Some people won't like the next sentence.

The recent string of run-ins Arkansas football players have had with various law enforcement agencies is troubling, but what isn't far behind on the bothersome meter are the reactions the incidents have prompted from a healthy portion of the Razorbacks' fan base.

That's not to suggest the wrongs - or at least alleged wrongs - committed by various football Hogs should be brushed aside with a wink and a casual, "Boys will be boys." Their actions have ranged from irresponsible to potentially life-threatening, and should be dealt with accordingly.

Such behavior, however, shouldn't come as shocking to anyone. We are talking about young people ranging in age from about 18 to 22, after all, and aberrant behavior among that demographic is hardly confined to football players.

To our knowledge, five Razorbacks have had brushes with the law in the roughly eight months since Bobby Petrino was hired as head coach. (Note: This total doesn't include former linebacker Freddie Fairchild, who got popped again over the weekend and has earned his own category. ) You could probably poll any fraternity house or dormitory on campus over a comparable time period and come up with a similar number.

ADVERTISEMENT

Again, that's not to say these players' combinations of poor judgment and illegal activity should go unchecked. Part of the move from childhood to manhood is learning that actions have repercussions, especially for anyone getting a free college ride and representing our state and school.

What's been confounding on an entirely different level, though, is the quick-trigger responses some Hog fans have had as these episodes have unfolded. We're not talking about the predictable arguments over whether the players have been treated either better or worse than Average Joe would have been under similar circumstances, either.

What's been downright kooky is the manner in which people have rushed to compare how Petrino has handled these matters with how the old coach might have done things. Frankly, it's the continuation of a disturbing pattern among many of the Arkansas faithful.

Almost as soon as Petrino was introduced at that still-surreal, latenight news conference, it was as if a sizeable group of Hogs fans had discovered a way to put every word he uttered under a microscope. Through recruiting season and spring practice and summer workouts, the scrutiny only intensified, the most innocuous of words often awarded some mystic meaning.

As part of the examination of practically every syllable, it seems, Petrino's words have without fail been contrasted against what the former coach might have said. Granted, such a scenario usually plays out in a pro-Petrino fashion.

"Now that's what a real coach says," John Hog Fan might say.

"Yeah, there's no way you-knowwho would have said that," Jim Pig Sooie would probably answer.

With much less regularity, some fan still bitter over the coaching change might argue on behalf of the one who's no longer here. When that happens, the insanity only intensifies.

Either way, some amount of that old "Hugger vs. Hater" mentality still seems to hang in the air around here. That's really unfortunate, too, because any time or energy debating what the old coach might have said or done is nothing more than a waste of, well, time and energy.

Arkansas has a new football coach. Those who show up for today's first preseason practice will be operating from a new playbook.

Actually, in a way, it's sort of like a New Year's Day for the Razorbacks and their fans. Whatever happened in the past doesn't mean diddly.

So here's an idea: Why don't we forget about the old coach, save for the one week a year he shows up on the schedule ?