Paid the Cost to be the Boss

I love Super Bowl half time shows. There are so cheesy, terrible and over-the-top that it's hard not to get into them in some way. This year's was no exception. We even turned the stereo on to make it louder so that we could really get fired up. That being said, it wasn't very good. I have never been a fan of Bruce Springsteen or his music and I didn't understand the need for all of the articles and blog entries devoted to guessing his set list. He sounded terrible, particularly during Born to Run, and his cheese ball antics were too much for even me (he did a power slide/nut crunch into a camera and brought a referee out to throw a penalty on him)* . You could also tell that he hated football because his performance seemed to have a tongue in cheek quality that made it even worse.

* The Boss was guilty of excessively celebrating the fact that he wasn't/isn't very good. 15 yards, loss of down and possession, plus he was disqualified from the game and my life, forever.

Alas.

So today as I peruse the internet there are a bunch of people's different takes on the Super Bowl. Was it the greatest game ever? Did the refs have a Steeler bias? Why wasn't the last play reviewed? And so on. I don't really care about most of this stuff. It is simply sports writer's rhetoric. What I do care about is whether or not people agree with me about this half-time show. I turned to one of my favorite bloggers, Joe Posnanski, who just happens to be a huge Bruce Springsteen fan and he had this to say:

Let’s be honest: The performance was wedding band cheesy. I know — what else can you expect from the Super Bowl? — but I have to admit being a bit surprised. I mean, Prince’s halftime show soared. U2’s halftime show rocked. Tom Petty stayed true to himself and his music in his halftime show.

Sweet he agrees with me about Bruce (although U2 sucks, Tom Petty is boring to me now that I have heard his songs 17,000,000 times each, and Prince is androgynous as can be). Even the big-time Boss fans thought this was bad. My opinion has been confirmed, the world is still round. Yes. But then I kept reading.

I think the people who did not like or get Springsteen going in walked away thinking the halftime was pretty bad — it was all the stuff they didn’t get in the first place, the gravelly voice, the cheesy lyrics, the oversized sound, the whole “Boss” thing, this old man goofily sliding into cameras.

I don't get Springsteen? What's to get? He's an over-the-hill rocker who sings generic ballads of the common man as if he was constipated. Not too hard to understand. Plus, with all of my recreational drug use I have become very knowledgeable about music. I am offended by the notion that Bruce Springsteen is over my head. I'd understand if this was Miles Davis or Mozart, but come on. There's a reason that Bruce is absurdly popular and that is because his music (and act) are extremely easy to get. Everyone loves The Boss, unless they love music. Then they love something else.

P.S. Rant over. Sorry about the negative tone. Also, I love Prince's halftime show. Best Super Bowl half time ever!!!!!!!!!!