Growing up, I wasn't religious at all. I'm of a frame of mind that you don't need specific books or people to guide you towards being a good person, but the Super Bowl had always been the closest thing to a religious tradition I had. It was something I took very seriously, planned and prepared for, and always enjoyed. Even the blowouts were still rather fun to watch. I look back on the old Super Bowls and wish that my tradition could stretch back even further. This year's contest offers lots of intrigue. In my mind, the game can go three ways. One outcome the NFL won't like but can spin it into an epic showdown easily, and the other two would be wonderful for the NFL in terms of media coverage.

Outcome #1

Both quarterbacks think that the Super Bowl lights shine too bright. The game turns out to be a replica of the 16-6 slugfest they played on Thanksgiving last year. We already know Joe Flacco is capable of putting up some ugly performances, and if Colin Kaepernick doesn't get into a rhythm in the passing game the Ravens will have no problem adjusting. While no one wants to see offensive ineptitude in the Super Bowl, it would at least justify the countless hours we have spent talking about Ray Lewis by highlighting his 20 tackle performance as one of the league's most legendary performances. He rides off into the sunset on his PED, Murder Mystery, 2 time Super Bowl MVP horse to the set of ESPN NFL Kickoff.

Outcome #2

Hopefully hugs can turn to headlocks on Sunday.

The lights shine too bright for only one of the quarterbacks, leading to a one sided affair. For Joe Flacco, people would have to at least begrudgingly agree that he doesn't suck. He will also get his payday. 5 years, 5 playoff appearances, 3 championship game appearances, and one Super Bowl win will get you paid. Remember in 2005 when Tom Brady made peanuts compared to Peyton Manning after he won 3 SUPER BOWLS? Yeah, Joe Flacco won't let that happen. For Jim Harbaugh, he will complete the most meteoric rise in recent memory. 7 years ago he was coaching in 1-AA! He put juice into a lifeless Stanford program, and he doesn't hold all the juice because the program is able to sustain itself post-Harbaugh. He then has worked his same magic on an even more lifeless 49ers team in half the time. For the equally as young Colin Kaepernick, he will go from small school college quarterback, to superstar status overnight. The pressure is then on to further evolve his game and prove that the Pistol offense is not a gimmick.

Outcome #3

Both quarterbacks have for-the-ages performances and we are all treated to one of the greatest Super Bowls ever. Joe Flacco goes bombs away, and Colin Kaepernick runs the Raven's defense up and down the field for a game that will be as wild as the neighboring French Quarter. Hopefully whoever has to make the final drive to win is down by 4 and not 3 because Santonio Holmes, Eli Manning, and Tracy Porter have ruined the magic of the last second field goal. Now it's all about the 80+ yard game winning touchdown drive. The thought of Joe Flacco bombing it 50 yards down the field late trailing 38-34, or likewise will make any NFL fan salivate with glee (well obviously not those on the losing end.)

Inane Super Bowl Lists

My buddy Trosclair has been posting Top X Super Bowl Y list's to my wall without reading them, and some of them were far off the mark. So I decided if awful Super Bowl lists are allowed on more popular websites, than my slightly less than awful lists can belong on this less popular website.

Top 10 Super Bowls

10. Super Bowl V (Baltimore Colts vs. Dallas Cowboys)- The original "to-the wire" Super Bowl. The game was so close because there were 12 turnover (8 by the winning Colts.) The game came down to kicker Jim O'Brien, who struggled kicking on artificial turf, which is what the Orange Bowl had. He had alread missed an extra point but was able to kick the winning field goal as time expired to win 16-13. I give this game the edge over Super Bowl III because everything that made Super Bowl III great happened outside the game, this games drama came from the game itself.

9. Super Bowl XLIV (New Orleans Saints vs. Indianapolis Colts)- Lower because the game ultimately became a blowout, but had great moments in it's own right. The 10 minute scrum following the Saint's bold move to onside kick at the start of the second half set it apart from other Super Bowls. And while it ended up being a 31-17 Saint's victory at the end, Peyton Manning was driving to tie the game with 3 minutes to go before Tracy Porter dashed 70 yards into the heart of all Saint's fans to wrap up the city's first Lombardi Trophy.

8. Super Bowl XXXII (Denver Broncos vs. Green Bay Packers)

Fourth time was the charm for John Elway, and this game ultimately sent his and Brett Favre's career in opposite parallel directions. Elway finally got the monkey off his back by winning 31-24 with one of his trademark "Drives" and added one more Super Bowl to lock himself in as one of the NFL's greatest quarterbacks. Brett Favre, on the other hand, never got back to the Super Bowl in 14 more years of trying, but through the magic of lore and a previous Super Bowl trophy still became one of the NFL's greatest quarterbacks.

7. Super Bowl XIII (Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Dallas Cowboys

Notable for being the first Super Bowl shootout, Pittsburgh won this game 35-31. The Steelers were up 35- 17 with 7 minutes to go in the game before Dalla's mounted a furious comeback. The Cowboys scored in 8 plays, and then recovered an onside kick and scored in 2 plays with 22 seconds to play, only to come up short when their onside kick attempt failed. The game is also very notable for featuring 14 Hall of Famers, including coaches Chuck Noll and Tom Landry.

