TMZ Sports - Page 50

How, you ask, did Katie Couric -- who now hosts a daytime syndicated talk show targeted at women -- snag the first on-camera interview with Manti Te'o? The answer is Matthew Hiltzik.

Hiltzik is a high-powered publicist who specializes in crisis management. He reps both Katie and Manti, but his client roster is chock-full of big celebs, including Alec Baldwin, Glenn Beck, MLB superstar Ryan Braun, Internet mogul Sean Parker, Univision's Raul De Molina, and some Canadian named Justin Bieber.

Sources tell us ... Hiltzik -- who likes working on the down-low -- put the deal together and sold it as a package -- Katie's interview will play an entire hour on her show, but parts will also be featured on Good Morning America, Nightline and World News Tonight.

It's hard to argue against the fact that Katie's one of the best interviewers on TV, but fact is ... It ain't always about what you know ... it's about who you know.

He's from California (Compton to be exact) ... but Dr. Dre tells TMZ he's not backing his home state team in the Super Bowl ... 'cause he's a HUGE Ray Lewis fan.

Dre was leaving Boa in Hollywood last night when he told us he'll be supporting the Baltimore Ravens on Feb. 3 when they take on the San Francisco 49ers.

"I'm excited for Ray Lewis," Dre said ... "He's a good guy and I'm a fan of his ... I'm wishing the best for him."

Bode Miller's baby mama is preparing for battle ... telling TMZ she will fight tooth and nail to make sure the Olympic champ doesn't get custody of their unborn son.

As TMZ first reported, Miller filed a paternity lawsuit against Sara McKenna, seeking to establish custody rights -- their son will be born next month.

McKenna tells us she plans to fight Bode's request, claiming the ski champ previously wanted NOTHING to do with the baby. McKenna says Miller initially denied the baby was even his and has not bothered to contact her since she got knocked up.

McKenna tells TMZ, "I will be fighting this in court and will not give up my son to someone who didn't want him to begin with."

FYI -- Sara says she and Bode dated sporadically in Spring 2012 (right before he hit it off with his new wife, Morgan Beck) and the pregnancy was unplanned.

Manti Te'o will finally go on camera to talk about the recent girlfriend hoax controversy ... and Katie Couric is the lucky broadcaster to score the interview.

Te'o spoke to ESPN's Jeremy Schaap on Friday, but not on camera. During that interview, Te'o admitted he handled the Lennay Kekua situation poorly ... but maintained he was in no way involved with the hoax.

The Notre Dame linebacker told Schaap he only realized for sure this past week that he was being duped.

According to ABC News, Couric will sit down with Te'o and his parents, Brian and Ottilia Te'o. The interview will air this Thursday.

Lance Armstrong finally admitted what everyone on the planet knew ... but was it too little, too late. We gotta ask ...

Ronaiah Tuiasosopo -- the man who allegedly spearheaded the hoax on Notre Dame football star Manti Te'o -- has finally come out of hiding ... surfacing at his family home in Palmdale, CA on Saturday evening ... TMZ has learned.

Ronaiah was wearing a hoodie and tried to hide his face. He also didn't utter a single word when asked about his role in the hoax.

Just 24 hours before Ronaiah appeared in public, Manti had told ESPN ... Ronaiah had reached out to him -- confessed to the prank -- and apologized.

According to Manti, Ronaiah was the person who created "Lennay Kekua" -- who Manti believed was a real person ... and "dated" ... even though they never met in person.

Of course, the whole thing was a hoax -- Lennay never really lived ... or died from cancer on September 11.

Manti Te'o has been the butt of jokes since the fake-dead-girlfriend hoax was revealed this week ... but now even an NHL team is getting in on the act.

The Dallas Stars flashed an empty seat on the big screen during their opening night game on Saturday, with the caption, "Manti Te'o's girlfriend -- Welcome to the game!"

Former NBA star Allen Iverson finally struck a deal in his bitter divorce battle with his estranged wife and all it took was a cool $3 MILLION to bury the hatchet, TMZ has learned.

We're told Iverson and Tawanna -- who married way back in 2001 -- informed a judge last week they had reached a financial settlement outside of court in their ongoing divorce case ... just days before the two were set to go to trial.

Sources connected with the couple tell TMZ ... as part of the deal, the NBA legend agreed to pay Tawanna $3 million, paid out as a large lump sum. We're told Iverson also agreed to fork over various assets and a percentage of his future Reebok endorsement deal checks. He'll pay up child support payments for the duo's five kids.

On the bright side for Iverson, we're told he scored the couple's GA mansion (which is currently facing foreclosure ... so not so bright) and gets to keep his primo ride, a Maybach, as well as other personal belongings.

Count Matthew McConaughey among those who were upset to learn Lance Armstrong had been lying all these years about doping ... saying he was mad at his close friend, but then eventually felt sad for him.

McConaughey and Armstrong have been BFFs for years -- both call Austin, TX home and the two have been known to work out together often.

But McConaughey says he was as surprised as anyone when Lance came clean, saying he took the news personally at first, but realized it was wrong to do so.

He told MTV News, "What was he supposed to do? Call me to the side and go, 'Hey man, I did it but don't tell anybody.' Then I would have really had a reason to be pissed off at him, going, 'You want me to walk around holding this?'"

Colin Kaepernick's meteoric rise hasn't just been great for the 49ers ... it's also been HUGE for his longtime tattoo artist ... who tells TMZ business has exploded ever since the inked up QB led SF into the playoffs.

