THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9.2008
SPORTS11B
COMMENTARY
Shot now part of history
Chalmer's youth kept him from feeling the pressure
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kansas' Mario Chalmers celebrates after hitting a three point shot to take the game in overtime against Memphis during the championship game at the NCAA college basketball Final Four Monday in San Antonio.
BY JOE POSNANSI
KANSAS CITY STAR COLUMNIST
SAN ANTONIO — Mario Chalmers sat on the podium in the moments after the game, and he wore his "National Champions" hat backward, he had a sort of dazed smile on his face, and he did not know. He could not know. He's history now.
"I was able to get a good look at it," he would say.
No, he did not know. He could not know. Chalmers made the shot. Kansas came back from nine down in the final furious seconds. Kansas beat Memphis 75-68 in overtime. The Jayhawks are national champions.
Kids 50 years from now will be shooting the Chalmers shot in driveways from Pittsburg to St. Francis, from Liberal to Hiawatha, from Cuba to Dodge City to Chanute. Grandparents in Wichita will call their grandchildren in Olathe to talk about what they were feeling when Chalmers took that shot, the way the ball arced, the way it fell. Farmers in Cuba and teachers in Salina and doctors in Garden City will talk about the shot forever.
There were precisely 43,257 fans in the Alamodome on Monday night to watch Kansas win its first championship in 20 years, but as time goes by there will be 100,000, then 200,000, then a million who will say they were here.
No, Mario Chalmers could not know because he's young. And when you're young, you live in the moment. That's how it's supposed to be. Chalmers was not feeling the pressure of history when he fired the shot. He never could have made it then. Kansas was trailing by nine points with barely two minutes left. Memphis had taken all the intensity and will and ferocity that Kansas had to give, and then the Tigers pulled away. Up nine with about two minutes left? Over.
"A lot of us thought the game was over," Kansas' Darnell Jackson would say.
"I thought we were national champs," Memphis coach John Calipari would say.
How did the comeback happen?
It was a blur. A flurry. There was a huge steal by Kansas' gutsy Sherron Collins, followed by a three-pointer. There were some missed Memphis free throws. There were a couple of big shots by
And Memphis' players tried to foul. They hammered Collins.
Collins said.
Kansas coach Bill Self was on the sideline, and he was shouting to his players, "You got to believe," which is as corny a thing as a coach could say, but he could not think of anything else. Nobody could keep up with all the emotions of those final 10 seconds. Memphis' Derrick Rose had two free throws with the Tigers up two — if he made them both, then the Tigers would win. He missed the first. He made the second. Calipari told his players to foul so Kansas would not get a three-point shot.
"I think I got fouled, actually,"
But there was no whistle. Collins managed to flip the basketball back to Chalmers. Memphis' incredible Rose was in his face.
Kansas' Darrell Arthur.
"I was right there," Rose would say.
B u t T Chalmers got the shot up. Reporter always ask, "What were you thinking," when trying to relive moments like this one.
How did the come back happen? It was a blur. A flurry. There was a huge steal by Kansas' gutsy Sherron Collins, followed by a three-pointer.
That's the beauty of youth. You don't think.You play.You live. Chalmers caught the pass,and he went up, and the ball felt great coming out of his hands.
And the answer never satisfies because to make a great play, to hit the final shot, to make the last putt, to drill the game-winning hit, you can't be thinking. Chalmers could not catch the ball and think
beauty of youth. You don't think. You play. You live. Chalmers caught the pass, and he went up, and the ball felt great coming out of his hands. "I thought it was going in,"
You missed a spot
about 20 years of frustration for Kansas basketball.
He could not think about the 1997 Kansas team, maybe the best in school history, and how those Jayhawks lost a heartbreaker to Arizona. He could not think about Nick Collison, one of the most complete players in the history of the school, who could not make his free throws in a championship game against Syracuse.
He could not think about a team that had two All-Americans — including the peerless Paul Pierce — that lost to Rhode Island in the second round. He could not think that Kansas — which belongs at the final table with the greatest basketball schools, with Kentucky, UCLA, North Carolina and Indiana — had won only one national championship in the last 56 years.
No, of course not. That's the
he would sav.
As we all watched the ball in the air, we knew it was history. We could tell.
As the ball swished through,everything in the game changed. Memphis' Joey
Dorsey said he dropped to his knees "I knew we were ready to cut down the nets," he would say). Memphis' Chris Douglas-Roberts watched the rotation of the ball, and his head sagged. Bill Self, who had this crazy feeling, felt his heart beat in his chest.
The shot tied the game. But it really won the game. Memphis had no chance in overtime, not after that shot. When the game ended, when the confetti dropped, when the Jayhawks hugged, Memphis players walked slowly off the court. They knew that this loss would stay with them forever. The losing team always feels history first.
"Are you aware of the historical significance of the shot you made tonight?" someone asked Chalmers.
And the Jayhawks jumped around and cried and hugged.
"I mean," Mario would say with a smile, "it was a big shot for me."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Team Germany skip Andreas Kapp looks on as Team Canada's John Morris, Marc Kennedy, Ben Hebert and skip Kevin Martin, left to right, move a stone at the 2008 world men's curling championship in Grand Forks, N.D. Tuesday.
NL CENTRAL
Houston Astros Carlos Lee knocks St. Louis Cardinals catcher Jason LaRue into the air and off home plate to score a run in the third inning Tuesday in Houston.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Houston derails St. Louis
HOUSTON — Troy Glaus hit a two-run double in the eighth inning to propel the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-3 win over the Houston Astros on Tuesday night.
Glaus' hit, off Geoff Geary (0-1), bounced off the lower portion of the bullpen wall in right-center field and scored Chris Duncan and Albert Puiols.
Anthony Reyes (1-0) pitched three scoreless innings of one-hit ball, and Jason Isringhausen worked a perfect ninth for his fourth save.
Duncan scored on a single by Adam Kennedy in the sixth inning to tie it at three. The Cardinals had a chance to take the lead later in the inning but Mark Loretta's throw home beat Rick Ankiel there to end the inning.
Houston's Miguel Tejada had a two-run double in the third to make it two-all. Lance Berkman scored easily, but Carlos Lee slid feet first and knocked down catcher Jason LaRue to get home safely.
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Houston had just two hits after the fourth inning, a triple by Hunter Pence in the seventh and a double by Geoff Blum in the eighth both coming with two outs.
Astros starter Shawn Chacon allowed four hits and three runs. He struck out two and walked four in six innings. Rule 5 draftee Wesley Wright struck out two in a perfect seventh for Houston.
Cardinals starter Brad Thompson lasted four innings, allowing five hit and three runs with five strikeouts and two walks.
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Brad Thompson's sacrifice in the second inning scored Ankiel and Skip Schumaker tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly in the third to make it 2-0.
Tejada made it 3-2 when he scored on a wild pitch later in the inning.
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