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SAN ANTONIO (AP)—Memphis kept missing. Mario Chalmers wasn’t about to.

Chalmers’ 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left in regulation put the game in overtime, and Kansas pulled away to a 75-68 victory on Monday night for its first national championship since Danny and the Miracles 20 years ago.

Mario and the Miracles? That has a good ring to it, too.

Chalmers’ game-saving 3 came after Memphis missed four of five free throws that would have put the game and the title out of reach. It completed a comeback from nine points down with 2:12 left.

“It’ll probably be the biggest shot ever made in Kansas history,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.

The ending made a mockery of Memphis coach John Calipari’s theory that his players, one of the country’s worst with 59 percent free-throw shooting, didn’t have to be good because they would always come through when the stakes were highest.

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“It will probably hit me like a ton of bricks tomorrow, that we had it in our grasp,” Calipari said.

All those bricks meant something in a game where every point counted. So did Rose’s two-point shot off glass initially ruled a 3—and correctly overturned— with 4:15 left.

Nothing about Chalmers’ 3-pointer was in doubt.

“I had a good look at it,” he said. “When it left my hands it felt like it was good, and it just went in.”

Although Chalmers will go down in history, the most memorable overall performance came from Rose, the Memphis freshman, who completely took over the game in the second half, scoring 14 of his team’s 16 points during one stretch to lift the Tigers to a 60-51 lead with 2:12 left.

But Kansas (37-3) used the strategy any smart opponent of Memphis’ would— fouling the heck out of one of the country’s worst free-throw-shooting teams— and when Rose and Douglas-Roberts made only one of five over the last 1:12, it left the door open for KU.

“Ten seconds to go, we’re thinking we’re national champs, all of a sudden a kid makes a shot, and we’re not,” Calipari said.

Hustling the ball down the court with 10.8 seconds left, no timeouts and trailing by three, Sherron Collins handed off to Chalmers at the top of the 3-point line, and Chalmers took the shot. It hit nothing but net and tied the score at 63.

Robert Dozier missed a desperation heave at the buzzer, and Rose went limping to the bench, favoring his right leg. Brandon Rush, Darrell Arthur and Darnell Jackson scored the first six points of overtime to put Kansas ahead 69-63.

Memphis, clearly exhausted, didn’t pull any closer than three the rest of the way. Rose played all 45 minutes in what could very well be his last college game.

“Overtime, they kind of beat us down,” Calipari said. “I didn’t sub a whole lot, because I was trying to win the game at the end.”

Arthur was dominant inside, finishing with 20 points and 10 rebounds, lots on dunks and easy lay-ups off lob passes. Chalmers finished with 18 points. Rush had 12 and Collins had 11 points, six assists and did a wonderful job shutting Rose for the first 28 minutes.
Kansas fans take to the street…

AP - Apr 8, 12:49 am EDT
 Rose wound up with 18 points in a game that showed how ready he is for the NBA. He was 3-for-4 from the line, however, and that one miss with 10.8 seconds left is what almost certainly would have sealed the game and given the Tigers (38-2) their first title.

“It wasn’t really the free throws,” Rose said. “If we’d done things before the free throws, we would’ve been in good shape.”

Instead, the title goes back to Lawrence for the third time in the fabled program’s history.

The inventor of the game, James Naismith, was the first Jayhawks coach. It’s the school that made household names of Wilt Chamberlain, Manning—and yes, even North Carolina’s Roy Williams, the coach who famously left the Jayhawks, lost to them in the semifinals, but was, indeed, in the Kansas cheering section Monday wearing a Jayhawks sticker on his shirt.

After the game, Self didn’t exactly end speculation that he might also bail for his alma mater, Oklahoma State.
Kansas fans celebrate on the f…

AP - Apr 8, 12:42 am EDT
 “I’m not going to say that couldn’t potentially happen because I guess it potentially can,” Self said.

This game was not about coaches or sidestories, though. It was about the game, and what a dandy it was—a well-needed reprieve from a more-or-less blah tournament in which 42 of 63 games were decided by double digits.

This was the first overtime in the title game since 1997, when Arizona beat Kentucky 84-79.

