Thanks for being so patient. Had some time off and spent some time last week in Las Vegas, at the annual National Association of Black Journalists convention. The big news out of there: plenty of black people can't stand Barry Bonds or Michael Vick, either!

Of course, I get back to town and find out that a perfectly good name for this blog, instead of the one I sweated over and furrowed my brow about, has now been taken by the new Steelers mascot. I mean, if I had come back and told my editors I wanted the blog to be re-named "Steely McBeam,'' they would have had to say no, for copyright reasons. Who needs that aggravation?

And I find out that Cal Ripken is being appointed as some kind of super sports secret agent, or something. Your government at work. It's sending Cal around the world to spread the word about baseball to other countries, presumably including the dozens that already play it better than this one does.

Thanks to the readers who engaged in an intelligent debate about Barry Bonds' record-breaking home run after the column last week. Emphasis on "intelligent debate.'' It's been refreshing.

But this post is mostly about a discovery I made on the way back from Las Vegas late Sunday night. Inflight magazines catch a lot of flak in general, being as bland as they are, but at times it can be pretty entertaining reading, not just under the circumstances (you've finished your book and the batteries on your laptop and iPod have died). Southwest's Spirit magazine had a decent how-to article on fantasy football that I enjoyed, right up until its graphic on "Over/Under'' --  players who are either rising or falling as fantasy pickups.

One of the "falling'' players was identified as Edgerrin James of the Cardinals. Makes sense, based on an unimpressive 2006 season. Until you look at the picture (near the bottom of the article) and see that the photo that goes with it is of Steve McNair. Click back on all the links in this paragraph. Find a resemblance, any resemblance.

Here's the resemblance: they're what one blog site calls Misidentified Black People. The blog itself is called "Undercover Black Man.'' The blogger is David Mills, who wrote for "Homicide'' and "NYPD Blue,'' among many other shows, and is a Maryland grad. He's become the nation's clearinghouse for published photos in which black subjects are identified as someone who they are not. He never comes up short on material.

It's an amazing phenomenon he's tracking, with an extensive reach, from network and cable TV to daily papers to national magazines and, now, inflight reading you are encouraged to take with you when you deplane.

And, as Mills notes, more than their share involve athletes. Like Edgerrin James and Steve McNair.