TMZ Sports - Page 50

Cal Ripken Jr. just appeared on national television ... asking the public to help police hunt down the man who abducted his mother at gunpoint last week.

As we previously reported, Vi Ripken survived the abduction after spending 23 hours with an unknown male assailant ... but the identity of the suspect is still unknown.

Moments ago, the MLB legend told "Good Morning America" his mother is so shaken up from the incident, she will not go back to her house in Maryland ... where she has lived for nearly 50 years.

"Her sense of security is violated," Ripken said ... adding, "She's a tough woman, but it's a very traumatic ordeal."

Montee Ball -- and several of his University of Wisconsin football teammates -- may have been involved in a fight several days before the 2011 Heisman Trophy finalist was attacked on campus yesterday ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... cops have received tips about a brawl at a UW football player's home roughly one week before Ball was jumped on campus.

According to our sources, cops have been told Ball was at the home ... and along with some of his teammates, may have participated in beating up a non-football player.

Cops were never called to the scene and no police report was ever filed.

But sources tell us ... investigators are now looking into the possibility that Wednesday's attack on Ball was in retaliation for last week's incident.

We've contacted the University of Wisconsin's athletic department -- so far, no comment.

Despite the fact she's suffering from pink eye, USA beach volleyball superstar Kerri Walsh hugged, kissed and rubbed her contagious face all over her partner Misty May-Treanor last night.

Despite the infection, Kerri and Misty DOMINATED Austria last night ... and are one step closer to securing the gold medal ... again.

Forget all that retirement talk, Michael Phelps will NOT be done with the Olympics after the London games ... that is if network honchos can lock him into a new job -- sports announcer.

TMZ's learned TV execs are drooling over the chance to get Phelps under contract once he wraps up the Games as the most decorated Olympian of all time.

One source, high up at NBC Sports, told us ... "The man is smoking hot right now" -- and they "would definitely hire Michael" to cover the Olympics in 2016, and other world sporting events between now and then.

Phelps is adamant London will be his swan song -- and he will retire as the most well known Olympian on the planet ... so, if he chooses to get in the broadcast game there will be a massive bidding war.

NBC holds Olympic broadcasting rights through 2020, so they'd seem to be in the driver's seat -- but a source at ABC told us, "If he would, we would gladly scoop him up to work for us."

As for his potential salary ... it's a simple formula:
MP x 19 (possibly 22) Olympic medals = GAZILLIONS.

Michael Phelps didn't just take a beating in the 200m butterfly recently ... he also got his ASS kicked by the real estate market -- letting go of his swank Baltimore condo for $400,000 less than what he bought it for.

Phelps purchased the 4,080 sq. ft. home in Fells Point back in 2007 for $1.69 million -- but then the housing market crashed ... and so did the value of his home.

The 19-medal-winning swimmer listed the 3-bedroom pad earlier this year for $1.42 million -- but even that was asking too much ... because when he finally sold the place last week ... he could only get $1.25 mill.

For the mathematically challenged, that's a loss in value of $440,000 -- but it's just a drop in the bucket ... the guy's agent once predicted Phelps would earn roughly $100 million during his lifetime from endorsements.

A major skateboard company is being accused of putting "racism for sale" ... after selling a shirt featuring two Asian men under the words, "Gooks of Hazzard."

The company under fire is Baker Skateboards ... which is owned by skating legend Andrew Reynolds ... who's been featured as a character in several of the Tony Hawk Pro Skater video games.

Baker is currently selling the "Hazzard" shirt on its website. The shirt features two Asian men in a car named the "General Li." One of the men is pro skater Don "The Nuge" Nguyen -- who's sponsored by Baker.

The shirt also features a tagline, "Good Orr Boys" ... a play on the stereotype of an Asian accent.

But while it appears The Nuge approves of the shirt, the Asian American Justice Center feels differently ... a rep for the organization tells us it's "unacceptable for Baker Skateboards to create a depiction of Asian Americans which uses racial slurs and perpetuates racist stereotypes.”