“Being up seven, being down nine, being up two, down five, going to overtime,” Kansas center Cole Aldrich said. “We fought it out, and it’s surreal. It’s nuts.”

Rose went crazy during Memphis’ second half run. A 3-pointer here, a scooping layup for a three-point play next. Then, the capper, an off-balance, 18-foot shot off glass with the shot-clock buzzer sounding. Officials at first credited Rose with a 3, but went to the replay monitor and saw he was clearly inside the line.

Even with the point deducted, Memphis has a 56-49 lead and all the momentum. Most teams would have been demoralized.
Kansas senior Chase Reed celeb…

AP - Apr 8, 12:40 am EDT
 Clearly, Kansas is not most teams.

In fact, the Jayhawks are a team that has come together in tragedy over the last several months. The deaths of friends and family of Jackson, Sasha Kaun and Rodrick Stewart all cast a bit of a pall over this team, making Jackson wonder at times if staying at Kansas was even worth it.

Just when the Jayhawks looked to be moving past their bad times, Stewart fractured his kneecap, a freak accident during Kansas’ practice Friday at the Alamodome.

But it was another injury that might have been most responsible for blending this championship formula. Rush tore up his knee during a pickup game last May, and his NBA plans were put on hiatus.

He worked his way back into shape this season and is playing his best right now. He didn’t have the most impressive stat line of the night, but it hasn’t all been about stats for him in this, his junior season. His defense was stellar, as usual, and surely his experience and resolve played into Kansas’ refusal to go away.

He set the table.

Chalmers got the glory.

“That has to be one of the biggest shots in basketball history,” Stewart said.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Alex Rodriguez refused to address allegations by Jose Canseco, who claims he introduced the three-time MVP to a steroids dealer.
 
“It’s over as far as I’m concerned,” Rodriguez said Wednesday after his New York Yankees lost 4-0 to the Philadelphia Phillies. “No further comment on the matter. I’m just excited to be playing baseball.”

In the book, “Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars, and The Battle to Save Baseball,” Canseco claimed he introduced Rodriguez to a steroids dealer named “Max.” Excerpts from the book, slated for publication on April 1, were posted on deadspin.com before being removed Wednesday.

Canseco wrote that Rodriguez approached him years ago and asked where “one” might acquire steroids. During an interview to be broadcast Thursday by ABC’s “Nightline,” Canseco said he won’t produce evidence to back his claim.

“The timing’s not right,” Canseco said, according to excerpts released by ABC. “Let’s see how Alex reacts. Let’s see if they all call me a liar again. How’s that for you? Let’s see if all of a sudden they’re going to call me a liar again.”

During the ABC interview, Canseco refused to identify “Max.”

“We’ll keep him out of it until the time is proper,” Canseco said.

Yankees officials aren’t concerned about a potential distraction.

“Alex is one of the guys who can focus on the job at hand,” New York manager Joe Girardi said. “I think he understands his surroundings better now. I’ve always felt that it takes players a little bit of time to figure out New York. And I found it to be a wonderful place to play. I loved it. But it takes some time. Some players it takes longer than others. But once you figure it out, it’s an awesome place to play.

“He’s always going to command a lot of attention because of the type of player he is,” Girardi added. “And everything he does is going to be under a microscope. Is that fair? I don’t know if it’s fair, but it’s reality.”

According to a report by The Record of Bergen County, N.J., Yankees senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner defended Rodriguez.

“Consider the source, that’s number one,” Steinbrenner told the paper, referring to Canseco. “He wouldn’t have been able to hit the ball out of the infield without steroids.”

“There are certain naturals. There are guys who can just do it, and Alex is one of those guys,” Steinbrenner was quoted as saying by the newspaper’s Web site.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman talked briefly with Rodriguez.

“He’s been through so much over so long,” Cashman said. “He’s fine. You don’t predict the future on this stuff, but I would think that this is something that isn’t an issue for him. I’ve got a lot of other things to be worried about more than Alex Rodriguez, to be honest. You’d like to think he’d be the least of our worries.”

Rodriguez has had a strong spring training, hitting .432 (16-for-37) with three homers and eight RBIs.

