TMZ Sports - Page 50

Kristi Yamaguchi deserves the gold medal for these good looks!

Here's the 20-year-old version of the figure skater during the medal ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France back in 1992 (left). She had become the world champion by winning the gold medal for her talents ... becoming the first Asian American woman to do so.

And, 30 years later ... the now 50-year-old elite athlete still showing her support for the USA team on Instagram as they gear up for the 2022 Winter Olympics Games in Beijing, China this weekend (right).

She sticks the landing!

The question is ...

Dana White is stepping in a whole new arena -- the UFC Prez tells TMZ Sports his whiskey brand sponsored his very own stock car and is confident in the vehicle, he's prepared to bet $10-25K it'll win its first-ever NASCAR race.

White says Howler Head Whiskey teamed up with Trackhouse Racing -- a professional stock car auto racing team co-owned by Pitbull -- to sponsor a car for this weekend's NASCAR race at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum.

"I'm going to bet anywhere from $10-25,000 on this car," White said. "I don't know what the odds are yet, but I want to win. I love this type of stuff."

Dana tells us the car was brought to Las Vegas from Charlotte -- so he could check out the freshly wrapped car -- before making its final stop in L.A. for Sunday's race.

Check out the ride, the car features a sick exterior design ... with the Howler Head logo on the side.

The UFC boss -- who's a mastermind at promoting -- told us that he got a visit from one of Pitbull's business partners, Justin Marks, and a discussion about the future of their respective sports ... peaked his interest in Nascar.

"I'm into this," Dana said. "I love the idea our fanbase does cross over with NASCAR and the NFL. I love this type of stuff."

White has a fight at the UFC's APEX Center Saturday night ... and is shooting a show on Sunday, so he won't be able to watch the car in person, but you can bet he's going to keep a close eye on the race.

Relax Seahawks fans ... Russell Wilson isn't going anywhere, at least that's what Joel McHale thinks, telling TMZ Sports he believes the star QB will be under center next season in Seattle.

We spoke with Joel -- maybe the biggest Seahawks fan on the planet -- out at LAX this week ... and he told us he believes there will be no break up between Russ and the 'Hawks this offseason.

In fact, McHale said even if his beloved team could replace Wilson with Aaron Rodgers ... he said he still wouldn't want Russ and Seattle to part ways.

"He's a very rare athlete," McHale said of Wilson. "We're perfectly good with Russell Wilson. I want Russell Wilson. They're going to erect statues to him in Seattle. You'll see."

As for Pete Carroll, McHale thinks the head coach will for sure be back with the Seahawks next season too.

Cornel West stands with Brian Flores ... telling TMZ Sports he agrees with the former Dolphins head coach that the NFL has a systemic racism problem.

We spoke with the philosopher just a few days after Flores filed his bombshell lawsuit -- one in which he alleged teams are racist when it comes to making hires across the league -- and the former Harvard and Princeton professor told us he couldn't agree more with the allegations.

"The NFL ought to be ashamed of itself," West said. "It's been functioning like a plantation."

West tells us, though, that he believes Flores' suit could be the start of a big change in the league.

"Now," he said, "the chicken's coming home to roost."

West tells us he admires Flores -- lauding the coach for having vision, integrity, courage and humility -- and he says if the NFL focused more on those traits in Black coaches, they wouldn't need the Rooney Rule in the first place.

"Well, the problem is that if they were concerned about quality they wouldn't have to worry about a rule," West said.

"Any time you talk about Black folks -- you're talking about low quality. They got to quit lying about black people."

Joe Rogan is apologizing for repeatedly using the n-word -- the entire word -- in his past, saying, "It looks f***ing horrible, even to me."

A complication of clips from old podcasts shows Rogan using the slur over and over.

Rogan tried explaining it this way ... "There's a video that's out, that's a compilation of me saying the n-word. It's a video that's made of clips taken out of context of me of 12 years of conversations on my podcast, and it's all smushed together."

Rogan said there were times he thought he could use the word during discussions about pop culture ... citing Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor, but there's an obvious difference. Rogan says he was wrong and is regretful.

