Last year at this time we were enjoying a perfect mid-winter week in Indianapolis. The temperature was in the mid-40s to low 50s all week, it was dry, and the hordes who had descended upon the city delighted in their Super Bowl week experiences.

As I type this as 2:18 pm on February 1, 2013 the windchill is a brisk 5°. It snowed yesterday and last night. There was a massive pileup on one local interstate yesterday. I spent four hours trying in vain to get to a high school basketball game on another highway that was iced over and littered with stalled tractor-trailers. And we’re going to get 2-4” of snow tomorrow.

Man did we dodge a bullet last year.

Before I share my Super Bowl pick, I would be remiss if I did not point out that I chose the Ravens to win the Super Bowl way back in September. Of course I picked the Bears as their opponent, so perhaps I should not tout my prognostication skills too much.

Most years I get some kind of feel for who is going to win. This year I can’t get an accurate reading. I don’t have a ton of faith in Joe Flacco going against the 49ers defense and getting the big plays he’s been getting for the last month. But I also am not sure that Colin Kaepernick can keep playing like a seasoned veteran in the biggest game of the year. Can the Ravens defense turn back the clock for one more game? Can the Niners count on David Akers to put anything through the uprights?

I have no answers to any of those questions.

But I think San Francisco’s defense is a little better than Baltimore’s, not to mention more likely to play well Sunday. And their offense has more balance and more weapons than the Ravens’. I think I’ve made my pick.

San Francisco 24
Baltimore 20