In Defense of Kid Rock
- Fred
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Back in 1992, the sketch comedy show In Living Colour decided to counter-program against the Super Bowl's crappy CBS Winter Spectacular Half Time Show. Fox's In Living Colour stole 25 million viewers from that game.
The Super Bowl was so shocked by the viewer loss, some citations said Fox actually had higher ratings than CBS for those 12 minutes, that they were forced to make changes. 2 of the most radical changes were instituted just a year later.
In 1993, the Super Bowl Half Time Show was Michael Jackson and the ratings of the game actually went UP at half time. Michael Jackson's show was the template for Modern Half Time Shows.
Also in 1993, Fox signed a contract to broadcast NFL Games. Once Fox had that contract, they no longer had an appetite for counter-programming.
Now that it is 2026, the NFL has broadcast deals with NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, ESPN, Netflix, and Amazon. None of those entities has any interest in counter-programming and pissing off the NFL in any shape or form. Networks often run repeats or non-events to clear the deck for home viewership for the NFL.
Which brings us to Bad Bunny. I don't have a fundamental problem either way with Bad Bunny, I just feel that the NFL is now cramming the Half Time Show down our throats. In theory, it would be nice if SOMEONE counter-programmed Half Time.
Enter Kid Rock.
If Turning Point USA wants to have a Kid Rock Half Time Show, God Bless' Em. In theory, if there are 120 million people watching live TV, there should be a dozen entities vying for those eyeballs.
Whatever happened to the Puppy Bowl?
If only a million people tune in, that's still a win for Turning Point USA's YouTube Channel. I have a soft spot in my heart for Kid Rock, he has really maximized what I thought his place in the universe would be. One of my favorite songs is I Am The Bullgod and I admit to liking 3 or 4 of his hits. Kid Rock has really made a nice career for himself, considering that he is....well....Kid Rock.
So am I going to watch Turning Point USA's Half Time Show? Oh no, you are definitely talking to the wrong person.
My Mom grew up in the Detroit Suburbs and my Dad grew up everywhere around the Midwest, being the son of a Railroad Man. But when my parents married, they settled down in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio. I have lived in those same suburbs nearly my entire life. With the except of my Snowbird Uncle, my entire family has either lived in the Northeast or the Midwest for the past 100 years. Most of my ancestors can be traced to Europe, I am unaware of any ancestors that lived in "the South."
But about 15 years ago, I had some cousins that started flying the Confederate Flag on the back of their trucks. After 4 generations of being Michigan bred stock, those knuckleheads were flying the symbol of the South as they tooled around the Lakes to 8 Mile.
That is one of my biggest pet peeves in life. Every time I saw that Confederate Flag, my eyelid would start to twitch. It tested my love of free speech.
Those Cousins could be described as:
Suburban Kids
Detroit Kids
Northern Kids
Midwest Kids
They were NOT the "New Confederacy," or the "New Country."
If you've lived in Mississippi your whole life and can track your lineage back to the Civil War, I really don't have a problem with you flying the Confederate Flag. If you fly the Confederate Flag in the North...
Sorry, my eye is starting to twitch again.
Kid Rock blurs the lines between Country, Rock, and Rap, and that's fine, no artist has to fit into any genre.
But when Kid Rock started to defend the Confederate Flag and began to wear his politics on his sleeve, his one-dimensional act just wore thin, at least with me.
Every time Kid Rock visits the White House now, in some over-the-top outfit, I think of the same thing: Of all the musicians to attach yourself to, why in the world would you pick Kid Rock?
We begrudgingly defend Robert Ritchie's free speech.
This year's Super Bowl is in San Francisco and the half time show that would have been perfect would have been if hometown heroes Metallica played. Man, a half time celebrating the Big 4 would have been legendary. Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth on the stage together one last time, that would have been amazing.
Last year, we wrote that Weird Al would have been the perfect half time show.
And, again, I have nothing against Bad Bunny, I'm just saying that if you're a different network than NBC, why wouldn't you counter-program? PBS can't think of 12 minutes of publicity? Someone at Nexstar can't kick it up to the next level?
It wouldn't even have to be a concert. Say you're Netflix, you don't think a 12 minute comedy set from Dave Chappell would draw millions?
Earlier this week, pinheads attacked Kid Rock for some dicey lyrics written a decade earlier. Listen, if you like Bad Bunny, watch the half time show. If you like Kid Rock, watch that half time show. You don't have to attack one if you like the other or vice versa. Neither are particularly alluring to me at this point. We are talking about 120 million viewers, sitting there for the taking.
This year, I am using the half time show as drive time between the in-laws and my home so I don't miss any actual football. I am curious as to how many Americans will try Turning Point.
We write about it all the time, "our band" is Alice Donut. (Who is coincidentally having reunion shows next weekend.)
If I was president, I would try to use my position to meet Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor or Faith No More's Mike Patton. Our favorite metal band, Anthrax, would have open invitations to the White House.
Unfortunately, as I age, I have learned that many of my favorite artists are jerks, no matter what their politics are.