Sex and sports are associated with one another all the time. Let's face it - sex sells, and so do sports. Separate or packaged together, positive or negative - they sell.

Recently, however, sex and sports are associated with one another and it hasn't been a good thing, especially on college campuses.

Lakers star Kobe Bryant's relationship and trial (still), Colorado football sex parties and accusations of rape and Wisconsin athletes who can't let go and have issues of their own.

The problems of sex/relationships and sports is growing. Some of this is new, and some is not.

Remember any other Lakers star players who made reputations for sleeping around and getting in trouble?

Wilt Chamberlain and, of course, Magic Johnson come to mind.

I think the problem slowly is moving toward college campuses. Look at the situations at Wisconsin during the past few months.

The UW-Madison campus has two players who are facing charges relating to sex or relationships. Basketball player Maurice "Boo" Wade and football player Dwayne Smith are both in trouble on allegations of misdemeanor and rape.

Wade seems to be scaring his ex-girlfriend, again. Wade is facing misdemeanor battery charges stemming from an incident in February, when he was accused of choking the 19-year-old woman. He was released from jail on a signature bond which stated he would have no direct or indirect contact with the woman.

Wade, still irritated by the accusations, apparently just couldn't keep himself from calling the woman up and attempting to discuss what had taken place with the trial up to this point. Wade appeared back in a Dane County Circuit Court on Monday, facing new charges of misdemeanor bail-jumping.

Wade was scheduled to appear in court Thursday for a pretrial hearing regarding the first charge. If convicted, Wade faces up to nine months in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.

Moving on to the accused player.

A Wisconsin running back, Smith now is on trial facing allegations he raped a 19-year-old woman. Another 19-year-old, and another eager-to-please - or displease - Wisconsin athlete.

If you're 19 and attend Wisconsin-Madison, run and hide.

The woman testified that she repeatedly told Smith she did not want to have sex with him. It was, as in the Wade case, in a Dane County Circuit Court.

I wonder if it was the same judge?

Smith is out on bail and still is on the football team. He initially was suspended indefinitely, but that was changed to a five-day suspension after an appeals hearing.

These are just two of the numerous negative examples of sports and sex which recently have come about around college campuses.

The happenings in Colorado are way to messy right now to figure out.

The only question now is, will these college players get "star treatment" during their trials, or will they be treated just like everyone else?

So far, it's hard to tell. I would like to think the judges aren't giving them slack, but I think they have up to this point.

I start to have a problem when so many of these sex-and-sports problems start to occur in college. It's not that they haven't happened before, but I believe they have become more frequent in their happenings.

I just don't want to see college athletics have a dark shadow cast over it, like the NBA has, by individuals who can't control themselves.

If you can't control yourself because your sport stimulates your hormones so much that you have to attack or harass girlfriends, ex-girlfriends and innocent girls, then stay off a college campus as an athlete. Go get a job at the local grocery store and creep women out when they walk through the check-out.

J. Ryan Mulcrone is a State News sports reporter. He can be reached at mulcron3@msu.edu