Have you heard about the Phoenix Mercury's decision to replace their team's jersey logo with a corporate logo from sponsor LifeLock?

First, I think it's fine (if a bit short-sided) for professional teams to sell spots on their jerseys to the highest bidder. It's worked in European football for many years (although I'm still not really sure what the official logo for my husband's favorite football club, Liverpool, looks like.)

I'm not convinced it makes good marketing sense to nix your team's authentic brand in exchange for a few million; but, I guess it's better to have a team playing than shutting their doors because they can't make payroll.

I wasn't even going to write about this issue because it doesn't really have anything to do with college sports. But then I read Bob Molinaro's column from the Virginian-Pilot . In it Molinaro suggests that jersey pimping might be a good solution to tight budgets at cash-strapped colleges and universities.

"At a time of great fiscal uncertainty at all levels of sports," writes Molinaro, "shouldn't we re-evaluate our alleged aversion to corporate clutter on uniforms, especially as it applies to non-professional sports?"

My answer: absolutely, positively not.

It's true, colleges and universities are facing unprecedented financial struggles, but selling one of the things that makes college sports special--its tie to the university--would do more harm than good. The jersey is different than a building or court built by wealthy donors--it is one of the most highly visible symbols of the university and devaluing that tie would be a terrible step in the wrong direction.

Further, it would force student-athletes to wear a product or a service that they may or may not personally endorse. And what about jersey sales? I'm a proud Miami (Ohio) grad, but I would never wear a jersey with Cintas (Richard T. Farmer, the owner of Cintas is a big Miami donor), rather than a Redhawk, across the chest.

Of course, as Molinaro points out, the membership, who make the rules governing intercollegiate athletics, would likely never allow schools to sell their jersey space. He says they're hypocrites, but he's wrong. Our membership understands the inherent value (yes, both fiscally and emotionally) of athletics being part of the fabric of the university.

University athletics departments must find ways to generate revenue, and defining the boundaries of commercial activity isn't always easy. Still, I'm heartened that we don't allow jerseys to go to the highest bidder.

That's not hypocrisy, that's just common sense.