THE LATEST LINE: RAVENS RECEIVE A SHAKY NOD TO WIN THE SUPER BOWL

People have been asking me two things regarding today's Super Bowl.

First, who's going to win?

Second, will there be any touchdowns?

To the first part later. As for the second part, well, there's no question that points do figure to be at a premium when the Baltimore Ravens and New York Giants -- two defense-oriented teams -- square off in Tampa, Fla.

But would a low-scoring Super Bowl be all that bad? Sure, last season's game between the Rams and Titans was a thriller, but more often than not over the last 10 or 15 years football's biggest contest has turned out to be a blowout.

With two squads like the Ravens and Giants going at it, you don't figure either team is going to be able to score enough to pull away from the other, which means we could be in for a down-to-the-wire affair.

The Giants did show their offensive explosiveness in the NFC championship game as they routed the Vikings 41-0, but most people think that explosion was due to Minnesota's porous defensive as much as anything.

The Ravens have shown absolutely no offensive explosiveness in the playoffs, but that hasn't prevented them from cruising.

Even if Baltimore had any kind of offensive firepower, it's doubtful we would see it. The Ravens' game plan every time out is for the offense simply not to mess things up so the defense and special teams can show the way. It hasn't often been pretty, but it sure has worked.

When I evaluate the two teams as unscientifically as possible, I give the Giants a slight edge on offense (Kerry Collins over Trent Dilfer at quarterback is a no-brainer) and the Ravens maybe a little bit bigger edge on defense, although New York's defense is certainly stout.

I normally would shy away from picking a team quarterbacked by Dilfer to win a Super Bowl, but the Ravens made a believer out of me when they went to Tennessee and stunned the Titans, then visited Oakland and dominated the Raiders. Dilfer and the offense did little in each game, but the way the defense played, they didn't have to.

So, in a game that I look to be close most of the way, my prediction is Baltimore 16, New York 10. (Yes, there will be some touchdowns, but probably not many)

How confident am I about this pick? Not very, because I wouldn't be surprised if the Giants won. That's how much of a tossup I see this game being.

But I've got to pick somebody, right? And the way I figure, you can't go wrong with a team that has a player like Tony Siragusa, the Ravens' 360-pound (at least) defensive lineman who is as quick to make fun of his not-so-svelte physique as he is to slam a quarterback.

How can you not root for a guy who looks like he spends half his day at an all-you-can-eat restaurant and the other half at the neighborhood tavern? And he can play!

The Ravens it is.

* The school is buried deep on their resumes, but the fact is Southeast Missouri State University can now lay proud claim to being an early career stop for two NFL head coaches.

Marty Mornhinweg, an assistant with the Indians' football program in 1989 and 1990, was named earlier this week as Detroit's new boss. He joins Oakland's Jon Gruden, a SEMO assistant in 1988, in the NFL head coaching ranks.

Mornhinweg, San Francisco's offensive coordinator the past few seasons and an NFL assistant since 1995, had been mentioned for a while as being a leading candidate to become a head coach on football's highest level

* Congratulations are in order for Josh Crowell, Cape Central High School's fine young wrestling coach, and his team for compiling the program's first winning dual-match record in 17 years.

The Tigers finished their dual season at 5-4-1, which might not seem all that impressive. But the energetic Crowell is certainly doing quite a job in renewing the wrestling interest at his alma mater.

With Crowell now on the area coaching scene along with Jackson's outstanding Steve Wachter, who annually has the Indians among the state's better programs, local wrestling looks to be in great shape.