TMZ Sports - Page 50

Ray Rice and his fiancée Janay Palmer put a rush on their wedding -- getting married the day after he was indicted for assaulting her in an Atlantic City casino.

If Floyd Mayweather Jr. doesn't knock you out, his new watch -- DRIPPING IN 60 CARATS of flawless diamonds -- will do the job ... and TMZ Sports has the first pics of Floyd with his prized possession.

A source with direct knowledge of the deal tells us Floyd dropped $1 million to have the icy timepiece custom made from Russian cut diamonds.

Rachel Uchitel conquered golf, football and now baseball ... because TMZ has confirmed she's in a "serious" relationship with a former MLB star.

Rachel is dating Bret Boone ... former Seattle Mariners second baseman. He's 44, has 4 kids and is separated from his wife. No, we found out he separated long before meeting Tiger Woods' former mistress.

The New York Post first found out about the match ... speaking of which ... Uchitel -- who recently divorced former football star Matt Hahn -- is on Thursday's "Millionaire Matchmaker" The timing is unclear -- when she started dating 44-year-old Boone and when she did the show.

But there's this ... on the show Rachel says her problem in dating has always been she's a "shredder" -- someone who goes through lots of men but "always picks the wrong guys."

The Philadelphia Eagles used allegations about DeSean Jackson having gang connections as an excuse to get out of paying him big money -- this according to Warren G ... one of DJ's hometown supporters.

Warren tells TMZ Sports DeSean is the same kid the Eagles drafted in 2008 and he's NEVER brought any negative energy to the locker room. He also added ... all the talk of gang ties is "bull****!"

Kobe Bryant’s gotta stop trashing Shaq’s NBA work ethic in the media, because it’s starting to get personal … so says one of their former teammates.

We spoke with Tracy Murray – who played with the Lakers in 2002 – and he says Kobe was dead wrong to go after the big fella in the New Yorker, saying ... “It used to drive me crazy that [Shaq] was so lazy.”

Tracy says that it just ain’t true – noting that Shaq played most of his career north of 300 lbs. and was as dedicated as any Laker, but NEEDED extra recovery time.

“You can’t blame a dude when he’s playing 45 minutes a game at 300 pounds when he wants his summers off.”

Murray also says Kobe’s INSANE work ethic has only been matched by Michael Jordan, and just because someone isn't at that level "doesn't mean they aren't working at all."

Former Alabama QB AJ McCarron must be planning on making major bank in the NFL based on the diamond engagement ring he put on Katherine Webb today.

Katherine broke the news on Twitter -- showing off the ice she says AJ custom designed for her.

Brent Musburger's infamous crush didn't say anything about how AJ popped the question, but AJ's mom Dee Dee Bonner tells TMZ Sports both families are happy and excited for the couple ... and already in "wedding planning" mode.

No offense to Kat, but we're guessing AJ's main focus right now is planning for his NFL future. He's expected to go in the 2nd or 3rd round in the draft.

There goes his signing bonus.

San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver made a horrible situation way worse when he allegedly drove into a bicyclist ... threatened a witness with brass knuckles, and then fled the scene -- all of which landed him in jail.

San Jose police say Culliver hit the bicycle rider shortly after 10 AM today, but when he drove away from the scene a witness followed him and eventually cornered Culliver.

Police say the Niner was brandishing brass knuckles when he got out of his vehicle to confront the witness -- but eventually got back in his car without incident ... and fled again!

Cops eventually caught up to Culliver and arrested him. He was booked for felony hit-and-run, weapons possession, and reckless driving.

The cyclist was treated at a hospital for minor injuries.

Regardless of who wins the Louisville-Kentucky NCAA tourney game tonight ... somebody's gonna look pretty damn foolish in the Detroit Pistons locker room.

Peyton Siva and Josh Harrellson -- who are now teammates in Detroit -- were arch rivals back in 2010 ... when Siva played for Louisville and Harrellson for Kentucky -- two schools that HATE each other.

