TMZ Sports - Page 50

"Bro, I'm not famous enough for TMZ!"

Here's an interesting clip that sort of sums up the problem pro hockey is facing in the United States ...

We shot Colorado Avalanche stud Nathan MacKinnon in New York ... and he COULDN'T BELIEVE we knew who he was!!

24-year-old MacKinnon is as big of a superstar as it gets in hockey -- he was the #1 overall pick of the 2013 NHL Draft and he's currently leading the league in points per game.

He's gotta be the leading MVP candidate at the moment -- but when he walks down the street, most people have no idea!!!

For example, could you imagine if Lamar Jackson -- the NFL's likely MVP -- was walking around NYC? It would be a mob scene!

But, when our photog spotted him getting off the team bus, MacKinnon told us, "Nah, man, no one knows who I am."

So, let's help fix the problem ...

That was fast!!!

The Dallas Cowboys have agreed to terms with Mike McCarthy to be their next head coach ... just roughly 15 hours after they officially canned Jason Garrett from the role.

Of course, the hire -- reported by FOX Sports' Jay Glazer -- was immediately hit with backlash ... especially considering the 'Boys only looked at McCarthy, Marvin Lewis and Jeff Fisher for the role.

But, Mike does at least come to Dallas with a nice resume ... the former Green Bay Packers head man was 125-77-2 in his 13 years with the Pack -- including a win in Super Bowl XLV.

McCarthy, though, received plenty of criticism for his time in Green Bay ... with most down on the guy for only winning one ring with Aaron Rodgers under center.

In fact, Mike was canned by the Packers last season after he and A-Rodge reportedly rifted on and off throughout their final years together in Wisconsin.

McCarthy will become just the 8th head coach Jerry Jones has hired since he bought the team back in 1989 ... joining a list that includes Jimmie Johnson, Barry Switzer, Chan Gailey, Dave Campo, Bill Parcells, Wade Phillips and Garrett.

THIS IS NOT A PHOTO FROM 2010!!!

This is Cristiano Ronaldo wearing an iPod Shuffle -- and it was shot TODAY!! In 2020!!!

The Juventus superstar arrived at Allianz Stadium in Turin, Italy to take on Cagliari Calcio on Monday sporting the Apple music device, which was discontinued back in 2017.

CR7's being clowned on social media for the device -- no one can figure out why such a rich, powerful and stylish guy wouldn't update his tech! We did some digging, you can find a Shuffle on eBay for like $20.

Some people think he's using it as a distraction to take the attention off of his new top knot hairstyle!

FYI, Apple stopped updating the Shuffle in 2010 -- letting it die a slow and painful death after realizing most people were using their phones for music storage instead of a separate device.

Talk about piling on ...

Dez Bryant BLASTED Jason Garrett after the Dallas Cowboys fired the coach Sunday ... with JG's ex-superstar saying, "I don’t have no sympathy for coach Garrett losing his job."

"The cowboys just became real contenders."

The dig seems to have come out of nowhere ... Garrett helped draft Dez in 2010 and made him into one of the league's best receivers shortly after.

But, it seems there's clearly some animosity there ... 'cause Dez doubled down on the Garrett criticism after some fans fired back at the receiver on Twitter.

"Man it’s so much I can say..." Dez wrote. "I’m being nice."

What's weird is Bryant seems to be on GREAT terms with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones -- remember, the two kicked it together in a private box for a Beyonce's concert in 2018, despite being cut by the team after the 2017 season.

Maybe Bryant thinks it was Garrett who drove him out ... not Jones. But again, everyone knows the buck ultimately stops with JJ.

He's baaaaaaack!

Conor McGregor has returned to the U.S. -- he's got a fight here in 2 weeks -- and he's already hitting the ground running ... literally.

"Out running on the streets of Las Vegas today," McGregor said over the weekend ... "We are two weeks from fight night!"

"So great to be back on U.S soil."

Of course, McGregor is taking on Cowboy Cerrone at UFC 246 on January 18 at the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas in his first fight since losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov in Oct. 2018.

But, he's not coasting into the fight -- McGregor's been training since his arrival. In fact, Conor ran into UFC star Dominick Cruz during a session at the UFC Performance Institute.

Before this trip, we hadn't seen Conor in America since around the time he was being prosecuted for stomping on a cell phone outside of a Miami hotel back in March.

