Blog

I was there when the lights went out. In New Orleans at Super Bowl 47, I mean.

The people who run this blog were eager to get my take on what happened from someone who was there, but the blackout itself from the fan standpoint was pretty uneventful.

I was sitting on the club level at the 40 yard line.  Right before the lights went out, I was distracted by a sudden brightness in NFL commentator's booth to my right, then, suddenly, all the screens blinked out and the upper left corner of the stadium went dark.

There were initially boos throughout the stadium, then silence. Some people sat in their seats patiently, while others went down to the concession areas to plug in their phones along the walls and pick up food for the remaining two quarters. There were three or four announcements thanking us for being patient and letting the crowd know that the power was being worked on, but no one in the stands seemed too fazed by it. Ravens fans chatted about how this was going to break their momentum and Niners fans mentioned that this was going to be their comeback. We now know both were right!

I didn't notice an increase in security to the fans in my section but I'm sure it was there. Nobody freaked out. Everyone was nonplussed and civilized.  Pretty much, everybody just turned around and started talking to each other.

Every time any message flashed across the screens, cheers rang out all over the stadium, accompanied by the stadium announcer kindly thanking us for our patience. After about half an hour, the power returned and the stadium erupted as the game was back -- the final announcement told us the contest would be resumed in five minutes. Then the teams took the field and it was “game on!”

I wish there was more excitement to tell you, but there wasn’t. It was a big deal, behind the scenes, but nobody in the stands in my section treated it that way and there was no excessive drama. And that’s a good thing in my book!