TMZ Sports - Page 50

Fire up the peanuts and Cracker Jacks ... baseball's back!

The MLB and the MLB Players Association reportedly reached a deal Thursday on a new collective bargaining agreement, ending the monthslong lockout.

ESPN's Jeff Passan just broke the news -- saying both sides still need to ratify the agreement ... though the baseball insider said that's expected to happen shortly.

The two sides had quarreled over a new deal since December -- and commissioner Rob Manfred actually had to cancel the first two series of the season as they tried to hammer out an agreement.

Spring training camps are now expected to begin as early as Friday, according to Passan, and free-agent signings and trades will be unfrozen as soon as the deal is made official.

Passan added Opening Day is now tentatively slated for April 7. A full, 162-game schedule is expected to follow.

Patrick Mahomes and Brittany Matthews are days from getting hitched -- the couple just arrived in Hawaii for their wedding day!!

Mahomes' lil' bro, Jackson, is providing some breadcrumbs surrounding the ceremony via Instagram ... revealing everyone's in Maui leading up to the big event.

Now that the location has been confirmed, the next question is -- who are Patrick's groomsmen?!

Jackson shed a bit of light on that, too ... revealing he's Patrick's best man by posting a pic with the superstar QB (sporting a bright-patterned RompHim) and saying, "Best Man type vibes 🤙🏽."

The Mahomeses aren't the only ones in paradise ... Matthews and her friend (and Travis Kelce's girlfriend) Kayla Nicole took a flight on a private jet to the island.

"Let the fun begin sister girl," Nicole said on social media.

Of course, Mahomes and Matthews had plenty of fun last month -- the Super Bowl champ went all out in Vegas for his bachelor party ... and his fiancée enjoyed a getaway with the girls.

Mahomes and his high school sweetheart got engaged in 2020 ... and had their first child, daughter Sterling Skye, on February 20, 2021.

Cops have arrested a 12-year-old boy after they say he robbed Jim Boeheim's wife at gunpoint last week.

According to Syracuse police, the minor stuck an air gun in Juli Boeheim's face while she was sitting in her car on March 1 at a famous shopping center in New York.

Police say the boy then reached into the Syracuse head coach's wife's vehicle to grab her purse ... claiming he later took off in a stolen car with three other men.

Cops say the boy has since been charged with robbery, grand larceny and criminal possession of a weapon. They did not release the boy's name due to his age.

Jim spoke about the incident on Brent Axe's radio show on ESPN just two days after it happened ... and he explained Juli was "definitely shook up" over it all.

"I mean, this isn't television," Jim said. "It's not movies. It's real life."

Tony Hawk says a failed attempt at a popular skateboarding move led to his severely broken leg on Monday ... and now, the skate legend says he's hoping to one day be able to walk again "unaided."

The 53-year-old finally went into detail on Thursday about what caused his broken femur earlier this week ... and he says an effort to do a McTwist (a front flip with a 540-degree rotation) in the half pipe busted up the limb.

Hawk explained he had "very little speed and an unsteady grab" while trying the trick -- and when he came crashing down on the ramp, his leg crumpled.

"I hit the wall sooner than expected in a half-squat position and it sent me straight to the flat onto my knees," Hawk said.

"The force of my body position upon impact broke my front leg as I came sliding to a stop."

Graphically, Hawk said he had to "maneuver" his leg back into place -- before an ambulance eventually transported him to a hospital.

As we reported, Hawk underwent surgery on the leg right away -- and was somehow able to put weight on it just a day later.

Tony, though, said Thursday he has a long way to go to fully recover ... explaining, right now, his goal is just to be able to walk normally again.

Logan Paul is literally everywhere -- the social media star and boxer is taking over the video game industry now ... becoming a downloadable character in WWE 2K22!!

26-year-old Paul -- who's slated to compete alongside The Miz at WrestleMania next month -- was announced as one of the additional characters to be featured in the promotion's official video game ... and will be available for purchase in July.

It's a huge sign the Maverick could be involved in Vince McMahon's org. well past WrestleMania in Dallas ... and according to his tag team partner, he's definitely got the skills to make a career out of pro wrestling.

The game -- which drops Friday -- will also feature celebs like Machine Gun Kelly, Mr. T and Ronda Rousey as additional playable characters available for download.

Paul is the latest superstar to get the video treatment -- as we previously reported, names like Naomi Osaka, Neymar, Robert Whittaker and Travis Scott have collabed with their favorite games recently.

Deion Sanders is revealing what his left foot looks like following the amputation of two of his toes -- and, warning, it's extremely graphic.

The NFL legend, in continuing to release details of his horrifying foot injury in bits and pieces, showed the mangled body part in a new video posted to his social media page Wednesday.

