Tim Abromaitis and Eric Atkins arrested over the weekend

Over the weekend, 44 people were arrested by South Bend police after they were called to break up a fight and discovered a house party. Of those arrested, two were Irish basketball players -- rising junior and leading returning scorer Tim Abromaitis and incoming freshman Eric Atkins.

Apparently, the party was for a junior defenseman on the Notre Dame hockey team that had turned 21, and it sounds like quite a party. From the South Bend Tribune:

South Bend police said they were dispatched to the neighborhood at 1:41 a.m. on the report of about a dozen people fighting, throwing punches near the corner of Washington and Eddy streets, one block north of Jefferson Boulevard.

Upon arrival, officers heard glass breaking from the back of the residence and immediately called for more units. South Bend police said pandemonium began to occur, with numerous men and women jumping out of windows and off the roof of the residence.

Excise Police officers arrived at 1:53 a.m., according to a news release, and 15 or more South Bend police officers left their patrol beats from across the city to assist and catch people who were fleeing, police said.

Look, I know underage drinking is illegal. I know that running from the cops is generally a terrible idea. I get that when there are a dozen people brawling in the street, its been taken too far.

But come on.

This is college. And these are college kids. They just so happen to be bigger, stronger, taller, and faster than your average college kid. That doesn't mean they are any smarter or make better decisions than the rest of their classmates.

Think back to your time in college, whenever that was. How many times did you drink while underage? How many parties did you go to that were busted up by the cops? How many times did you run from that house to avoid the cops? How many times did a fight break out at a college party? If the biggest issue your athletes have is that they attend house parties and do some underage drinking, then as a coach you don't have all that much too worry about.

Having said that, Abro and Atkins still deserve to be punished. They got caught doing something they weren't supposed to be doing. It doesn't matter if everyone else is doing it, underage drinking is against the law. But in this instance, that punishment should be handled in-house.

Anything more than some extra suicides, some water and ball duty, and maybe a benching or two early in the season would be too much.