We spoke with tat artist Nes Andrion -- who's been working on Colin for years at his shop in Reno where CK played his college ball.

Andrion tells us ... ever since Colin started winning games in November -- when starting QB Alex Smith got a concussion -- customers have been pouring in, asking for 49ers-themed ink.

Nes tells us, "People come in and ask if I am the artist that does Colin’s tattoos, and ask when I think I am going to tattoo him again.”

Nes adds, “People want to get their tattoos done by the same artist as Colin Kaepernick."

According to Nes, Colin will be coming back in the off-season to finish his enormous angel-demon-themed chest piece.

It's pretty hilarious though, considering Nes is a proud Patriots fan -- but now that Colin's winning, he secretly hopes the 49ers can bring home the Lombardi trophy this year.

"To be honest I want [Colin] to take it even though the Pats are my team. He puts money in my pocket."

Bode Miller's wife, volleyball champ Morgan Beck, is no longer pregnant ... announcing on Twitter that she lost the baby this weekend.

Morgan announced the miscarriage Saturday, tweeting "Pretty hard morning. We lost the baby. Pretty broken hearted, but getting through it."

FYI -- Morgan and Bode married in October and only recently announced the pregnancy in December.

Manti Te'o has broken his silence ... admitting he knew having a relationship with a "girlfriend" solely online was "crazy," insisting he was a victim, and revealing that the culprit has now apologized.

Manti gave an audio interview to ESPN -- the photo was taken in the middle of the chat -- in which he acknowledges Ronaiah Tuiasosopo tweeted him a full confession two days ago. You gotta love it ... even the confession was online. ESPN says it was followed up by a phone call.

Manti says, "I wasn't faking it. I wasn't part of this."

Manti says he now knows -- presumably from Tuiasosopo -- "Two guys and a girl are responsible for the whole thing." He says he doesn't know the identity of the second guy or the girl. He adds he didn't know for sure until Wednesday that it was all a hoax, when Tuiasosopo admitted it to him.

Manti explained why he lied to his dad and others, when he said or intimated he had seen the fictitious Lennay Kekua in the flesh. "I knew that -- I even knew that it was crazy that I was with somebody that I didn't meet, and that alone people find out that this gir who died I was so invested in, and I didn't meet her as well ... So I kind of tailored my stories to have people think that, yeah, he met her before she passed away so people wouldn't think I was some crazy dude."

As for one of the big questions -- why didn't he at least Skype -- he says he tried to speak with Lennay through Skype or FaceTime several times, but the person on the other end was in a "black box" and couldn't be seen. He says he also tried meeting her a few times in L.A. and Hawaii, but she kept canceling.

And this is a little weird ... Manti says Lennay once asked him for his checking account number so she could send him money. He did not provide it. Still, no suspicion.

Manti says the fictitious relationship was not a full four years -- they would take breaks, but it got intense after she said her father had died.

He says things got crazy after Lennay's fake car accident when she was in the hospital, and he could only hear her breathing over the phone -- "I slept on the phone with her every night ...the only thing that could help her sleep was if I was on the phone."

As for why he didn't visit her in the hospital, he says, "It never really crossed my mind. I don't know. I was in school."

As for why he didn't attend her "funeral," he says, "Her mom told them [Lennay's family] they did not want me to come," adding, "I didn't want that to be the first time that I saw her was laying in a coffin."

Manti says on December 6 -- three months after Lennay had supposedly died -- a woman called from the number Lennay had used, saying, "Manti, it's me." He says that was the first time it was apparent to him -- he had been scammed.

Stan Musial -- the Hall of Fame outfielder who played for the St. Louis Cardinals for 22 seasons -- passed away today. He was 92.

The Cardinals announced Musial's passing in a press release. He died Saturday evening at his home in Ladue, Mo., surrounded by family.

Musial won seven National League batting titles, three MVP awards and led the Cardinals to three World Series championships in the 1940s.

Manti Te'o says he's the victim in an outrageous catfishing hoax -- or is he? We gotta ask ...

Manti Te'o is telling close friends he was so badly scarred by the Internet hoax, he doesn't think he can ever trust people again ... TMZ has learned.

Manti is telling his friends he was not only victimized by the person behind the phantom GF, he lost his real girlfriend as a result of the mess.

TMZ broke the story ... Manti started dating 21-year-old Alexandra del Pilar in early November and really liked her. But when Manti realized on December 6 he'd been played -- and he believes by Ronaiah Tuiasosopo -- he became a different person.

Our sources say Manti became "freaked out, angry, upset and withdrawn," and Alexandra couldn't handle it. And we're told ... Alexandra was dealing with a lot, because Manti let her in on his secret that he had been scammed.

We're told Alexandra pulled the plug on the relationship just before the story broke wide. Manti harbors no hard feelings and is sorry the relationship crumbled.

As for the future, we're told Manti's trust in people has been shattered and -- at least for now -- he doesn't think that trust will come back.

Earl Weaver, the Hall of Fame manager of the Baltimore Orioles, passed away early this morning of an apparent heart attack. He was 82.

Weaver, according to reports, was aboard an Orioles fantasy cruise in the Caribbean when he collapsed in his room at around 2:00 AM. Doctors were unable to revive him.

As manager of the O's from 1968-1986, Weaver won six division titles, four American League pennants, five 100-win and one World Series championship. His nickname was "The Earl of Baltimore."