Larry Brown Sports

Poor Alexis Normand. Prior to a Memorial Cup game between the Halifax Mooseheads and Portland Winterhawks on Saturday in Saskatoon, the Canadian singer delivered one of the worst renditions of The Star-Spangled Banner we have ever heard.

Normand got off to a nice start with the song, but her first error came when she got the “twilight’s last gleaming” part wrong. She continued along but began to trail off when she couldn’t remember how to close the next line. Normand then paused for several seconds to regroup, but she began mixing the lines all over the place, leading to groans from the crowd. Some of the players on the bench could even be seen trying to contain their laughter.

Normand continued to jumble the lyrics and re-sing parts of the song she had already sung.

As Normand started to end the song, the crowd tried to pick her up by singing some of the words to get her back on track. Mercifully, the performance finally came to an end after a painful minute and a half. It was like watching the answering machine scene from “Swingers” — you have your hands on your head in frustration just hoping it will finally stop.

As bad as the performance was, it’s possible that Normand wasn’t really at fault. According to TVA Sports reporter L.A. Lariviere, Normand has a pretty solid excuse for her poor performance:

Alexis Normand claims she was told only a few hours before the Mooseheads – Winterhawks game to learn Star-Spangled Banner. #MemorialCup

— L.A. Lariviere (@L_A_theRiver) May 18, 2013

Normand also tweeted an apology:

I’m embarrassed and deeply sorry. I wish I’d had more time to learn the American anthem. Thanks so much for the crowd’s help! #memorialcup

— Alexis Normand (@Alex6Normand) May 19, 2013

Normand probably only prepared to sing “O Canada,” which is the Canadian national anthem, and didn’t realize she would also have to sing The Star-Spangled Banner because a team from Oregon was playing.

Here’s hoping they bring her back for Portland’s next game on Monday so that she gets a shot at redemption.

And why do the anthem screw-ups generally involve a Canadian and American team?

Here’s Alexis’ website if you want to learn more about her.

H/T Deadspin

This is easily one of my favorite baseball videos in a long time.

According to Deadspin, this took place during a Wednesday game in the Korean Professional Baseball league between the Lotte Giants and NC Dinos. The Dinos were up 6-4 in the ninth when Giants outfielder Jeon Jun-woo came up with one out and a man on.

Jun-woo took a slow, hanging breaking ball and pulverized it to left. Dude totally thinks it’s gone. He does a bat flip, home run point, points to his teammates in the dugout, and begins his home run trot. Only one problem: he had warning track power.

The ball was caught by the left fielder, and a stunned Jun-woo was left stranded by first base wondering what the heck happened.

Let’s break down all the awesomeness of this “Major League II” Willie Mays Hayes real-life moment.

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Massive brawls breaking out during games is nothing new, but it sure is different when it’s a bunch of peewees going at it. That’s what happened in this all-out fight between a couple of youth teams at a tournament in Novokuznetsk, Russia, according to Puck Daddy. These kids are all less than 12 years old, yet they’re absolutely beating on each other like they’re on “The Ultimate Fighter” trying for a spot in the UFC. We don’t ordinarily promote violence at LBS, but when there’s a 20-on-20 fight breaking out and everyone has a man like that playground scene in “Good Will Hunting,” we can’t pass up sharing it with you.

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College and high school athletes make just as many spectacular plays as the pros. There just aren’t as many cameras rolling when they do. Fortunately, that was not the case during Sunday’s college softball game between Boston College and Georgia Tech.

BC senior outfielder Maria Pandolfo made an amazing catch to rob a home run during the Eagles’ 12-3 series-sweeping win, and someone standing in center field caught it on camera. You could practically hear the air leaving her lungs as she extended over the wall and somehow pulled the ball back in.

We are used to seeing MLB players rob home runs and make diving catches, but it’s a bonus when we get to see college softball players going all-out and lighting up the highlight reel. Bravo, Maria.

Video via Bob’s Blitz

Tickets to Penguins-Islanders playoff game: $250
New Jarome Iginla jersey: $160
Five rounds of booze with the buddies: $60
Getting kicked out of Nassau Coliseum for being totally wasted: Priceless

There are some things in life that money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s the next day where you have a massive hangover.

H/T Deadspin

Tony Allen’s heart was in the right place when he held a karaoke fundraiser on Tuesday, but his singing skills were on a different planet.

The Grizzlies guard held his “Tony Allen Karaoke Night” at the Kroc Center in Memphis Tuesday to benefit the Juvenile Intervention and Faith-Based Follow-Up. Allen met with fans, signed autographs, and, of course, he sang karaoke.

And, boy, was he terrible.

Allen attempted to sing the 1990s Montell Jordan hit song “This is how we do it,” but he stumbled his way through most of the song and didn’t really know the words. Keep in mind, this is a song with more simplistic lyrics than Aldous Snow’s “African Child.” At least Allen got the chorus right … some of the time.

At about the 1:40 mark, he completely loses his way with the song. Even Brennan Huff was better singing it.

In the video below, he sings “Rock with u,” and he does much better. Even though we’re giving him a hard time for his performance on the Montell Jordan song, what really matters is that his heart was in the right place with the fundraiser.

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Anthony Adams spent nine seasons in the NFL as a defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers. While he was certainly a reliable player during his career, the big fella was more of a space-filler than a playmaker. For that reason, many of you may have probably only heard of him because of his entertaining YouTube channel. Others may have never heard of Adams at all.

You have now. Over the weekend, Adams officially announced his retirement from football. He did so using a YouTube video where he basically ragged on himself for how insignificant it is that he is retiring. The climax of the video comes when Adams realizes his agent has scheduled his announcement to be made at a White Castle restaurant, and no one shows up.

If you have four or five minutes, it’s definitely worth watching. In an era where many athletes feel that they are God’s gift to the earth and better than everyone else, it’s refreshing to see a player with the type of self-awareness that Adams has. He’s one of those players that will probably have no issue starting a life after football.

H/T SI Hot Clicks