TMZ Sports - Page 50

You know how they say say men with facial hair are "hiding something?"

Well, Eric Karros is one of those guys -- telling TMZ Sports his goatee is masking the scars from a 97-mph fastball that drilled him in the chin back in 2002.

The former L.A. Dodgers 1st baseman says he remembers everything about the pitch that struck him in the jaw -- hurled by former S.F. Giants pitcher Felix Rodriguez.

"Ironically, it was Family Picture Day," Karros says.

Despite the fact it's been 12 years, Eric says he never watched tape of the brutal pitch -- because if he did, Eric says he would have been "too scared to get back in the box."

Here's a brand new video of Johnny Manziel that's blowing up on the 'net -- showing the Browns QB clutching a brick of cash ... and talking to it like a cell phone.

Why? Why not.

The video first surfaced on Instagram over the weekend. Unclear exactly when and where the video was shot -- but Johnny sure seems be having a good time.

76ers star Nerlens Noel has declared war on the woman who claims she's the mother of his child ... this, after she accused the NBA star of being a deadbeat dad ... TMZ Sports has learned.

It's a nasty fight between Nerlens and a woman named Jamie -- who claims the 20-year-old signed an affidavit in May 2013 (one week after the child was born) admitting he is the father. She claims the two remained close after the pregnancy.

In legal docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, Jamie claims Nerlens agreed to pay $10k per month in child support -- and did for 3 months -- but suddenly cut her off and hasn't paid a dime since.

Jamie filed a lawsuit against Nerlens hoping the judge would force him to pay up -- but he fired back with legal docs of his own claiming he's not convinced he's the real father.

In fact, in Noel's legal docs he writes, "[He] does not have sufficient knowledge of information to know whether [Jamie] engaged in sexual relations with other men during the times pertinent to this case."

Jamie denies that claim.

Nerlens also states when he signed the affidavit saying he's the father, he did so "without first fully reading and understanding" the document.

Nerlens is now demanding a DNA test to prove whether or not he is the dad.

The case is due back in court later this month.

Something is rotten in the state of Magic Mountain ... and it's the carnival game 3-point challenge ... so says Matt Barnes who says the reason he only went 2 for 5 is because it's RIGGED!!!

TMZ Sports has the video of Matt and Deandre Jordan at the Six Flags themepark in Valencia, CA a few days ago ... where the L.A. Clippers star entered the contest ... and he didn't do great.

So, what's Matt's excuse?! Well, he was laughing about it when we saw him in L.A. the other day ... before making ALLEGATIONS OF SHENANIGANS!!!

(For the record, he's probably joking ... but, still funny!)

Check out the clip.

WNBA superstar Candace Parker is being investigated in L.A. after allegedly threatening to beat up a male college student ... though one source close to the situation tells TMZ Sports Parker never threatened anyone.

Here's what we know ... the 6'4" L.A. Sparks player was involved in a minor car accident on Tuesday with a 5'7" student named Andrew near the campus of L.A. Southwest College.

The California Highway Patrol was called to the scene and a report was taken. But roughly an hour later, Candace and Andrew had another encounter around the campus gym where Candace and the L.A. Sparks practice.

According to campus police, a verbal altercation went down between the two sides ... and Andrew claims Candace threatened to kick his ass.

Andrew tells TMZ Sports he's worried about retaliation -- "I don't know what she's capable of."

One source close to the situation tells us ... Candace never made any threats during the encounter.

Campus police investigated the incident and kicked the matter over to the L.A. County District Attorney -- who will decide whether or not to pursue charges against Candace.

Terrelle Pryor knows he's the fastest QB in the NFL -- but the Seattle Seahawks star tells TMZ Sports he wants to be more than that ... he wants to be like Tom Brady.

Pryor was outside Hooray Henry's in Hollywood last night -- where he ran into a seemingly hammered Dennis Rodman -- before opening up about his NFL goals.

"I am the fastest QB ... but I wanna be more than that," Pryor told us ... "I wanna be great."

Pryor says he's busting his ass -- and studying guys like Tom Brady in the hopes of achieving his goal.

Dennis Rodman wants to make one thing clear ... he is 100% heterosexual -- but sober? That's not even 17% clear from this strange video of him out in West Hollywood last night.

Rodman was loitering chilling outside Hooray Henry's last night and chatting up an L.A. County Sheriff's deputy, a random dude, and chick ... who may or may not have been with Dennis.

When our camera guy opened with, "How you doing tonight?" -- The Worm responded, "I'm not gay." Dennis then starts rambling about all sorts of things ... law enforcement, quality of L.A. hospitals ... it's weird. He even goes back to the gay issue -- again, unprompted by anyone.

In case you forgot ... Rodman checked into rehab back in January after that whole North Korea debacle.

