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Message: [QUOTE="shantydaze, post: 2328830, member: 666"] I agree with your points and just wanted to add another about the "forced labor" comment. Seinfeld had a great bit about sports fans rooting for laundry. I root for a school, not a specific player. As a SU player, I rooted for and was a fan of Tyler Lydon. Now? Not so much. In fact, I had to look up to see what team he is on (Denver). While I still have an affinity for former SU players and hope they do well in the NBA, overseas, and/or life, I am not going to watch their games or buy their jersey. The value is not with the player, it is with the school/team/brand that is Syracuse University. Even if the team is not good (SU football), I still torture myself and watch. Therefore, the argument that a certain student athlete makes a school a certain amount of money is misplaced as the school would make a significant amount of money regardless of who is wearing number 20 on the basketball court. I will acknowledge that there is an increase in sales and revenue if the team is good, but I would guess that amount is relatively small when compared with the general distributions SU receives from the ACC. The second issue is what is the market value of an 18 year old basketball player. Right now, the market is a college scholarship or playing overseas. Fans do not care about and there is no market for a second U.S. based professional basketball league. As the NBA invests more money into the D-League, this may change, but as of right now, a player is only worth the compensation that someone is willing to pay. Arguing that someone is worth more than a scholarship is fine, but only if a market exists that pays such compensation. If these players really were worth what people argue, multiple professional leagues would be set up. I will admit there is a valid argument that no market exists because of college basketball and there may be some truth to this. Of course, this goes back to my original argument that the value is largely because of the uniform being worn and not the player wearing it. [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?