The news broke today that USC has suspended head basketball coach Kevin O'Neill for the remainder of the Pac-10 tournament in light of his involvement in a verbal altercation with Arizona booster Paul Weitman in a Los Angeles hotel lobby Thursday night.
Well, an Arizona basketball news site called PointGuardU claims to have reliable sources which paint a much darker picture of the incident, although their reports to this point are unconfirmed:
According to ESPNLosAngeles, O'Neill denies there was a fight but "acknowledged the altercation grew heated, comparing it to an argument between a baseball manager and an umpire." He knew immediately that he had done something wrong.
UPDATE 3/13/11: Kevin O'Neill reinstated as USC basketball coach by athletic director Pat Haden.
USC suspends Kevin O'Neill [ESPN]
Kevin O'Neill repentant after incident [ESPNLosAngeles]
[Weitman] is a longtime friend of Lute Olson, which is noteworthy because of the rift between O'Neill and the legendary Wildcats coach. O'Neill had been told before a year-long stint as interim coach that Arizona would name him head coach afterward, but the Wildcats instead let him go following the 2007-08 season and made preparations for Olson's return.On the surface, this seemed like a harsh punishment for a simple verbal altercation, so the first question I had was obvious: What exactly did O'Neill say? Or was there something more to this?
Well, an Arizona basketball news site called PointGuardU claims to have reliable sources which paint a much darker picture of the incident, although their reports to this point are unconfirmed:
Kevin O’Neill went on a drunken tirade along with his wife after beating Cal yesterday. In fact, he didn’t even change his suit and went straight to the JW Marriott lobby bar.
PointGuardU’s sources have indicated that USC head coach Kevin O’Neill and his wife were drunkenly escorted away from their hotel after getting into verbal and physical altercations with Arizona fans on Thursday night.
O’Neill and his wife were in a hotel lobby of the JW Marriott and visibly intoxicated when they exchanged words with a group of Arizona fans. O’Neill reportedly threatened the fan that USC was going to “beat the hell out of Arizona.” Words were exchanged and our sources say that O’Neill’s wife struck one of the Arizona fans. O’Neill and his wife were escorted out of the hotel, and Arizona fans were left wondering what just happened.
The fan was [Arizona] booster Paul Weitman and they ran into each other at the elevators...Apparently KO’s wife, Roberta, started the melee by roughing up Wetiman with one of her rings. KO then got involved and when hotel security intervened the things got even uglier.
Chaos and confusion ensued. The craziness of what occurred led to a scuffle between O’Neill and Arizona fans.PointGuardU shows a picture of O'Neill with a drink in his hand, posing with an Arizona fan. It would seem at the time the picture was taken, he was probably in a better mood than he is right now.
According to ESPNLosAngeles, O'Neill denies there was a fight but "acknowledged the altercation grew heated, comparing it to an argument between a baseball manager and an umpire." He knew immediately that he had done something wrong.
"I feel like I've let my team down, which is the worst feeling you can have is a coach," he said.
Perhaps even worse, he has put his wife in the middle of a contentious crossfire.
"It's hard to see anybody you love being criticized," he said. "It's unfortunate that her name is even involved at all. We do everything together. We go everywhere together. She's very supportive of everything I do and our team and our players."And to top everything off, USC lost to Arizona last night, 67-62.
UPDATE 3/13/11: Kevin O'Neill reinstated as USC basketball coach by athletic director Pat Haden.
USC suspends Kevin O'Neill [ESPN]
Kevin O'Neill repentant after incident [ESPNLosAngeles]
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports) and like Holdout Sports on Facebook.
