Football
ACLU suit over Super Bowl settled — An agreement has been reached over a so-called “clean zone" the city of New Orleans planned to enforce where the use of banners, signs and flags would be restricted during Super Bowl week. The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana sued the city over the plan. The agreement filed Monday would allow the city to enforce some limits on commercial activity in the French Quarter and surrounding neighborhoods. The filing says the city can prohibit mobile advertising such as signs attached to a vehicle or worn by a person. But ALCU of Louisiana Executive Director Marjorie Esman says the city has agreed not to restrict other forms of commercial or non-commercial speech in the “clean zone." The agreement must be approved by a federal judge.
Baseball
Player hospitalized following spleen removal — Pitcher Carl Pavano is in a Connecticut hospital following the removal of his spleen. He was injured when he fell in snow at his home in Vermont. The pitcher’s agent said Monday the accident happened in mid-January. When Pavano didn’t feel well after a workout in Connecticut, the 37-year-old right-hander went to a hospital and was diagnosed with a lacerated spleen. Agent David Pepe said doctors were not able to control bleeding, and Pavano’s spleen was removed last week. Pepe hopes Pavano will be released from the hospital this week. He would not put a timetable on the free agent’s possible return to baseball.
Winter sports
Snowmobiler in critical condition — Snowmobile rider Caleb Moore remains in critical condition after a crash at the Winter X Games in Aspen and is being closely monitored. His family thanked Moore’s fans for their support Monday and asked for their prayers. The 25-year-old was performing a flip Thursday when he clipped the top of a jump and went over the handlebars. The snowmobile rolled over him, but he walked off the course with help and went to a hospital with a concussion.
College athletics
Big East looking to add 12th school — The Big East conference is looking to add another school, and may sign a TV package that includes multiple networks, commissioner Mike Aresco said Monday. Aresco spoke at a Cromwell, Conn., chamber of commerce breakfast, and talked to reporters afterward. He said the Big East wants to keep its name as it rebrands, and no longer has any plans to expand farther west than Texas. Aresco believes the conference realignment picture may be settling down, following the departure of the so-called Catholic seven basketball schools from the Big East and the decisions of Boise State and San Diego State to return to the Mountain West.
Cycling
UCI disbands panel looking into Armstrong — The International Cycling Union disbanded an independent panel put together to review any involvement the cycling governing body had in the Lance Armstrong scandal, saying it will go ahead with a “truth and reconciliation commission" instead. The UCI said its independent panel did not have the support of the American and global anti-doping bodies, and that a truth and reconciliation process favored by those groups offered the best way “to clear the air" and get to the bottom with the rampant doping culture during the Armstrong era.
— From wire reports
