Racial Crisis in MLB?

No jokes this time; this is serious business.

C.C. Sabathia said today that Major League Baseball needs more black players.

While it could be argued that there are lots of great black players in the big leagues -- Barry Bonds, Vernon Wells, Dontrelle Willis and Ryan Howard, to name a few -- I think it's worth considering his point in the grand scheme of things.

First of all, the article gives some statistical merit to what Sabathia has said. And if you think about it, there are a lot less black players in baseball than there are in basketball and football. Why?

I believe that it has to do with two closely linked factors: money and opportunity. Baseball and other sports like tennis and golf are dominated, and probably always will be, by those with money. Why? Because they are sports that require more skill than athleticism, and skill is developed with time and careful instruction. Therefore, as a general rule, if you follow the money you'll find the most skilled athletes in these sports, the ones that started when they were four and could afford a private hitting instructor.

The lack of black athletes in certain sports does not, in my opinion, have much to do with race at all. It has to do with money and opportunity.

If your counterarguments are Tiger Woods, James Blake and Barry Bonds, take a closer look. Those are black athletes that had the money and opportunity to hone great skill in their respective sports.

Yes, there may be an issue of a lack of black athletes in baseball. But the root of the problem is not racism. Period.

Bonds that just won't mature

This is just too much. Barry Bonds is saying he would consider playing in 2008.

Barry's best chance at playing next year is for the Folsom prison system. Don't know if they'd pay him $16 million a year, but I hear they need a cleanup hitter.

Barry, please do us all a favor and walk away. In fact, you should run so you can get a head start on the Feds. Because no one, except a few delusional Giants fans, wants to watch you continue cheating.

Kobe did what?

The NBA announced today that it is retroactively fining Kobe Bryant $50,000, or the equivalent of what he earns for making a left-handed layup, for leaving the toilet seat up in the locker room after a recent game.

Stu Jackson, NBA vice president of operations, confirmed the amount and said that this should be seen as precedent for other players in the league.

"How many times have your wives and girlfriends told you to put that dang thing down when you're done in there?" Jackson said before admitting that he himself had been guilty of Kobe's offense this morning at about 2 a.m. "We need to teach these men some proper bathroom etiquette."

Bryant declined to comment on the situation, but his agent did describe him as "flush with anger" when he heard the news.

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Okay, so that's a big joke. Kobe didn't get fined for leaving the toilet seat up.

But in all seriousness, when are the league's big brother tactics going to lighten up? I'm no Kobe fan, but this is entering the realms of ridiculous.

For those of you who haven't heard, Bryant was just retroactively assessed a flagrant foul for elbowing Kyle Korver. This season alone, he's been suspended twice by the NBA for elbowing opponents on his "follow through." On only one of the occasions, however, was he actually called for a foul in the game.

Let's face it. Kobe Bryant is a prima donna. He's a great player, but there's a lot of things not to like about him, including some dirty play here and there.

But for the sake of precedence, this has to stop. Kobe needs to be called for the foul on the court. When it happens, the officials at the game should determine if it's a flagrant foul. Then, everyone should just move on.

No fines, no suspensions, no retroactive flagrant or technical fouls. Just basketball, please.