TMZ Sports - Page 50

There's about to be a shrimp shortage in the Gulf Coast region ... because TMZ has learned the menu for Super Bowl XLVII includes 10,000 POUNDS of Gulf shrimp on hand for your noshing pleasure.

TMZ obtained the Cajun-inspired Super Bowl menu from the folks at Centerplate and it is MASSIVE:

-- 18,000 pounds of smoked pork
-- 10,000 pounds of Gulf Shrimp
-- 3,000 pounds of alligator sausage
-- 1,200 gallons of chicken piquant
-- 700 gallons of traditional Cajun gumbo
-- 440 gallons of red beans & 6,000 pounds of rice
-- 70,000 Tums tablets (ok, that's just a guess)

In order to pull of the giant feast, we're told Centerplate had to enlist over 100 chefs and 1,000 service staff.

Bode Miller is a pro ... at insemination ... 'cause the recently married Olympic Champ just filed two separate paternity lawsuits with two separate baby mamas -- this right after knocking up his own wife.

According to legal docs, here's how the baby-drama breaks down ...

Baby Mama Suit #1: Bode filed a petition against a woman named Sara McKenna -- who is CURRENTLY pregnant -- claiming he's the soon-to-be father. He's seeking joint legal and physical custody of the kid. He says the date of conception ... is unknown.

Baby Mama Suit #2: Bode filed against a woman named Chanel Johnson, claiming he's the father of her 4-year-old girl. He's asking the court establish joint and physical custody, and child support payments.

FYI ... Bode married Morgan Beck -- the same chick he hit in the eye with a golf ball -- in October 2012 and she recently announced her pregnancy ... with a due date set for August 2013.

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree was questioned by police as part of a sexual assault investigation, but he was not detained or arrested.

Police said the alleged assault took place in a hotel room early last Sunday following the 49ers' playoff victory over the Green Bay Packers. Crabtree was interviewed with his attorney present and police say he has cooperated with the probe.

A rep for the team released a statement, saying, "The 49ers take such matters very seriously. We will have no further comment at this time as the legal process is ongoing."

John Cena has a HUGE problem with his stuffed doppelganger ... telling TMZ he spied a major error on his official WWE "Brawlin' Buddies" doll.

The wrestling superstar was out at LAX this week ... chatting with fans ... signing pics ... and of course autographing his wildly popular "Brawlin' Buddies" doll -- manufactured by Mattel -- when suddenly, John noticed something was remiss.

Linda Hogan's "I only had one glass of champagne" excuse isn't flying with officials ... 'cause TMZ has learned she's officially been charged with DUI stemming from her October arrest.

TMZ broke the story ... Linda was popped for DUI in Malibu after cops say she was speeding around town with a blood alcohol level of .084 ... just over the legal limit in CA.

At the time, a rep for Linda said Linda had only sucked down one glass of champagne at a jewelry event that night ... on an empty stomach ... but she also had taken antibiotics, which exacerbated the effects of the alcohol.

Now, the L.A. County District Attorney has charged Linda with 2 misdemeanor counts of DUI. She was also hit with one count of driving on a suspended license -- also a misdemeanor.

All told, she could face up to 18 months in jail ... though it's unlikely she'll spend any time behind bars since she has no prior DUI convictions.

Lance Armstrong and Manti Te'o ... two men dominating the sports headlines for all the wrong reasons. One for cheating ... and one for dating a dead person who never really existed.

Question is ...

11:49 AM PT -- New photos have surfaced showing Manti and Alexandra sitting on Santa's lap together sometime around Christmas.

Alex also posted a photo on November 16, in which she thanked Manti for giving her a couple of leis, which she hung in her car.

The dates are consistent with the story Manti is telling friends.

Manti Te'o quietly began dating an actual living, breathing female human being ... shortly after he learned "Lennay Kekua" had died from cancer ... and the rebound chick is HOT ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to Manti tell us ... the Notre Dame star met Alexandra del Pilar the weekend of November 10 -- when Notre Dame played Boston College.

Alexandra, 21, is a student at St. Mary's College in Indiana -- which is close to Notre Dame.

We're told Alexandra and Manti dated for nearly 2 months, but broke up recently.

There are rumors swirling that Manti created a fictitious GF to take the pressure off him from teammates and others who felt he should be dating, but his relationship with a real woman calls those rumors into doubt.

Manti Te'o will still be a Top 15 pick in April's NFL Draft ... despite all of the questions surrounding the hoax ... this according to former 1st round NFL draft pick Mike Williams.

Williams -- who was the #10 overall pick in the 2005 Draft -- was out in L.A. last night, when we asked if he thought Te'o's draft stock is plummeting because of the scandal.

Mike knows a little something about the politics of the draft, he was involved in a controversy of his own when he left USC early and tried to enter the 2004 draft, only to be denied by the league because he wasn't 3 years removed from high school.

Seems everybody in Lance Armstrong's world knew the truth about the cyclist -- that he was cheating his face off -- which begs the question ... how much did Sheryl Crow know?

Armstrong dated Crow from 2003 'til 2006 -- when they broke off their engagement. During the relationship, Armstrong rode in the Tour de France twice -- and won both times.

During Armstrong's interview with Oprah, he admitted to using every single PED under the sun and blood doping ... and acknowledged that everyone who came after him for cheating was right.

We reached out to Crow's agent, who didn't have a comment ... and we tried to find a publicist for Sheryl, but were unsuccessful.

So, we gotta ask ...

Donna Tei -- whose picture was used as part of the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax -- says she and her family have never met the Notre Dame star and have no idea how she got roped into the scam.

