T-MINUS 24 HOURS AND COUNTING….
By Terry Swayne
Feb 2, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; A general view outside of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome as preparations are made for Super Bowl XLVII between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers.
The media day is completed, the questions have been answered…..the practices are finished and the final walk through is done. All that is left is THE GAME. These last two weeks have seemed like an eternity, but the game is now less then 24 hours away. Sadly, so too is Ray Lewis’ career, as tomorrow marks the last time Ray Lewis will ever wear his #52 jersey.
By all acounts, Ravens Nation is represented very well in New Orleans. Estimates now suggest that somewhere in the range of 22,000-25,000 Baltimore Ravens fans are in the Big Easy waiting for this game to begin. The number of Ravens fans far outweigh that of the 49ers fans. The “experts” expect a close game. Everyone thinks it will be a physically played game with a lot of emotion. The Ravens are still the underdogs by 3.5 points (down from the 4.5 starting line).
This is a nerve-racking time. Neither team has ever lost a Super Bowl in which they have played in. The Ravens are 1-0 and the San Francisco 49ers are 5-0. The Ravens got healthy at the right time and they are playing their best football when it counts. Baltimore has been dubbed the “team of destiny” and they want to win a ring for their retiring warrior, Ray Lewis, in his last game.
The 49’ers are not going to roll-over and give this game to the Ravens, as they have played great football all season long. They are playing for their own “destiny” as they’re trying to win their 6th Super Bowl ring, which would tie the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most all time in NFL history. This time tomorrow, we will see who is the true “team of destiny”. It should be a great game. GO RAVENS!