The Who's Show Justly Goes On

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The game is Sunday, but one winner has already emerged from Super Bowl Week.

Fairness. Truth. Common sense.

OK, that's three winners. But they all took the form of Pete Townshend on Thursday.

Normally the status of halftime performers would pale when compared to the status of Dwight Freeney's ankle. But this year's Super Bowl has come accompanied by an inordinate amount of noise.

There's been all that huffing and puffing over Tim Tebow's pro-choice commercial. Then there's been the smear campaign against Townshend, aka "Sexual Predator."

I don't care how you feel about The Who or the NFL's infatuation with dinosaur rockers and halftime extravaganzas. I think you should care about opportunists using the Super Bowl as a platform for character assassination.

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It's safe to say we're all against child molestation. I'm not even against groups leeching on to the Super Bowl to promote their causes, as long as their protests are based on facts. This one is as legit as Milli Vanilli's Grammy.

It made me wonder why roadies were putting a couple of guitars on stage Thursday before the annual Super Bowl halftime press conference.

Was Townshend going to go retro and smash one over the head of Child Abuse Watch? Instead, he and Roger Daltrey proved they can still rock. Then Townshend showed he's a far more reasonable person than his detractors.

"It's sad. I feel like we're on the same side," he said. "I think for any family that has suffered the issue of childhood abuse or anything of that sort, vigilance, common-sense vigilance is the most important thing.

"Not vigilantism."

Not demanding the NFL cancel The Who's performance. Not passing out 1,500 "Sex Offender Advisory" fliers to neighborhoods around Sun Life Stadium -- each had a picture of Townshend doing his best John Wayne Gacy grin.

The message: Hide the kids, Miami! Pete Townshend might sneak away from the biggest spotlight on earth, break into your house and fondle your son!

We can't fully examine the case against Townshend here. Well, we could but it would take about 50 paragraphs and I'd probably lose you halfway through.

"It's an issue that's very difficult to deal with in sound bites," Townshend said.

The synopsis is Townshend accessed a child-porn Web site in 1999. Four years later his name came up as part of a massive sting operation. He was arrested but cleared after a four-month investigation.

By simply visiting the site, however, he was automatically placed on Britain's Sex Offender's Registry for five years.

His critics have waved that fact like it's the Magna Carta. They reflexively dismissed Townshend's explanation that he was doing "research."

That's what every sicko says. I can't unequivocally say he's not a pervert, just as Child Abuse Watch can't prove he is.


But the cops seized 14 computers from his house and didn't find a trace of porn. Townshend was molested as a child. His background and work to battle child abuse make me believe he's telling the truth.

"I have my own story, some of you know," he said. "If anybody has any doubts I should be here, they should investigate a little bit further. Everything you need to know is on the Internet."

The protest groups aren't into extenuating facts. Kevin Gillick edits a local free newspaper called The Guardian-Brevard. It runs photos of child molesters and pounced on the Townshend story.

"If the NFL goes through with the performance, they and their sponsors are going to feel the resolve of the people who live here," he said. "They will be shocked. This is going to be breathtakingly ugly."

Blah, blah, blah.

I sort of hoped they'd show up armed with signs and fliers on Thursday, just for entertainment's sake. There were no protesters anywhere despite the fact a 64-year-old pervert was apparently on the loose. I'm taking that as proof people have seen through the blather.

Pete wins.

Instead of ugly noise, we got beautiful music.

I was never a huge Who fan, but Townshend and Daltrey aren't legends for nothing. They picked up their guitars and played three Who classics. If Peyton Manning's right arm is working as well as Townshend's when he's 64, he'll still be throwing 30 touchdowns a season.

If you still believe Townshend is making passes at little boys, nothing he said or did Thursday will change your mind. But any judgment should be based on facts. Try to get all of them before making up your mind.

One thing we did find out Thursday -- neither Townshend nor Daltrey know much about football. Daltrey's never seen a NFL game, but he said he's sort of pulling for the Saints.

"Well in that case, I'll go for the Colts," Townshend said.

Maybe Child Abuse Watch can use that against him.