He says, "Now, I haven't said it in years, but for a long time, when I would bring that word up, like, if it would come up in conversation and instead of saying the n-word, I would just say the word -- I thought as long as it was in context, people would understand what I was doing."

There's another clip shot 11 years ago that's even more problematic ... in which Rogan says a taxi driver dropped him off in a black neighborhood in Philly and it was "like they were in 'Planet of the Apes.'"

Rogan says, "I was just saying there's a lot of black people there. But, then I went on to talk about what a positive experience it was and how much fun it was to go to see this movie in a black neighborhood."

The popular podcaster says he will never use the n-word again, calling this "the most regretful and shameful thing that I've ever had to talk about publicly."

He says he hopes this will be a "teachable moment" for others.

Dana White says he fought like hell to get Tom Brady to play one more year -- and to do it for the Raiders -- telling TMZ Sports, "I was hammering him to come to Vegas."

Dana -- a huge Patriots fan who calls Sin City home -- says the conversations all went down shortly after Brady and the Buccaneers were booted from the playoffs ... and the TB12 retirement talk started to circulate.

The UFC honcho tells us he tried hard to get inside information from Tom about what he was going to do ... and the entire time, he said he was urging the guy to force a trade from Tampa to Nevada.

"I was firing texts to him and he sent very cryptic text messages," White says. "He had me thinking he wasn't going to retire. So, you know what I was doing? I was hammering him to come to Vegas and play for the Raiders."

Tom's initial response was not a "no," Dana said ... but, ultimately, Brady announced Tuesday he wouldn't be a Raider or a Buc or even a football player anymore -- retiring after 22 seasons in the NFL.

A Honus Wagner T206 card -- known as the "Holy Grail" of cards to collectors -- is on the auction block and is expected to bring in over $500K ... and did we mention THE CARD IS RIPPED IN HALF!!

Yes, undeniable proof the memorabilia market is on freakin' fire.

The 1909-1911 T206 card -- arguably the most coveted -- is on the block at SCP Auctions ... and this version of the card (only about 60 are estimated to be in existence) is torn, right through the Hall of Famers face.

The T206 card, produced by the American Tobacco Company, has an interesting backstory. It was only produced for a few years ... but was halted because legend has it Wagner -- an 8x NL batting champ -- did not want his face connected to cigarettes.

The auction -- which closes Saturday night -- already has 18 bids, with the top one coming in at just under 400K. But, auction president David Kohler believes the final price could go well above half a million bucks.

If half a card brings in half a million ... what's a full card go for??

Last summer a T206 sold for over $6.5 million at auction ... the most expensive card ever sold.

The torch is lit and the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing have begun!

While most events require braving the cold on the ice and in the snow, these elite athletes are bringing the heat and proving they have a lot more to show than just their determination for the gold medal.

It doesn't matter if they are an expert in Luge or skating in unison with their doubles partner in the rink, these Olympians all have one thing in common ... and that's their fit physiques!

Odell Beckham came through with an amazing gesture for a man fighting cancer ... by sending a personal message of encouragement during his challenging time.

TMZ Sports is told ... 43-year-old Dominic Tafuri is a former MMA fighter and current officer with the Essex County Department of Corrections in NJ.

Dominic also worked for Odell's go-to guy for bling, Gabriel the Jeweler ... delivering pieces to some of the biggest athletes around the world -- from Aaron Donald to Prince Boateng to Ederson.

Tafuri recently found out he had Stage 4 lymphoma after undergoing a routine ACL surgery ... and is now battling the disease head-on.

We're told Tafuri is like a brother to Gabriel, so the jeweler hit up OBJ and asked him to improve Dominic's spirits ... and the Rams star delivered!!

"Dominic, what's going on, man? OBJ here, bro," Odell said in the video. "Just wanted to reach out to you, send some love your way."

"Just stay encouraged, man," he added. "Stay prayed up, man. Just know I'm praying for you, and just wanted to send some love, bro. Stay up."

FYI -- there's a GoFundMe set up to help Dominic and his family during this time ... with a goal of raising $100k.

