Dilly Duka, the star midfielder on the US Under-20 team, has signed with MLS. Dilly Duka has spent time in the RBNY youth system. Dilly Duka wants to play for his hometown team. Sounds like a perfect situation, right?

Not in the world of MLS, it isn't. When Metro tried to get Duka last season as an academy graduate, the league said no, because he did not meet minimum eligibility requirements... whatever those were. Never mind the fact that MLS drastically changed graduation rules earlier in the year. RBNY could not have Duka, and that was that.

So Duka went on, quit Rutgers, scored a great goal in the Under-20 World Cup, and now signed with MLS, a Generation adidas deal that will put him in the upcoming SuperDraft, where Metro has the second overall pick. So, in theory, he can become a Metro after all. All good, right?

Well, not exactly. Why on earth does Metro have to spend a high draft pick on a player they helped develop? Doesn't that undermine the point of the academy in the first place? Besides, who is to say that top-picking expansion Philadelphia would not grab Duka all for themselves?

No, seriously, what is the point of having an academy in the first place?