Lights and power went out for 34 minutes early in the third quarter of Super Bowl XLVII. (AP)

In one of the most bizarre moments in the 47-year history of America’s greatest game, a power outage at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome suspended play of Super Bowl XLVII for 34 minutes Sunday evening.

The Ravens were just celebrating a 108-yard kickoff return by Jacoby Jones for a touchdown and appeared ready to put the game away.

With the 49ers trailing 28-6 and facing a third-and-14, stadium lights cut out on San Francisco’s side of the field. Then lights went out throughout the building.

The NFL released the following statement after play resumed: “Stadium authorities are investigating the cause of the power outage. We will have more information as it becomes available.”

Superdome spokesman Eric Eagan followed with a statement on behalf of the building: “We sincerely apologize for the incident.”

Speculation was rampant following a spectacular halftime show by Beyonce that required numerous flashing lights and finished with dramatic flare.

The 49ers captured the game’s momentum, scoring 23 points in just over 12 minutes of game time following the outage.

A Lynn, Mass. company is once again the force behind one of the most popular collectibles at the Super Bowl. (Mike Petraglia/WEEI.com)

They published the 2013 Inauguration Program for President Barack Obama. They publish the program for one of the biggest evens in tennis – The U.S. Open – and they handle publication for baseball’s annual Hall of Induction ceremony. And once again, they will publish the single most popular souvenir of America’s most popular sporting event.

H.O. Zimman, headquartered in Lynn, Mass., publishes the official souvenir program of the Super Bowl.

They bill the $20 program as a publication that has “stories that will indulge the senses” as part of “the world’s most popular sporting event program.”

Among its 264 pages, the best selling feature of the Super Bowl XLVII Official Souvenir Magazine is the high-glossy finish of action photography, popular feature stories from national writers and several features including one on every winning team’s Super Bowl ring.

It’s not quite the $3.8 million for a 30-second TV spot during the big game but Super Bowl program advertisers do reach a captive audience that goes well beyond the 72,003 fans inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, as the program is considered a must-have by hundreds of thousands of football fans worldwide who make it a tradition to collect the program every year.

Those who advertise in the big program receive a complimentary advertisement in the 2013 Pro Bowl Official Magazine, which was played Sunday in Honolulu.

H.O. Zimman is a full-service custom publisher, providing layout, design, editing, printing, production, and delivery services. With a client list that includes the National Football League, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, and the United States Tennis Association, Zimman produces more than 500 publications annually.

For more, visit the Patriots team page at weei.com/patriots.

Tom Brady had a second half to forget against the Ravens. (AP)

FOXBORO — The Patriots season came to a close Sunday night at Gillette Stadium, as New England suffered a 28-13 defeat to the Ravens in the AFC title game. New England took a 13-7 lead into the half, but a dominant second half by the Ravens on both sides of the ball sealed the Patriots’ fate, as New England turned the ball over twice in the second half (once on a Stevan Ridley fumble and another on a Tom Brady interception) and failed to score in the second half.

Brady finished 29-for-54 for 320 yards, with one touchdown and two picks. Ridley had 18 carries for 70 yards, while Wes Welker — who had a big second-half drop — ended up with eight catches for 117 yards and a touchdown. Baltimore was led by Joe Flacco, who was 21-for-36 for 240 yards and three touchdowns. Bernard Pierce had nine carries for 52 yards, while Torrey Smith had four catches for 69 yards. Anquan Boldin had 60 yards receiving and two touchdowns.

Baltimore will advance to the Super Bowl for the first time since the end of the 2000 season, when the Ravens beat the Giants.

The Patriots were unable to finish off drives — the New England offense was in the red zone four times on the night, and only came away with one touchdown. And after Aqib Talib went down in the first half, the Patriots were unable to do much to slow down the Baltimore passing game, as the Ravens had scoring drives of 90, 87, 63 and 47 yards. Baltimore made four trips to the red zone, and finished off all four trips with touchdowns.

Here are a few quick notes:

WHAT WENT WRONG FOR THE PATRIOTS Read the rest of this entry »

Anquan Boldin predicted the Ravens would get revenge Sunday for last year’s loss to the Patriots and win the AFC championship. (AP)

Guarantees this time of year are not that uncommon, dating back to Joe Namath‘s famous prediction that the New York Jets would shock the football world and beat the heavily-favored Colts in Super Bowl III.

But whenever a Patriots’ opponent takes a similar stance it’s sure to find its way into the team’s locker room.

Earlier this week, it was Brendon Ayanbedejo ripping the Patriots’ no-huddle offense and lobbing insults referring to “Spygate” and the 18-1 season of 2007. He later apologized.

But that was a back-up linebacker who rarely sees the field. On Wednesday, starting wide receiver Anquan Boldin was reminded that this is a rematch of last year’s AFC championship in the very same venue that produced New England’s 23-20 win and ended the Ravens’ season in heartbreak.

