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Baltimore Leads Semi-Blacked Out Super Bowl




The Baltimore Ravens took a commanding lead over the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl - the championship game of the U.S. National Football League - at least until the lights went out.

At the start of the second half, Baltimore's Jacoby Jones set a record with a 109-yard kickoff return, raising the Ravens' lead to 28-6.

But a short time later play came to a halt as half the lights abruptly went dark in the Superdome, a huge indoor arena in New Orleans.

Electricians scrambled to find a solution to the power problem, and finally play resumed after a 35-minute interruption. There was no immediate explanation for the partial blackout, which appeared to be confined to the Superdome.

Following the delay, the 49ers' offense revived. San Francisco scored a quick touchdown to make the score 28-13.

More than 100 million people in the United States and around the world on Sunday watched as the Ravens outclassed San Francisco in the first half of the annual championship game. Baltimore led, 21-6, midway through Super Bowl 47.

The contest is a family affair. For the first time in the four major U.S. professional sports leagues - football, baseball, basketball and hockey - brothers are opposing each other as head coaches in a championship game.

Baltimore's John Harbaugh and his younger brother, San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh, are two of the best in the business.

Pop superstar Beyonce headlined the halftime entertainment, filled with music, dancing, fireworks and spectacular special effects.



Animal Planet, a cable television station, offered alternate programming and a different type of sports competition for Americans who don't follow football. "The Puppy Bowl," nox an annual fixture opposite the Super Bowl, offered terrier touchdowns and puppy penalties, hedgehog cheerleaders on the sidelines and kittens headlining the halftime show. To the uninitiated, the canine style of play closely resembled a large group of puppies running aimlessly around on a football-field-style layout.
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