TMZ Sports - Page 50

UFC champ Jon 'Bones' Jones tells TMZ Sports ... he wasn't TRYING to duck Georges St-Pierre at a post-Super Bowl party in NYC last weekend ... it just seemed that way.

We shot the footage of the awkward encounter Sunday night when it appeared Jones was trying to get into the party without St-Pierre noticing -- when GSP noticed, hilarity ensued.

But Tuesday in D.C., Jones says he wasn't trying to diss his old friend -- and he has a perfectly good explanation.

In fact, Jones says the two have a long history of partying together.

Jones tries to blame us for stirring things up -- but hey, we just call 'em like we see 'em.

Former NBA superstar Tracy McGrady tells TMZ Sports ... he's 100% serious about pursuing a career in baseball as a pitcher -- saying, "My pitching coach told me I have a little Bob Gibson in me."

McGrady -- a 7-time NBA All-Star and 2-time NBA scoring champ -- is currently battling for a roster spot on the Sugar Land Skeeters ... an independent pro team in Texas.

Tracy says he's been playing baseball for most of his life and LOVES the sport more than basketball. In fact, he says if given the chance, "I absolutely would've played baseball over the NBA."

The 34-year-old tells us he's been working with a pitching coach everyday for months -- "I'm taking this serious. I've been out there in 30 degree weather practicing. I love baseball. I'm going out to play."

There have been reports that McGrady has fired the ball up to 91mph -- but when we spoke to Tracy, he was more focused on his slider.

"I have a nice slider. I picked it up in 10 minutes. I also have a good splitter ... and my command is pretty good."

As for a baseball nickname, T-Mac says it's a work in progress, because his last hardball moniker is a little outdated -- "My number in Little League was '00,' they called me 'Buckshot.' But I'm gonna need a better nickname than that."

No one abuses Mark Spitz's trademark mustache and gets away with it ... so says Mark Spitz, who claims a pill company had the balls to jack his follically-enhanced image to hawk energy pills without permission.

The U.S. Olympic legend has filed a lawsuit against New Vitality -- an online vitamin and supplement company that allegedly used an old-school photo of Mark in an ad for one of their products called PowerQ10.

In the ad, Spitz gives a testimonial about how much he loves to use the product to support his energy levels and heart health.

Problem is, Mark says he never agreed to allow the company to use his name, his image or his mustache to endorse any New Vitality product and now he's looking for big fat check to make things right. He also wants punitive damages.

We reached out to New Vitality -- so far, no word back.

Lane Kiffin must really be in a hurry to get the hell out of CA ... 'cause TMZ Sports has learned, the 'Bama bound coach just got HOSED on the smaller of his two West Coast properties.

The Crimson Tide's new offensive coordinator had plunked down $825K for the 1,813 square foot townhouse back in 2006, when he was an O.C. for USC.

But a few months after he got the chop from SC last year, Lane put the pad up for sale.

The 3-bedroom El Segundo condo ain't exactly as nice as the $5 million Manhattan Beach mansion that USC helped him buy ... but it's not too shabby as a second home for a college football coach.

Kiffin was originally asking $745,000 for the place ... but according to our friends at Realtor.Com, Lane ultimately let it go for $737,500 -- taking a $87,500 loss.

Winning never really was Lane's specialty in SoCal.

Fatness often plagues NFL players after they retire -- but former lineman Alan Faneca tells TMZ Sports he's helping his old teammates win the battle against obesity .... just like he did.

Faneca -- who played 13 NFL seasons while weighing 320 lbs -- has dropped all the way to 213 lbs ... and ran a full marathon in UNDER 4 HOURS this past weekend.

"There's no reason to be 320 and be walking around post-football," Faneca says ... noting that he made the decision to shed the weight after considering the long-term health issues that have plagued NFL big men in the past.

And now that he's successfully slimmed down, Alan says he's passing along his weight loss secrets to some of his old friends from the Steelers, Jets and Cardinals.

"I have had some buddies reach out that have had trouble and struggled," Alan said while appearing on the "TMZ Sports" TV show ... explaining, "If you dont make that transtiton kind of quick, all of the sudden that 320 turns into an ugly 350."

Terrell Suggs found out keeping eye contact with a smoking hot Sports Illustrated swimsuit model is way tougher than winning a Super Bowl -- even with a theater full of people watching.

It all went down during an S.I. award show celebrating 50 years of hot chicks ... when the Baltimore Ravens stud DE was presenting an award with Jessica Gomes.

To be fair ... T-Sizzle performed the full body eye exam as part of a corny, scripted award show joke -- but watch the clip ... he clearly enjoyed the view. Or he's a really good actor.

George Foreman's 23-year-old son -- George Edward Foreman the 5th -- was arrested in Texas this weekend after cops say he assaulted his wife.

According to court documents obtained by TMZ Sports, officials say George the 5th choked Ashley McVea-Figueroa during an altercation on February 2.

