D1 is a Tar Heel through and through. Lots of celebrations on Franklin Street tonight!
From the town of Chapel Hill:
“An estimated crowd of 55,000 people rushed Franklin Street immediately following the victory, at which time the streets were closed to vehicular traffic. The streets were cleaned amd reopened to regular traffic at 2:09 AM Tuesday. Seven injuries were reported, four of whom suffered burns. Town officials extinguished and cleaned multiple bonfires on Franklin Street.”
That is impressive on several levels.
My son took a day off work to be there, and was at the airport at 6AM this morning to get to a meeting. Also impressive. Ah, youth.
All those fouls called! I’ve never almost fallen asleep during a close national championship game before.
There is a dumb tradition of making tiny little bonfires and jumping over them. I don’t know who the idiots were who started that, but every time they win a huge game, somebody ends up getting burned. Fortunately D1 was never interested in doing something so foolish.
My alma mater, UNC-CH! The Heels prevailed and take home the national title once again. Happy for them!!!
Well, now the glow of the Tar Heels’s win has dimmed a bit let’s get down to the nuts and bolts; the deciding plays of the game.
The refs did a very poor job. Was it the worst officiating ever? Did it cost Gonzaga the game? Who can say, but the officiating certainly had too much impact on the outcome;
Karnowski called for a fragrant foul when he and Berry collided. As the TV guys pointed out, both players lost their footing in a scramble for the ball. The contact was unintentional and could not have been avoided by Karnowski. Yet, foul on Karnowski and return of possession to UNC. Huh?
In the second significant scramble in the final seconds, Meek probably fouled the Gonzaga player. No call but a jump ball and return of possession to UNC with a lead and time running out.
From UNC’s point of view, Nigel Williams-Goss committed a traveling infraction on multiple occasions near the basket, including when he scored or was fouled. Really cant blame the refs here because traveling has become a routine part of the game, unfortunately.
UNC didn’t defeat Gonzaga so much as in the end they benefited from poor officiating and some foolish last minute plays by Williams-Goss and Gonzaga.