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North Carolina takes the trophy, and the refs take the blame

The Tar Heels triumphed over Gonzaga, and now we can all play a round of our real favorite pastime -- criticizing the officials.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
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Gael Cooper

North Carolina beat Gonzaga (where's that school again?) on Monday night, 71-65, for the national men's college basketball championship.

It was a redemption story for Tar Heels' fans, since their team lost to Villanova in last year's final, and who can blame them for wanting to roll around in the celebratory confetti?

And it was a heartbreaker for Gonzaga, the small Jesuit school from Spokane that, despite a proud basketball tradition, had never qualified for the championship game before this year.

But can we talk about what Deadspin called "a series of inexplicable late referee interventions"? Or in other words, can we indulge in the favorite pastime of all sports fans -- blaming the officials? You know we can.

What are we blaming the refs for? To quote Marlon Brando, whatya got?

Refs or no refs, North Carolina's win also gave them bragging rights over their in-state rival, the Duke Blue Devils. (Remember how happy Twitter was when Duke got destroyed?)

So congratulations, North Carolina. Good game, Gonzaga. And for one final time in 2017, let's go to a live look at your bracket.

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