For Want Of A Shirt

If ever there were an argument that college athletes should get paid, it's this:
Right now, on its front page, ESPN.com has a story about how a Johnny Manziel jersey from Texas A&M is likely to fetch $100K at auction. 

One hundred thousand dollars in value. For one shirt.



A shirt.

Yes, I understand that it's a very special shirt. At the same time, I understand that it is a shirt that, by dint of being associated with a college football player, is now worth a significant fraction of the value of my house. I mean, I'm sure it's a lovely jersey and all, and the stitching is very nice, and they've gotten all the grass stains out and whatnot, but nobody's shelling out $100K because it's a nice shirt. I mean, hell, even Brooks Brothers can't get away with charging that.

No, the value comes from its proximity to the abdomen of a player. It's the player that generated the value. And if players are generating that much value, then they should be getting some of that value back.

Now let's just get this wrapped up before they auction off Manziel's jock strap.