TMZ Sports - Page 50

If there's anyone who knows what it takes to bounce back after being humiliated on a national scale, it's NY Congressman Charlie Rangel ... who has some advice for A-Rod on how to weather the storm.

TMZ Sports spoke with Rangel out in D.C. -- and asked how Alex Rodriguez could get back into the good graces of Yankees fans ... following his second PED scandal.

Rangel knows a thing or two about image rehab -- he was infamously found guilty of multiple House ethics violations in 2010 (including failing to pay taxes) and was forced to beg for mercy on the House floor.

So, what advice does he have for the disgraced MLB star? Rangel didn't hold back.

The only thing UFC badass Conor McGregor might hate more than Jose Aldo ... is Lucky Charms ... telling TMZ Sports it's not only NOT popular in his home country ... but it's TOTAL CRAP!!!

McGregor -- who's fighting Aldo at UFC 189 in Vegas in July -- was out in L.A when we asked about the cereal trends back in Ireland ... and Conor told us the "magically delicious" cereal couldn't be further from an authentic Irish breakfast (shocking, we know).

Plus, Conor says ... "I don't eat those sugar filled pieces of garbage."

French Montana serenaded a bunch of 13-year-olds with a song celebrating cocaine ... at a very fancy schmancy Bar Mitzvah!

It was all in good fun, as the youngest son of Minnesota Vikings owner Mark Wilf transitioned into manhood Saturday at the ridiculously expensive Cipriani restaurant in NYC.

French got the kids turnt up with 'I'm in Love with the CoCo.' Andrew the Bar Mitzvah boy made his entrance in a hamster ball with exploding confetti.

And famed electric violinist Irene Fong did her thing in front of the crowd.

We have no idea how much Wilf dropped on the shindig, but we know French's going rate is $100k for private functions.

This might be a record ... but former NBA star Larry Johnson has been accused of being a deadbeat dad ... BY FOUR WOMEN AT THE SAME TIME ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Johnson wasn't just a stud on the court ... but the 46-year-old apparently lived up to his last name in the bedroom as well, siring 5 kids with 4 different women over the years.

It gets worse ... Johnson, the #1 overall pick in the 1991 NBA Draft, filed for bankruptcy in California earlier this month ... claiming he's racked up more than $300k in debts.

A chunk of those debts, according to the docs, are owed to the 4 baby mamas -- who claim LJ owes more than $120k in unpaid child support payments.

So, where'd all that Grandmama money go? We reached out to LJ for comment -- so far, no word back.

You ever see a fashion item that you just NEEDED TO HAVE???

NBA star Richard Jefferson did -- a Vans cheetah-print snapback baseball hat ... and he paid $700 to buy it off some random dude's head!!!

RJ was at Hi Fi Kitchen & Cocktails in Scottsdale, AZ Saturday night -- when a dude named Andrew walked in with the cheetah cap.

Andrew tells TMZ Sports ... the Dallas Mavs star beelined it over his way with cash in hand ... and started making offers for the dome piece. Andrew declined at first ... but ultimately gave in for a handful of $100 bills -- 7 in total.

So, why was Jefferson so obsessed with the hat? Andrew says RJ actually purchased the lid for teammate Chandler Parsons ... who was also eyeing the cap that night.

The best part of the story -- Andrew says he originally bought the hat for $25.

Not a bad return on investment.

Chad Johnson just proved he's the best Twitter pal in the history of the freakin' world ... 'cause the former Pro Bowler just forked over $1,000 to one of his followers ... so she could have a good b-day.

We spoke to Heather Torregano -- @DaRealNette on Twitter -- and she tells TMZ Sports this all started when she tweeted a link to a GoFundMe account she started to try to raise some money for b-day plans.

"I work as a waitress and a bartender, plus I pay out of my pocket to go to school. I was just trying to have a good birthday, I haven't had one in a long time."

She said she was as surprised as anyone when she checked the account and saw a PHAT $1,000 donation from Johnson who she says has been following her on Twitter for a couple of years.

Torregano says ... when she saw Johnson accounted for nearly HALF of her goal of $1,600 in one fell swoop, she was overcome with emotion.

"I cried, honestly. I was expecting people to give maybe like $20 or $50 ... but a full $1,000? There is no way I could have expected that."

Former pro wrestling star Bill Goldberg says the accident that took the life of a Mexican wrestling star this past weekend was a freak occurrence ... telling TMZ Sports pro wrestling is as safe ever.

Goldberg was out in L.A. when we asked him about the tragic death of 35-year-old Mexican wrestling star El Hijo Del Perro Aguayo who passed away after his spine was snapped during a match last weekend.

Aquayo lay motionless on the ropes for nearly two minutes after the injury, with the other wrestlers apparently thinking it was all part of the show.

Goldberg, a former WCW champion, says despite the horrific nature of the injury wrestling is totally safe, noting that it's VERY rare that these types of accidents happen.

"Name the amount of people who've died in the ring over the past 50 years."

We also asked Bill if he thought the WWE should do any sort of tribute to the fallen star at this weekend's Wrestlemania, and Goldberg thought it was definitely the way to go.

