In the last twenty years or so the hype surrounding the Super Bowl halftime show has grown to the the point where in some cases it over shadows the game. This is mainly because the casual fan pays more attention to the commercials and halftime show than any football that is actually being played on the field. The halftime show wasn't always as big of a deal, it didn't become the place for big name acts to lip sync over canned crowd noise until the early nineties. For the first two decades of the big game the halftime entertainment mostly consisted of marching bands and Broadway reviews. As recently as 1987 the halftime festivities featured George Burns, Mickey Rooney and the Grambling State University marching band. I bet people couldn't wait to chat about that show with co-workers the next day. The first real halftime show by today's standards was in for Super Bowl XXV in January 1991, where teen idols the New Kids On The Block played with a bunch of Disney characters. This was also the first time the crowd had the chance to participate by holding up some signs for the show. It wasn't until 1993 that television executives figured out they could get even more viewers with a big name half time show. Michael Jackson would perform at Super Bowl XXVII and the ratings for the halftime show actually increased. This meant we would have to endure years of hype and some hit or miss, mostly miss, halftime performances. This year the NFL has called on aging pop star Madonna to perform at half time. In addition to being a couple decades too late for her to be relevant it would seem to me that her music doesn't immediately make you think of football. I mean, when was the last time you heard Like a Virgin or Vogue before kickoff at an NFL Game. So I will give you five performers who I think are much more suited to be a halftime performer than Madonna and should get their shot on the big stage. Admittedly my list is a little bit rock heavy, but that's what I like and I'm the one making this list.

5.  Motorhead - Sure Motorhead are not exactly radio friendly or would be considered remotely listenable to the majority of middle America but Lemmy is a legend and what song would be more appropriate on the biggest gambling day of the year than Ace Of Spades.

Back in the late 80's Fred savage was every young girls wet dream. He graced the cover of every teen magazine and was the star of of the Wonder Years, which was one of television's highest rated shows. In the years since Fred has quietly taken his talents behind the scenes where he has become a pretty successful director, including an 18 episode run of It's Always sunny in Philadelphia and two episodes of Wizards of Waverly Place, which is one of my personal favorites. His best years, though, had to be the late 80's and the early nineties where Kevin Arnold Fred had his most successful run of TV and movies, which included The Princess Bride, The Wizard, which was basically a really long Nintendo commercial, as well as The Boy Who could Fly And Little Monsters. The two latter films are the reason I am even writing this article.

   In my mind Little Monsters is a classic. The premise of the film was unique and catered to every kid's dream of escaping their parents and any turmoil at home. He also got to act with his adult self from wonder Years Daniel Stern, who played his father in the film. The movie also starred Howie Mandel who played a monster named Maurice whose job was to scare small children. It was never fully explained if he was paid for his work but he seemed to enjoy it nonetheless. Fred's character then decided he would tag along with Maurice while he worked and join in on all of the hi-jinx of the Monsters that are evidently really under our beds. At one point the dynamic duo end up in the home of the nemesis of Fred's character. During a series of pranks that included swapping tuna with cat food, the Monster Maurice, who acted a lot like Beetlejuice from the film of the same name a year earlier, decided he would urinate in the bottle of apple juice meant for the bully Ronnie Coleman, who also played Kevin Mcallister's big brother Buzz in Home Alone. The next day Fred watched as the bully happily ate his cat food sandwich and sipped at his juice, which he immediately recognized as urine and subsequently spit out on the crotch of the principal of the school, to the delight of Fred and the other students who were undoubtedly bullied by Ronnie. This hilarious movie prank came only two years after the film The Boy Who Could Fly, which once again saw a young Fred Savage getting tormented by bullies. Not to be pushed around, Fred's character would fill his automatic powered squirt gun with some familiar ammo and drench his bat wielding enemy with the liquid gold know as urine. Both scenes are below for your viewing pleasure. 

 Here Is Mike Cline Jr's performance from August 14th 2011 at The Comedy Club In Rochester, NY

It is time for another episode of the podcast!