Lord Stanley's Cup went home with a bunch of the NHL Champion L.A. Kings to their neighborhood bar where it was immediately filled with ... a ton of M&Ms ... and TMZ Sports has the awesome video!!

Most of the Kings and the Stanley Cup arrived triumphantly at North End Bar & Grill in Hermosa Beach early this morning. In the video, Alec Martinez -- who shot the Cup-winning rebound shot -- helps fill the trophy with bag after bag of Plain, Peanut Butter, and of course Peanut (the best) M&Ms and then grabbed the first handful. There's a bunch of reasons why you do NOT want the last handful.

Not that hockey players are superstitious, but the Kings brought the Cup to the same bar hours after winning it 2 years ago.

We're told captain Dustin Brown, Matt Greene, Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar, Jarret Stoll and Jonathan Quick -- to name a few -- all partied with their fans. It's unclear who got first crack at taking the Cup home when they finally left the bar around 4 AM.

If you're wondering ... someone did the math. The Cup can hold somewhere between 5,000 and 7,000 M&Ms ... depending on flavor.

Burgers have been very, very good to Terrell Owens -- but how good? 5-FIGURES GOOD.

T.O. just filed new legal docs in his divorce from Rachel Snider -- the woman he married (and quickly left) earlier this year.

Owens was required to submit a document declaring his finances over the past year -- and the highlight is the payday he got from that Carl's Jr. burger commercial -- the one where he's surrounded by chicks in bikinis.

According to the document, T.O. says he raked in a cool $41,799 for appearing in the ad -- not a bad day at the office.

New details surrounding the death of former Cy Young award winner Bob Welch -- TMZ Sports has learned the MLB great's body was discovered in an empty bathtub in his home after family members called a neighbor to check up on him.

We obtained the 911 call placed by Bob's friend -- who said he was called to the house by family members who were worried that something was wrong.

When he arrived, the neighbor told 911 that Welch was in the tub -- which contained no water -- and he was unsure if Bob was still breathing.

Emergency personnel rushed to the scene and 57-year-old Welch was pronounced dead at the scene.

Self-proclaimed soccer fan Kobe Bryant was spotted in the stands at the Spain vs. Netherlands World Cup match in Brazil today ... taking in the game like every other non-world famous celeb in the building.

No word on who Bryant's pulling for ... but he was sitting next to a bunch of Spain fans.

It'll be interesting if Kobe runs into Team USA coach Jurgen Klinsmann during his time in Brazil -- since Klinsmann recently ripped the Lakers for giving Kobe a $48 million contract extension.

“This always happens in America. Kobe Bryant, for example -- why does he get a two-year contract extension for $50 million? Because of what he is going to do in the next two years for the Lakers?"

"Of course not. Of course not. He gets it because of what he has done before. It makes no sense. Why do you pay for what has already happened?"

Lookin' to work in a little shooting practice before next season, Clippers stars Matt Barnes and DeAndre Jordan took their talents to Six Flags yesterday ... for a 3-point shot challenge.

TMZ Sports has footage of Barnes stepping right up to the carnival-style game at Magic Mountain in Valencia, CA on Thursday ... firing away from outside the arc.

He didn't do too bad ... hitting 2 of 5 shots ... while the crowd, including DeAndre, cheered him on.

We're told DeAndre did some shooting himself and even won a water bottle as a prize.

The entire TMZ Sports newsroom just became fans of Team Mexico ... because every time the squad scores a goal, Playboy's 2013 Playmate of the Year is celebrating by bouncing around in a skimpy top.

Raquel Pomplun -- who was raised in Tijuana -- is live-cheering the game with Playboy and Hornitos tequila ... which basically means she quickly records a sexy video anytime Mexico does anything noteworthy.

Earlier today, Mexico scored its first goal of the World Cup against Cameroon ... and Pomplun went wild.

He can dance ... he can sing ... he can act ... and it turns out Justin Timberlake also happens to be a helluva golfer, too.

We spoke with LPGA star Natalie Gulbis ... who tells us when it comes to celebrity golfers, Timberlake is at the top of her list -- and she knows from experience.

One more thing -- Gulbis also happens to dabble in modeling ... doing the body paint thing for the 2012 S.I. Swimsuit Edition and posing in sexy bikini pics for a golf course photo shoot.

Wanna be an NBA coach? (we're lookin' at YOU Metta) ... well, you might wanna follow the Doc Rivers plan on how to bond with your players.

Step #1 -- Restaurant meetings.

Doc tells TMZ Sports he takes all of his players out to 1-on-1 meals at nice restaurants ... and despite the fact most of his players make WAY more money than he does, Doc always foots the bill.

In fact, we spotted Doc out on a restaurant meeting with Blake Griffin earlier this week -- and judging by the way they man-hugged on the way out, seems like it went well.