“I’m in a great frame of mind,” he said. “I just plan to continue exactly what I was doing last year.”

It could, if such things weren’t frowned upon in the world of international diving, be described as one heck of a splash.At 13, and already earmarked to be Britain’s youngest male Olympian this summer, Tom Daley outdived his rivals last night to set a European record.

Scything through the air with the greatest of ease, he became the youngest European champion off the 10 metre platform in a stunning performance that won ten perfect tens from the judges over the course of the competition.

Champion effort: Tom Daley puts the rest of the competition to shame

Demon of the deep: The youngster with his European gold medal last night

Tom, who may stand just 5ft 2in and have braces on his teeth, has long proven himself a tough competitor. But even he could barely believe his success.

“If somebody had told me at Christmas I would be a European champion at Easter my answer would have been ‘go away’,” he said.

“It was a perfect competition for me. If it seems as if I was without nerves I can tell you I have nerves - and they were quite tense.”

His flawless dives in rounds four and five of the championships in Eindhoven, Holland, were enough to build up a big enough lead to hold off his rivals despite a less than impressive final effort.
Pressure dive: Tom somersaults from the ten-metre board

Last night’s celebrations were, however, only likely to stretch as far as a Pot Noodle.

It is the one treat he is occasionally allowed as he trains for up to seven hours a day in his build up for Beijing.

Tom, from Plymouth, had already been marked out for glory as one of the Daily Mail’s Magnificent Seven, a group of youngsters tipped to compete in London 2012.

So when he springs off the platform in China this summer he will be well ahead of schedule. And, at 14 years and 81 days, he will be certain of at least one record - the youngest male Briton to compete at an Olympics.
A smiling Tom leaves the pool after making quite an impression on judges

Perhaps his biggest fan is his father Robert, 37, who accompanies him to every competition.

When Tom won his ticket to Beijing in a qualifying event earlier this year, his father recalled: “He hugged me so tight and I hugged him back.

“I was flooding with tears. When you think of the Olympics you think of names like Steve Redgrave, Seb Coe and Linford Christie. Now my son’s one of those names.”

But yesterday was the high point so far of a career that began at seven when Tom switched to diving from swimming because it looked “more exciting”.

And there is sure to be more excitement to come. Not least because he is off to Mexico in ten days for a world cup competition. Not bad for a 13-year-old

British Olympic chiefs are to force athletes to sign a contract promising not to speak out about China’s appalling human rights record – or face being banned from travelling to Beijing.

The move – which raises the spectre of the order given to the England football team to give a Nazi salute in Berlin in 1938 – immediately provoked a storm of protest.

The controversial clause has been inserted into athletes’ contracts for the first time and forbids them from making any political comment about countries staging the Olympic Games.

It is contained in a 32-page document that will be presented to all those who reach the qualifying standard and are chosen for the team.

From the moment they sign up, the competitors – likely to include the Queen’s granddaughter Zara Phillips and world record holder Paula Radcliffe – will be effectively gagged from commenting on China’s politics, human rights abuses or illegal occupation of Tibet.

Prince Charles has already let it be known that he will not be going to China, even if he is invited by Games organisers.

His views on the Communist dictatorship are well known, after this newspaper revealed how he described China’s leaders as “appalling old waxworks” in a journal written after he attended the handover of Hong Kong. The Prince is also a long-time supporter of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan leader.

Yesterday the British Olympic Association (BOA) confirmed to The Mail on Sunday that any athlete who refuses to sign the agreements will not be allowed to travel to Beijing.

Shameful picture of England squad giving Nazi salute still haunts British sport. Why, 70 years later, do we still suck up to dictators?

Should a competitor agree to the clause but then speak their mind about China, they will be put on the next plane home.

The clause, in section 4 of the contract, simply states: “[Athletes] are not to comment on any politically sensitive issues.”

It then refers competitors to Section 51 of the International Olympic Committee charter, which “provides for no kind of demonstration, or political, religious or racial propaganda in the Olympic sites, venues or other areas”.

Contention: the Queen’s granddaughter Zara Phillips stands to be among the athletes who will be forced to sign the gagging order

The BOA took the decision even though other countries – including the United States, Canada, Finland, and Australia – have pledged that their athletes would be free to speak about any issue concerning China.

