TMZ Sports - Page 50

Rick Pitino has officially been FIRED by UL ... less than 3 weeks after he was put on unpaid administrative leave over his suspected involvement in the NCAA bribery scandal.

The University of Louisville Athletic Association today voted to fire Pitino -- a Hall of Famer who coached the school's basketball teams since 2001 -- for "just cause."

As we previously reported, UL prez Greg Postel fired off a letter to Pitino last month ... saying the school believed evidence from the FBI investigation incriminated the coach.

For his part, Pitino and his lawyers have vehemently denied any wrongdoing ... and vowed "a bare-knuckle fight" ... if they were to fire him.

D.L. Hughley says there's someone America hates MORE than O.J. Simpson, and that man is Colin Kaepernick ... who Hughley thinks is getting the major shaft from NFL owners, and the American public.

As we previously reported, Kaep is gearing up to file a grievance against the NFL, alleging collusion by the NFL owners to keep him out of the league following his national anthem protest.

We got Hughley at LAX, and he told our guy he agrees 100% the NFL honchos are blackballing Colin -- and he has a reason.

"If Kaepernick had gotten an opportunity to try out for a squad and not made it, then this whole thing wouldn't have merit." Later adding, "If he's incapable of playing how come they've never let him prove it on the field?"

D.L. wasn't finished, saying in his opinion Kaep is one of the three most hated black men in America along with Obama and the aforementioned double murderer. But in his opinion, Colin has it worse.

Tristan Thompson got totally roasted by his teammates during a fan event Sunday night ... when he was asked if he's already gone fur coat shopping for his baby with Khloe Kardashian.

TMZ broke the story ... the Cavs star and Khloe -- his girlfriend of 1 year -- are expecting their first child together.

So when T.T. was asked about having "his and her" fur coats with Khloe at the Cavs' annual "Wine & Gold United" event on Sunday, J.R. Smith decided to tease Thompson about his new addition.

"You gettin' infant fur, too??"

You gotta see Tristan's reaction ... and his teammates absolutely lose it.

Yeah -- that's a pretty effective way of promoting a fight.

Earlier today in Norway, undefeated boxing star Cecilia Braekhus was facing off with Sweden's Mikaela Lauren for their upcoming fight ... when Mikaela decided to show Cecilia some love (literally).

Hard to say if it was mind games or if Mikaela just thinks Cecilia's hot ... either way, that was a serious lip-lock.

Cecilia shoved her face in shock, but took the kiss like a champ -- laughing off the gesture and even thanking her future opponent for giving her some sugar.

How does the Conor McGregor clan get down with the Lord?

Fire dancers, fireworks and bass-thumpin' live music ... in celebration of Conor Jr.'s christening over the weekend.

It all went down at Luttrellstown Castle in Dublin ... where McGregor, family and friends took in some serious pyro at the after-party.

Conor Sr. was all smiles for his 5-month-old ... less than 2 months after his insane payday for boxing Floyd Mayweather.

If this is all for a christening ... can you imagine this kid's 1st birthday party?!

Dwyane Wade is a Ferrari guy ... but for his son, Zaire, it ain't time for a Supercar just yet.

D-Wade went full Dad mode in a dealership sesh with his 15-year-old son over the weekend ... making sure the young baller stayed in his lane while shoppin' for his first set of wheels.

The Cavs superstar's got an All-Star squad of luxury vehicles (including a $300k Ferrari) but Wade shut down any possibility of his kid coppin' a car like that -- "Keep dreaming."

Not that Zaire didn't have options -- Wade was on board with an $40k-$50k Audi Q5 or $50k-$60k Audi Cabriolet convertible.

Still ... kinda rough when your Dad's already given you a taste of the good life.

From one 'Long Beach legend' to another ... Snoop Dogg had HIGH praise for Dodgers hero Justin Turner after crushing a 3-run walk-off homer against the Cubs Sunday night.

Snoop is known for giving his hilarious commentary -- both positive and negative -- for his favorite sports teams. This time, he was lovin' the late-game drama from his fellow L.B. native.

J.T. took notice ... and thanked the rap icon for the shout-out on Instagram.

David Ortiz says he's got a great idea which teams are gonna end up in the World Series ... and in true Red Sox fashion, he's showing no love for the Bronx Bombers.

TMZ Sports spoke with the Boston legend and current FS1 analyst at Mastro's in Beverly Hills about his fall classic picks ... and Big Papi has no faith in the Yanks to bounce back from being down 0-2.

Al Michaels thought it'd be funny to compare the NY Giants sucking to Harvey Weinstein's sexual harassment/assault allegations on NBC's "Sunday Night Football."

It wasn't ... but at least he apologized for it (and in record time!!).

"I mean, let's face it -- the Giants are coming off a worse week than Harvey Weinstein, and they're up 14 points,” Michaels said in the 3rd quarter of Giants vs. Broncos.

FYI -- the Giants lost Odell Beckham Jr. for the year to a nasty injury, a player was suspended, and just about everything else went wrong.

