Socializing the NCAA National Championship

At the start of the year, we made the case that 2016 couldn’t have gone much better from a sports perspective. Seemingly all the championship games and playoff action was exciting and through the first quarter of 2017, the same can be said. The College Football Playoff National Championship went down to the wire and the Super Bowl may have been the best of all-time.

With the NHL and NBA heading towards the end of their seasons and the playoffs, it will be tough for those title games to beat what we’ve seen so far this year, including last night’s NCAA Basketball National Championship. The North Carolina Tar Heels revenged their loss at the buzzer last year to claim the school’s 6^th title and because the officiating was so poor, we had plenty of chances to jump back and forth between the game and Twitter.

From heartbreak to redemption. pic.twitter.com/DeJFWkY7O4

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 4, 2017

What a difference a year makes. In 2016, it looks like North Carolina had forced overtime with an improbably three-pointer, only to have Villanova storm down the court and have Kris Jenkins hit a three at the buzzer to steal the National Championship from Tar Heel Nation. This year, even though the players and coaching staff claimed they weren’t thinking of 2016, the Tar Heels would not be denied.

Joel Berry is the Most Outstanding Player in the #FinalFour#NationalChampionship pic.twitter.com/otvYPze06B

— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) April 4, 2017

While Kennedy Meeks was North Carolina’s standout player in the National Semi-Final, Joel Berry was instrumental in the National Championship. The UNC guard put up 22 points and dished out six assists to lead the Tar Heels to the title and earn himself Most Outstanding Player honors for the Final Four. Berry may not be a projected lottery pick in the upcoming NBA Draft like Lonzo Ball or Malik Monk but Berry has something neither of them never will, an NCAA Championship ring.

adam morrison looks like a lifeguard who thinks you need to knock off the horseplay in the wave pool pic.twitter.com/R76P1J7Wlr

— nick (@nick_pants) April 4, 2017

When Adam Morrison was at Gonzaga, over a decade ago which makes me feel really old, he was my favorite player in college basketball. Maybe that’s because we had the same haircut, maybe that’s because I rooted for the underdog, maybe that’s because I expected Morrison to be a perennial All-Star in the NBA. I don’t know why but I loved Adam Morrison and I still love him now, even if he has clearly seen better days.

Come on ref, blow the god damn whistle!!

— Brent Hanks (@Bhanks11) April 4, 2017

There were a lot of stoppages in last night’s game, more than most could even count and that disrupted any flow that either team tried to get into. Twitter had some fun with the referees and the whistles but the worst part about the entire situation, some of the calls weren’t even close to right! I get that basketball happens quickly and you can’t use replay for every call but, as someone who really only watches college basketball during the tournament, the most maddening thing about March Madness was the officiating.

Ceiling.
Roof.
?? pic.twitter.com/xjlKR5g1lu

— Jordan (@Jumpman23) April 4, 2017

Michael Jordan. Last laugh. Always.