Holy shirt.

FOX is catching a lot of flack for an “unintentional” broadcast of a “F*** Da Eagles” t-shirt being worn by a woman whom the cameramen could not help showing Saturday night during the Eagles-Saints game. New York Post critic Phil Mushnick couldn’t resist writing about the incident:

OK, but that’s what “preview” monitors are for. And if you look for trouble, you’ll eventually find it. If you scour a ballpark for a sober dad and his kids, as opposed to “hot babes” and bare-chested boozers, such mistakes would be excused.

One thing about Mushnick: when he’s not being an ignorant bigot and referring to NBA players as ‘crips’ and gang members, he can make some good points about the mechanics of sports television — even in a roundabout way. Crowd shots have become far too prevalent in televised sports, dating back to ABC’s embarrassing “boob cam” during the 2003 NBA Playoffs. Cutaways to nervous fans in the stands (a hallmark of FOX’s World Series coverage, especially in 2004), attractive women (especially in tennis, where every other shot during men’s matches seems to be of one of the players’ girlfriends), and people generally acting stupid, adds nothing to broadcasts.

Unfortunately for FOX, criticism of the gaffe doesn’t focus on the unnecessary crowd shots. Instead, some are talking about profanity and the FCC.

One young woman (note I do not call her a “lady”) was wearing a t-shirt reading “F**K DA EAGLES.” Except her shirt had letters where the asterisks are.

Fox is in court right now challenging the FCC’s right to police the airwaves for indecency. Networks have argued that too many FCC fines for indecency have been for fleeting instances of profanity or indecency and on live TV, where the networks have no control over the actions of those they televise.

But this instance was neither fleeting nor live: The profane word was not said, it was WRITTEN on the TV screen on her t-shirt for five seconds. The TiVo evidence is indisputable.

Moreover, it was not live: The Fox cameras recorded her celebrating when the play happened and aired it during the replay. In other words, Fox directors CHOSE to air the profane word.

This could cost FOX some money — and potentially cause networks to start invoking seven second delays on sports broadcasts, as they did after the Janet Jackson flash. Of course, a seven second delay isn’t going to help when game producers are seemingly oblivious to what is being broadcast, but networks tend to overreact when the bottom line is threatened.

In the video below (found via The Big Lead), it’s it’s fairly easy to see what the woman’s shirt says.

The question becomes how the director of the FOX game telecast managed not to notice. Especially with so much at stake — namely money. The FCC is still cracking down on broadcast networks, and will likely continue doing so for the foreseeable future. The “F” word being broadcast to a large prime time audience will certainly pique the interest of the Commission. And the fact that FOX had control over what was on their air will certainly not help the network in any appeals.