According to the Wisconsin State Journal:

Two UW-Madison men’s basketball players were jailed Sunday on tentative charges of burglary and underage drinking in the thefts of portable music players, a cell phone and $400 cash from “numerous” dormitory rooms, university police said in a news release.

And here we go again. P.J. Hill got in similar trouble last spring, prompting this columnist to write a (much-maligned) article on the cult of athletics on campus. P.J. Hill reached a plea bargain for the charges against him, and went on to sign a tentative three-year contract with the New Orleans Saints (alas, P.J. was cut from the Saints, but not being behind bars always helps one look on the sunny side of life.) These recently-arrested freshmen derelicts — who currently lack the clout (and probably the talent) of a P.J. Hill — probably won’t be so lucky.

So yes, I am sad. Once again, UW athletes have gotten in trouble, at just the moment when they should be savoring the holistic experience of education at UW. The Badger Herald Editorial Board spent hours two weeks ago debating the merits of the new basketball ticketing policy, but I still insist that not enough attention is paid on campus to sheltering student athletes from the pressures of their celebrated positions. Sports does not matter — I repeat, does not matter — if it turns vulnerable students’ lives into living hells. Let’s get serious about this, guys. How about holding up signs — “We’ll Still Like You If You Study Hard” and “It’s Not All About the Game” — at future sporting events?

I can already anticipate the flurry of responses painting me as a pansy you-know-what. I don’t care.