One last Super Bowl note

Oh yeah, the halftime show...

Tom Petty? Really? I bear no ill will toward Tom Petty. I definitely respect the man and his music, but what the crap? I understand that those who organize the halftime show have the unenviable task of selecting an artist to perform for about the broadest audience imaginable, but recent selections (with the exception of last year) were, first and foremost, safe selections to avoid any Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake controversies. The Rolling Stones (who would have thought that they would be considered safe 40 years ago?), Paul McCartney, Tom Petty... Who's next? Tony Bennett? Tom Jones?

The show was really very uninspired, especially in light of Prince's performance last year where he not only engaged the audience but tore up the guitar in one of the most virtuoso instrumental performances ever to grace the Super Bowl universe. In contrast, Tom Petty couldn't even muster up the high notes to sing melody on the choruses of some of his own songs and was about as engaging as you would expect an introverted singer/songwriter to be. I thought he had a very safe performance, but can we put a stop to the way past their primetime halftime shows?

In Petty's defense, Alicia Keys performed about an hour before the game in what also was a pretty uninspiring medley of some of her hits. Alicia Keys is a great musician and performer who is more deserving of the halftime show than Tom Petty, but I doubt she would have fared much better.