In the weeks leading to Super Bowl XXXVIII CBS refused to sell airtime to MoveOn.org and PETA, claiming that their ads were too "controversial". NFL commisioner Paul Tagliabue then denied Bono’s request to perform a song about the African AIDS crisis because they were "going to deliver…an extremely entertaining halftime show" and didn’t want "to focus on a single issue". The league got their wish and on Super Monday, the world was talking about one of the most exciting championship games in recent memory. Or not.

Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri celebrates his game-winning field goal with teammate Ken Walter in the final seconds to beat the Panthers 32-29 in Super Bowl XXXVIII.

The NFL prides itself on drawing non-football fans to the Super Bowl broadcast. The league knew what it was getting into by tapping MTV to produce their halftime show. MTV attracted young fans to the game with pre-game programming on the network and promotion on MTV.com during the week. The league also got the "shocking" show MTV promised on its website. For regular MTV viewers, Janet Jackson’s silver, sun-shaped, clip-on nipple covering was maybe the third most shocking moment thing they’ve seen this year. But the media and FCC chairman Michael Powell have decided to turn the… nip-on incident into a massive story. A two second flash of flesh has been broadcast on every network hundreds of times in only two days. Powell has called it "a classless, crass and deplorable stunt" and promised a full scale investigation and heavy fines. If only his dad was this determined about finding the truth about WMD’s last year.

I say no investigation necessary. Janet wanted to end her comeback performance with a bang and a "wardrobe malfunction" made it even more memorable. As shocking as it was, I don’t think the stunt was any more crass or classless as this year’s ads. Did I need to see Mike Ditka telling me that the sport of Baseball could use the Official Male Enhancement Drug of the NFL? In three hours, America saw a dog bite a man in the crotch, a drug promising 36 hours of sexual readiness and a horse farting in a woman’s face. With competitiion like that, how else was Janet supposed to get some attention?