Khabib Nurmagomedov is 29-0. BJ Penn is 16-14.

But, it's NOT the undefeated fighter from Dagestan who is the greatest MMA fighter to ever step in a cage, according to 38-year-old former UFC champ Benson Henderson, who tells TMZ Sports Penn is the G.O.A.T.!

"That's easy, hands down BJ. Not even close. You don't even gotta say his full name, just one word. BJ, and you know who it is. The greatest lightweight all-time, without a doubt, hands down BJ Penn."

Of course, BJ and Khabib -- both now retired -- had very different careers.

Penn started his pro career at the highest level ... in the UFC. He fought everyone from Matt Serra (win, 2002), Matt Hughes (win, 2004), Renzo Gracie (win, 2004), Georges St. Pierre (loss, 2006), Diego Sanchez (win, 2009) and Nick Diaz (loss, 2011). BJ had a rough end to his career ... losing his last 7 fights.

As for Nurmagomedov ... he never lost a single fight. But, Khabib didn't come to the UFC until 2012. However, when he got there ... he literally and figurately kicked everyone's ass.

The Eagle's last 6 fights, all dubs, came against Michael Johnson (2016), Edson Barboza (2017), Al Iaquinta (2018), Conor McGregor (2018), Dustin Poirier (2019) and Justin Gaethje (2020). After the scrap with Justin, Nurmagomdeov walked away from the sport.

We said ... a lot of people believe the Eagle is the GOAT.

Benson's response?

"Out of those 29 and 0 Khabib fought, go look up the records of the 29 people he beat and then go look at the records of guys BJ beat. Go look at the records the guys BJ lost to. Go look at where they fought."

No hesitation there ... for his money, Penn is the best.

And, speaking of money ... we also asked Benson -- a Bellator free agent -- about his future career plans. Does he plan to retire? Fight for another organization like Khabib's Eagle FC?

Friday is Oscar De La Hoya's 49th birthday, but the Golden Boy did more giving than receiving on his special day ... by preparing and handing out meals to the critically ill.

TMZ Sports has learned ... ODHL and his GF, Holly Sonders, hit up Project Angel Food in L.A. to give back to the community as part of his bday celebration.

The boxing legend and his lady helped by preparing food and packaging them for those who have a high risk of COVID infection or living with COVID.

Check out the footage -- Oscar's meals even have a personalized label featuring his picture and a special message of encouragement for the recipient.

Of course, COVID-19 hit close to home for Oscar and Holly -- in fact, De La Hoya was hospitalized for 3 days with the virus ... and was forced to back out of his fight against Vitor Belfort.

Because of his experience, Oscar says he knew he wanted to help out in any way he could.

But, don't worry -- there was also some celebrating going on ... with Oscar cutting up an incredible customized cake to share with everyone.

A Boston Bruins fan says he was beat up and called homophobic slurs at an Avalanche game in Denver last week ... and cops have confirmed to TMZ Sports they're now investigating it all.

Cadien Shaw told ABC 7 the interaction with Colorado fans at Ball Arena following the Bruins' loss to the Avs on Jan. 26 began innocently ... but then he claims it soon got heated.

Shaw said 3 men approached him ... and after some words, they began to make inappropriate comments about his sexuality.

"It turned to aggressive homophobic slurs," Shaw said.

Soon after, Shaw said the men tackled him, kicked him, and repeatedly called him anti-gay slurs. Shaw said he suffered knee, elbow, and head injuries in the altercation.

Cops tell us they are investigating the alleged incident, saying its Bias Motivated Crime Unit is handling the probe. Police added they're urging any witnesses to contact them.

A man has been tracked down and arrested in connection to the SoFi Stadium parking lot fight that left a man hospitalized in a medically induced coma, officials say.

Inglewood mayor James Butts Jr. announced the new development on Thursday ... saying a Montebello man was traced to his home using surveillance footage that started in the SoFi lot.

Butts claims the footage shows 40-year-old Daniel Luna allegedly pushing a man in a Rams jersey from behind. The man who was pushed then retaliated, the mayor says -- shoving Luna and punching him in the face.

