TMZ Sports - Page 50

Kobe Bryant's old pimped out Chevy Impala just got ROCKED at a major car auction in Arizona ... selling for BARELY HALF of what the owners were hoping to pull in ... TMZ Sports has learned.

The car was originally a gift from Vanessa to Kobe back in 2006 ... and she had the thing customized for Bryant by the guys from the old MTV show "Pimp My Ride."

Kobe got rid of the car back in 2013 ... and the new owners have been spending the past several months trying to unload it for somewhere in the $100k range.

After it failed to sell on an Internet auction site, the owners decided to take it to the legendary Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, AZ ... and it finally hit the auction block this weekend.

Problem is, the owners didn't get the 6-figure payday they were expecting ... they got WAYYYY less -- we're talking $53,900 ... barely half of what they wanted.

It sorta makes sense ... since the competition at the BJ auction was fierce -- it was up against some of the best vehicles on the market ... including TWO BATMOBILES!!!

Hard to compete with Bruce Wayne's toys.

So, we got a tip that Peyton Manning was pulled over in Tennessee this weekend ... and it turned out to be TRUE -- but there was a huge twist ... Manning is an 18-year-old woman.

This "Peyton Manning" was popped for speeding in Dickson, TN -- roughly 3 hours from where Peyton (the football player) played his college football.

But, fortunately for Broncos fans ... Peyton (the male) was safe and sound during the time of the stop (which we later learned to be Sunday morning).

Don't worry, neither Peyton was arrested -- Manning (he) went on to defeat the Pats ... and Manning (she) went on to do whatever it is that she does.

Richard Sherman and Michael Crabtree should settle their beef in the ring ... AT WRESTLEMANIA ... so says wrestling icon Diamond Dallas Page.

DDP tells TMZ Sports he watched the Seahawk star's epic post-game rant Sunday night ... and says plain and simple -- "Richard Sherman is a bad ass."

"If I didn't know any better, I would think Sherman vs. Crabtree was going down at Wrestlemania."

In fact, Page says he thinks Sherman SHOULD brawl at the April 6 event ... and could probably become a WWE superstar when he decides to hang up his football cleats.

"Let me tell you something Sherman ... you need to absolutely think of the WWE as your career."

Hey, Lawrence Taylor did it ...

Dennis Rodman's alcohol-fueled meltdown was caused by North Korea ... so claim the people who got the former Hall of Famer into rehab.

Sources connected with Rodman -- the ones who convinced him he needed to check into rehab after his controversial trip -- tell TMZ, from the minute Rodman landed in North Korea he was plied with alcohol.

Rodman claims his bizarre -- arguably unpatriotic comments -- were the result of alcohol abuse and he says the pressure he felt before doing his disastrous interview is why he landed in rehab.

But people close to him say ... the mucky-mucks in the North Korean government were more than happy to supply Rodman with endless amounts of alcohol ... to the point his mind was poisoned.

He's not even a Patriots fan, but Michael Bolton DOESN'T TAKE KINDLY to people talking smack about Tom Brady.

The king of the U.S. adult contemporary chart hit up LAX after Denver beat up on New England Sunday ... and set our photog straight when asked if he took pleasure in watching Brady get knocked out of the NFL playoffs.

"I don't take pleasure in great players losing, I really don't," Bolton told us in his silky, transcendent voice.

Bolton went on to explain why he respects the guy -- and also revealed another player who blew his mind this weekend.

Check out the clip -- and then, kick back, relax and crank some Bolton.

C'mon ... It's not that bad.

Arian Foster is "NOT A MONSTER" and NEVER harassed his baby mama to get an abortion ... so says the baby mama herself and TMZ Sports has an audio recording of her confession.

We broke the story ... Brittany Norwood -- who's 18 weeks pregnant -- sued the Houston Texans running back claiming he tried to strong-arm her into aborting their unborn child.

But right after she filed the lawsuit, Norwood spoke with Arian and ADMITTED the claims in her lawsuit are BS ... saying bluntly, "I never once said that you told me to get an abortion."

During the conversation, Norwood seems to be throwing her lawyer under the bus ... saying she never signed off on some of the bombshell allegations in her suit and didn't want to pursue the restraining order she asked for in court docs.

"I'm not going to sit here and be like okay with -- those papers said, 'harassment,' like 'in fear.' I was never in fear of my life around you. Like, I didn't f*cking need a restraining order."

She continued, "You never harassed me. Like, I will tell him that verbatim. Like, as I have told him that, and that something in here needs to be f*cking changed because it's not fair, because -- and I said that. I was like Arian's not a monster."

"Like, I'm sorry that those papers ... because I was told that they weren't going to go anywhere. He said, you know, this is just to get the ball rolling, and then if we settle outside of court, we settle outside of court and it never goes public."

Brittany went on to praise Arian ... saying, "Like, I love you and you're still the father of my child ... You think I'm going to let anybody like desecrate your name, especially if my baby has Foster tagged to it? Come on."

We reached out to Brittany who told us she didn't remember the conversation and tells us, "I don't care what the world thinks of me, at the end of the day, I'm educated, I work hard to make a life for my son, be a role model, and [my son's] super woman."

