Some delayed, assorted thoughts from what was a pretty super Super Bowl.

I struggled with which team to pull for. I much prefer John Harbaugh to Jim. But the Ravens have Ray Lewis. I admire Joe Flacco but am in awe of Colin Kaepernick. San Francisco is one of my favorite places in the world. But The Wire took place in Baltimore. So many factors. In the end I went with my pick and leaned Niners. Ravens fans, please thank me.

You know what’s crazy? For all the Andrew Luck and RGIII hype for the past year, Colin Kapernick may end up being better and more successful than either of them. He may not be a world-class sprinter, but other than RGIII there isn’t a QB in the NFL who is a more effective and dangerous runner than him. He may not be the prototypical NFL QB like Luck, but he has a cannon for an arm. Who knows if his teams will be good enough to keep him in the title hunt each year, but for a team I have no real rooting interest in, I’m super excited about the Kaepernick era. I hope he stays healthy and the Niners keep their roster stocked so watching him deep into January is an annual event.

That excitement stated, he still has a long way to go. I can’t be too critical given that Sunday was just his 10th start, but I hated the way he managed the clock. The Niners needed time late in the game and he lost so much time on each play throughout the game as he took in the defense, adjusted the play, and then barely got the ball snapped before the play clock ran out. Just think how dangerous he’s going to be once he masters the play book and learns to get plays off quickly.

So no real criticism of him there. But whoever was calling the plays on the Niners’ final possession does get the gasface. What an awful sequence. It’s tough enough to score on the Baltimore defense on a very short field like that. But give your team a chance. Forget the non-calls that Niners fans are bitching about. That felt like a possession that was ruined by the coaches, not the players or refs.

Such a strange game. How often do you see a massive swing in who controls the game like that in the Super Bowl? The Ravens were running the Niners off the field, or about to. Then the Niners were utterly dominant for 20-25 minutes after that.

How does Jima Harbaugh go an entire game without getting marker all over his face as he jabs his pens back into their caps while holding them in his teeth? I think that would be kind of awesome if his face had red and blue smears all over it by the fourth quarter.

When is someone going to come up with HD-friendly confetti? I hate how the end of every Super Bowl, BCS title game, or NCAA title game is marred by those awful, grainy shots because of the streamers that are floating down from the rafters.

But I do love shots of winning players making sow angels in the confetti.

Remember when Super Bowls sucked? Most of the 80/ and 90s were awful. Now it seems like we get a classic each year. By my count, ten of the last 14 Super Bowls have been exciting and interesting and competitive.

Non-football stuff:

Beyonce was an inspired choice. Appeals to the kids without pissing off the hipsters and old folks as the Black Eyed Peas did a couple years back. I’ll admit I was hoping for a wardrobe malfunction. Is that wrong?

Commercials: pretty mediocre crop this year. I liked Amy Poehler’s Best Buy spot, although that was kind of an odd pairing and it didn’t seem like everyone else loved it.

The Taco Bell old folks spot reversed a long run of shitty commercials by them. Perhaps my favorite of the night.

It’s an old joke but its a damn shame that Stevie Wonder has fallen so far that he has to do ads for Bud Light. It was one thing to license “Superstition”. Another to be the voodoo king, or whatever he was supposed to be. But it has been over 30 years since he wrote a decent song.

I’m clearly elitist and out of touch because I didn’t care much for either Dodge’s Paul Harvey ad or the Bud Clydesdale ad. Clearly I hate America.

Pitchers and Catchers report next week!

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