The legendary sports announcer ended up apologizing early in the 4th, telling viewers it was "not meant in that manner."

The Giants won, 23-10. As for Weinstein ... his situation is very different.

Mark Cuban just got a ringing endorsement for President from old pal Daymond John ... who couldn't stop singing the guy praises.

We got Daymond outside Craig's Sunday night where the baller "Shark Tank" star ran down a list of reasons why he's hopping on the "Cuban for President" train. Remember ... Mark's seriously flirting with the idea, and if Trump can win, anything's possible.

Check it out ... Daymond says Mark's innate ability to relate and care about people makes him the perfect candidate. It's so eloquently said he's now got us thinking ... Daymond for Veep?!

A former Boston College football player says strippers and underage boozing is nothing new when it comes to recruiting players ... and claims he's got the video to prove it.

We spoke with ex-BC running back Jamall Anderson -- who says he committed credit card fraud to fund illegal recruiting parties to entice top players to join the BC family.

Which brings us to the video ... which Anderson claims was shot on campus in 1995 and shows various football players grinding with strippers, taking shots and one guy even passes out in a bathroom.

"What you see on the video is just us outta control. We just did it all," Anderson says.

We reached out to Boston College and a rep told us, "This 22 year old video, which is alleged to have taken place at Boston College, depicts unauthorized and unacceptable behavior that does not reflect the culture of BC or the standards to which our student-athletes are held."

Anderson says he goes into greater detail about the debauchery on campus in his book, "The Best Bet" -- and says he's coming forward about everything so future athletes can learn from his mistakes.

4:56 PM PT -- Colin's lawyer, Mark Geragos, released a statement saying ... "We can confirm that this morning we filed a grievance under the CBA on behalf of Colin Kaepernick. This was done only after pursuing ever possible avenue with all NFL teams and their executives." The statement goes on to say Colin shouldn't be punished for his peaceful protest, and that he just wants to get back to playing.

Colin Kaepernick has filed a grievance against the NFL alleging the league colluded to keep him out because of his National Anthem protests ... according to a new court filing.

The filing, obtained by ABC News, alleges the league's owners "colluded to deprive Mr. Kaepernick of employment rights in retaliation for Mr. Kaepernick's leadership and advocacy for equality and social justice."

Kaepernick has also hired celeb attorney Mark Geragos for representation as opposed to going through the NFL Players Association.

As we reported ... Kaep's protest has ignited a national debate about kneeling for the flag.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame is clearly trying to send a message when it comes to the flag -- the more, the better.

TMZ Sports has learned ... organizers at the HOF in Canton, OH recently planted more than 300 U.S. flags on the lawn as part of a campaign called "Huddle Up, America."

The HOF says the flags are "a sign of unity to bring all Americans together" -- and the campaign was designed to help the football community "work through issues that are important to our families, community and country."

Tony Ferguson says Conor McGregor is "absolutely" terrified of facing him inside the octagon ... but is gonna have to face his fears. And soon.

"There's nobody else in line," Ferguson told TMZ Sports. "You can't run away."

Tony didn't stop there -- calling Conor a spineless "paper champ" ... and telling us he's due for "an ass-whoopin."

T-Ferg says he's the man for the job -- and promises to destroy him if and when they throw hands.

Dwyane Wade was REALLY close to heading west instead of reuniting with his bestie LeBron James this off-season ... so says ex-NBA star Caron Butler.

TMZ Sports spoke with Tuff Juice about his convo with Wade before he made his decision to join the Cavs ... and he says Wade was seriously considering Miami, OKC and the L.A. Lakers.

Butler breaks it down -- L.A. made sense considering Wade's movie star wife Gabrielle Union, OKC would've been a good basketball move, and Miami's his first NBA home.

8:30PM PT -- The NFL released a statement saying Elliott's suspension "remains in place" ... adding "the order from the district court is administrative and does not in any way change the appeals court's order vacating the preliminary injunction."

However, according to a report, the NFLPA believes the ruling puts Zeke's suspension back on hold.

In other words ... the NFL and Players Association disagree on the interpretation of the court's ruling.

Ezekiel Elliott's on-again, off-again 6-game NFL suspension has reportedly been turned back OFF ... but still looms large for the Dallas Cowboys running back.

As we previously reported ... a federal appeals court threw out a lower court's ruling Thursday that was allowing Zeke to play this season, so his suspension became effective again immediately.

But ... Elliott's lawyers made their move in the past 2 days and filed for a rehearing, and according to ProFootballTalk, the judge ruled his suspension will not begin until the court decides if he gets the rehearing or not.

So, what does this mean for the Cowboys and fantasy football owners??? Zeke can still play!!! Well ... for now.

The Boys are on a bye this week, so if the court decides to deny Zeke's petition for a rehearing before next week ... his 6-game suspension will be reinstated and he won't be on the field against the Niners.

Wonder what Jerry Jones thinks about this?