By Kyle Blum

Personally, I couldn’t care less who the halftime entertainment for the Super Bowl is. As far as I’m concerned the entire event has become way too much about the side stories and not nearly enough about the game. I suppose we, the consuming public, are as responsible for this dismal trend as anybody. After all, they’re just giving us what we want. But to have a concert at halftime to which people must buy separate tickets is ridiculous and unnecessary. Instead of promoting the game, ESPN talks about which quarterback they’d rather have, or whether or not Ken Whisenhunt will derive any additional pleasure by beating his former team (as if winning the Super Bowl is suddenly not enough to make an NFL coach happy). I’m tired of it all. It just isn’t about the football, and it absolutely should be.

By Chas Kurtz

Twenty-five years ago Bruce Springsteen would have been a great choice to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show, but not now. He is old (59 years old to be exact), irrelevant and predictable. Simply put, he’s exactly what the NFL wants.

Since Nipplegate with Janet and JT in 2004, the NFL has tried to find the safest, most boring acts possible. No more Britney and Christina. No more Nelly and P. Diddy. And certainly no more Janet, although I think we can survive without her.

Now we get the leftovers from our parents’ generation, performers who are too old to do anything that could get the NFL into trouble. Say hello to Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Prince, Tom Petty and now Mr. Springsteen. I have nothing against these performers, but the halftime show has become a spectacle, a show within the show that is the Super Bowl. Or at least it was a spectacle. Now it’s just a prolonged bathroom break or beer run.

To be honest, that’s perfectly fine with me. I care about the halftime show less than I care about the winner of the Pro Bowl. But during the pre-wardrobe malfunction days I would at least watch it, and I was usually mildly entertained. But those days are gone. As a football fan, I would much rather listen to Bob Costas and Cris Collinsworth breakdown the game during the intermission than listen to old men sing. The NFL either needs to bring back some entertaining shows (would you rather watch T.I. and Lil’ Wayne or Bruce Springsteen?) or just give up on the damn show and let some college marching bands perform. The league is stubborn, however, so don’t expect change. Maybe next year we can get some octogenarians on stage. I can see it now: the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLIV starring Chuck Berry and the Sunnyside Retirement Home Chorus. Should be exciting.

By Mike LeClair

I’m absolutely pumped for Bruce Springsteen’s halftime show this year. After the Janet Jackson debacle a few years back, I was among the group who was definitely upset about the throwback style of the halftime shows. Of the four shows since then, I’ve loved three (The Stones being the lone exception, but that’s entirely personal preference). As such, my opinion has been swayed a bit, and I like the older performers. In addition to usually providing good shows, they also give young people like us the ability to make some sort of the connection with the old drunkards at various bars and Super Bowl parties.

What would absolutely make Super Bowl halftime shows exceptional though, is collaboration. Put Kanye and Weezy on stage with Eric Clapton and Billy Joel and really make the event an experience unlike any other. Collaborative efforts would make these performances span the generations, and would, let’s be honest, just be really cool. But in the end, it doesn’t really matter. Just give me some football, please.

By Garrett Ley

This year’s Super Bowl is a great matchup featuring two great teams and two promising young coaches. But who are we kidding, the true performance will come at halftime when the American Hero, Bruce Springsteen takes the stage. Oh what’s that? You were hoping for a little Kanye action? Maybe a touch of T.I.? Too bad. This stage is reserved for musicians with real talent.

Who do you think Kurt Warner, born in the Heartland (Burlington, Iowa), listened to growing up? I can tell you right now it wasn’t Lil’ Wayne or Rihanna. He listened to Bruce. That’s right, The Boss. Bruce is hands down the best thing that’s happened music since Vanilla Ice announced his retirement. The man simply pumps out quality tunes. On Tuesday, his newest album, “Working on a Dream,” was released. The crowd that flooded record stores nationwide was compared to the record-setting crowd that flocked to Cleveland Municipal Stadium in 1974 for 10-cent beer night, when throngs of people literally started a riot on the field and caused a forfeit.

For an event with the magnitude of the Super Bowl, you want a class act that you have to drag off the stage, not somebody like Juelz Santana, who will stop mid-song if he’s not getting the pay checks he thinks he deserves. There’s no question about it: Bruce Springsteen will bring good, clean, whole-hearted American family fun to this Super Bowl, and there is no substitute for that.