The arrest of two star Ole Miss football players last week begsseveral questions: What were they thinking? Why were they carryinglethal weapons in the first place? What is next?

The players, Jamal Pittman of Columbia and Ken Bournes ofMonticello, were suspended from the team indefinitely after beingarrested in Memphis for an incident near the Beale Street area ofthe city. Both were charged with resisting arrest and brandishing adeadly weapon. Both have since pleaded not guilty but remainsuspended from the team. Their attorney maintains the two wereacting in self-defense.

For the life of me, I cannot understand why two athletes withGod-given talent would risk their promising futures for a night onthe town. Why would they put themselves in such a dangeroussituation? The answer I guess is youth. Many a wild-eyed collegestudent has taken on a city. Most come home safely, but every sooften, some do not. It is a parent’s worst nightmare.

But, of all the wild-eyed college kids looking for a night offun on the town, how many of them carry deadly weapons? Is a 9 mmpistol with a laser-guided scope the weapon of choice among collegestudents these days?

Back in my day — when we only had to walk two miles in the snowto get to school, versus the 10 miles our parents walked — a goodtime meant $25 in the wallet, a full tank of gas and a bit ofcommon sense. The 25 bucks, by the way, would usually be the totalbetween the group and the value of the car, which was held togetherwith hay-bailing wire and carried a case of oil in the trunk. Gunswere not part of our partying supplies.

I happened to be on Beale Street recently, granted it was notmidnight, and the atmosphere I found was not one that showed theneed for personal protection. It was more of a tourist destinationwith sophisticated honky-tonks.

I do not know if the incident involving Pittman and Bournes is acomment on the young college-age society, but it is a comment onsomething.

Ole Miss is not the only football program in the nation that hasseen its athletes get caught up in situations that involve criminalcharges. I can think of numerous incidents right here inMississippi over the past five years.

The professional ranks, of course, are not immune from theproblem and arguably are the source of it. The phrase “monkey see,monkey do” comes to mind as irresponsible professional athletesinfluence younger ones who want to emulate their sports heroes.

In years gone by, the indiscretion of youth was something to belaughed about — fuel for humorous stories. When incidentsoccurred, authorities usually looked the other way or found ways toindiscreetly handle the more serious ones. Times have changed,however, and harmless, youthful incidents have now become moreserious and life threatening.

Where do we go from here? Who knows, but as a parent with acollege bound student on the horizon, it adds one more item to myprayer list.

Write to Bill Jacobs at P.O. Box 551, Brookhaven, Miss.39602, or send e-mail to bjacobs@dailyleader.com.