Obviously flustered, his usually steady hands shaking and unintelligible at times, rock guitarist Pete Townshend — who’ll play Super Bowl XLIV’s halftime show with the British band The Who Sunday — faced the music at a press conference today in Fort Lauderdale.

Townshend and Who frontman Roger Daltrey were breezing through the traditional Super Bowl entertainment presser  — which included Daltrey and Townshend playing, unplugged, Pinball Wizard and Won’t Get Fooled Again — when one last question came from the back of the Broward County Convention Center’s meeting room.

How does Townshend feel about the Florida child abuse activists who tried, unsuccessfully, to have him pushed back by immigration and asked the NFL to ban him from the concert?

Townshend, speechless for a few seconds, said he was “saddened” and equated the groups’ actions to “vigilantism.”

Daltrey (left) and Townshend at Thursday's press conference in Fort Lauderdale (Getty Images)

(Click on the photo or here for more pictures of the press conference.)

In an exclusive story last month, Page2Live revealed the concerns of anti-child porn advocates, including Brevard County’s Protect Our Children, about Townshend’s recent presence on the British sex offenders registry. The guitarist was arrested in 2003 after using his credit card to access child porn on the Web. He was never convicted, but admitted to accessing the site for “research” purposes. He remained on the registry for five years.

When they understood that Townshend wouldn’t be held back by immigration, Protect Our Children flooded the neighborhood around Dolphin Stadium, home of Super Bowl XLIV, with postcards bearing Townshend’s picture and warning of his arrival.

“I’m really saddened by this (attempts to ban him from the USA) and concerned about it,” Townshend said, as Daltrey fidgeted uncomfortably next to him. “I feel like we (he and children’s protectors) are on the same side.”

For more of Pete’s words, look below or click (Read more…)

The homes and schools close to Dolphins Stadium are receiving “sex offender advisory” postcards this week warning residents to watch out for The Who’s Pete Townshend, who’ll be performing at halftime of Super Bowl XLIV.

By next week, 1,500 homes will have received the postcard (see below), sent by the Brevard County-based Protect Our Children. The non-profit acts as a community watchdog when it comes to sex offenders and sends similar cards to Melbourne residents where known pedophiles live.

Townshend, 63, was arrested in England in a 2003 roundup of alleged pedophiles accused of cruising online sites for photos of child sex. Townshend said he was just doing research for a book at the time. He wasn’t convicted of anything but was placed on that country’s list of sexual offenders for five years.

For more on the controversy, look below or click (Read more…)

Pete Townshend (AP Photo)

Child abuse groups in Florida are asking the NFL to drop the British classic-rock band The Who from the upcoming Super Bowl’s halftime show.

And one organization asked U.S. immigration authorities not to allow the band’s famed guitarist  into the country.

Axman Pete Townshend, they point out, was arrested in 2003 in a roundup of alleged pedophiles cruising the Internet for pictures of infants and teens engaged in sex. He was placed on the United Kingdom’s sexual offenders list.

In a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Child AbuseWatch founder Evin Daly wrote: “Inviting Townshend to play is a blatant disregard to the values of . . . American families and a slap in the face to victims of child sexual abuse.”

Townshend wasn’t convicted of a crime but was “cautioned” by authorities, the equivalent to Florida’s “adjudication withheld.”

With The Who frontman Roger Daltrey calling Townshend “naïve,” the guitarist admitted to using his credit card to access child pornography. Townshend’s excuse? He was doing research!

In 2006, Townshend — known for his guitar-smashing antics on stage — wrote a short story that described graphically sex between two teenagers, and posted it on his Web site. The public’s outrage pushed Townshend to shut down the site.

Now, slightly more than a month before Super Bowl XLIV, child abuse organizations here say the 63-year-old Townshend represents a risk to area youngsters when he comes next month to prepare for the Feb. 7 performance at Land Shark Stadium.

For more, and the poll, look below or click (Read more…)

With the NFL more than a month behind last year in announcing the halftime entertainment for the Feb. 7 Super Bowl at Land Shark Stadium, rumors are rampant that the league is considering one of two solutions.

The first, according to a source close to the host committee, is that the Miami Dolphins’ new co-owners — salsero Marc Anthony, hip-hopper Jennifer Lopez and Latin star Gloria Estefan — would combine forces for one of the world’s most-watched halftime shows. It’s unclear whether Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas, who agreed to purchase a small share of the team but hasn’t paid for it yet, would participate.

“Gloria appeared in six Super Bowls,” said Estefan publicist, David Naranjo. “She enjoys helping showcase the city. But I haven’t heard anything about her doing it again.”

The Who's Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend

The other avenue, according to a report in Sports Illustrated’s online version, it that the British band The Who may be thisclose from receiving the nod. While the band’s music is going through a renewal of sorts with the soundtracks of TV series like CSI: Miami, The Who aren’t touring and have no new CD to sell. The band’s frontman, Roger Daltrey, is in the states on the tail end of a solo tour. He appears at the Seminole Hard Rock and Casino in Hollywood on Nov. 29.

