Irony reigned supreme in college football’s opening weekend, as the exact opposite of what the NCAA had hoped for dominated the headlines: unsportsmanlike conduct.

This past weekend was “Respect Weekend,” a national sportsmanship initiative between the NCAA and the American Football Coaches Association. As a part of the initiative, several teams emerged from the same tunnels with their opponents before kickoff and games featured members of each team shaking hands at midfield before the coin toss.

As great an idea as it was, the novelty factor wore off less than a day after it had begun.

Thanks to the postgame actions of Boise State’s Byron Hout and Oregon’s LeGarrette Blount, the initiative will be forgotten in the future in favor of the Hout-Blount altercation.

In case you missed it, Hout was celebrating the Broncos’ 19-8 victory by yelling in Blount’s face and tapping him on the shoulder pad. Whatever Hout said, it set Blount off, as he reacted by punching the Boise State defensive end in the jaw and sending him to his knees.

And while the altercation itself is ripe with irony, the true story goes back to the pregame handshake. Among the Oregon players participating in the sportsmanship demonstration was none other than Blount, ironic as it may be.

Now, though Ducks head coach Chip Kelly may hope otherwise, Blount will be remembered for nothing more than “a YouTube clip of what happened to him on Sept. 3 in Boise, Idaho.”

Try as it may, the NCAA has bigger issues on its hands than sportsmanship during (or after) games. And while I appreciate the idea the initiative represents, it does relatively nothing to solve the much bigger issues within collegiate sports as whole, such as a lack of respect.

After all, the weekend was referred to as “Respect Weekend,” and with such a name, the arrest of two UW men’s basketball players also comes to mind.

Freshmen Diamond Taylor and Jeremy Glover were arrested and jailed Sunday on tentative charges of burglary and underage drinking. Taylor and Glover are suspected in the theft of several iPods, a cell phone and more than $400 cash from dorm rooms in Sellery Hall.

The actions of the two young Badgers are a prime example of a lack of respect among many (though fortunately not all) NCAA athletes.

First and foremost, Taylor and Glover showed a complete lack of respect for their fellow students and their possessions. And while those students likely should not have left their rooms unlocked and unattended, one would hope to live without having to constantly fear people will enter unlocked rooms and take things that do not belong to them.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the two showed no respect for the people who have brought them to this university, specifically men’s basketball head coach Bo Ryan.

After he sought out both players to come to Wisconsin to play on his team and even gave Taylor a scholarship, this is how they repaid him — by drinking underage and stealing.

Such lack of respect has earned each of them a suspension from the team and for Glover it could become permanent. For a player who just received a walk-on spot on Sept. 2, the Haymarket, Va., native didn’t exactly make a good first impression.

And now, it would seem more surprising if Glover were allowed to remain in his position on the team than if he were dismissed by Bo Ryan.

The biggest question is: Why do these young men do the things they do?

Perhaps it is just that: They’re young and they’re men. Regardless of age, males always seem to have to prove their “manhood,” and college-aged men even more so. In that case, it does not seem all that surprising they would do such ill-advised things in an attempt to prove themselves to their peers.

Or maybe they do so because they feel a sense of entitlement. After having so many things handed to them on a silver platter because of their athletic ability, it seems as though some of these young men may believe they are entitled to things when it simply is not the case.

Still, it may be none of these things in some cases. For example, Taylor and Glover had been drinking before the incident. They may not have been drunk, but their decision-making ability definitely could have been impaired.

So, maybe they didn’t think they would get caught.

Whatever it is, the lack of respect exhibited by many NCAA athletes over the weekend is simply not acceptable and is an issue that needs to be addressed.

Jordan is a senior majoring in journalism and political science. Sick of seeing so many athletes making headlines for their poor decisions? E-mail him at [email protected].