On Wednesday, at the team’s practice facility in Owings Mills, Maryland, Boldin was asked why this year would be any different.

“[Because] we’ll make it different,” he replied.

How?

“We’re gonna win,” he said without missing a beat.

There likely won’t be any apology coming from Boldin.

For more Patriots news, visit the team page at weei.com/patriots. WEEI 93.7FM will broadcast the AFC Championship game between the Patriots and Ravens on Sunday, January 20 at 6:30 p.m.

Tom Brady speaks Thursday about how he intends to use the three-day bye weekend break. (Mike Petraglia/WEEI.com)

FOXBORO — Before he and the rest of the Patriots were given a three-day weekend as a reward for their first-round bye, Tom Brady was given a packet to study.

It was a packet from Bill Belichick and the Patriots coaching staff he said included many areas he and the rest of the team can improve and focus on during their break. He brought that stack of papers with him to his press conference on Thursday at Gillette and even showed them off to the media. It was like when you were in school and you brought your books and folders everywhere with you, with the hope that more of it might rub off through osmosis.

In other words, enjoy your time off but use it to get ready for the one-and-done mentality from here on out.

“I think coach [Belichick] said it best [Thursday] morning. He said, ‘You make one mistake in this type of game and that’s your season.’ It’s no more, ‘I’ll get it figured out next week and it’s something we have to learn from and move on from.’ No, it’s your season,” Brady said. “That’s the kind of urgency you have in practice and certainly when we play here a week from Sunday. We’ve been working hard to figure out a bunch of things. There’s a packet full of things we need to do better and things that we’re really trying to work hard to improve on. Guys have really taken to those things; hopefully that leads into a great week of practice next week.”

Brady is 35 and has been in the playoffs in 10 of his 13 NFL seasons. As he comes closer to the end of your career, do playoff games become more meaningful?

“It certainly is meaningful for me,” Brady insisted without hesitation. “I know it’s meaningful for our whole team, what we’re attempting to accomplish. Yeah, you don’t take these things for granted. It’s a privilege to be in this position that we’re in and certainly one of four teams to have played well enough over the course of the year to deserve the first round bye. We’ll be watching this weekend and you’re still on high alert for football and situation awareness and watching the games and so forth – your mind is still very much in the game. But when we figure out who we’ll play, we’ll jump right into that and get going.”

Does he have the feeling that every game is precious?

“I mean, from the day we’re born, I think we’re always one day closer to dying, since we’re a little kid,” Brady said philosophically. “[But] I don’t quite look at it like that. Yeah, I’m very appreciative of having this opportunity.”

Here is the rest of Brady’s Thursday press conference from Gillette Stadium: Read the rest of this entry »

London is a long way from New Orleans.

Wembley Stadium and its grass pitch is a lot different than the turf-laiden Superdome.

Yet, when Tom Brady looks across the line of scrimmage on Sunday he will see the same uniform he saw when he beat the Rams, 20-17, in Super Bowl XXXVI, kicking off a legendary career.

On Friday, just minutes after getting off the plane after a six-hour flight across the Atlantic, Brady was asked what he remembers about beating the Rams in that Super Bowl and whether he could have possibly predicted the success to come in the following 10 years?

“It doesn’t seem like long ago, but other times it does seem like a long time ago,” Brady said. “How do I feel about that experience? That was a long time ago. It was a lot of hits ago. I mean, you win the Super Bowl, it was my second year in the league and you never forget that. That’s something that’s embedded in your mind and heart for the rest of your life. We had so many great teammates that were a part of that and guys that I’m still friends with. We played one of the best teams that I’ve ever played against. I think that’s really where Patriot football and team football really kind of started for us in New England.

“It took a team effort to win that game. It was, like I said, an exceptional team we faced and they had some Hall of Famers on that team, some guys that were playing at the height of their careers and we found a way to beat them. We lost to them earlier that season, so it was a very memorable day, very memorable night. Certainly since then it’s been more than I could ever ask for as a person, as a player and I’m sure all my teammates feel the same way.”

That was followed up by what is it like to lose after having such success, and how does he get over the Super Bowl loss from last year?

“I think you realize that, you’re right, when you win like we did early in my career here and in our careers, you don’t take it for granted,” Brady said. “I think as time’s gone on, you realize now how challenging that was because we’ve had some great teams since then, we just haven’t had the chance to win a Super Bowl. We got there twice, but didn’t really close the deal. As a team you realize all the small things that go into preparing each week and the process that you put into each game so that you can perform at your highest level when it matters the most.

“Losing sucks and especially to lose the Super Bowl at the end of the season like we did last year, it’s a very disappointing feeling but at the same time you have mental toughness to move forward and not allow that to have any impact on what we’ve done this season. We’re still growing as a team. We’re not even to the halfway point. I think each step along the way we’ve learned and we’ve gotten a little bit better, a little more prepared and hopefully this week is our best game this season.”

Here is the rest of Brady’s Q and A with the British media on Friday in London: Read the rest of this entry »