Sports
A 'Super' Trip for Odenton Man and Son
Odenton resident Alan Simpson and his son, Bradley, were in New Orleans as the Ravens won Super Bowl XLVII over the 49ers.
Sunday was a great day for Alan Simpson and his son, Bradley.
The Odenton residents were in New Orleans for about 16 hours, but they made a visit to Bourboun Street, munched on some beignets at Café Du Monde and then watched the Baltimore Ravens edge the San Francisco 49ers to win the Super Bowl.
The father and son paid more than $9,000 to Prime Sports for a chartered flight and tickets to the game; it was a special treat from Alan to Bradley, an honor roll student and junior at Arundel High.
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The game itself was a wild one, as the Ravens jumped out to an early lead that quieted 49ers fans in the Simpsons' section.
"We were pretty sure we were going to win the game. We had 49ers fans around us and they had pretty much given up,” Alan Simpson said.
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That was before the power outage.
Early in the third quarter and with the Ravens up 28-6, the lights went out in half of the Superdome, pausing the game for more than 30 minutes.
"We didn’t really notice right away, we were on the side that had lights," Simpson said. "It wasn’t until they stopped playing that we noticed.”
He said that it took more than 10 minutes for stadium officials to make any kind of announcement, but there was never any concern for safety.
"Our main concern was whether they’d be able to finish the game," he said.
Once the lights went back on, the Simpsons' concern shifted to the score, as the 49ers nearly came all the way back to take the lead. When the 49ers cut their deficit to 31-29 in the fourth quarter, Alan Simpson said he was convinced the Ravens would lose.
The game ended with a 34-31 score as the Ravens deliberately allowed a safety in order for the clock to run down.
The Simpsons stuck around for the awarding of the Lombardi Trophy and then grabbed a charter flight home. They arrived back in Odenton early on Monday morning; Bradley even had a chance to take his driver's license examination on Monday afternoon—he passed.
"It was definitely worth it," Alan Simpson said. "It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience."
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