Authentic bust: Investigators have confiscated more than $13.6 million worth of phony sports merchandise over the past five months and expect to seize more in New Orleans during Super Bowl week, says U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton. “Operation Red Zone” has led to the confiscation of more than 160,000 counterfeit items, mostly purporting to be official Super Bowl and other NFL merchandise, including jerseys, hats and other souvenirs. A total of 23 people have been arrested on related charges since September 2012. The full story is here.
Time to move on: Drew Brees was a man on the move today as he took on his first full day of Super Bowl-related appearances, and he appeared to be ready to move on from the bitterness of the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, which may have undermined his team’s chances of playing for a title on its home field. “We’re professionals and we’ve moved past that in the sense that there’s nothing that can be done other than, ‘Let’s move on and let’s find a way to be better next year in spite of it,’ ” Brees says. “It would be easy to sit here and be angry, but it is what it is.” Read the full story here.
The grass is always greener: Unhappy with the hard artificial turf at Tulane University’s baseball field, the Baltimore Ravens will hold their main practice today at the Saints’ facility instead. The San Francisco 49ers, the Ravens’ opponent in Sunday’s Super Bowl, already are training at the Saints’ complex in nearby Metairie. Because Tulane has broken ground on a new football stadium, the AFC champions were forced to practice in the outfield of the baseball facility Wednesday. Coach John Harbaugh, star linebacker Ray Lewis and several other players say it was “hard on the legs.”