In the clip, Deion is showing his sons, Shedeur and Shilo, the injury for the first time -- and imploring them to use his bloody wound and the ensuing recovery process as a reminder to always work hard.

"Anytime y'all ever think about giving up anything, y'all think about this," Deion said. "I've fought through all of this for y'all."

Sanders' two sons -- who both play football for Deion at Jackson State -- appeared to be in shock over the injury, with one of them telling the former Dallas Cowboys cornerback in the footage, "You're a good man."

Shilo added in a post on his social media page Thursday, "I still haven't looked straight at it til this day."

Tiger Woods' daughter said she and the rest of the golf legend's family seriously feared Tiger would lose his leg following his car crash last year.

14-year-old Sam Woods made the revelation while introducing Tiger at his World Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Wednesday night in Florida ... explaining the golfer's injuries were that dire.

You'll recall, Tiger suffered comminuted open fractures in his right leg after he crashed his SUV in February 2021 in Los Angeles. He needed a rod, pins and screws to fix the damage.

Tiger had previously said the possibility of amputation was discussed in the aftermath of the wreck ... and Sam reiterated to a crowd at the PGA TOUR's headquarters during her speech that they were VERY concerned it might happen.

"We didn't know if you'd come home with two legs or not," Sam said.

Fortunately, Tiger was able to recover -- and in her speech, Sam praised the 46-year-old for battling through it all.

"Now, not only about to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, but you're standing here on your own two feet," Sam said. "This is why you deserve this. Because you're a fighter."

Tiger showed off the injured leg without a sleeve on it for the first time publicly while walking into the ceremony earlier Wednesday in a pair of shorts -- revealing there's no serious scarring visible from feet away.

It's unclear when the golfer will be able to compete on the PGA Tour again -- but he was able to play (and play REALLY well) in a fun tourney with his son, Charlie, back in December.

Paige VanZant is a professional wrestler now -- the ex-UFC star just signed a contract with All Elite Wrestling ... and is set to begin her training ASAP!!

PVZ literally signed her contract in the ring during an appearance at "AEW Dynamite" on Wednesday ... after coming out of the crowd and attacking wrestler Tay Conti from behind.

The run-in caused Conti's boyfriend, "Spanish God" Sammy Guevara, to lose his TNT championship to The Men of the Year's Scorpio Sky.

"Wanted to give the world one more reason to hate on me 💋😉 PVZ TAKING OVER!!!!," VanZant wrote on Twitter after announcing the news.

Of course, Paige is no stranger to the AEW crowd -- she's made several appearances since debuting alongside Jorge Masvidal in September ... and got a huge pop from fans on Wednesday.

The terms of the deal have not been revealed, but AEW prez Tony Khan expressed his excitement over the new addition ... saying, "It’s official! @paigevanzant is ALL ELITE!"

You'll recall, Paige made a name for herself as a combat fighter ... going 5-4 in UFC before signing a massive deal with the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship in 2020, where she posted an 0-2 record.

The former "Dancing with the Stars" contestant's future with BKFC is unclear, but it seems Paige is now focused on wrestling ... and it's only a matter of time before we see her compete inside an AEW ring.

The move shouldn't come as a complete surprise -- Paige previously told TMZ Sports back in 2018 she was hoping to take her talents to the squared-circle.

There's no snow in Miami ... but Floyd Mayweather was ready just in case, rockin' $795 Balmain ski boots to the Heat game!!

The 50-0 boxer -- one of the best ever to enter the ring -- wore the luxury fashion boots courtside while the Miami Heat took on the Phoenix Suns at FTX Arena on Wednesday.

The black and ivory footwear are Balmain waterproof apres-ski boots, made with Polyamide and calfskin.

Mayweather made sure he matched with an oversized Balmain cotton T-shirt featuring the fashion line's monogram print and name across the chest. The shirt costs $650 on the Balmain website.

So, the fit -- not including the diamond watch, bracelets, jeans and cap (which surely go for thousands of dollars) -- costs $1,445!!

Showing out at basketball games is Floyd's thing -- just a few weeks ago Mayweather sat courtside at the Spurs-Heat game, and the 45-year-old wore a ton of diamond chains around his neck.

Daniel Luna -- the 40-year-old 49ers fan who was brutally beaten in the SoFi Stadium parking lot during the NFC Championship game -- is out of a medically-induced coma 5 weeks after the incident, his family announced this week.

Luna remains hospitalized, but the hope is he will be able to return home later this month. His current condition was not disclosed, according to CBS LA.

As we previously reported, Inglewood mayor James Butts claims surveillance footage of the parking lot altercation shows Luna (wearing a Niners jersey) shove a Rams fan from behind. Butts says the Rams fan appeared to retaliate by pushing Luna and punching him in the face ... causing him to fall to the ground.

