TMZ Sports - Page 50

Not everyone has given up on Michael Sam -- in fact, he's got a pretty powerful supporter, NY Giants co-owner Steve Tisch who tells TMZ Sports he really hopes the guy makes an NFL squad.

Tisch was out in L.A. having dinner at Craig's when he told us he still believes the first openly gay man to be drafted into the NFL has the skill and the talent to compete at the highest level.

But at what point should Sam hang up the cleats and pursue another career? Tisch talks about that too.

This is pretty cool ... Larry King was at Ebbets Field on that historic day Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in major league baseball ... and wait'll you hear how much he paid for a ticket to that game!

The 81-year-old news legend was out in L.A. this weekend when we made case for why he should be considered the greatest Dodgers fan of them all ... essentially the Jack Nicholson of the Blue Crew.

He might be a gazillionaire, but Diddy was just your average proud papa at UCLA football practice yesterday -- cheering on his son as the Bruins prepped for the 2015 season.

The hip hop mogul paced the sidelines at the UCLA spring practice -- as his son Justin Combs put in some work as a defensive back.

Johnny Manziel took a break from his intensive rehab to hit the links with his family.

Johnny, his dad and sister played the front 9 Saturday at East Ridge Country Club in Shreveport, Louisiana.

People who interacted with the Cleveland Browns QB say he was in good spirits and extremely friendly. Johnny took a pic with Brian Hall, one of the golf pros.

We don't know what he scored but he's a good golfer and has played the course before.

If the whole millionaire rapper thing gets old for Kendrick Lamar ... Patriots star Chandler Jones tells TMZ Sports he has a job offer for the Compton MC ... as the team's official world ambassador.

Kendrick got the whole 'net talking about the Pats (again) by rockin' a throwback New England jacket in the his latest video "King Kunta" -- which has 2 million views on Youtube.

Chandler says he's been paying attention to the internet hubbub and wants Kendrick to be a global ambassador for the Patriots ... spreading the love of Tom Brady to the whole world.

"It would be really cool. I'm a huge fan of his and a lot of people on my team are too."

It's not a crazy idea ... other pro sports teams like the Raptors and Wizards have enlisted huge hip hop stars like Drake and Wale to be their ambassadors ... and Jones thinks he can convince owner Robert Kraft to go for the idea.

"I've seen [Kraft] in a lot of photos with iconic rappers like Rick Ross and artists like Usher. I would say he’s a very hip hop owner ... so I‘m just saying he wouldn’t mind some Kendrick."

Ron Gronkowski is clearly the biggest star in Hollywood in a physical sense, but he's becoming king of the night life, too.

Gronk was leaving 1OAK Saturday night when our photog asked him about his foray into movies, playing Officer Weadon in the upcoming "You Can't Have It."

We see lots of stars on the Sunset Strip, and no one fills a room like Gronk.

Nik Stauskas' "saucy" new nickname ain't flyin on the streets -- with an AND1 streetball legend telling TMZ Sports ... the sauce nickname's like "Highlander" -- THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE!!!!

The guy with the grudge is Philip Champion -- aka "Hot Sauce" from all those baller mixtapes back in the day.

Mr. Sauce says he heard about Nik's new moniker, "Sauce Castillo" -- and he's got a real problem with it.

"Everyone knows me as Hot Sauce. 2 Chainz shouted me out in one of his verses. I've been in a Mountain Dew commercial. I've been in movies. Ballers around the league know I'd have a problem with this."

Of course, Nik got his nickname due to a closed captioning error -- but the Sacramento Kings are running with it ... even doing a "Sauce Castillo" night where all fans will get free hot sauce!!!

"At first, I could deal with them calling him 'Sauce' ... But now that they're associating him with "Hot Sauce??" I got a real problem."

"There's only one REAL 'Hot Sauce' ... I don't know who Nik Stauskas is."

Floyd Mayweather dropped $300,000 on an insanely luxurious customized Mercedes party bus ... with a HUGE TV and BAR ... and had it shipped across the desert last night ... TMZ Sports has learned.

The whip ... a souped up Mercedes-Benz Sprinter a.k.a. "Land Yacht" ... was designed specifically for Floyd ... and it's AMAZING ... even for a guy with an RIDICULOUS car collection worth over $7 mil!

The specs ... 55 in. TV with Apple and DirecTV, Surround Sound stereo system, Maybach heated massage chairs, Champagne bar, and cabin lighting system ... to name a few.

Our sources tell us Floyd wanted the party bus last night ... so Fusion Luxury Motors in L.A. ... who acquired the Land Yacht for the champ ... delivered it from Cali to the boxers Vegas mansion.

Rob Gronkowski answers to Officer Weadon ... because he IS Officer Weadon.

Our photog spotted Gronk and company cruising Bev Hills Friday where he called out the faux cop's name. Gronk doesn't get it at first, but then the real story unfolds.

Turns out Patriot's tight end played the man in blue in an upcoming movie, "You Can't Have It."

Gronk's manager, Henry Penzi -- one of Mark Wahlberg's boys -- makes it clear, there's life after football. In fact, Gronk is such a natural, he didn't even have to read for the role.