Here's legendary U.S. Olympic diver Greg Louganis rockin' some tiny shorts out in Malibu this weekend.

Kellen Winslow Jr.'s arrest for marijuana got a lot stranger once we got the details from police. A witness says he was sitting naked with an erection -- and cops say he had 2 open jars of vaseline. Hmm ...

Plus, Kobe Bryant goes back to school! He surprised a Boston College professor -- and his class -- last night. But the question is what the Mamba's trying to do with his higher education?

Ex-boxing champ Larry Holmes is "BRINGING DOWN" the black community ... all because he went after Floyd Mayweather in public ... so says NBA star Metta World Peace.

Metta's beef stems from Holmes' recent public criticism of Floyd ... when he told Sky Sports Ringside that Mayweather is "crazy" and will irresponsibly blow through his entire multi-million fortune, just like he did.

After reading Larry's quotes, Metta blasted the guy on Twitter ... saying, "Larry Holmes should never call out another product of slave in public."

Peace explained that Larry should be supportive of Floyd because "our community was not fortunate to have finance savvy parents."

"With that said, instead of guys like Larry Holmes bringing down , he should uplift the ghettos."

Metta continued, "People like Larry should be retrieving lost and burnt Black history in Black History books rather than bringing down Black Legends."

Ya gotta respect Terrell Suggs' honesty ... 'cause the NFL superstar tells TMZ Sports, if he's not playing the big game, he doesn't give a crap about who wins the Super Bowl.

The Baltimore Ravens defensive juggernaut touched down in L.A. this weekend -- and couldn't have been more candid with his feelings about the NFL playoffs.

"When you're not in it you really don't care [who wins]," Suggs admitted ... saying, "prepare yourself for next year."

Hockey legend Luc Robitaille says the LA Kings DESTROYED his self-esteem back in 1984 when they picked some baseball player named Tom Glavine ... a whole 5 rounds ahead of him in the NHL draft.

We know Luc hasn't forgotten about it ... 'cause brand new MLB Hall of Famer Glavine told us he STILL rubs it in Luc's face.

For his part, Robitaille says he still ribs the Kings, saying ... "That's how much maybe the Kings didn't believe in me. They drafted Tom even though he said he'd never play hockey 5 rounds ahead of me."

Obviously, everything worked out -- Robi became the Kings' all-time leading goal scorer, a Hall of Famer, and is now the team's Pres. of Business Operations.

WWE Diva Brie Bella's bachelorette party wasn't filled with muscular dudes thrusting their junk in her face ... it was packed with a bunch of hairy chicks instead.

Brie and her sister Nikki Bella celebrated Saturday night at Prep Kitchen in San Diego ... and judging by the photos, some of the bridal party enjoyed the fake beards a little too much -- we're looking at you four-eyes.

Brie's wedding to WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan -- who also has a giant beard -- is expected to be filmed for the second season of their reality show, "Total Divas."

Seattle Seahawks hero Richard Sherman is all about TALKING TRASH in victory ... and he BLASTED 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree after the NFC Championship in one of the most epic rants of all time!

Sherman -- who broke up Colin Kaepernick's final pass to Crabtree in the last seconds of the game, clinching the W for Seattle -- posted up with Erin Andrews after the victory and WENT OFF.

In what felt like a WWE style rage session, Sherman said ... "When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree, that's the result you gonna get. DON'T YOU EVER TALK ABOUT ME!!"

Hulkamaniacs, brace yourselves ... Hulk Hogan just admitted to lying you as a child -- telling us his shirt ripping days weren't quite pure 'cause sometimes ... HE CHEATED!!!

The Hulkster styled his way through LAX wearing a cheetah print bandana ... and played dumb about a possible return to the WWE at "Wrestlemania XXX."

But when we asked Hulk about the iconic shirt-ripping thing he used to do back in the day ... Hogan fessed up and told us what he sometimes did to help tear it off so easily ... and it's kinda, sorta heartbreaking.

What's next? He didn't take his vitamins or say his prayers either?!

Excluding Petyon Manning, no one's rooting harder for Tom Brady to suck this weekend than the folks desperate to book hotel rooms at the Super Bowl -- because they tell TMZ Sports a Patriots victory will KILL their business.

Multiple hospitality brokers -- the guys who book air, travel, cars, tickets, etc. for fans -- tell us their sales in NY/NJ are already way down compared to recent Super Bowls, mostly due to fans dodging cold temps.

But we're told things are really gonna suck if the Patriots beat the Broncos, and it's all about geography. MetLife Stadium is only 3.5 hours from New England, which means most fans won't shell out for airfare or hotels ... they'll just drive.

One broker tells us he normally books somewhere between 400 and 600 rooms in the host city -- but this year he says, "I don't know if we'll do 150 rooms."

He adds the best case scenario now is ... a Broncos-49ers matchup -- since fans of both teams will flock to the NY/NJ area.

We're told hundreds of thousands of dollars hang in the balance for the hospitality industry.