The documents say George attacked Ashley by "impeding the normal breathing and circulation of the blood ... by applying pressure to [her] throat and [her] neck."

We're told Ashley was the person who called 911 ... and during the call, George threatened to leave the house with their child.

George was eventually arrested and booked for felony assault. Court docs show Foreman was released on $10,000 bond.

G5 is one of Foreman's 12 children -- his five sons are all legally named "George" ... but they all go by various nicknames.

Plaxico Burress just got ROCKED by the real estate market ... 'cause he just unloaded his Florida mansion for HALF of what he paid for it back in 2005, TMZ Sports has learned.

We know ... Plaxico originally bought the 6,872 square-foot mansion in Lighthouse Point, FL back in September 2005 for $3.995 ... but that was right before the bubble burst.

Since then, real estate values in the area have plummeted -- and Plax just sold the place for $2 mil.

Official documents obtained by TMZ Sports show Plax was able to get rid of the house as part of a short sale (where the bank accepts less money than what's owed on the mortgage).

Unclear why Plax decided to sell since the house in incredible ... with a full media screening room, incredible pool, marble everywhere and a 100-foot dock.

He may be retired, but former Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian Westbrook says he's still a SPEED DEMON ... and could put up a 40-time that's faster than most pro backs.

In fact, the 34-year-old tells TMZ Sports ... he's FASTER now than he was as a rookie in 2002, when he clocked a 4.57 at the NFL combine.

It's unlikely Westrbrook is thinking about coming out of retirement at this point, but if he's telling the truth ... he would make a HELLUVA flag football teammate.

Retired Penguins star Bill Guerin is living every hockey players dream ... 'cause the guy just dropped HALF A MILLION DOLLARS on a full-size ice rink in his BACKYARD, TMZ Sports has learned.

The 2x-Stanley Cup winner -- who now oversees player development for the Penguins -- had the rink installed in the back of his new home in Sewickley, PA ... just a 25 min drive from the Penguins stadium.

We're told Guerin even ordered a personal ZAMBONI machine to keep the ice in tip top shape.

Also looks like there's a basketball net at the end of the rink ... so we're hoping Guerin's in the process of inventing some sort of hockey-basketball hybrid sport.

The real winners here -- every kid in that neighborhood.

Jackie Robinson ... Don Drysdale ... Lasorda ... Fernando ... Kirk ... so many legendary Dodgers -- but when we asked Peter O'Malley to name the greatest of all, only one name came to mind.

O'Malley's opinion counts -- he and his family owned the Blue Crew for nearly 5 decades before selling the club in 1998 (He's now the owner of the San Diego Padres).

So, who'd he pick? Here's a hint: He once gave up an inside the park home run to Mr. Ed.

To the victor go the spoils ... just ask Russell Wilson, who's sitting courtside at the Brooklyn Nets game with Beyonce and Jay Z.

Russell Wilson will serve as a mentor to minor league players in the Texas Rangers organization when he appears in the team's spring training camp in AZ ... a rep for the Rangers tells TMZ Sports.

With Wilson's baseball agent already confirming that the Seattle Seahawks quarterback will be on hand when the team gets together in Surprise, AZ in a few weeks ... many were wondering if the former baseball star would actually suit up and get on the field.

FYI -- Wilson was a bigtime baseball prospect ... and his MLB rights currently belong to the Rangers after they acquired him in a deal with the Rockies back in December.

But the Rangers tells us ... Wilson won't need his cleats when he shows up to camp -- because he'll be "in a role of talking to our minor league players as opposed to a player."

The team says, "His leadership skills are off the charts and we feel it could be very beneficial for our young guys to be around him."

Nothing cures the agony of defeat like furious masturbation -- at least that's how Broncos Nation decided to deal with its grief last night ... after losing the Super Bowl 43-8.

XXX giant PornHub.com just released some fascinating stats from last night's porn viewership on its website -- showing overall viewership was down 32% during the big game ... down even more in Denver (51%) and Seattle (61%). Makes sense.

The tide turns around the halftime mark (EST) ... when most of the audience bailed on the game ... but things got even more interesting after the final score.

While porn viewing numbers in Seattle and Washington dropped below average in the wake of their massive victory -- presumably because everyone was out partying -- the numbers in Denver and Colorado surged to 10.8% and 7.6% above average, respectively.

Was Jon "Bones" Jones trying to DUCK Georges St-Pierre at the Super Bowl post-game bash in NYC last night??? Because it sure as hell looked that way in this clip.

It all went down outside Marquee nightclub ... GSP has no idea he's standing 3 ft. away from his fellow UFC superstar until our camera guy points him out.

What ensues is awkward, funny and confusing ... all at the same time.

It seems "Bones" was trying to signal our photog NOT to alert St-Pierre to his presence ... but our guy didn't get the hint and gave JJ up.