The Irishman pled not guilty and the charges were ultimately dropped after the victim stopped cooperating with police ... but it wasn't a good look for Conor.

Since then, CM's had other problems ... he punched a man in a bar in Ireland for no good reason during an incident in April and reportedly been investigated for 2 alleged sexual assaults in his home country. He adamantly DENIES the allegations in both cases.

New Orleans Saints fans clearly felt they were screwed again in the playoffs ... throwing trash at the refs at the Superdome after another pass interference call didn't go their way.

In the overtime period of the Saints' Wild Card game against the Vikings, Kirk Cousins lobbed a pass up to Kyle Rudolph, who appeared to push off before catching the game-winning TD.

No flag was thrown ... and after the refs reviewed it, they still didn't call the play a penalty -- which pissed off A TON of Saints fans.

In a video captured from the lower bowl of the stadium ... you can see people in the stands firing various items at the refs as they were running off the field into the locker room.

At one point, one of the refs had to duck out of the way of what appeared to be a flying water bottle aimed at the guy's head!!

In fact, things got so bad, the PA announcer had to get on the mic and tell fans to NOT throw objects onto the field.

Of course, Saints fans are still bitter over the way Sean Payton's squad was booted from the playoffs in the NFC Championship Game against the Rams last season ... when a crucial defensive pass interference flag wasn't thrown there.

For their part, the refs defended Sunday's non-call ... with VP of Officiating Al Riveron saying, "There is contact by both players, but none of that contact rises to the level of a foul."

Gus Williams -- a two-time All-Star for the Seattle SuperSonics -- is being sued by a man who claims the ex-NBA champ didn't pay him for a house ... and trashed the place to boot.

The man behind the suit is Todd Mustin, who says back in 2017 ... he put his 5-bedroom, 5,000 square-foot Sherman Oaks, Calif. pad up for sale -- when things went awry.

Mustin claims he sold the house to a woman named Megan Zucaro ... but when she only coughed up $1 million of the roughly $1.9 mil she agreed to pay for the place, Williams stepped in.

Mustin says the 66-year-old -- who won an NBA title with the Sonics in the 1978-79 season -- agreed to take over the place and pay off the remaining $900K.

The problem? Mustin says the former point guard NEVER paid a dime ... and claims the guy and his family trashed the crib in the meantime.

Mustin claims Williams and his family left the place an absolute dump ... telling TMZ Sports they left feces in the toilets and trash all over.

To be clear, Williams had every right to trash the place -- he did buy it after all -- but Mustin claims the disaster he left behind on the property proves the dude is a complete jerk.

Now, Mustin claims Williams owes him $900K -- plus interest -- for never paying for the house after he agreed to take it off Zucaro's hands.

"Brady might as well retire!!!"

That's Tennessee Titans legend Chris Johnson gloating his face off after his squad beat the Patriots ... with CJ2K advising TB12 to hang it up for good!

Johnson -- who spent 6 seasons with the Titans back in the day -- was a VIP guest with the team at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night. And, when the team came out with the W in the Wild Card round, Chris got right in the middle of the action!

"I told you we was gonna smack this sh*t, man," Johnson shouted after the 20 to 13 victory ... "I already knew it!"

"We told 'em we was gonna get that sh*t!!!"

The bragging and the smack talk continued outside the locker room ...

"Brady might as well retire! We done painted that sh*t!"

Watch the video, Johnson is convinced we've all seen the last of Brady on the Patriots -- and maybe forever!

For his part, 42-year-old Brady didn't sound ready to retire in his post-game press conference ... telling reporters it's "hopefully unlikely" he quits pro football for good.

"I love the Patriots. It's the greatest organization," Brady said.

"Playing for Mr. [Robert] Kraft all these years, and for Coach Belichick, there's nobody who's had a better career, I would say, than me -- just being with them. So, I'm very blessed."

It's finally officially over for Jason Garrett in Dallas ... the Cowboys have finally fired the head coach in a move EVERYONE saw coming from a mile away.

There were rumblings about Garrett's termination for weeks -- especially after the Cowboys went 8-8 this season and failed to make the playoffs.

And, even though the team was reportedly interviewing high profile candidates like Mike McCarthy and Marvin Lewis to take over, the team hadn't officially relieved Garrett of his duties ... until now.

Moments ago, FOX Sports' Jay Glazer said the team had finally sacked Garrett ... clearing the way to make a hiring move.

Garrett was 85-67 during his 10-year run with the team ... and only made the playoffs 3 times despite having some seriously talented players.

Saint Laurent got into the act for Golden Globe weekend, throwing an epic party ahead of the ceremony.

It went down at a home in the Los Feliz area of L.A., and tons of stars were more than happy to accept the invite. Among them ... Dwyane Wade, Gabby Union, Hailey Bieber, Kaia Gerber, Kate Bosworth, Rami Malek and Taron Egerton.

The bash was thrown by Rami Malek and Anthony Vaccarello. Rami's nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV series for Mr. Robot. It's the third time he's been nominated for the role, but he's come up goose eggs each time.

It's become the battle cry for the Baltimore Ravens -- "BIG TRUSS!!!" -- and someone has already filed for the trademark ... but it wasn't Mark Ingram!

Remember, it was the Ravens star running back who brought the phrase to prominence following a Nov. 17 victory over the Houston Texans.

During the post-game press conference, Ingram was introducing Lamar Jackson and called him the MVP frontrunner, challenging anyone who says otherwise to "come see me"

"I'm bout that! Big Truss!! Woo Woo! Lamar Jackson! In the Flesh!"

In fact, Ingram has already tapped an apparel company to sell "Big Truss" shirts and other merch ... it's on sale now!

But, the issue for Ingram ... someone else already went to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and filed to own the trademark -- a Nevada-based fan named Lance Roehl.

Roehl has also been selling "Big Truss" merch -- and tells TMZ Sports he hopes to work with Ingram and the Ravens in some sort of capacity.

He insists he isn't a squatter who's holding the phrase hostage -- however, if he gets his application approved he could (in theory) go after Ingram for selling "Big Truss" merch without permission.

As for his legal claim, it generally takes about 3 months for the USPTO to approve the trademark application and usually the first to apply with a substantive claim gets it.

As of this post, neither Ingram or the Ravens have filed an application of their own.

So, what does it mean??? Most likely, Roehl will get approval and either Ingram and the Ravens will probably cut a check to buy it outright or work out a licensing deal.

In the meantime, Ingram and the Ravens are gearing up for the AFC Divisional Round playoff game which goes down on January 11 ... so, they've got bigger fish to fry.

What would you do if you won $1 million? Well, Kayla Harrison's got the money ... and some ideas on how to spend it.

Harrison -- one of the biggest stars in MMA -- beat Larissa Pacheco and won this year's PFL tournament ... which comes with an over-sized million dollar check.

So, we hit her up and asked how she's gonna spend the money ... and she's considering using part of the big ass check to honor her father.

"My dad passed away a while ago and he used to love fixing up old American muscle cars. So, the last car he had that he really wanted to fix up when I was a kid was a ’69 Camaro. So I’ve kind of been rolling around the idea of getting a Camaro."

Kayla says her dad actually unloaded his favorite old -school muscle car back in the day to get her, her bro and sis some quads ... so copping the Camaro would be special for her and her family.

"I just remember [the Camaro] from being a kid. He was fixing it up and he actually sold it to buy me and my brother and sister four-wheelers for Christmas. So I was like damn I need to get that Camaro in his memory."

That's not all ... Kayla -- who also says she's gonna donate a bunch of the cash to her Fearless Foundation -- says winning the money (and the tournament) is literally a dream come true.

"I feel good, life is good, I’m happy. Damn, I’m blessed. Like are you kidding me? I never thought that in a million years that, a million no pun intended, I never thought in a million years that I’d be making millions of dollars doing what I love."

"I’ve come a long way from that 16-year-old girl with $200 in her pocket, to a millionaire by 30. What the hell. Dreams do come true."

But, she isn't done ... Harrison says she's gunnin' for the million-dollar prize again next year.

Hollywood's finest came out in droves for a pre-Golden Globes event which saw them mingling with Olympians -- and the get-together was nothing short of a tearjerker.

The ritzy shindig went down Saturday afternoon at one of the first-ever homes established in Bev Hills ... the Virginia Robinson Gardens mansion. It's called Gold Meets Golden, and the whole idea is to pair celebs with pro athletes all in the name of charity --  this in anticipation of Sunday's award show and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, of course.

For this 7th year -- which was hosted/presented by Coca Cola, BMW Beverly Hills, FASHWIRE along with other sponsors -- the proceeds were going toward Angel City Sports ... an org promoting adaptive sports for kids, adults and vets with physical disabilities.

Definitely a cause worth getting behind ... and you could tell as much by who showed up -- including Nicole Kidman, Chris Evans, Rami Malek, Taron Egerton, Cynthia Erivo, Matt Bomer, Ben Platt, Beanie Feldstein, Zoey Deutch, Joey King, Naomi Watts, Lou Ferringo and more.

Of the Olympians and athletes in attendance ... Jackie Joyner Kersee, Nadia Comaneci, Bart Connors, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Ian Thorpe, Willie Gault, Metta World Peace, Apollo Anton Ohno, Kristi Yamaguchi and several others.

Check out the clip above ... you see Cynthia belting out a rendition of John Lennon's "Imagine," Taron and Sistine Stallone putting medals on the 2014 bobsled team and Matt Bomer presenting a cake to diver Greg Louganis for his 60th bday this month.

Colin Kaepernick has some thoughts on the United States taking out a top Iranian officer with a drone strike ... calling it classic American imperialism via our military.

The ex-NFL quarterback posted some scathing remarks Saturday about the international move that's got everyone here at home worried about a so-called World War III -- and he didn't hold back in criticizing it to the max, likening it to an attack on people of color.

Colin wrote on Twitter, "There is nothing new about American terrorist attacks against Black and Brown people for the expansion of American imperialism." He didn't stop there.

CK adds the perceived escalation of tensions has been resorted to in the U.S.A.'s playbook time and again. He says, "America has always sanctioned and besieged Black and Brown bodies both at home and abroad. America militarism is the weapon wielded by American imperialism, to enforce its policing and plundering of the non white world."

Trump's order to kill Qasem Soleimani has gotten mixed reactions -- with some calling it necessary and imminent, as the guy is said to have been responsible for taking American lives while waging destructive and deadly tactics there in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Others say Donald Trump's administration acted in haste by signing off on the strike, not considering the ramifications and the possibility of war. Congress hasn't even been formally briefed yet.

John Cena does not seem at all bothered by the fact his ex-girlfriend, Nikki Bella, is engaged ... he's way too involved in his new relationship.

John was leaving the Montage hotel in Bev Hills Friday night with GF, Shay Shariatzadeh ... he's been dating her for several months. He said back in November, "I'm extremely happy."  It seems like he still is.

Eyewitnesses tell us John and Shay were dining outside, drinking wine, kissing and holding hands. Not sure if they ate anything!

As we reported, Nikki announced Friday she's engaged to her "Dancing with the Stars" partner, Artem Chiqvintsev. Turns out they've been engaged since November ... when he popped the question to her in France.

John and Nikki broke up in 2018. They were together for 6 years, but the subject of having children seemed to torpedo the relationship.

A mysterious new twist in the Antonio Brown paternity case ... and this one involves allegations of domestic violence -- but it's unclear if AB is the alleged assailant.

Here's the deal ... Brown has been wrapped up in a paternity dispute with Chelsie Kyriss since 2017 in Broward County, Florida. They have 3 children together.

We've been routinely checking the court records to monitor any developments in the case -- and in late December, the docket showed a new "related case" has been added to the record.

We pulled the file for the related case which is listed as a "Domestic Violence" matter. It was filed on Dec. 26 and is currently being handled in family court.

The issue ... the case is currently under seal -- which means the important details, including the people involved, are not being made public so we don't know if the matter is "related" to Brown or Kyriss or both.

We reached out to lawyers for Brown and Kyriss but neither side would comment.

We've also made calls to various law enforcement agencies but so far we haven't found a police report.

Brown and Kyriss have had a terrible relationship for years and it's well documented. Brown has previously accused of Kyriss of being a terrible, neglectful mom and in 2018, made a push to get sole custody of their kids.

Most recently, Brown filed a lawsuit against Kyriss claiming she refuses to leave his Florida home despite serving her with eviction papers.

In fact, things are so bad between the two, Kyriss called police in mid-December to monitor a clothing handoff at Brown's home so she could get various items from him that belong to their child.