If you missed it, you can check it out in the video below.

The Campbell Conference would go on to win the game 11-5, led by Toronto Maple Leafs left winger Vincent Damphousse who scored four goals, with three of them coming in the third period.  Damphousse was named the game’s Most Valuable Player and joined Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux as the only men to score four times in a single All-Star game.  St. Louis Blues center Adam Oates recorded five points (1 goal, 4 assists) as he was a replacement for teammate Brett Hull, who was unable to play due to injury.

This season’s All-Star Game is set for Sunday, January 29 in Ottawa, and it should be a good one.

Here is the National Anthem from the 1991 NHL All-Star Game.

Notable Birthdays

Walter Jones, NFL – Born January 19th 1974 (age 38) in Aliceville, Alabama

Mike Komisarek, NHL – Born January 19th 1982 (age 30) in West Islip, New York

Thomas Vanek, NHL – Born January 19th 1984 (age 28) in  Baden Bei Wien, Austria

The American League would take a three-run lead into the bottom of the ninth and were poised to end their seven-game losing streak.  However, the National Leaguer tied the game up at 4-4 and forced extra innings.  After two scoreless innings, the National League won the game in the 12th inning on one of the most memorable and controversial plays in baseball history.  Standing on second base, hometown hero Pete Rose rounded third after a single by Jim Hickman and preceded to barrel over catcher Ray Fosse at home plate for the game-winning run.

Fosse suffered a fractured and separated shoulder from the collision with Pete Rose.  Many incorrectly believe that this injury was what caused the downfall in Fosse’s career.  However, he went on to play 42 more games in the second half of the season and was once again named to the All-Star team in 1971.

Here is Pete Rose discussing the incident.

Notable Birthdays

Robin Ventura, MLB – Born July 14^th 1967 (age 44) in Santa Maria, California

Erick Dampier, NBA – Born July 14^th 1975 (age 36) in Jackson, Mississippi

Tim Hudson, MLB – Born July 14^th 1975 (age 36) in Columbus, Georgia

However, what the players don’t owe the fans is unnecessary sprinting and sliding towards the mound from pitchers during relief appearances, but that didn’t seem to stop Heath Bell from doing it.

Pitchers barely ever have to run, so just the sprint from the bullpen towards the mound could have resulted in a pulled groin or strained hamstring for the Padres’ reliever.  As for the slide, there is always the fear of something going wrong when a 6’3″, 260 pound man goes barreling into the ground like that.

Luckily, Bell avoided injury and did his part by recording the final out of the eighth inning for the National League.  Here is another look at his dramatic entrance.

Although Bautista receives much, or all, of his accolades for his work at the plate, his play in the field is certainly not lacking.  Not only has he showed versatility throughout the season, playing at right field and third base for the Toronto Blue Jays, but he has also made some great plays at both positions.

And he made another one last night!

Providing the fans in Arizona with a glimpse of why he is the most complete player in the game right now, Bautista charged hard towards the right field corner and made an incredible sliding grab on a Brian McCann fly ball only inches from the wall.

Bautista may have risked injuring himself, but in true Pete Rose-fashion, this guy puts it all on the line when he is in the game, no matter what is at stake.

With two runners on and no one out, Fielder belted a long ball off Texas Rangers pitcher C.J. Wilson, giving the National League a 3-1 lead.  It was Fielder’s first, last and only hit of the game, but it was an important one as it put the N.L. ahead for good, en route to the 5-1 victory.

There is no telling whether Fielder and the Brewers will benefit from his three-run homer when the National League receives home-field advantage in the World Series, but for now it earned him the All-Star Game MVP and “The Stat Line of the Night” for Tuesday, July 12, 2011.

Thank God for the All-Star game. Without it, what would baseball use to track mid-season trends, stats, and standings? Without the All-Star game, we would be forced to say things like “at the halfway point,” or “midway through the season.” That would seriously be hell on Earth.

The All-Star break can also be seen as a short regrouping period in which players and teams can turn their fortunes around. However, that’s not always a good thing. For every inspirational talk, for every instance of increased focus and teamwork, there’s a manager that loses his team, or a player whose focus drifts. So let’s enjoy the breakdowns for a moment or two with the worst second-half collapses.

I based collapses on the differences in winning percentages in the first half of the season and the second half of the season. These are listed as the top 5, but there are a handful of entries that supersede these, but they’re from teams that were playing on polo fields in the 1880’s and such. Not the most fun. Fortunately someone else did the statistical heavy lifting with this list that I used as my benchmark.

5. Angels – 1983
Back when they were known as the “California” Angels, rather than the “Los Angels Angels of Anaheim” or “Anaheim Angels” or any of the other modern-day permutations, these guys were getting the attention of baseball by staging a monumental meltdown after the All-Star break. The Angels went from .543 to a miserable .321 on the back end. Reggie Jackson was in the twilight of his career and, though he played 116 games at DH, was only able to muster a .194 batting average. If someone can’t crack the Mendoza line over the course of 116 games, you might not want to play him in a position called “designated hitter.” They fell to fifth in their division and, of course, sat on the sidelines during the playoffs. Metaphorically speaking.

