A sampling of opinions from some Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service columnists; Call (202) 383-6091 for resends of full columns.

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SKIP BAYLESS, Chicago Tribune, on the COLORADO SCHOOL SHOOTINGS:

CHICAGO _ Another all-American archetype was just shot in the face. Another line was crossed. Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?

``All the jocks stand up!'' the two student gunmen yelled. ``We're going to shoot every one of you!''

Athletes have long been the most idolized and pampered members of our society, from Little League to the pros. They have the rare ability to make us prouder of our school and our city, and in turn ourselves.

So we suffer their arrogance and suspended adolescence. We envy and resent their stature. We boo and curse them when they let us down.

But we don't shoot them. No matter how powerful the emotions they trigger in us, we don't cross that line or go over that edge. Jocks have remained on a bullet-proof pedestal.

But now two high school students in a Denver suburb have taken the first shots at another last bastion. An isolated incident? Don't kid yourself. Tuesday's gleefully murderous spree was yet another warning that our star-worshipping, cyber-killing Rome is on hair trigger.

It came as no surprise that two Hitler-worshipping kids targeted classmates of color. The shocker was that they wanted to kill as many jocks as possible before turning their weapons on themselves.

This was a first.

How painfully ironic that the team nickname at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., is the Rebels. Two outcasts rebelled against the athletes they couldn't be _ the athletes who sometimes ridiculed them.

We might never know for sure exactly what motivated Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17. We do know they came from upper-middle class homes and that one drove a BMW. We do know that one played in a fantasy baseball league and that both were taking a bowling class.

At 6 feet 4 inches, Klebold had perhaps at some point been encouraged or even pressured to play basketball.

Beyond that, all I know for sure is that I wouldn't want to be a high school kid (or the parent of one) as Y2K looms.

High school years can be horrifying without today's virtual-reality temptations. It's difficult enough being half-adult, half-child and figuring out you don't have to be the star quarterback or head cheerleader to be happy in life. …