No water? No problem ... at least for several major California golf courses that are prepping for the extreme H20 crisis by loading up with DROUGHT RESISTANT PLANTS!

As you know ... CA is in the midst of a "Chinatown-style" drought -- with Gov. Jerry Brown implementing mandatory water restrictions throughout the state.

So how are the golf courses -- usually packed with lush greenery -- handling the water cutbacks?

We spoke with people at multiple respected courses who tell us the majority have been expecting a crisis like this for years -- and have prepped by changing to reclaimed water systems with doesn't tap into the fresh water supply.

But there's more ... at least 3 courses we spoke with are using a process called "turf reduction" -- ripping out water-dependent plants for foliage that's "drought resistant."

As one golf course employee put it -- "If you take a look at the Santa Monica Mountains, those plants survive with very little water ... and [we're using those] to replace parts of our course.

"Less turf to maintain, less water needed."

Will Ferrell went all frowny face at the Lakers game Friday night ... with good reason.

Will and his son looked on as they sat on the hardwood and watched their team lose to the Trail Blazers by a miserable score of 107 - 77.

Will's face is a symbol of woe in the Lakers camp. Ticket resale prices are at a 4-year low. Some $400 tickets right behind courtside seats are being hawked for $119.

Sly Stallone and wife Jennifer Flavin also grimly watched. So sad.

Jacksonville Jaguars lineman Sen'Derrick Marks strongly believes ... the NFL's move to hire the league's 1st female ref is more about publicity than talent ... and compares her to Michael Sam.

According to multiple reports, the NFL has hired Sarah Thomas -- a pioneer in women's officiating -- to be the first female line judge in league history.

The move has drawn widespread praise from most ... but Marks says Thomas' hiring is less about progress and more about a league desperate for positive stories.

"For women, it's great," Marks says ... "Ain't nothing wrong with it, especially as long as she knows what she's doing."

However, Marks adds ... "It's just like the Michael Sam situation -- if he wasn't gay, he would've gone undrafted. Instead the league drafts him because I think they are trying to monopolize on every aspect of the world ... the same thing with hiring a female ref."

"For the league it's great publicity. The NFL is all about monopolizing every opportunity."

No matter what the reason, it seems Thomas has finally cracked the boy's club -- and Marks says now that she's in, he's rooting for her to succeed.

Accusing former champ "Sugar" Shane Mosley of being "fat as s**t" ... came back to bite BKB Middleweight champ Gabe Rosado in the ass -- dude did NOT make weight for his title bout!

Mosley wasted NO TIME ripping Rosado a new one by posting a pic of Curtis Stevens -- the fighter he trained for Saturday night's fight with Rosado. He captioned it, "The face you make when your bitch ass opponent doesn't make weight. #fatass #BitchAss #F**kRosado"

Shane's celebration was brief. BKB says Rosado had 60 minutes to cut weight, and he managed to lose 2 pounds in that time! His final weigh-in for Saturday night's PPV bout was 159.

Of course, 24 hours ago ... Rosado was the one fat shaming Shane, but shoe's on the other bloated foot now.

Derek Fisher's wife says she was completely "blindsided" when the NBA legend served her with divorce papers last month ... and was even more shocked that he moved all of his stuff out of their home in the middle of the night ... this according to court docs obtained by TMZ Sports.

As we previously reported ... Derek filed divorce docs in L.A. on March 18th ... one month after they celebrated their 10th anniversary.

Now, Candace Fisher has filed court docs of her own -- telling a shocking tale of a husband that not only surprised her by bailing on the marriage ... but freezing her out of his life almost immediately.

According to the docs, Candace says Derek refused to answer her calls and texts for nearly two weeks ... and even blew off their kids for several days.

Candace says she finally went to their NY apartment the week of March 30th ... only to find that all of Derek's clothing, personal items and computers had already been removed from the home.

There's more ... Candace also says Derek now wants to keep their 8-year-old twin boys in NY to live and attend school -- despite the fact she says all of their family, friends and schoolmates are in L.A.

The Lakers are taking a page out of Jack Nicholson's playbook -- cutting prices on game tickets to record lows ... all in hopes of getting some asses in the those Staples Center seats.

Sources inside the Lakers box office tell TMZ Sports ticket prices for the 8 remaining games are the lowest they've been all season. For instance, some $400 tickets -- right behind courtside seats -- are going for $119.

We're told they've priced the tix to move in a last-ditch effort ... because "no one is showing up for the games."

Fact is, there's still something fans can root for -- losses! The Lake Show's still mathematically capable of having the worst record ... which would put them in the driver's seat for the #1 draft pick.

Go team?

The man in the gray isn't his team's designated 3-point shooter ... it's Peyton Manning ... who took some time away from the gridiron for some hoops action with his Broncos teammates at Duke University.

Manning is currently hosting a passing camp at Duke -- but in between sessions, #18 got together with teammates (including wide receivers Cody Latimer, Emmanuel Sanders and defensive end Kenny Anunike) for a pick up game.

The pic comes just a couple days after his brother Eli posted one just like it on the same exact court -- except he was flanked by Giants teammates Odell Beckham Jr. and Victor Cruz.

So we gotta ask ... in a b-ball battle of the brothers, who ya got?