Siva and Harrellson have been able to bury their true feelings for the sake of their team -- until now ... telling TMZ Sports they've got a friendly bet going over tonight's Sweet 16 grudge match.

Siva says "We have a gear bet ... I have some gear for him [to wear after we win!]"

The opposite holds true for Harrellson ... but Siva wasn't eager to discuss that outcome.

Siva says he and Harrellson will be watching the game on mobile devices ... since they'll be on a Pistons flight headed to Philadelphia.

Stephen Colbert can try to blow off his "Ching Chong Ding-Dong" skit as a joke all he wants -- former NFL All-Pro Dat Nguyen thinks Colbert NEEDS to apologize, and he's shocked he hasn't yet.

Nguyen tells TMZ Sports ... Colbert's Wednesday night show was probably a "bad decision" on his part. If you haven't seen it -- Colbert mocked the Redskins name sitch by bringing up a recurring character from his show ... "Ching Chong Ding-Dong."

The Eagles' decision to drop star receiver DeSean Jackson might be connected to a photo TMZ Sports posted of the receiver throwing a gang sign -- but Jackson is now adamantly denying any gang affiliation.

Releasing Jackson seems odd because he had a career season last year -- but a recent NJ.com report said the Eagles were concerned he might have ties an LA. gang known as the Rollin' 40s crips.

Those concerns had to heightened by the pic we posted last month of DeSean posing in Philadelphia with rapper Nipsey Hussle -- who is a Crip -- and throwing up a Crip gang sign.

Almost immediately after he was cut today ... DeSean released a statement saying, "I am not and never have been part of any gang."

He added, "I am not a gang member and to speculate and assume that I am involved in such activity is reckless and irresponsible."

MMA is the worst sport for head injuries -- even worse than football -- so says a new study.

A University of Toronto study published this month in the American Journal of Sports Medicine examined records and videos from 844 bouts, finding that about 1/3 of them end in a knockout or TKO.

The study says the head trauma rate in MMA is greater than boxing, football and hockey.

Sister porn stars Natasha and Natalia Starr would sleep with Derek Jeter, Cristiano Ronaldo and David Beckham ... but the list of sports stars they wouldn't sleep with ... IS HYSTERICAL.

Our (clearly excited) photog caught up with the Starr sisters today in NYC. The girls, who were also Penthouse Pets last year, perform in XXX videos together. Don't worry, they explain the logistics in this clip.

After going through the athletes they find hot ... they listed a few they're not down with and absoutely would NOT sleep with -- even though as they put it "they f*** a lot of ugly guys on film."

Miguel Cabrera might be happy about his $292 million contract -- but his barber flat out lost his mind celebrating the ridiculous deal ... and tells TMZ Sports he just got a fat raise from the Tigers slugger.

Michael B. Jordan's breakout role was as a football star -- but we've got video that proves he can do a decent impression of his namesake.

Plus, Johnny Manziel really is Texas royalty -- even ex-presidents want to hang with him on his pro day for scouts. Question is ... will NFL teams be as impressed?

UCLA's former Associate Athletic Director Michael Sondheimer has been charged with possession of child pornography.

The L.A. Couny D.A.'s Office says he's been charged with one felony county of possession -- and the porn was on his work-issued laptop.

58-year old Sondheimer resigned from his post at UCLA last year amid allegations he was having online sex chats with minors.

According to the D.A. the alleged offense occurred in April of last year. If convicted, Sondheimer faces up to 3 years in state prison.

UCLA had placed him on administrative leave in June once they got wind of the allegations. He quit a month later.

Jeanie Buss just backed one up over her NBA legend fiance Phil Jackson -- exposing him to the world ... as a hardcore snorer!

The new Knicks President and Lakers Prez were out to dinner on her turf last night -- L.A.'s restaurant row -- and we asked what's their biggest relationship challenge: being bi-coastal or bi-NBA franchise?