The saga over the eligibility of Colorado football recruit Jeremy Bloom will continue for at least another two weeks.

Lawyers representing the wide receiver and the NCAA met Wednesday in Colorado district court and presented initial arguments from both sides as to why Bloom should or should not be able to play college football while continuing to earn money from endorsements and modeling work. After hearing both sides, Judge Daniel Hale told the parties they will reconvene for a permanent injunction hearing on Aug. 12.

In the meantime, NCAA lawyers agreed to allow Bloom to enroll at CU and begin practice on Aug. 8 without jeopardizing his eligibility as long as he begins to take steps to sever the working relationships with companies such as Oakley and Tommy Hilfiger.

"The NCAA was unwilling to concede to Jeremy or the university's requests because it's not specified within their own rules," said Sherri McKelvey, director of compliance for the University of Colorado. NCAA bylaws state that student-athletes are only allowed to receive money deriving from their participation in other pro sports if that money is made in salary.

While the temporary leeway provided by the NCAA would enable Bloom, who postponed his enrollment for a year to compete in the 2002 Winter Olympics, to practice, it's not clear if school officials will even let him participate. Even if Bloom wins a permanent injunction against the NCAA, it's possible that school officials still won't let Bloom play in fear that a winning NCAA appeal could once again render Bloom and the team ineligible.

"In this case, if it's heads the NCAA wins, and if it's tails the student-athlete loses," said Bloom's attorney Peter Rush.

That's because NCAA Bylaw 19.8 stipulates that if a student-athlete that is permitted to play via a court restraining order has his or her case reversed, the NCAA Management Council can require that the records of the athlete as well as the records of the team, in games in which the ineligible athlete played, be "vacated or stricken." The Management Council also has the authority to strike team victories, to penalize the school by preventing them from attending any number of NCAA championships and to access financial penalties, including the possible forfeiting of the school's share of television revenue.

"The bylaw simply provides the NCAA with recourse should a ruling be overturned," said NCAA spokesperson Jane Jankowski.

All of which leaves Bloom in limbo.

"Even if Jeremy wins, the decision of whether he should play will lie in the hands of our athletic director, football coach and the Board of Regents," McKelvey said.

On Wednesday, school officials were told by the NCAA Legislative Review and Interpretation Subcommittee that they could not reach a conclusion as to whether Bloom -- who has interest in working in television -- would violate NCAA rules by accepting a paid TV job. The Subcommittee did state that Bloom could not have been offered a TV job on the basis of his athletic ability -- either as a result of his football or skiing prowess, McKelvey said.

The university filed a waiver requesting that Bloom can seek paid media opportunities unrelated to his athletic ability and play football, but that waiver was denied by the NCAA on Thursday, said Sherri McKelvey, the university's director of compliance. In order for Bloom to make media appearances, it would have to be within 30 miles of campus, he could not get paid for it and the appearance could not be promoted, according to NCAA bylaws.

Darren Rovell, who covers sports business for ESPN.com, can be reached at Darren.rovell@espnpub.com