If you didn’t like the Who’s performance at half-time, take heart – they reportedly didn’t get a fee to show up and 
entertain us.The NFL has a history of not paying its half-time acts but provides all expenses for travel, lodging and meals for the act plus entourage, crew and family members.
It amounts to an all expenses paid trip to the biggest week-long party the U.S. throws each February. Well, maybe one of the two biggest since you have to include Mardi Gras in New Orleans. But they sing for free. And frankly after toughing out The Who’s set of songs, I feel a bit better about it.
Friends at the gathering I attended wondered why Baby Boomer-era musical acts have dominated even as we moved into the second decade of the 21st century.
When I checked the list of all half-time shows it started with marching bands, migrated to acts who populated 60s and 70s variety shows and then began to be based around themes connected to the site of the game or a big milestone in musical history.
When the half-time show became sponsored by a corporate entity in 2001, current Top Twenty artists such as Nelly, Mary J. Blige and Brittany Spears were sprinkled in with more conservative choices.
In 2002, as the nation still mourned those lost in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, one big act, U2 provided a musical tribute and virtual catharsis. And then in 2004 came “nipple-gate” as Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson did their thing.
Immediately thereafter, geezer acts were used in an effort to avoid unintended circumstances and we got a string of folks starting with McCartney, the Stones, Tom Petty, Prince (who came close with his guitar phallus behind the white curtain), Springsteen and now The Who.
It’s time to follow the lead of big awards shows who present contemporary artists from genres such as country, hip-hop and rock without dire consequences.
The Who are past their sell-by date and like many of my friends I want to remember them when they were edgy enough to instill fear in producers’ hearts who booked them for shows.
Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles.