TMZ Sports - Page 50

University of Kentucky QB Drew Barker was SOCKED HARD and knocked to the ground ... in a brutal sucker punch attack in the lobby of a university dorm ... and the attacker was a former UK player.

It all went down on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University on January 25th -- after 3 UK players got into a bar fight with a member of the EKU football team earlier that night.

19-year-old Barker and some of his teammates went over to the EKU dorm -- where EKU lineman Patrick Graffree entered the dorm, took off his shirt ... and clocked Barker in the side of the head.

FYI -- 21-year-old Graffree (6'4", 295 lbs) played for UK before transferring over to EKU.

Police investigated the incident ... but shockingly, no one was prosecuted.

The New England Patriots are continuing to distance themselves from ANYTHING connected to Aaron Hernandez -- which is why team officials tell us they will NOT be issuing a statement on Wednesday's murder conviction.

It's an interesting P.R. move for the team -- considering owner Bob Kraft was called as a witness during the murder trial. Kraft testified that Hernandez told him he didn't kill Odin Lloyd.

The team could have strongly condemned Hernandez -- and reiterated they knew nothing about what he was doing in his personal life during his time with the team.

Aaron Hernandez isn't just a murderer -- he's a stain on the city of Bristol ... so says the mayor.

We spoke with Mayor Kenneth B. Cockayne ... who tells us the entire community is disgusted with Hernandez, who grew up in Bristol.

"He was a role model for the kids and adults of Bristol -- and now the hearts of those children are crushed."

"We're sick of this case, and I'm glad it's over. It puts a bad light on our whole town. He shed a lot of bad light on all of us."

Aaron Hernandez has just been found guilty of 1st degree murder in the killing of semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd ... and has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Several people inside the courtroom began crying as the verdict was read ... including Aaron's fiancee and mother.

As the verdict was read, Hernandez was shaking his head in disbelief. At one point, Hernandez turned to his fiancee and mouthed the words, "Be strong."

25-year-old Hernandez -- a former superstar tight end for the New England Patriots -- killed Lloyd on June 17th, 2013. Lloyd was shot 6 times.

Aaron was also found guilty of illegal gun possession and illegal ammunition possession.

After sentencing in the Lloyd case, Hernandez will still stand trial in the shooting deaths of two people in Boston in 2012. That trial is scheduled to begin in May.

8:47 AM PT -- Hernandez has been ordered to serve time at MCI Cedar Junction at Walpole -- which is just under 4 miles from the stadium where the Patriots play.

8:39 AM PT -- Hernandez has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

8:18 AM PT -- Odin Lloyd's mother Ursula Ward is now addressing the court -- and explaining how Hernandez destroyed her life.

"I felt like I wanted to go into that hole with my son."

"I miss my baby boy Odin so much. But I know I will see him again some day. At that gives me the strength to go on."

He can DEFINITELY afford tickets, but Floyd Mayweather says he WON'T be hitting up Jay Z's post-fight mega-party in Vegas -- there's another place he's already committed to be.

TMZ Sports spoke with Money at his media day workout at his gym near the Las Vegas strip Tuesday night ... when we pointed out all of the post-fight party options ... Chris Brown, Nicki Minaj, Snoop, Jay, etc.

By the way, VIP packages for Jay's shindig are on sale for up to $50k!!! Insane, but a drop in the bucket for Floyd.

Donald Sterling had no right to shower V. Stiviano with lavish gifts, no matter how good of an archivist she was, because the loot he used to buy all the goodies wasn't his to give away.

A judge just sided with Shelly Sterling, concluding Shelly was still very much Donald's wife when he pulled his shenanigans -- giving V. a duplex, a Bentley, a Range Rover and a Ferrari totaling $2.6 mil.

But don't roll out the tow truck -- Shelly doesn't want the cars ... she wants the money. According to the ruling, $830k of the $2.6 mil is due in cash -- with $430k earmarked for the value of the vehicles.

V. tried in vain to convince the judge Donald and Shelly were separated at the time she scored the goods, so he had every right to shell out the cash. The judge begged to differ, saying Donald had no right to use the Sterling money to fund V.'s lifestyle.

So the question ... how does V. make it right?

Return, return, return.

Courtney Stodden had a serious wardrobe malfunction ... her top didn't fly off as planned, so she just jiggled it away.

It's so thirsty it's almost endearing. Courtney was throwing a football in Marina del Rey Monday and you see the disappointment in her face when her bikini top misses its cue.

Watch the video -- in fact watch it several times -- as Courtney vigorously shimmies it off.

Once it falls, you hear her feign shock in her finest Valley "Oh my Gaud!!!"

Even if you're not a fan, she definitely deserves the boobie prize for this stunt.

The guys may have underachieved last year ... but Kansas City Chiefs cheerleaders NEVER disappoint -- especially when they're decked out in bikinis.

Here's some video of the squad hangin' out in St. Lucia -- where they shot their 2015 calendar -- doing cheerleaderish things ... in slow motion.

Former NFL receiver R. Jay Soward -- a 1st round pick in 2000 -- says his entire family is "traumatized" over the prison murder of his cousin ... who cops suspect was killed by ex-NFL star Lawrence Phillips.

As we previously reported, R. Jay's 1st cousin Damion Soward was murdered last week while serving time at Kern Valley State Prison ... and cops say Phillips, his cellmate, is the main suspect.

"It's very, very traumatic for my family," Soward says.

"I have no words ... I have no words for what happened to my cousin."

"We were tight. Very tight. I just want to find out what happened. That's the only thing I care about."

Soward -- who spent 4 seasons in the NFL -- tells us he never crossed paths with Phillips during his time in the league ... "didn't know him, never spoke with him."

With Floyd Mayweather running seriously behind for his big media event at his Vegas boxing gym, there was another huge star who took over the spotlight ... DAVID HASSELHOFF!!

Hoff was swarmed by the horde of reporters who came from all over the world for the event ... and told the media he was totally fired up for the big fight.

Unclear why Hoff hit up the gym ... it's like 2 miles from the strip -- so it's not like he just strolled on over.

UFC ring girl Arianny Celeste says ... just because you don't have a HUGE booty, doesn't mean you don't have a great booty ... and she's got the pics to prove it.

Celeste just posted a blog explaining how people with "perky" butts can still steal the spotlight in a bikini these days ... and she makes a pretty compelling visual argument.

"We live in a world now where it’s all about the booty! I like to work out regularly, but let’s face it, I’ll never have a huge booty! Mines perky and I like it that way," Celeste writes.

Arianny says the key to showing off your physique by the pool starts with picking the right suit.

She chose wisely.

Cleveland Cavs star Kyrie Irving wants to get into your pants ... as the latest NBA star to launch his own mens underwear line ... TMZ Sports has learned.

We're told Irving has struck a deal with the PSD underwear brand -- which already has endorsement deals in place with NFL stars like Marshawn Lynch and Stevie Johnson.

According to PSD, Irving will "work directly with PSD’s designers developing his own underwear line, becoming the face of PSD for the foreseeable future."

Irving is hoping to launch his undie line later this year.

Underwear is the hot trend with jocks lately -- with everyone from Cristiano Ronaldo to Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook getting in the game.

How do you feel about belly button tattoos on guys?

UFC star Conor McGregor is clearly a fan ... and inked a giant tiger head around his innie while hanging out in L.A. this week.

Unclear why Conor chose the tiger ... but he's clearly proud of it.

In fact, he tweeted, "If you see the Tiger it's too late. You're food."

Hobbes would be proud.

He's already got a green jacket ... now Jordan Spieth is looking to make another dream come true -- dude wants to golf with Dirk Nowitzki.

Turns out the 21-year-old is from Dallas and happens to be a big fan of the big fella -- and when we asked if he could golf with any celeb in the world, the first name that came to mind was Dirk.

Good news for Jordan ... the feeling's mutual -- in fact, the Dallas Mavericks star fired off a congratulatory tweet at Spieth right after he won the Masters this weekend. So, it seems pretty likely they'll end up on the links together.

Thabo Sefolosha is publicly blaming the NYPD for the "significant injury" he suffered during an arrest last week ... saying, "I am in great pain ... the injury was caused by the police."

We broke the story ... the NYPD has already launched an internal affairs investigation into the arrest -- in which you can see several officers physically corralling the NBA player.

In fact, you can see one cop pull out a baton and swing it -- though it's unclear from the footage if he connects with Thabo. The NYPD has said Thabo was acting in an aggressive manor which justified the use of force.

Thabo reportedly suffered a broken right fibula and ligament damage in the melee ... and now he's issued a statement blaming the police.

The grandmother of the man allegedly killed by ex-NFL star Lawrence Phillips tells TMZ Sports ... she's not mad at him -- saying, "If [my grandson] was going to stay in jail for 80 years, maybe this was better."

As we previously reported, Phillips -- the #6 overall pick in the 1996 NFL Draft -- is the main suspect in the murder of his prison cellmate Damion Soward in Kern Valley State Prison in California.

We spoke with Damion's grandmother who told us several interesting things, including:

1) Damion's 1st cousin is former NFL wide receiver R. Jay Soward (a 1st round pick in 2000).
2) Damion told her he recently did 9 months in the hole at another prison after being caught with a weapon.

As far as how she feels about Phillips, she told us ... "I'm not angry. I'm sad for Damion. I love him and I'm sorry this happened to him."