Stadium security then discovered Luna injured and unconscious in the parking lot about 30 minutes after the NFC title game kicked off ... and he was transported to a nearby hospital.

The suspect -- 33-year old Bryan Alexis Cifuentes-Rossell -- was arrested after he was eventually tracked down via surveillance footage that started in the SoFi parking lot.

On Wednesday, the L.A. District Attorney announced Cifuentes-Rossell is being charged with one felony count of battery with serious bodily injury.

A woman is suing Jerry Jones ... reportedly alleging the Dallas Cowboys owner is her father, and claiming that he paid a small fortune years ago to keep everything quiet.

The lawsuit was filed in a Dallas County court on March 3, records show. Documents in the case, however, have since been sealed.

ESPN says it obtained a copy of the lawsuit prior to its sealing ... and the outlet reports the woman, Alexandra Davis, alleged in the docs that Jones "courted" her mother, Cynthia Davis Spencer, in 1995.

Alexandra reportedly claims Jones pursued Davis Spencer while she worked in Little Rock, Arkansas for American Airlines ... and had Alexandra a short time later.

Documents reportedly show Jones, who's now 79 years old, denied he was the father ... but nonetheless paid Davis Spencer $375K "in exchange for confidentiality" when Alexandra was just a 1-year-old.

Alexandra also claimed in the docs, per ESPN, that Donald Jack, an Arkansas lawyer and Jones' friend, set up trusts for Alexandra and her mom to keep "Jones' paternity a secret."

ESPN reports that in her suit, Alexandra, now 25 years old and living in Washington D.C., is asking the court to recognize her as the NFL owner's daughter. She's also reportedly asking to be free of the agreement that she says Jones and her mom agreed to when she was an infant.

Alexandra reportedly said in the docs that she "has lived her life fatherless and in secret and in fear that if she should tell anyone who her father was, she and her mother would lose financial support, or worse."

"[Alexandra] has had to spend her entire life hiding and concealing who her real father is," Alexandra's attorney added in the lawsuit, according to ESPN. "Defendant Jones' only role in Plaintiff's life to date other than to shun her, has been to coerce her from ever disclosing his identity."

We reached out to both Alexandra's attorney and Jones' attorneys for comment ... but so far, no word back from either yet.

Two Ukrainians have emerged as war heroes who have inspired their nation and the world with their bravery and fortitude ... both improbable leaders who rose to the occasion.

Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelensky was born in 1978 to Jewish parents in southern Ukraine. His family moved to Mongolia for 4 years and then returned to their homeland.

He studied at the Kyiv National Economic University and graduated in 2000 with a law degree.

And then, the turn to acting. While he was a student, he became interested in theatre, and from 1997-2003 he appeared on an improv show on Ukrainian TV.

In 2003, Zelensky founded a TV studio, serving as the creative director until 2011. Under his watch, the studio became one of the most successful in the country.

He went on to star in some farce comedies. He also tried his hand at romantic comedies -- one called "8 First Dates" and another called "8 New Dates."

He appeared on "Dancing with the Stars" and won the whole thing. He also was the voice of Paddington the bear in Ukraine's version of the films.

In 2014, as the then-Ukrainian President was toppled, Zelensky starred in a new show -- "Servant of the People" ... about a school teacher's improbable rise to power as President of Ukraine. The show became a huge hit.

Then another big turn. He decided to imitate his art and run for President of Ukraine in 2019 ... and his celebrity was enough to garner 73% of the vote.

The first real exposure Americans had to Zelensky was during the first Donald Trump impeachment, when Trump tried pressuring him to investigate Hunter Biden in return for receiving aid, something he refused to do.

You know the rest ... a guy who never dipped his toe in politics led the nation and stood firmly against Russian occupation. Zelensky has become a modern-day Winston Churchill, even quoting him in his resolve to save his country.

Vitali Klitschko is an equally improbable war hero. He was born 50 years ago in the U.S.S.R. and developed a love of boxing at age 13. He and his brother, Wladimir, both became amateur boxers and Vitali won a gold medal.

Vitali graduated from the Pedagogical Institute in Ukraine in 1996 and did postgraduate work at Kyiv University. He ended up with a Ph.D. in Sports Science.

Vitali and Wladimir both became professional boxers in 1996, and both excelled.

The 6'7" Vitali became the WBC champ and retired in 2005, but returned to boxing in 2008.

Vitali played a big role in Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution, and ran twice for mayor of Kyiv -- both times unsuccessfully.

In 2010, Vitali became the leader of the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform. He gave up the WBC title in 2013 for a life in politics.

