When the lights go down in the city...

Sports fans, sorry for the hiatus. I was going to post something after championship Sunday, especially since I picked the correct Superbowl teams at the beginning of the season, the Ravens and the Niners.

But things have been crazy busy lately, and I just haven't spent much time in front of a computer. Plus it's not like I was going to post anything about the Pro Bowl. I, like many people in the sports industry, think the Pro Bowl is a joke. All Star type games typically are more of an exhibition game in general, but the Pro Bowl, in my opinion, is the worst of them all. But I already ranted about this last year. And no, I didn't watch the Pro Bowl this year.

I realized that though I made my Superbowl prediction of Ravens vs Niners, I did not pick a winner prior to this post.

Well, I did pick a winner prior to the game. I picked Baltimore to win, and to win a close one. My friends, family and co-workers can back me up since they all asked who I thought was going to win and I said Baltimore.

But if you need further proof, here is a screenshot of my U Pick Em Football Pool entry that I made before the game.

Not only did I pick Baltimore to win, but I predicted a score of 34-30. The final score was 34-31. Wow. I really should have placed a bet in Vegas, I would have made some money. Next year I guess!

So, yes, the HarBowl, SuperBaugh, Harbaugh Bowl is officially down in the history books. And it was a historical night, that is for sure. The first blackout in Superbowl history, which I suppose is fitting, since people blackout in the city of New Orleans on a regular basis (sorry, couldn't resist).

Though seriously, the blackout during the Superbowl? Some of the funniest social media commentary was made. One of my favorites? "The Superdome wasn't ready for this jelly." Which of course, makes reference to the Destiny's Child "Bootylicious" song and since Beyonce had just finished her halftime show, yeah.

Prior to the blackout, the Baltimore Ravens were steamrolling over the 49ers, which Jacoby Jones having just run a kickoff return for a touchdown. It was starting to look like it was "lights out" for San Francisco when the lights, well, literally went out.

Many people called conspiracy, but I highly doubt that's true (thought I will say, there were many hilarious posts on twitter). However, it did give Baltimore plenty of time to lose their momentum, and plenty of time for the 49ers to gain theirs.

After the 30+ minute delay, San Francisco came back with a vengeance. The Ravens struggled offensively, and the defense couldn't read Kaepernick. It came down to the wire, and the 49ers looked like they had a chance to win the game, driving down the field, 1st and goal. But the 49ers were unable to score a touchdown, though many feel that on 4th down holding should have been called. In fact, that play itself has been a big topic today, and of course, Jim Harbaugh has mentioned it, oh, a few times.

Here's the deal here. The refs make a lot of bad calls, non-calls, etc. all the time. In bigger games, for whatever reason, they seem more reluctant to call holding and so forth and just "let them play the game." Personally, I think that mentality is wrong. Ref calls shouldn't change whether it's regular season or postseason. Maybe it means they shouldn't call these penalties period unless it's blatant and clearly would have an impact on the game. Although ask any Rams fan and we'll tell you that in Superbowl XXXVI, the refs were clearly on the Patriots side that game. Nevermind the fact that the Rams still had a shot at the end of the game and their defense blew it, or that Mad Mike Martz coached that game horribly.

When your team is the one losing, it's easy to get angry. But at the end of the day you have to give credit to the Ravens and John Harbaugh. The first half set the outcome of this game. And as much as people may want to harp on this or that, the fact is, the 49ers didn't show up until the 2nd half. And that was a half too late.

It was still a very fun Superbowl to watch. And I'm sure that Jim and the 49ers will continue to have a shot at future Superbowls. The Ravens? This was probably their best shot at winning. So congrats to them. I'm not going to say Ray Lewis because, well, I'm not a big fan of his but I'm happy for John Harbaugh, Joe Flacco, Anquan Boldin, Ed Reed, Torry Smith, Jacoby Jones, etc.

What was not fun to watch? The whole CBS pre-game/during game/post game crew. I'm sorry, but I just find the CBS announcing crew boring. Listening to Phil Simms and Jim Nance is like watching paint dry. Not that the A Team of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman at FOX are that much better but...at least they show some emotion.

And no offense to Shannon Sharpe, but during blackout he was given was too much screen time because I guess they didn't know what to do with the booth being out as well (not that Simms and Nance had much to say anyway). Look, I respect Sharpe for his NFL career but as a commentator? Oy. Dan Marino isn't much better. The best thing CBS Sports has is Greg Gumbel.

And why is it that CBS Sports has no women? FOX, NBC and ESPN do? Why is CBS all male? Maybe that's why the broadcasts are so boring. Hey CBS, I've love to provide some female commentary. ;-)

This is my least favorite time of the year. No football, no baseball (yet). I know NBA and NHL is going on, but...I'm just not as engaged with the NBA/NHL, at least not until the playoffs start. Part of it is because the seasons for both are typically so long, though this year the NHL is not.

I am going to try to follow both more. If I don't this blog may not get updated until April. I do think the St. Louis Blues have a good shot at the cup this year. They did last year, but the LA Kings spoiled it. I will admit the shortened season has me following the Blues a bit more. We'll see.

More of my opinions from the crazy world of sports coming soon.