4. Brewers – 1975
In 1975, Milwaukee went from slightly over .500 with a .531 winning percentage to WAY under with a .309 run in the second half of the season. This team, owned by now-commissioner Bud Selig, ended up a worse-than-mediocre 68-95. It’s no easy feat to start the way the Brewers did and end up fifth in their division. Ugh.

The team’s collective ego was further marred by the fact that this was Hank Aaron’s inaugural year with the team. An auspicious start, Mr. Aaron.

3. Nationals – 2005
Hey! It’s a team from just yesterday. The upstart Nationals hung out to that famous Expo spirit in this effort, going from .617 in the first half of 2005 to .383 in the second half, which left them…back. It was the Nats first season in Washington, and to give you some idea of the legacy they were trying to shake in Montreal, the team had the 3rd biggest breakdown in MLB history, but was still able to pull one of the best finishes of the decade for the Expo/Nats. It’s nice to see you can have the wheels come off in epic fashion and still have a banner year for your team. Lowered expectations, I guess.

2. Philadelphia A’s – 1943
Congrats Philadelphians, you took a good run, but you couldn’t quite make it to the top here. The A’s went from a meager .443 winning percentage in the front half of the season to a nauseating .199 in the second half, which put them in 8th place in the American League in 1943. That doesn’t seem so bad until you realize that there were a lot less teams back then. Their most impactful pitcher was Don Black who went 6-16 in 33 starts. Rough. Poor Connie Mack. He had so much success, but not enough. It’s like the movie Major League, but in reverse.

1. Cubs – 1977
The dubious distinction of being first on this list of course belongs to the Cubs, whose breakdown in 1977 left the whole country and Cubs fans in particular saying “What just happened?” They went from a .630 winning percentage during the front nine to a .370 on the back nine, not only blowing an 8.5 game lead at the half, but blowing it so badly as to finish in fourth place IN THEIR division. Not great work, guys.

Maybe it had to do with utility player Dave Rosello switching positions 12 times, or team leader Bobby Murcer switching roles eight times. It’s a little hard to find a groove when every day finds you rotating around the diamond to fix a problem that wasn’t so prevalent in the first 81 games.

Most believe that Kobe Bryant’s MVP performance at the 2011 NBA All-Star Game last night was influenced by his desire to put on a show in front of the hometown crowd at the Staple Center.  That seems like the logical explanation, but what if there was something else causing Kobe to put forth such a dominating performance?

Perhaps this was all just part of the plan between he and film producer Robert Rodriguez.  Perhaps the two of them figured the best way to promote their newly released short film, which stars Kobe Bryant as “The Black Mamba,” was for Kobe to gain the spotlight during this highly anticipated game in Los Angeles.

Whatever the case may be, Kobe certainly has our attention now.  Here is a look at Kobe Bryant as “The Black Mamba”;  a Nike Basketball Production which also features appearances by Danny Trejo, Bruce Willis and Kanye West.  Enjoy!

Bryant scored a game-high 37 points to go along with 14 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.  He would get off to a hot start, scoring 21 of his points in the opening half.  Several of those points came off highlight reel dunks, as he helped the West get out to a 76-64 lead at the break.  They would eventually hold on to win by a score of 148-143, despite a final flurry from LeBron James that saw him complete the triple-double, with 29 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.

The MVP was Kobe Bryant’s fourth of his career, tying him for the most All-Star Game MVP honors with Bob Pettit.  His Lakers have struggled lately, heading into the All-Star break losers of their last three in a row.  They currently sit in third in the Western Conference.  If they want to improve upon that position down the final stretch, they will need more great performance like this from Kobe, who earns our “Stat Line of the Night” for Sunday, February 20, 2011.

First it was the Knicks.  Then the Nets.  Then the Lakers. Then the Bulls. Then the Rockets.  Then the Nuggets.  Then the Knicks again.  And finally, it appears as though the Carmelo Anthony trade-destination wheel is prepared to finally stop on the New Jersey Nets.

Melo will enter this weekend’s All-Star festivities as a member of the Western Conference, but following the break he may find himself playing in the Eastern Conference as the Denver Nuggets and the New Jersey Nets have reportedly reached an agreement on a trade that would send Carmelo Anthony packing for New Jersey.

Along with Melo, the Nets would also receive Chauncey Billups, Sheldon Williams, Melvin Ely and Renaldo Balkman in exchange for Derrick Favors, Devin Harris, Ben Uzoh, Troy Murphy and four first-round picks.

Now it is up to Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, along with GM Billy King, CEO Brett Yormark and minority owner Jay-Z, to convince Carmelo Anthony that New Jersey is where he wants to be.  They will meet with the All-Star forward this weekend in Los Angeles in an attempt to get him to sign off on a three-year, $65-million extension.  If they can get that done, Melo would become the newest member of the Nets, joining the likes of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Derrick Rose and Amare Stoudemire, among others, in what has become a superstar-heavy Eastern Conference.

So now that the Carmelo Anthony trade talks appear to be coming to an end, I guess it is on to the next one.  That means you Chris Paul.