 2 enthralling touchdowns, the blackout divided the game into 2 completely different contests. I initially thought Jones was a shoe in for the MVP of the game for putting up one of the most electrifying and memorable collection of plays, but when Roger Goodell announced Flacco the recipient of the brand new Corvette, I can honestly say I agreed with him 100%. It would have been nice to see Ray Lewis win the MVP had he had an iconic Ray Lewis performance for the last game of his career, but after all the speculation directed towards Flacco for being an illegitimate force in the NFL, him winning it all may have finally put away everyone who said he couldn't. Not to mention being the Super Bowl MVP, Flacco is also in the history books as the winningest road quarterback in NFL playoff history. If there needs to be anymore proof that Flacco is an NFL elite, this proves it, he was able to do arguably the hardest thing in sports more than Joe Montana, Johnny Unitas, and Tom Brady ever did.

Another Family Reunion..

As if the sporting world wasn't already in awe after Sunday when the Harbaugh brothers were destined to meet in Super Bowl XLVII, it was further in shock once the blockbuster trade between the Braves and Diamondbacks sent highly coveted outfielder, Justin Upton, to join his newly acquired brother, B.J. in Atlanta, earlier this week. The meeting of these two brothers may not be as monumental as the Harbaughs making their parents pick sides for the Super Bowl, but because these two players are among the most exciting in the game today, fans have room to wonder how they will compare to some of the best brother duos in baseball...

The Dean brothers- Dizzy and Daffy Dean led the pitching staff (Well, Hall of Famer Dizzy did at least) of the notorious Gashouse Gang in St. Louis to a domination of the National League in the 1930's, along with some help from the late Stan Musial. Originally named Howard and Paul, their nicknames perfectly fit their personality which is why, whenever I think of the Dean brothers, I think of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum from the original Alice in Wonderland. Notice how I said original, not the stereotypical big and stupid depictions from the newer version, as it was hard to not like these loveable brothers who were always good for a chuckle, helping them build the image of 1930's Cardinals baseball. The shenanigans of the Deans weren't like the crude hoaxes recent players like Manny Ramirez have became known for, they were more accustomed to a qoute Roy Campanella once gave, "To play baseball you need to be a man, but you also gotta have a lot of little boy in you too."  Unlike current players, the Deans recognized why they were playing, not for the check at the end of the year, but solely for the love of the game. Whether it was their goofy antics with the press and their teammates that could have landed them a role in a Disney cartoon or just because they were brothers dressed in the same uniform playing the same position, the Deans kept baseball laughing, something current players fail to do, unless at one's expense like Ryan Braun falling down rounding third after attempting an inside the park homerun last year.

The Waner Brothers- One of the few bright points in Pittsburgh Pirate history other than Bill Mazeroski's 1960 Game 7 walkoff homerun and the lasting legacy of Roberto Clemente, was their notorious brother duo of Paul and Lloyd Waner, nicknamed as Big Poison and Little Posion. Lloyd's nickname, (Little Poison) fit him more with his 5-9 stature than Paul (Big Posion) who was actually an inch shorter. (If any of my old timer readers know the reasoning behind the nicknames please comment!) Pitchers used to call which brother to pitch to "picking their poison" this rarely went in the pitchers' favor, as both Paul and Lloyd were career .300 hitters and remain as the only brothers to both be elected into the Hall of Fame.

The Alou Brothers - It is hard to think of a family that has contributed more to baseball than the Alous. With brothers Felipe, Matty, and Jesus all playing together on the San Francisco dynasty that never was. The Giants of the 1960's put together maybe some of the most talented rosters in baseball history, next to Murderer's Row of the 1920's Yankees. The Alou brothers were under appreciated on a team with Hall of Famers like Orlando Cepeda, Willie Mays,  Willie McCovey, and Juan Marichal. What the Alou brothers are best known for is a game at the previous home of the Giants, the Polo Grounds, in 1963. Late in the game, San Francisco manager, Alvin Dark, pinch hit Matty and Jesus for the last two lineup slots, and with Felipe penciled in at leadoff, baseball history was made as they became the first, and to this day, only 3 brothers to bat consecutively, not really the most followed stat. The Alou brothers experienced their best taste of greatness after they went their separate ways, such as Matty winning 2 batting titles and leading the league in hits with the Pirates. Even though they were either premature or underrated when they played together, the Alou brothers are remembered for making history together by setting a record that may not ever be broken, with the odds of someone making it to the MLB being worse than 16,000:1, imagine what the odds of 2 brothers are, let alone 3.Felipe's son, Moises, played professionally himself also including a stint with the Giants, one of the two times Felipe stood as Moises' manager.