Vitali ran for mayor of Kyiv and won in 2014, and remains mayor to this day.

Sports Illustrated's next Swimsuit Issue is gonna have a first ... first ICU nurse, first breast cancer survivor, first NASA physicist or first indigenous model -- they're all in the running, and all have something in common.

S.I.'s doing something they've dubbed a "Swim Search" for an amateur model to feature in their Swimsuit Issue, and just announced a seriously diverse group of finalists ... including actual NASA vet Manju Bangalore.

Yes, she's a physicist who's worked at the Johnson Space Center ... and it's gotta be said: Houston, we do NOT have a problem with this.

Also among the 14 finalists ... breast cancer survivor Kelly Crump, who's endured 60 rounds of chemo since her diagnosis in 2019. Ashley Callingbull hails from Canada's Enoch Cree Nation ... making her the first indigenous woman to pose for the magazine's annual issue.

And then there's Hillory Fields, a real life hero of the pandemic. The Florida native is a traveling ICU nurse who shared her "grueling" efforts through 2020 on social media, saying ... "It has all been a tragedy."

It's pretty obvious what S.I. is going for here, and commendable, at that -- find the most diverse and unique group of "models" they've ever featured. Very cool.

At least one person thinks DK Metcalf could take Tyreek Hill in a sprint ...

Seahawks defensive lineman Rasheem Green tells TMZ Sports he's confident his teammate would beat Hill if the two ended up racing this offseason.

"I might have to take DK," Green told us last week outside of JLT Performance GYM. "I like DK."

No word yet on if the two NFL stars have actually set something up -- but they've both been vocal about making sure it eventually goes down.

Remember, DK told us last month he'd dust Hill -- and the Chiefs wideout responded a short time later on Twitter essentially telling him to bring it on.

DK's battling a foot injury, so the race wouldn't be able to happen for at least a few months -- but check out Green's evaluation on the potential tilt, he seems to think his Seattle buddy will win it.

Nine years after Hector "Macho" Camacho was brutally murdered outside a bar in Puerto Rico, five men have been arrested and charged in his slaying.

Camacho -- a former 3 weight class world champion -- was shot in the face while he sat with a friend in a Ford Mustang. The boxer didn't immediately die from his injuries, but was declared brain dead by doctors. After several days on life support, Hector passed away on November 24, 2012.

The murder shocked PR and the boxing world ... and the loss was compounded by the fact the murder went unsolved for so long.

But, on Wednesday, the first of five suspects appeared before a judge, accused of killing Camacho, according to the Associated Press.

Several of the suspects were already serving time behind bars ... including three people who were in a federal penitentiary in Florida. U.S. officials transported the inmates by plane to Puerto Rico so they could face the judge.

Two other men were arrested ... one from a Puerto Rican jail, and another from his home in the early morning hours, not far from where the shooting happened nearly a decade ago.

Authorities say there were more people involved ... but those men won't have their time in court 'cause they were themselves killed in unrelated incidents in 2013 and 2015.

Camacho -- who was 50 years old at the time of his death -- faced some of the greatest fighters during his great career ... including wins over "Sugar" Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran (twice).

The motive for the crime is still unknown.

Camacho's elderly mother was thrilled with the news of the arrests, getting a modicum of justice for her late son, per the AP.

Buddy Boeheim appeared to sucker punch an opponent in the gut during Syracuse's ACC Tournament game on Wednesday ... but his father, Orange head coach Jim Boeheim, says he believes the act was "inadvertent."

The play happened in the middle of the first half of 'Cuse's blowout win over the Seminoles ... when after a Syracuse basket, Buddy appeared to turn and throw a fist into Wyatt Wilkes' body.

Video replays showed Buddy made strong contact with the FSU hooper's stomach -- and the force was so great, Wilkes actually had to leave the game for a few minutes to recover.

Many on social media panned the play as dirty -- but no foul was called, and Syracuse went on to win the contest, 96-57.

After the game, Jim commented on the play ... and said he didn't think his son delivered a cheap shot at all.

"The kid pushed [Buddy] twice," Jim told reporters. "And he swung around and hit him. I think it was inadvertent, but that's OK."

Buddy and Wyatt appeared to have no bad blood following the game ... the two were seen chatting on the court following the tilt.

As for FSU's head coach Leonard Hamilton, he praised Buddy when asked about the incident.

"I don't want anything to take away from how well they played and what type of fine young man he is," Hamilton said. "The game is physical. You expect guys to go out and bang and be aggressive. And if something inadvertently happens, sometimes we want to categorize it one way or another."

No word yet on if the ACC will reprimand Buddy for the play. Syracuse is set to play next against Duke on Thursday.