MLB Asks MLBPA Not to File Grievance: According to the Sports Business Daily (subscription required) and the Washington Post, Major League Baseball has reportedly asked the Player's Association "not to file a grievance charging that owners are colluding on salaries." This claim would probably receive more sympathy if the average salary in the league was not over $2 million per year.

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Super Bowl Aerial Camera Flies Over Patent Hurdle: As you probably noticed if you watched the game, CBS used its aerial camera system during the Super Bowl on Sunday. What you may not have known is that it took a decision by a Philadelphia federal district court judge to allow that to happen. In CF InFlight Ltd. v. Cablecam Systems Ltd., Judge Legrome D. Davis concluded that the plaintiff, which holds the patent for the "Skycam" aerial camera system, failed to show that it is likely to win a patent infringement claim against the makers of the "Multi-V" camera suspension system.



If anyone comes across the opinion from the case, please let me know.

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Clarett Case Causes NFL to Delay Fitzgerald Announcement: The NFL has delayed an official announcement on the draft status of Larry Fitzgerald, stating it was doing so out of respect for the pending Maurice Clarett litigation.



The judge in the Clarett case held a conference call this week with both parties to clarify Clarett's intentions, after reports surfaced that the player might return to Ohio State, even if his lawsuit proved successful. The Fitzgerald delays fuels speculation that a ruling in the case is imminent, perhaps coming as early as next week. The NFL repeated over the weekend that the league will not consider settlement in the case.

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Trial Begins in Suit Over Broncos: The trial pitting former Denver Broncos owner Edgar Kaiser against current owner Patrick Bowlen began jury selection today in Colorado. Kaiser, who sold the team to Bowlen in 1984, claims that Bowlen "cheated him out of the chance to buy back stakes in the team years later." In addition, the suit claims that Bowlen misrepresented himself as the sole buyer of the team and then repeatedly violated Kaiser's right of first refusal by secretly transferring shares of the team among members of his family.

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More on the Super 'Bare': In an update to last night's post, the FCC has announced an investigation into the ending of last night's Super Bowl halftime show, when Justin Timberlake ripped a portion of Janet Jackson's top, revealing her right breast. The Chairman of the FCC went so far as to issue a public statement regarding the incident.



The incident comes at a time when sexuality and indecency on television has become a heated issue. Legislation has been proposed to increase the maximum fine for indecency 10-fold, from $27,500 to $275,000, and newspaper editorials have denounced the direction in which televised entertainment is heading. All of the parties involved have apologized, including CBS, MTV and Timberlake. Jackson also apologized, but instead of saying the incident was unplanned or blaming a "wardrobe malfunction," admitted in a statement:



"The decision to have a costume reveal at the end of my halftime show performance was made after final rehearsals.

MTV was completely unaware of it," Jackson said. "It was not my intention that it go as far as it did. I apologize to

anyone offended including the audience, MTV, CBS and the NFL."



Slate has a related article on who should be punished for the incident. As I posted yesterday, I feel the blame, and any fines, should fall on the artists.



Update: The New York Times has a more detailed description of what may have been originally planned for the halftime show, along with more NFL criticisms of the show and MTV generally. Thankfully, it looks like this event will cause the league to tame Super Bowl halftime shows in the future.

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News Update: There have been a number of updates to posts I have made in the last few weeks.



Major League Baseball owners unanimously approved the sale of the Dodgers to Frank McCourt. Read more here, here and here.



The University of Colorado delayed state senate plans for a special legislative investigation of alleged recruiting violations, including sex parties, after the university's president agreed to form an independent commission to look into the allegations. Since the Colorado allegations, there have been stories emerging about other schools as well, including the University of Minnesota.



Shaquille O'Neal has been suspended for one game by the NBA following a profanity-laced tirade directed at officials and the league, including David Stern. O'Neal said one profanity during a television interview, and then when reminded that the interview was being shown live, responded with another profanity.



Finally, two days of pre-trial hearings began in the Kobe Bryant case. Bryant, however, missed the closed-door hearings because of an illness.

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CBS Apologizes for Halftime Show Ending: CBS has apologized for the unexpected ending of its halftime show, where Justin Timberlake pulled off part of Janet Jackson's top, revealing her right breast. What is unclear is whether the network could be fined for the incident, even though CBS changed cameras very quickly and did not mention the incident for the remainder of the broadcast. The FCC recently proposed a record fine of over $750,000 against four Clear Channel radio stations in Florida which aired 26 episodes of the sexually-explicit "Bubba the Love Sponge." It is part of the FCC's mission to more strictly enforce the indecency codes against broadcast stations.



CBS is clearly pleading ignorance and the incident was so brief most viewers may have missed it. However, the FCC received a great deal of criticism last year when it failed to fine NBC after Bono used the F-word during the Golden Globes and the network censors failed to bleep it out. Thus, it is possible the agency may fine CBS to prove that networks must take greater responsibility for what they show.



But should the networks be the ones that are fined? If this incident was, as it appears, planned by Timberlake and Jackson and unknown to CBS, why should the artists not be fined? If the gauntlet falls on the networks, they will become overcautious in what they show and do not show, possibly leading to the cutting of potentially scandalous acts. Since it will be at the purview of the government, such action would be dangerously close to censorship. If, however, the artists were held responsible for crossing the line, the networks could air performances and the artists could perform within the very reasonable limits imposed by the FCC. Under this system, networks could air performances without fear of retribution, allowing for greater potential artistic expression.



And, for those of you that missed it, the Patriots beat the Panthers 32-29 on a last second field goal. For a boy who went to Duke in North Carolina, this was most disappointing. I also found the commercials to be a letdown.

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