The org. adds, "Baker Skateboards, and the outlets that sell this shirt, should be aware that use of the term 'gook' on their apparel is offensive and quite simply amounts to racism for sale. No one should seek to profit from racism.”

The Madison PD is describing the incident as an "unprovoked assault."

Montee has since tweeted, "appreciate the support and thank you for the concerns.I will be okay! See you guys in September!"

2011 Heisman Trophy finalist Montee Ball was hospitalized in Wisconsin at 2:15 AM this morning after the star running back was jumped by 5 men on the U of W campus.

According to reports, 21-year-old Ball was knocked to the ground and then kicked by all 5 men. It's unclear why Ball was targeted in the first place.

After the attack, Ball was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was treated for his injuries. He has since been released.

Not everyone hates NBC's controversial coverage of the 2012 Olympics ... in fact, the network just got HIGH PRAISE from its rival ... CBS President Les Moonves.

Les and his wife -- "Big Brother" host Julie Chen -- were on a double date at Madeo in Hollywood with mega-movie producer Brian Grazer and his GF Keli Lee ... an ABC casting executive.

But as the 4some left the restaurant ... Les made it clear, he's a big fan of the way NBC is handling the Summer Games ... despite criticism from fans who are upset the network isn't airing some of the competitions live.

Apparently, someone farted on Kerri Walsh's pillow ... 'cause the U.S. beach volleyball superstar has come down with a case of the pinkeye at the Olympics.

Walsh talked about her eye issue at a media event in London yesterday -- wiping the tears and gunk as she told reporters the conjunctivitis won't stop her from dominating in the sand.

"It's super minor ... it looks worse than it is."

Kerri's pro-volleyball playing hubby Casey Jennings also has the pinkeye ... but, according to Kerri, it's much worse than hers.

"It looks like his eyeballs got their butts kicked."

**Sidenote -- the chances of getting pinkeye from someone farting on your pillow are very low ... it's just an urban legend perpetuated by the movie "Knocked Up."

Still, don't fart on anyone's pillow, it's just mean. **

U.S. Olympic volleyball badass Destinee Hooker knows people are amused by her name ... she knows some people laugh ... but she doesn't care ... she believes it's a "blessing."

Hooker -- who's CRUSHING it in London right now (indoor team is undefeated!) -- tells TMZ, "When it comes to my name, I honestly find nothing wrong with it. I love my name."

Still, Destinee admits she's not deaf to the jokes ... "I have been dealing with it since I was a child. People can be childish."

There was almost no Destinee Hooker at all ... the 24-year-old tells us she nearly died at birth, and when she survived, her father was inspired to give her the name "Destinee."

"Since I was a blessing, [my father] spelled it uniquely. So I am thankful to be here and glad my Dad gave me the name."

Michael Phelps has officially won more Olympic medals than ANY OLYMPIAN IN HISTORY -- winning his 19TH MEDAL moments ago during the 4x200m relay.

Phelps and his team -- Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens, and Conor Dwyer -- picked up gold for the United States, with Phelps beating out France in the final stretch by almost a body length. China took bronze.

Phelps won his 18th earlier today -- a silver -- during the 200m butterfly.

In addition to the all-time Olympic medal record, Phelps also holds the all-time record for most gold Olympic medals (15), and the record for most gold medals in individual events (9).

The previous all-time Olympic medal count was held by Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, who won 18 total medals over 3 Olympics.

Not to gloat, but ... THE USA IS BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE ON THE PLANET IN WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS!!!!

The U.S. women's gymnastics team didn't just win GOLD in the team competition ... they CRUSHED the competition ... slaughtering Russia by a whole 5 points.

Just to compare, China beat the US back in 2008 by 2ish points ... in what was then considered to be a pretty dominant performance. So, 5 points is HUUUUUGE.

It's a big deal ... the team -- made up of Jordyn Wieber, Gabrielle Douglas, Alexandra Raisman, Kyla Ross, and McKayla Maroney -- was favored to win ... and they didn't disappoint, scoring 183.596 today. Russia came in at 178.5 (suck it).

