Gregg Doyel

Kevin O'Neill had to go at Arizona, but frankly I'm surprised Lute Olson had the wherewithal to know it -- and the stones to do it.

O'Neill, who joined Olson's staff before this past season and then replaced him on an interim basis, has been ripping Olson behind his back. Just crushing him. How do I know this? Because I've talked to several people -- not one; several -- who were on the receiving end of O'Neill's rants against Olson. O'Neill isn't as smart as he thinks if he thought his hammerings of Olson weren't going to come out. Good grief, Kevin. This stuff always comes out.

O'Neill wasn't just the Wildcats' interim coach. He was their next coach, or at least, he thought he was. Arizona made him that verbal promise months ago, and O'Neill accepted it. Last week when Olson announced he was returning to the team for the 2008-09 season, O'Neill said he would be back at Olson's side.

Apparently not. Olson seems to have fired O'Neill, and let me tell you, the pink slip was deserved. This is a bad guy, OK? Kevin O'Neill is simply not a good dude, and Olson -- whose program has been crushed by other bad dudes masquerading as players -- was able to sniff this one out. Good for you, Lute Olson.

Shame on you, Kevin O'Neill.

Go back to the NBA, you back-stabbing leach. You don't deserve to work in college basketball ever again.

The officiating in this NCAA tournament has ranged from bizarre to plain bad, a problem whose roots can be traced to the NBA scandal involving alleged point-shaving referee Tim Donaghy. The NCAA wanted to avoid any such nefariousness and subjected its potential tournament officials to background checks. Good idea.

Bad execution. Two of the college game's top officials, Jim Burr and John Higgins, found themselves ensnared in the process -- not because of background issues, but because of timing issues. For various reasons, Burr and Higgins weren't able to be cleared before the NCAA's deadline. Again, there was nothing objectionable about those two in particular. They've been allowed to officiate games in the 2008 NIT, also run by the NCAA. They just couldn't get cleared in time for the big event.

Removing two top officials from the NCAA tournament pool has done nothing to help the quality of the on-court product. The officiating for the Georgetown-Davidson game was almost as bad as Stephen Curry was good. Hoyas center Roy Hibbert in particular was treated unfairly, or incompetently, by officials who turned every 50-50 call against him ... and made some 90-10 calls against him as well. That's no excuse for the Hoyas. Even without Hibbert the Hoyas led Davidson by 17 in the second half. You don't blame that loss on the officials. But the officials were awful.

They might have been worse in Omaha, where my colleague Dennis Dodd was so appalled by the officiating that he devoted his entire column from his second-round game to the men in stripes.

And then you have Curtis Shaw, the most volatile official in the game. Shaw is the guy who ejected ISU coach Larry Eustachy in a 2000 Elite Eight game. He's the guy whom the SEC unofficially banned from working its games because of his temper And he's the guy who ejected Stanford's Trent Johnson on Saturday in the second round. Johnson became the fifth guy ejected from a game officiated this season by Shaw. Most zebras go an entire year without ejecting anyone.

It says something about the quality of officiating in college basketball when Curtis Shaw continues to work important games. Then again, there's a shortage of officials. Two of the best weren't eligible to work the 2008 NCAA tournament. Yet they were allowed -- by the NCAA -- to work the NIT. Explain that one.

After wasting his time in the offseason last year, Reggie Bush vows to come into camp a better player this time around. He also says he will try to match the city's other young sports star, Chris Paul. Maybe Bush should aim a little lower. Try to match, say, Bonzi Wells.

The worship of Brett Favre has become almost sickening.

Chad Johnson is crossing the line from flake to genuine bad guy. (Bad guy as in "Terrell Owens," not bad guy as in "homocidal criminal.") For kicks, check out the pompous "no comment" left by Drew Rosenhaus via text message.

Get on the bandwagon now: Dan Uggla for the Hall of Fame. The one in Cooperstown. No, really.

The Red Sox and A's get an all-expenses-paid trip to Japan to open the season, and as an added bonus they get $40,000 each? Good grief. There is such a disconnect between real life and the life of a big-leaguer. Not sure if I'm jealous, or just plain pissed off.

You know what? At the time it happened, I was thinking the same thing this angry columnist in Utah writes about Derek Fisher: He used his daughter's cancer to get out of Utah and re-join the Lakers.

That Ultimate Fighter knucklehead Jon Koppenhaver -- aka War Machine -- has himself a new fight. If it's half as entertaining as his fight against Jared Rollins, I can't wait to see it.

Two fascinating things about the latest NFL player to get arrested on DUI charges: What he was doing when the cops caught him, and what piece of junk he was driving. You're in the NFL, dude. Get caught drunk in some better wheels.

Playing fullback in the NFL must be like being a left-handed reliever in the big leagues: Apparently anybody can do it.

Juan Gonzalez simply cannot stay healthy. It's almost as if his body has an unnatural amount of muscle, and breaks down under its weight and mass.

Paul Lo Duca simply cannot stay rational. It's almost as if he has some reason to be unnaturally full of rage.

The Seattle Times is getting all liberal and concerned for the poor who have to support an NBA franchise ... in Oklahoma City. What a crock.

The latest Duke bust in the NBA has been parceled to the D-league, never to be heard from again.

Karo Parisyan made a mess of The Ultimate Fighter when he went there to support Manny Gamburyan. And now the two aren't speaking?

With Spencer Fisher out for the next version of UFC Fight Night, meet the guy replacing him in the fight against Marcus Aurelio.