6. Super Bowl XLII (New York Giants vs. New England Patriots)- This one wouldn't even be listed if not for the implicatons and a bit of helmet wackiness. We all know the story by now, Tom Brady and the Patriots were going for 19-0, when Darth Vader Eli Manning and David Tyree went down the field to score late to win the game 17-14. It was the only time all year New England played scared, and I think the pressure finally caught up to them. This Super Bowl earned a lot more credibilty when the Giants defeated the Brady/Belichick Bros. in the same fashion last year, proving that the Giants have the Patriots goat rather than the Patriots just freezing under pressure.

5. Super Bowl XXXVI (New England Patriots vs. St. Louis Rams)- Everyone loves the underdog. The Patriots were the ultimate underdog with then-unproven Tom Brady facing off against then-unstoppable Kurt Warner. This was at a time when American's were still reeling from the 9/11 attacks and Patriotism couldn't have been higher. Tom Brady's original late game heroics and Adam Vinatieri's game winning field goal launched the Patriot's from NFL also ran to top valued franchise. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have remained in the upper echelon of the NFL in the 12 years following that 20-17 win.

4. Super Bowl XXV (New York Giants vs. Buffalo Bills)- The Cinderella Super Bowl ending story usually has the kicker being the knight in shining armor. This Super Bowl was great because it went down to the wire, and we finally get to kill the kicker for missing the biggest kick of his life. The Giants were operating with their back up quarterback Jeff Hostetler and Bill Parcells devised a game plan that limited the high flying Bill's offense (the Giants has the ball for 40 minute of the game.) Scott Norwood missed wide right on a 47 yard field goal and got social media level hazing about way before social media was even a thought.

3. Super Bowl XXXIV (St. Louis Rams vs. Tennessee Titans)- From 1979-98, all but two Super Bowls had been laughable blow outs, but this Super Bowl set off a decade of (mostly) amazing Super Bowls. The game was a defensive 16-16 slugfest when Issac Bruce opened it up with a 77 yard touchdown on an "All-Go" pattern. The Titans responded with their own attempt to tie the game. Steve McNair drove his team all the way to the 6 when Kevin Dyson was tackled on the one yard line as time expired and the Titans fell one yard short 23-16.

2. Super Bowl XLIII (Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Arizona Cardinals)- This goes down as the greatest Super Bowl I have ever seen. Kurt Warner threw a 100 yard interception that swung the game from potential 14-14 tie, to 21-7 Steeler lead at halftime. Arizona fought back, scoring a touchdown and a safety before Larry Fitzgerald took a 64 yard pass to the house to give the Cardinals a 23-20 lead with 2 and a half minutes to play. Unabashed Saint's fan Ricky remembers watching Larry Fitzgerald running down the field thinking "I CANNOT believe the CARDINALS are going to get a Super Bowl Victory before the Saints. Surely, I thought we would get one before them!" Ben Roethlisberger, haunted by his putrid performance in Super Bowl XL, drove the Steelers 82 yards to rewrite his Super Bowl story with a dramatic tip-toe catch by Santonio Holmes that was thrown into triple coverage. Ben Rothlisberger is also the only quarterback to win 2 Super Bowls and not be the MVP in either of them.

1. Super Bowl XXIII (San Francisco 49ers vs. Cincinnati Bengals)- The 49er dynasty was most notable for always making success look easy, but my motto is you never appreciate something if you don't work for it. In 1987, nothing was easy for Bill Walsh and his team. Injuries to Joe Montana sparked a fierce QB controversy between himself and Steve Young that would last for 5 years. They snuck into the playoffs at 10-6 after a 6-5 start. In the Super Bowl, the 49ers traded blows all night to a 16-16 tie with minutes to play in the game. Joe Montana drove 88 yards with ease, finishing with a 10 yard pass to John Taylor to seal the game and Bill Walsh's career (he would retire following that game.)

Ok, ok, enough speculation, what do you think REALLY happens on Sunday?

As a Super Bowl optimist, I hope it is outcome number 3 from my guide. Realistically, from what I know about these two teams/coaches/quarterbacks, they will spend the entirety of the first half feeling each other out, maybe trading a field goal or a touchdown. During the extended time out, I think both coaches will make the adjustments necessary to turn the game from an defensive contest to an offensive one. In the end, I think it comes down not to who makes the most mistakes, but who makes the latest mistake.

For the Ravens, that means daring Kaepernick to throw, but not giving him time to look downfield, and for the 49ers, that means Aldon Smith exposing Joe Flacco's extreme propensity towards being strip sacked. Justin Smith is banged up, and the Raven's secretly boast one of the NFL's best offensive lines. I think the threat of Jacoby Jones and Torrey Smith flying down field with Anquan Boldin and Dennis Pitta covering the middle of the field will give ray Rice some good looks on Sunday. Ultimately, I think Colin Kaepernick will fold late in the game, and will leave Coach Jim Harbaugh even hungrier to get back on the grind for Super Bowl XLVIII. The Pick: Ravens 34, 49ers 31.

This could be the next face of NFL greatness.

Next Week: Depressing poetry about the end of the NFL season, I transition back into the world of other sports, and I'll make a concerted effort ro make you care about NCAA Women's Gymnastics.

As always, follow my rambling on twitter @nflopsandobs.