By Mardeio Cannon | OBSERVER SPORTS COLUMNIST

When the Roman Empire ruled the world, the rulers and citizens of Rome thought that it would never end. However, arrogance and pride caused the down fall of the Roman Empire and their worldwide reign came to a crashing end, not from the outside but from within. Like the Empire, the world of professional sports is heading for a huge crash based on recent events that have happened this summer.

First of all, all of the major professional sports commissioners are on the hot seat for one reason or another. The sad fact is that African Americans will be affected by the turmoil that’s going on in the NFL, the NBA and Major League Baseball. Let’s look at the issues that the commissioners have to deal with and how it affects the African American professional athlete.

Major League Baseball Bud Selig, Commissioner
Of all the commissioners Selig has been bashed the most because of his mishandling of several MLB issues that he has dealt with in his tenure as commissioner. He has the lightest weight on his shoulders compared to his cohorts in the NFL and the NBA.

All Selig has to do is to commit to being in the stands when Barry Bonds breaks the all-time home run record and bypasses Hank Aaron with no. 756. Selig has received much criticism because he hadn’t committed to being in the stands when Bonds breaks the record. Selig’s incompetency is shown for all to see on how he has handled the Bonds home run issue. Selig is hoping and praying (every day) that the federal government doesn’t pass down an indictment on Bonds for perjury in the BALCO steroid scandal before Bonds retires from the game. If one comes down then he is back in the spotlight and he will mess it up again.

The National Football League Roger Goodell, Commissioner
In this his first off-season as NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell had to deal with investigating Pac-Man Jones of the Tennessee Titans and Tank Johnson of the Chicago Bears for their off-the-field conduct. Most of you know that Jones was suspended for the entire 2007-08 season and Johnson was suspended for the first six games of the upcoming season.

Both of these suspensions pale to the indictment of star quarterback Michael Vick for alledegely arranging dog fights and other acts of animal cruelty on his property. The African American community in Atlanta is firmly united in their support of Vick and feels that he should not be suspended before being formally convicted of the crime, while the Anglo community, led by PETA (People for Equitable Treatment of Animals), feels that Vick should be suspended immediately.

No matter what happens in the Vick case, the image of the NFL and a few of their players’ off-the-field misconduct are bringing a huge negative portrait of the NFL product. If another high profile NFL player gets into trouble before the season starts, the NFL’s popularity will take a direct hit that may take years to recover from.

The National Basketball Association David Stern, Commissioner
The NBA’s referee gambling scandal may be the most serious threat of all to the continued health and growth of the NBA. This will affect African American NBA players the most because unlike MLB and the NFL, the NBA is most venerable because the NBA is not as entrenched into the fabric of the American public appetite for professional sports as the MLB and the NFL.

If corporate support and a sizeable portion of their season ticket base loses interest in the NBA because of the betting scandal the NBA will be in serious trouble. The advertising dollars and television ratings will continue to slide and labor troubles will mount as owners will not want to pay NBA players dollars on escalating contracts when they can prove that revenue is down.

All you have to do is look at professional hockey (the NHL) to see a glimpse of the future when a major American professional sport loses the appeal of the American public. What a summer of shame.