As TMZ first reported, a Notre Dame superfan (who we're calling "Jan") says she struck up an online friendship with a person claiming to be U'ilani Rae Kekua -- the older sister of Te'o's dead "girlfriend," Lennay Kekua.

U'ilani later sent a photo to Jan showing a woman at a cemetery -- and told her, "This is me and my family at Lennay's gravesite. We're spending the day here."

But the woman in the photo couldn't have been U'ilani -- 'cause U'ilani doesn't really exist.

TMZ tracked down the actual woman in the photo -- Donna Tei -- who lives in Carson, CA. When we asked Donna and her father if they had a connection to Te'o, he told us, "We don't even know the guy."

Tei's father went on to explain the photo is of his daughter, Donna, and his wife. He claims the pic was stolen off of Facebook.

So how -- and why -- did "Lennay" decide to steal Donna's cemetery pics? We would ask Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, but he seems to have gone into hiding.

Lance Armstrong just confessed ... EVERYTHING.

Lance admitted it all during his Oprah interview -- saying he took banned substances to enhance his cycling performances before all 7 of his Tour de France wins ... he blood doped ... he took testosterone ... EPO ... human growth hormone ... everything you can imagine.

Lance had denied the allegations for years -- and when Oprah asked why he came forward now, Lance replied, "I don't know that I have a great answer. I will start now by saying this is too late ... I view this situation as one big lie that I repeated a lot of times ... I am a flawed character."

He added, "I didn't invent the [doping] culture, but I did nothing to stop the culture ... and I am sorry for that."

Lance said he began using EPO (erythropoietin) -- a hormone that enhances red blood cell production -- in the mid 90s.

When asked if he was ever afraid he'd be caught -- Lance replied, "No."
When asked if it felt wrong at the time -- Lance replied, "No."
When asked if he felt like he was cheating -- he replied, "No ... I viewed it as a level playing field."

As for how the whole operation worked, Armstrong hedged on the details -- saying, "I viewed it as very simple. You had things that were oxygen-boosting drugs, for lack of a better word, that were incredibly beneficial for endurance sports. And that's all you needed."

Manti Te'o is telling friends ... he knew the truth about Lennay Kekua in early December ... but continued the lie for 20 days for the sake of his team.

Sources connected to Te'o say ... it's true what ND Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick said Wednesday night, that Manti realized he had been hoaxed on Dec. 6, when he got a phone call from "Lennay" ... months after he thought she was dead.

But sources tell us ... Manti didn't tell his coaches about the hoax until Dec. 26 ... because he thought it would be a huge distraction while the team prepared to face Alabama in the BCS Championship.

During the 20 days, we're told Manti struggled over how to handle the situation ... but eventually felt compelled to come clean to his coaches.

Manti is currently training for the NFL combine -- and we're told he's getting a lot of support from the guys he's been training with.

Manti Te'o continued to tell people his girlfriend died of cancer even after he learned it was all a big hoax ... and this is according to Notre Dame's public version of the facts.

During a news conference Wednesday night, ND Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick said ... Manti told ND officials that he first learned the whole thing was a hoax when he received a call from his GF's phone number during an ESPN award show in December ... months after she was presumed dead.

The ESPN college football awards ceremony took place in Orlando on Dec. 6 -- but just two days later, on Dec. 8, Te'o gave a statement to reporters in anticipation of the Heisman Trophy ceremony, in which he continued to perpetuate the belief that his girlfriend had died from cancer.

Te'o told reporters ... “I don’t like cancer at all. I lost both my grandparents and my girlfriend to cancer,” this according to WSBT-TV.

We now know Manti's statement wasn't true -- and by Notre Dame's own account, Manti lied.

Manti Te'o and his non-existent girlfriend Lennay Kekua went public with their relationship in January 2012 ... and continued to date until she died in September ... TMZ has learned.

TMZ spoke with "Jan" ... a Notre Dame superfan who struck up an online friendship with "Lennay" through Twitter back in 2011.

According to Jan, Lennay had always maintained that she was friendly with Manti ... but didn't reveal that she was his "girlfriend" until January.

The timeline begs one really big question ... in 9 months, two college students at top universities (Lennay maintained she went to Stanford) didn't have one video chat session??

Manti Te'o didn't just inspire a new whole Internet craze (Te'oing) ... he also made life WAAAAYYY easier for one Lance "Yep, I cheated" Armstrong.

Manti Te'o's emotions were too real ... too authentic ... to have been lying about the fate of Lennay Kekua -- this according to the family of a 12-year-old cancer victim who met with the Notre Dame star after the death of his supposed girlfriend.

TMZ spoke with Brian and Louise Smith -- who received a letter from Manti back in October when he learned their 12-year-old daughter, Bridget, was suffering from cancer.

In his letter to the family, Manti said he knew what they were going through, since his girlfriend had just passed away from cancer.

After Bridget passed away, Manti met with her parents and they shared an emotional moment together.

Louise tells TMZ ... Manti was full of humility and kindness when they met ... and only cared about how they were doing in light of the family tragedy.

Louise says he seemed like such an honest, real person ... "It's very hard for me to believe he made this up. I don't believe it for a second."

"There's no way this guy knew anything about this hoax."

Louise also says ... after the family received the initial letter from Manti, she reached out to Te'o and asked if she could share the details of the letter with the media.

Louise says Manti replied, "That's up to you ... it was for you and your family. You do with it what you wish."

Her point -- Manti was not about the publicity, but felt a real connection over what he thought was a real loss.

Are you buyin' what he's sellin'?