Passionate 49ers fans abound among students of community colleges in Northern California. Their take on who will win the 47th Super Bowl is understandably biased but they insist their verdict is based on facts and not fiction.
“Kaepernick is awesome,” says Matt. “His rushing and passing will leave the Ravens clueless. Ravens’ Joe Flacco is no pushover for sure, but Kaepernick can think faster on his feet. Definitely the Niners!”
“49ers are a younger team. A younger team will beat an older team.” That’s the verdict of Scott.
For Vincent, picking a winner is easy. “Niners have the better defense. Ravens are good but not as good as the Niners.”
For Ruby, it comes down to Brothers Harbaugh. “Both are savvy coaches. Both understand the game very well. But Jim is a better strategist than John. He is also the younger one!”
A novel perspective comes from Nancy. “Just remember who won the World Series last year! SF Giants came from the brink twice to win Baseball’s ultimate trophy. 49ers will be riding on that momentum. The Force is with the San Francisco teams this season.”
Jason has been rooting for the San Jose Sharks hockey team ever since the franchise came into being and has been heartbroken more times than he can remember. But he is also caught up with the 49ers fever and sees omens all over the place. “Sharks are on a roll this season. As of now they are 7-0. What a perfect way to tell the 49ers, ‘Hey guys, beat the Ravens on Sunday.’”
A statistics professor sums up the situation. “49ers will win because they are the better team overall.”
“Why do you say that?”
The professor sighs. “It’s all in the statistics.”
“Can you be more specific?”
“Yes, I can. The Niners are the better team in rushing, defense, blocking, kicking, you name it. Look up the data. In statistics, we deal with uncertainty and how to quantify it. There is always the possibility that the Ravens will come through. But the data, and my head and heart, tells me it will be San Francisco. They will win it by 20-14.”
Postscript (2/4/13): Wrong, wrong, wrong! This is the flaw with prediction. You are as likely to be wrong as right, in fact, more wrong than right! In any case, a team that allows the opposing team to make an end-to-end rush doesn't deserve to win.
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