First off, the pregame Stanford band show was about the locker rooms (they spelled "Locker Shocker" on the field), and it was fairly funny, although the story they told was basically that Iowa was misogynist for painting the locker rooms pink. The real reason Fry painted them pink was that it was soothing and he thought it would relax the other team (and, it created a distraction for the opposing team coaches).
The halftime show looked bad live, because it was hard to hear the PA and all you saw was a cow running around. It definitely looked like it was making fun of farmers. Once I read the script online, I was way less offended than when I was at the game. The script is actually pretty funny.
Last point: this whole "California sucks, no Iowa sucks" argument is just dumb. I lived in Iowa City for the first 20 or so years of my life and have lived in California for the next 20 or so. Both are great. Both are very different. There are smart people in each place, there are also lots of dumb people in each. Both have advantages (Cali: weather; Iowa: cost of living) an disadvantages (Calif: cost of living; Iowa: weather . . . in February). Anyone who thinks California is just horrible, or that Iowa is just horrible . . . is, well, just horrible!