Butts says Luna fell to the ground ... and that's where he remained until he was found by a stadium employee.

As we previously reported, officials were criticized for seemingly dragging their feet in sharing the news about the attack ... with some believing it was to prevent a PR nightmare prior to the Super Bowl.

SoFi Stadium released a statement on the beatdown ... saying, "We are aware and saddened by the incident. Our thoughts are with Mr. Luna's friends and family during this difficult time."

"We are working with law enforcement officials in their investigation.''

The 49ers also released a statement ... saying, "What happened to Daniel Luna is reprehensible and we strongly condemn all violence."

"We know local authorities are conducting a full investigation and we're here to support them however we can."

"Our thoughts and prayers go to Mr. Luna, his family, friends, and the medical team providing him care.''

The identity of the person -- and the charges they were booked on -- are not yet clear.

No dancing, or even sleeping, around it -- Lamar Odom took a dump in his bed, and he's not ashamed to let his housemates ... and the world know it!!!

The bed pooping incident was caught on the live feeds inside the "Celebrity Big Brother" house early Friday morning, but it's comforting to know Lamar headed straight for the showers to wash his behind after, quite literally, s***ing the bed.

As you can see, Lamar is cleaning up in the shower, and even from the other side of the partition Olympic figure skater Mirai Nagasu notices something is up, and asks if he's really scrubbing as vigorously as it sounds.

Lamar cops to the cleanup on aisle 2, and moments later spells it out for Mirai, in no uncertain terms, saying ... "I just took a s*** in my bed."

Naturally, Lamar is already the butt of jokes online... and it sounds like certain phrases are off-limits in the house moving forward.

It's pretty gross ... but at least Lamar cleaned up the bed too. He's definitely owning his 💩.

The Joe Burrow and Kid Cudi bromance keeps growing stronger ... 'cause the Bengals QB just gifted his childhood idol with the jersey he wore in Sunday's AFC Championship Game!!

Cudi revealed that after Cincy's huge victory on Sunday ... he hit up Joey B and asked if he could have the game-worn threads.

"Ok. So after the Bengals win against the Chiefs, I hit Joe and congratulated him and asked if I could have his jersey," Cudi wrote on social media.

And, Burrow wasted no time holding up on his promise -- shipping it right to the Cleveland native just 5 days after the Bengals secured their spot in the Super Bowl.

"Rockin' this bitch to the game and then framing it," Cudi said Friday. "I am so geeked right now."

Of course, Joe Cool is known for his on-field connection with his teammate Ja'Marr Chase ... but as of late, it's Cudi that Burrow has had all the chemistry with.

Joe got a shoutout from Cudi -- who was celebrating his 38th birthday the night of the game -- after the Bengals big win.

The two have a budding relationship that started when Burrow was drafted with the #1 overall draft pick out of LSU ... and this latest gesture from Joey Franchise is proof of that.

The Mayor of Los Angeles is ripping a page out of Bill Clinton's playbook ... insisting he was holding his breath while posing for pics without a face mask -- and claiming it was totally COVID-safe as a result.

Mayor Eric Garcetti is catching flak for a pic he took at SoFi Stadium on Sunday during the NFC Championship game -- he was smiling big in the shot with Magic Johnson, but not wearing a mask.

He responded to the criticism by telling KCBS, "People want a picture, I hold my breath. Zero risk." Yes, he said that with a straight face.

In other words, "I didn't inhale" ... much like President Clinton famously claimed back in 1992 about smoking marijuana while he was going to college in England.

If Clinton's claim made you chuckle, Garcetti's has to be a full LOL. The reality is, hizzoner the Mayor's hardly the only person who went maskless at the game -- we all know people who've done it.

But, it's yet another example of the apparent hypocrisy from politicians who encourage their citizens to wear masks, while not following the mandates in public.

Speaking of which, Cali's Gov. Gavin Newsom -- ripped for his infamous indoor dining at French Laundry in 2020 -- also took a maskless photo with Magic during the Rams-49ers matchup. No word if he too employed the breathless method.