Do you know what’s mind-boggling? How athletes today have their life laid out perfectly in front of them, and throw it all away with poor decisions. It’s something you see every day.

Why is it so hard to keep one’s nose clean in order to reach one’s goal? Now, I’m not here to judge anyone or say what is right or wrong. I believe people do what they do because they want to, and honestly I have no problem with that. Ultimately, they are the ones who have to live with it.

But it’s frustrating to me when people are given a chance in life to make something special of themselves and they use poor judgment to derail that. You have 18, 19, and 20-year-old kids who think they are Teflon and can do whatever they feel like and not suffer the consequences.

Just yesterday, Sean Williams -- a 6’ 10” Forward for Boston College -- was dismissed from the team for violating team rules. Were these rules so stringent one would have to be a saint not to break them? I highly doubt it.

Here’s a kid that is blessed with height and athletic ability that people dream about -- a surefire NBA prospect -- and now suddenly his prospects aren’t so high. Maybe a NBA general manager says, “Hmmm, dismissed from BC, is that really the kind of player I want on my team?”

Now I’m no dummy. The NBA isn’t full of the ethically gifted, but there are plenty of other 6 foot 10 inch guys who will represent a team well.

Then there is Elijah Dukes. A world-class athlete who could have played major college football. Instead he chose baseball, and his on- and off-the-field hijinks have been well documented. He may be flagged the rest of his career as bad seed.

I’m not picking on Mr. Williams or Mr. Dukes, but it’s just another example of putting a better life in the long run at risk for some sort of instant gratification.

It’s not isolated to basketball, or to sports for that matter. Life is full of tough decisions and temptations for everyone. But not everyone has the opportunity that these athletes have. We can only hope that these young adults realize that although the sky is the limit, there is a lot to lose with poor judgment.