Romania won bronze.

The last gold medal was won at the Atlanta Games in 1996 -- with the team of Amanda Borden, Amy Chow, Dominique Dawes, Shannon Miller, Dominique Moceanu, Jaycie Phelps ... and of course ... Olympic hero Kerri Strug.

It's a beautiful day for America. Now excuse us while we set off some fireworks, wrap ourselves in the Declaration of Independence, and drive our Chevy into the sunset.

The parents of newly-minted gold medalist Missy Franklin had such bad seats last night, they nearly had to watch her record-breaking swim through binoculars -- but TMZ has learned, NBC upgraded them BIG TIME ... at the very last minute.

A rep for the US Swimming Team tells TMZ, Missy's parents had purchased tickets to watch their daughter dominate the 100m backstroke -- but they were all the way in the nosebleed section.

We're told NBC producers noticed -- and not wanting to miss their emotional reactions on TV, they hooked Missy's parentals up with some sweet seats right near the front.

NBC wasn't disappointed either -- 17-year-old Missy eked out a victory over Australian favorite Emily Seebohm for the gold medal ... and her parents went NUTS!

Go USA.

Ryan Lochte's unexpected grill flash during his Olympic medal ceremony was courtesy of none other than the grill-master himself ... rapper Paul Wall.

If you recall ... Lochte flashed a ruby and diamond studded American flag grill when he accepted his medal for the men's 400-meter IM event on Saturday ... but the genius behind the bling was "The Peoples Champ" himself.

Wall told XXLmag.com he was psyched to create the mouth piece, saying "Everyone’s talking about it ... it’s just an incredible thing to be part of. There’s not too many world-class swimmers wearing our grill."

The grill was hand crafted by Wall who boasted to the mag, "Every diamond is set by hand ... one by one, prong set and all custom red rubies."

Wall wouldn't specify how much he charged Lochte for the grill ... but says it's worth between $15k and $25k. Wall added "Of course we gave him an Olympic discount."

UFC champ Jon "Bones" Jones will not be allowed to drive for the next 6 months ... after a judge REVOKED his license as part of his sentence for drunk driving back in May.

Bones appeared in Binghamton City Court in Upstate New York this morning ... where he was sentenced for the May 19 incident in which he crashed his Bentley into a utility pole around 5:00 AM.

The 25-year-old fighter struck a plea deal with prosecutors ... in which he agreed to plead guilty to DWI and in exchange, he must pay a $1,000 fine, complete a victim impact panel within 90 days, and surrender his driver's license for 6 months.

There's more ... Jones must pay $6,500 in restitution to New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG) to fix the utility pole ... AND he's required to have an ignition interlock device installed on his cars.

NBA forward Matt Barnes was arrested tonight for an outstanding traffic warrant, and for allegedly mouthing off -- BIGTIME -- to the arresting officer, TMZ has learned.

According to law enforcement sources, Barnes was busted by police in Manhattan Beach, CA for a misdemeanor traffic warrant, and we're told he also resisted the arresting officer.

Barnes is currently being booked by Manhattan Beach PD for the traffic violation, and for resisting an executive officer ... a felony.

According to our sources ... Matt was walking in Manhattan Beach around 8:30PM when he was first approached by Manhattan Beach PD -- and when officers ran a check on him they discovered a massive $26,000 unpaid traffic warrant for driving on a suspended license.

We're told Barnes made threats against one of the officers -- which is why he got slapped with the felony for resisting.

Barnes played for the Los Angeles Lakers last year, but is currently a free agent. He's being held on $51,000 bail -- 26 for the unpaid warrant, and 25 for the felony.

Barnes posted bail and was released at 11:20PM.

He later tweeted about the incident ... writing, "Oh.. For all you perfect people out there looking at me w/your nose in the air, who have "NEVER" missed a court date for a "TRAFFIC VIOLATION" God Bless You..."