The College Sports Experience

Former Syracuse and current Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony pulled $3 million off his wad and threw it at Syracuse University yesterday to pay for a new basketball facility that will bear his name.

And before I get to the funny, sad, ironic quote he delivered, I'll first say that Syracuse more than got its return on whatever it invested in Anthony who led the Orange to a national championship. The millions that flow to a school because of that exposure -- TV-wise, marketing wise, merchandise-wise -- is a nice tradeoff for two semesters of free classes and whatever dough (ahem) went into recruiting Anthony.

He is not an example of the kind of athlete that sucks at the soul of a university. The ones that take the scholarship without bothering to put up a charade that the education that his "fellow students" are paying $120,000 for is important to him.

However, when Anthony made his grant, he said, "The six months I was there, I had a great time."

And I just think that's so damn funny.