To date, only New Zealand and Belgium have banned their athletes from giving political opinions while competing at the Games.

Simon Clegg, the BOA’s chief executive, said: “There are all sorts of organisations who would like athletes to use the Olympic Games as a vehicle to publicise their causes.

“I don’t believe that is in the interest of the team performance.

“As a team we are ambassadors of the country and we have to conform to an appropriate code of conduct.”

However, human rights campaigner Lord David Alton condemned the move as “making a mockery” of the right to free speech.

The controversial decision to award the Olympics to Beijing means this year’s Games have the potential to be the most politically charged since 1936.

Adolf Hitler used the Munich Games that year to glorify his Nazi regime, although his claims of Aryan superiority were undermined by black American athlete Jesse Owens winning four gold medals.

More recently, there was a mass boycott of the 1980 Games in Moscow in protest at the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

But Colin Moynihan – now BOA chairman Lord Moynihan – defied Margaret Thatcher’s calls for British athletes to stay at home and won a silver medal as cox of the men’s eight rowing team.

Former Olympic rowing champion Matthew Pinsent has already criticised the Chinese authorities over the training methods used on children, which he regarded as tantamount to abuse.

Past shame: The England team give Nazi salutes at the 1938 Berlin Olympics, a memory which critics do not want to see recalled in China
Young gymnasts told him they were repeatedly beaten during training sessions.

Mr Clegg confirmed that such criticisms would be banned under the team’s code of conduct, which will be in force from when athletes are selected in July, until the end of the Games on August 24.

Mr Clegg said: “During the period of the contract, that sort of action would be in dispute with the team-member agreement.

“There are all sorts of sanctions that I can apply. I had to send a team member home in Sydney because they breached our sponsorship agreement and that is the first time it happened.

“I have to act in the interest of the whole British team, not one individual. No athlete is above being part of the team.

“There is a requirement on team members to sign the agreement. If athletes step out of line, action will have to be taken.”

Darren Campbell, Olympic relay gold winner at the 2004 Games in Athens, said the BOA’s move would “heap extra pressure on athletes”. But he added: “We are there to represent our country in sporting terms, just as our Army do when they go off to war. It is not supposed to be about politics.”

The BOA is taking a far more stringent stance than authorities in other countries. Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates said: “What we will be saying to the athletes is that it’s best to concentrate on your competitions.

“But they’re entitled to have their opinions and express them. They’re free to speak.”

Jouko Purontakanen, secretary general of the Finnish Olympic Committee, said: “We will not be issuing instructions on the matter. The freedom of expression is a basic right that cannot be limited.

“But the starting point is that we will go to Beijing to compete, not to talk politics.”

Political gestures have been made at previous Olympics, most famously in Mexico City in 1968 when black American 200m champion Tommie Smith and bronze medallist John Carlos raised their fists in a black power salute.

Both were suspended from the US Olympic team and barred from the Olympic village.

Forty years on, British athletes face similar sanctions if they highlight the abuse of human rights in China.

Last night Edward McMillan-Scott, Conservative MEP and the European Parliament vice-president, predicted a public outcry over the BOA’s move.

He said: “Foreign Secretary David Miliband is off to China soon. But before he gets on the plane, he and the rest of the Government should tell the BOA to take this clause out of the agreement.”

Potentially the contract means that a British athlete who witnesses someone being mistreated on the way to a stadium is forbidden from even speaking to their colleagues about it.

Competitors emailing home or writing blogs will also have to exercise self-censorship – or face having their Olympic dreams ruined.

Lord Alton said: “It is extraordinary to bar athletes from expressing an opinion about China’s human-rights record. About the only justification for participating in the Beijing Games is that it offers an opportunity to encourage more awareness about human rights.

“Imposing compulsory vows of silence is an affront to our athletes, and in China it will be viewed as acquiescence.

“Each year 8,000 executions take place in China, political and religious opinion is repressed, journalists are jailed and the internet and overseas broadcasts are heavily censored.

“For our athletes to be told that they may not make any comment makes a mockery of our own country’s belief in free speech.”