"Millionaire Matchmaker" star Candace Smith made the perfect love connection on an L.A. beach Tuesday ... between her ass and the paparazzi.

Candace -- a former beauty queen -- hit the sand for some volleyball and a pigskin toss (looks like she has game) ... with her pal ex-Miss USA Susie Castillo.

Like all finely tuned athletes ... Candace knows nothing's more important than stretching. Well, that and a very small bikini.

Despite the fact he'll be locked up for the next 9 years, convicted rapist Darren Sharper is still eligible to be elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame -- and based on his numbers alone, there's a real possibility it could happen.

TMZ Sports spoke with Joe Horrigan -- Executive V.P. of the Selection Process for the Pro Football HOF -- who tells us there's nothing in the bylaws preventing a convicted criminal from being enshrined in Canton.

Horrigan says as long as the player has been out of the league for 5 years and has made at least 1 All-Pro team ... that person is eligible.

That being said ... the Exec. V.P. says it's POSSIBLE voters will take Sharper's crimes into account when voting for the former New Orleans Saints superstar -- but they're not supposed to.

FYI ... Sharper played 14 seasons in the league and was a 6-time All-Pro ... widely considered one of the best safeties of his era.

Sharper last played in 2010 ... so he would be eligible as early as 2016.

Hockey Hall of Famer Jeremy Roenick says he desperately wanted to be on "Dancing with the Stars" -- but was forced to turn down the gig because of a major political conflict.

Unclear when Roenick was approached by the ABC show -- but the ex-Philadelphia Flyers superstar says he woulda DOMINATED in the ball room ... telling TMZ Sports, "I woulda been awesome."

Roenick clearly LOVES to get down -- and famously busted out his moves on the ice during his playing days.

BTW -- there's more in the clip ... including an update on one of his most famous beefs. Check out the clip ... Roenick's one of the nicest guys around.

Justin Bieber has a HUGE fan in the PGA -- Masters champion Bubba Watson ... who tells TMZ Sports he thinks the two should hook up to form the ULTIMATE BOY BAND!!

Watson was rockin' his green jacket out in NYC today when we asked about "The Golf Boys" -- his pop group comprised of fellow gold studs Rickie Fowler, Ben Crane and Hunter Mahan.

Check this out ... the GBs have already released 2 music videos ... and their hit "Oh Oh Oh " has more than 7 MILLION views on YouTube!!!

So, how does Bieber come in to the picture? Check out the clip.

If you needed more proof that the Tampa Bay Bucs stud Mike Evans is an athletic freak, TMZ Sports has video of the 6'5" wideout dunking in a pick-up game and we gotta say ... the dude has bounce.

Evans, who tore up the NFL in his rookie season, was visiting his high school down in Galveston, TX when he decided to take time out to show the local kids what a world class athlete looks like.

Watch, admire, be afraid NFL cornerbacks.

There was a civil war in Mexico surrounding the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight -- TECATE VERSUS CORONA -- but now ... one beer has finally obtained the rights to be the official cerveza of the fight!

Here's the tale of the tape ... Tecate has been a long-time sponsor of Pacquiao -- while Corona has often backed Mayweather.

According to promoter Bob Arum, both companies were dead set on buying the rights ... which led to a good old fashioned BIDDING WAR!!

But when it comes to beer sponsors, there can only be uno ... and according to Arum, the winner was TECATE ... which bid $5.6 MILLION!!!!

"We've never seen anything like that on a beer sponsor," Arum told ESPN ... "Both companies were after it. It's a huge number."

Arum says Tecate's bid was $400k higher than Corona.

The pimp hand of justice just ruled in Blake Griffin's favor -- because officials have decided to DROP the battery case against the NBA star after they couldn't prove he actually slapped a guy in a Vegas nightclub.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Griffin was charged with battery stemming from an incident at Tao nightclub on October 19th ... when he allegedly put the 5 fingers to some dude's face for snapping a pic without Blake's permission. The man also claimed Blake grabbed his neck and squeezed.

Blake denied the allegations -- and now we're told the charge has been formally dropped after Griffin's attorney Richard Schonfeld provided prosecutors with multiple witness statements contradicting the accuser's story.

Tiki Barber is no Joe Giudice ... telling TMZ Sports he and his wife are NOT going to sign on for the next season of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" ... despite reports to the contrary.

The former NY Giants running back and his wife Traci Lynn Johnson were leaving The Palm in NYC when we asked about rumblings that Traci Lynn was in talks to replace Teresa Giudice ... since she's currently locked up.

But the couple shot down that rumor faster than Teresa could flip a table -- telling TMZ Sports, "Don't believe everything you read."

UFC honcho Dana White has a message for Laila Ali -- if you're serious about fighting Ronda Rousey ... CALL ME UP!!!!

White was leaving Mastro's Steakhouse in Beverly Hills -- when he made it very clear he's interested in setting up a fight between Muhammad Ali's daughter and the reigning UFC women's champ.

But whether they step into the ring to box ... or climb into the octagon for an MMA match ... White says one thing's for sure -- Rousey will beat the living crap out of Ali.

"[Ronda's] actually the best fighter in the world ... Laila Ali would be in big trouble against Ronda Rousey."