Hammond is a pro in this clip, eh? He really saves the broadcast from total disaster.

Funny to see Marion Jones, age 15, too. She was just a little too slow...if only there was some way to add just a little extra burst :)

Props must go to Nick (the other voice you hear on our show) and his track-loving friends. The arm around Willie is one of the great moments in sports announcing history. Hammond is a real pro.

LOL those are the quickest breaths i've ever seen...but they didn't save Willie.

I think he played for the Steelers in the 90's.

I feel bad for the guy, panic attack. After getting shot down hundreds of times by women, I can sympathize.

Look at that form, slingshirt yourself.

I think NBC moved Willie to their Sunday night football broadcast

Hey AA are we going to have an All star game open thread? There wont be a bigger sports event for quite some time.

Got anything to add Marty?

He's not the best color man in the league for nothing.

Is there nothing to say about the All-Star game. I came to the site looking for a post but there is nothing. How can you guys do a live blog for every game of the NBA Finals but nothing for the ASG?

I agree anon.

nothing on the final all-star game at Yankee Stadium?

Give the man a break, it's the All Star game... Next you're gonna be telling me the Home Run Derby is a monumental event.

Anyways, notice the PA announcer in the background saying it was a "Legal win." Evidence for those in attendance that Marion wasn't the victor.

ok jones, your right. the all star game isn't important. I understand what your doing.

yeah this game was a waste of time. Its only 3-3 in the 12th with home field advantage in world series on the line. Not very important huh, jones?

AA,

I can't believe you didn't do a live blog for this game. This is one of the best all star game I've ever seen. Some good stuff from Buck and McCarver too.

Who, other than the few baseball purists, makes the ASG appointment television anymore? It has to be more compelling to draw a TV crowd, and tonight was definitely a start. But...this has to continue for another couple of years for the masses to begin to take notice.

Anyway, poor, poor guy in this clip. Stage fright is very real, and it can happen to even the most composed people. Hammond didn't try to distance himself from his struggling counterpart, which earns him tons of respect in my book. Some other announcers would have tried to distance themselves, trading concern for the well-being of their counterparts in exchange for maintaining their own egos.

Right, nothing interesting about the most popular baseball players- as well as the best (notice the distinction Fukudome. I'm looking at you, too, Marmol).- competing at the midway point of the season.
Nothing moving about seeing the greatest players alive gathered together on the same field.
Pass on the barely breathing Steinbrenner and his lady friend handing the ceremonial balls to Yankees greats for the first pitch(s). C'mon, that was great stuff, and also heartbreaking as a yanks fan seeing George in that condition, though it wouldn't be a bad final memory of the man.
The game lived up to the intro, despite the complete lack of offense through the first 5 and most of extras. Despite the headache-inducing announcing, the head scratching sac bunts (no! my precious outs!), and the overpowering pitching making for a less than thrilling overall experience, I still rose to my feet as that final run crossed the plate.
Seriously, though, McCarver's ridiculously off-base comments and contentions in the early innings are reason enough for AA to have done a live blog, mostly because i forgot them. This is why i come to this site! The name of the site is Awful Announcing for a reason, one assumes. This is the biggest event there has been in sports since the French Open final (which, if i remember correctly, was not live blogged). It's the biggest there will be until ... i dunno ... a while. Good choice, though, can't wait to read your Brett Fahv-rah piece tomorrow.
P.S. This clip is less funny than painful to watch. I was expecting him to accidentally curse or something, but that was just sad. Although, now that I'm over my initial state of empathy, that clip was ... hold on, let me watch it again ... Oh! the humanity, somebody get that man a paper bag.
P.P.S. Just to be way overly critical, this site should really proofread its posts before publishing. Many obvious and irritating grammatical errors there are.

No, I don't know what happened to Willie Smith either. But that was funny!

And, please everyone, stay on topic!

THIS ASG was a great game. It was one of the best games I've seen all year. And I never claimed the game wasn't important or wasn't exciting or anything of the sort.

I was just defending my boy AA saying not to be dicks about the fact that there wasn't a live blog.