“The committee feels that it’s strange that the NFL hasn’t made an announcement yet,” the source said. “Last year, they did it (it was Bruce Springsteen) during a Sunday night game in September. “

At the NFL headquarters in New York, a spokeswoman said there’s no timeline to announce halftime shows.

“When we have something to announce, we will,” she said.

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(Courtesy Mavrixphoto.com)

Roger Daltrey, frontman of The Who, enjoyed a perk of stardom on the Palm Beach sand recently: A white-haired gentleman named Gordon sprayed suntan lotion all over his 65-year-old body! And Roger seemed to appreciate the tan assistant’s work thoroughly! (Read more about Daltrey’s Palm Beach vacation here.)

Roger Daltrey in the surf near the Ritz-Carlton in Manalapan this week (Mavrixphoto.com/Special to Page2Live)

For all the evil at the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach earlier this week, when a Holocaust denier’s lecture was disrupted by a bloody fight between two followers, there was plenty of good will.

That came courtesy of Roger Daltrey, the voice of the British rock band The Who.

The pop culture icon, 65, who’s been resting here while on break from his solo tour, met a couple from New Jersey staying in the hotel lobby and ended up in a hour-long conversation that the duo, Joe and Joan Vrola, won’t soon forget.

The topic was the Vrolas’ 22-year-old son, Joey, who just came out of a bout with cancer. Teen cancer happens to be what Daltrey calls his life’s work. He started the Teenage Cancer Trust in England and funds the work of the foundation yearly with a week-long series of concerts at the famous Royal Albert Hall in London.

By the end of the chat, Joan Vrola was in tears in Daltrey’s arms. Finally, someone understood!

“This was probably the most therapeutic conversation we had with anyone since our son was diagnosed (three years ago),” Joe Vrola said. “Our son is doing much better physically, but he’s not the same kid. There’s an anguish associated with the disease that teens, especially, need to deal with.

“Bad things happen to them when it comes to drinking and drugs and isolation. The hospital may be good at curing, but they provide no psychological counseling. No one in this country seems to understand that, but Roger Daltrey does.”

Daltrey’s Trust indeed provides counseling and moral support to afflicted teens.

Hours later, Daltrey was on the phone with the Vrolas’ son, who at first didn’t know anything about Daltrey. Hope, Vrola said, is what Daltrey was passing on.

“Besides close family, there aren’t too many people who actually care,” Joe Vrola said. “But here you have this total stranger who does.”

“That’s Roger,” said his friend in West Palm Beach, Realtor Leslie Linder. “He wants to change the world one person at a time.”

Joe Vrola wanted to know why Daltrey made teenage cancer his cause, so he asked the singer of Behind Blue Eyes, Who Are You and Pinball Wizard if any of his nine children ever had the disease.

“He said no,”Vrola said,“but his answer had the hair on the back of my neck stand straight. He said teens made him what he is. They were his biggest fans. He said he just wants to give back to those who supported him all these years.”

Behind Blue Eyes, Roger Daltrey (Courtesy AP)

– The Who’s frontman, Roger Daltrey, is hanging at the Palm Beach Ritz-Carlton. He arrived Sunday afternoon and already has been spotted in the cooling, fall surf. Daltrey, who’s — gasp … 65! — is taking a break from his solo tour, his first in North America since 1985. In addition to catching some rays, Daltrey has been spotted at Bice restaurant in Palm Beach and was scheduled to go on a deep-sea fishing expedition this afternoon. Daltrey is scheduled to play the Seminole Hard Rock Resort in Hollywood Nov 29.

– Jupiter Island golfer Greg Norman is trying to unload his giant Colorado ranch for a whopping $55 million — five years after he bought it for $18.5 million. The reason for the sale wasn’t announced, and his Jupiter lawyer didn’t comment. But Norman is still paying his $103 million divorce settlement to his ex-wife, Laura Andrassy. Norman is currently married to Boca Raton tennis legend Chris Evert, but the two are separated. What does $55 million buy you these days? The Seven Lakes Ranch is located inside the White River National Forest, near Meeker, and features 11,600 acres of pristine rivers, mountains, valleys, lakes and forests. It’s prime land for fly fishing and big-game hunting, according to the real estate Web site zillow.com. The main lodge has 13,000 square feet with an adjacent dance hall!

Pam Anderson

– Baywatch babe Pam Anderson, who earlier this month donned her old bathing suit from the show for a Miami Beach fashion gig, returns to SoFla next week. This time, she’ll be fully dressed to emcee Ocean Ridge resident Al Malnik’s yearly Make-a-Wish Foundation gala. The affair is scheduled for Nov. 7 at downtown Miami’s Intercontinental. Gov. Charlie Crist returns as a guest of honor.