With the Uptons joining forces in Atlanta, there are a lot of possibilities on what they can accomplish. As much as I would like to see B.J. and Justin be dual threats like the Waners, who knows what kind of brotherly love and antics these two will display, or what kind history relating to brotherhood could be made. Despite losing longtime offensive backbone, Chipper Jones, to retirement, the Braves are anything but soft, heading into this season with the Uptons AND Jason Heyward playing the outfield and likely batting 2,3,4, looking to bring Atlanta its first World Series trophy since 1995.

A Battle of Brothers: The HarBowl

When Cary Williams picked off Tom Brady's desperation pass in the final minutes of yesterday's contest between the Ravens and Patriots in Foxboro, the stage was set for the NFL's most famous and extensive bloodline, next to the Mannings, to face off in New Orleans for Super Bowl XLVII. There cannot be a more storied matchup for the Super Bowl than brothers opposing each other. The only way people thought this could be possible was Peyton vs. Eli, but ever since the 49ers/Ravens Thanksgiving clash last November, I have been wondering about what would happen if these two brothers faced each other on the sport's greatest stage. As kickoff approaches, and the  two week long festivities commence, the relationship between these two brothers will turn into somewhat of an urban legend to satisfy the population looking for any form of drama. Before you know it, the media will warp the story so much to the extent that instead of being 15 months apart, they were actually twins and fought to get out of the womb first. What most people don't realize is that the two coaches only control so much of the game. The players are actually the ones performing on the field, and there is much more to the game than two brothers, so from now on, I will give all fans a break from the hype around the Harbaughs that every sports show, site, and newspaper will cover for the next two weeks, and analyze the game by the ones who put the coaches' orders into action.

Unlike most Super Bowl bound teams, I find it hard and nearly impossible to not like the 49ers. Yogi Berra once said, "It's deja vu all over again," and I think the current 49ers are the rebirth from the late '80s into the early '90s dating back to iconic era of Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, and Steve Young. now with back to back conference championship game appearances, it seems like the days of the 49ers being a mediocre team are behind them and have returned to glory. Now instead of the legendary Montana, there is the exciting, electric Colin Kaepernick under center. And now replacing Jerry Rice as the primary catalyst of the San Francisco offense is running back, Frank Gore. The 49ers are a marriage of youth and experience. Youth providing the ability to create big plays, and experience providing the knowledge to get it done. San Fran has proven that even with a rookie quarterback, they can beat the NFL's elite, by beating Aaron Rodgers and his playoff ripened Packers, and even though they haven't proved themselves to be clutch playoff performers, top seeded Atlanta, at home. The game changer has been the elusive Kaepernick creating plays and changing momentum. Early on, yesterday, the 49ers were struggling and I think it was mainly because Kaepernick wasn't able to break open the running game, but once he did make a couple of plays in the second half, there was no looking back for the 'niners as both Kaepernick and Gore were able to play their individual games.

What may be harder to hate than the 49ers, may actually be there opponent, the Ravens. Despite all of the obstacles, somehow the Ravens are here. In fact, the obstacles just add to the entire Hollywood aspect of the Baltimore season. It seems like the entire season for the Ravens has been the script for an Oscar nominee in the best drama category. From the passing of owner Art Modell (the Art patch on Ravens uniforms) to Ray Lewis tearing his tricep, but pledging to be back for the playoffs to end his NFL career, and firing offensive coordinator Cam Cameron at 9-4, the fact that the Ravens are here seems just to good to be true. With the ever spiritual Ray Lewis inspiring more than just his team and fans, but the whole country and a mentally and physically strong core group of players, the Ravens meet Tom Coughlin's description of last year's Super Bowl champion Giants, "Humble enough to prepare, confident enough to perform."

The outcome is unknown and nor have I decided whether to don my Ray Rice or Michael Crabtree jersey on the day of the Super Bowl. There is so much to like about each team, and I won't make any predictions for a while until I analyze the matchups. I wouldn't mind if either team won,  and the teams seem to be so evenly matched that I won't take any chances with betting big in Vegas. Although one possibility that could sway me to the Ravens would be the unreliability of Colin Kaepernick's style of play, but his explosive running style could also bring the Lombardi Trophy back to San Francisco to join the Giants' World Series trophy.