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Rolling out rock
He's not Prince, but no Petty complaints
Peter Schmuck
February 1, 2008
PHOENIX

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are probably more likely to break a hip than a heart these days, but that's one of the reasons they were chosen to headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show on Sunday.

The NFL loves that old-time rock 'n' roll, but only because it can't trust today's pop stars to keep their clothes on for the 12 minutes they get to entertain the entire planet.

OK, it's not really the entire planet, but when you've got a half-billion people tuning in to see your football game, it's normal to want to exercise a little control over your product, something the NFL officials realized right after Janet Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction" a few years ago.

So, instead of signing the hottest acts on the planet, the NFL settles for the safest mega-acts available, which is great news for those of us who remember when they were still considered outlaws.

And, still, yesterday's Bridgestone Super Bowl Halftime Show media conference was something of a letdown, because Petty and his band simply came in, sat down and responded to 15 minutes of insipid questions with 15 minutes of surprisingly banal answers.

I guess Prince just raised the bar too high last year when he asked the assembled media if there were any questions and, before anyone could say a word, turned the Super Bowl Halftime Show media conference into the first Super Bowl media rock concert. Don't even get me started about his sexy, identical-twin backup singers.

Imagine the disappointment when we all arrived at the giant conference hall yesterday and saw a dais at the front of the room. Petty and Co. filed in and sat down. No stage. No backup singers. (And, at this point, I would have settled for fraternal twins.) Just Tom and his buddies trying to make heads or tails out of the strange conglomeration of Super Bowl media.

Real sample question: "Tom, I just want to tell you you're smokin' hot. Are you going to any of the parties while you're here and, if so, can I go with you and show you around?"

Of course, you're probably wondering just what someone could be thinking to say something like that in front of hundreds of legitimate journalists and broadcasters.

The short answer: I didn't really think it through. I just blurted it out before I really thought about how it might sound to my colleagues.

(Actually, that question came from a television newswoman from one of the Phoenix stations, who also told Petty she had "a thing for blonds.")

Nothing about Super Bowl Week should surprise anyone by now. During the media conference to introduce pre-game entertainer Alicia Keys and anthem singer Jordin Sparks, another TV reporter stood up and asked Sparks if she felt compelled to root "for the Knicks."

Sparks, an American Idol winner, is the daughter of former New York Giants player Phillippi Sparks, which explains the question about her rooting interest. I'm not going to get all huffy about somebody mixing up a couple of New York team names, but even people who know nothing about sports know that nobody roots for the Knicks anymore.

There were a couple of cogent questions. Petty, who is known - and applauded - for strictly avoiding corporate tie-ins allowing his songs to be used in commercials, was asked about the incongruity of his performing at a sporting event that might be the biggest corporate orgy in history.

"Well, when you play on TV, you have a sponsor," Petty said. "That's just the way it works, so we're just going to try and entertain the people and be sweet boys."

Petty was also informed that his hit "American Girl" had been used by the Hillary Clinton campaign as background music while Clinton was celebrating her victory in the New Hampshire primary, but he denied he has endorsed any presidential candidate, which should come as a big relief to Barack Obama.

And that pretty much was that.

The only thing missing was the sexy TV Azteca reporter in the wedding dress, but she must have heard that Petty is already married.

peter.schmuck@baltsun.com

What is so funny to me about Janet's performance, is that I was three feet from the tv, dancing along, that I missed it.

Those are true words, our boy is a hard act 2 follow

well the press conference he did rose the roof off the ceiling ..2 bad the actual per4mance left me wanting that press conference set list instead