An Ode to Superbowl Halftime Awesomeness

The year was 2001.

The Backstreet Boys were on their way out and NSYNC was on top of the world and I couldn’t have been happier. Please remember I was 13 years young at the time.

They were so huge that they got to be part of the Superbowl XXXV halftime show.

Obviously, I’m completely biased, but that was by far the best halftime show I have ever laid eyes on.

I was impressed with the theatrics of Madonna’s performance on Sunday, but I wasn’t driven to watch it over and over again like I did in 2001 (on a video tape).

Every year I wait with bated breath and hope that it will top the 2001 show, but every year I am disappointed.

The collaboration between Aerosmith and NSYNC was so great and the songs transitioned into one another so smoothly that you do believe Ben Stiller when he says, “You are NSYNCOSMITH, you are Aerosync, you are a super duper super group that’s about to rock it hardcore!”

Because for those 10 minutes, not only were they a super group, but they were a super group who sang live. Something that (I think) was mostly missing from Sunday’s performance.

So while everyone watches M.I.A.’s moment of shining glory with her middle finger to the world, I will continue to watch this terrible, grainy recording of the only halftime show in my lifetime that is worth a revisit.

Oh and Paul McCartney is a close second.