TMZ Sports - Page 34

Started from the bottom, now we're on soccer jerseys.

FC Barcelona will pay homage to Drake on Sunday ... by wearing the rap superstar's OVO owl logo on their kits for their big match against Real Madrid, the team announced Friday.

Barca -- whose main partner is Spotify -- explained the idea to honor the 6 God came after Drizzy became the first artist to reach over 50 billion streams on the platform.

"For the first time in our history, we are replacing the name of our main partner on the front of the jersey with an internationally acclaimed artist in Drake," Barca exec. Juli Guiu said.

"This initiative shows our potential to become a unique platform to offer experiences that help bring us closer to our fans while reaching out to new audiences around the world.”

The club will also wear a special version of the customized Drake-themed jersey during pre-game warmups -- which will feature his name on the back, and #50 to honor his stream record.

"We were really excited to celebrate one of the biggest games of the year and mark Drake’s milestone as the first artist to reach 50 billion streams," Spotify exec Marc Hazan said.

"We’ve always said that we want this partnership to be a celebration of fans, players, and artist’s on a global stage -- and there’s no bigger stage than El Clásico.”

Drake spoke about the gesture on Instagram ... saying, "this doesn’t feel real but it is."

Those closest to Tyler Skaggs had no idea the late pitcher was using pain pills at the time of his tragic death ... saying the details behind his fatal overdose were unbelievable.

Tyler's wife, Carli, and his mother, Debbie Hetman, spoke publicly about Skaggs' passing for the first time this week ... just days after ex-Angels communications staffer Eric Kay was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison for providing the drugs that took the pitcher's life.

"I loved him so much," Carli said while tearing up. "We had a love that was so special."

"That day still haunts me," Debbie added.

27-year-old Skaggs died after choking on his own vomit in 2019 ... and his autopsy showed a combination of oxycodone, fentanyl and alcohol in his system.

When asked about the troubling details surrounding his death ... both Carli and Debbie said they had no idea he had been taking pain medication.

"Yeah, that was the last thought that crossed my mind," Carli said. "It didn't even cross my mind actually."

"Not a clue."

Carli revealed the couple had plans to start a family after Skaggs returned from the team's road trip in Texas ... saying, "He would have made an amazing father. He was so great with kids."

"I wonder sometimes if I'll ever be as happy as I was. I have a lot of healing to do. I have faith that I'll get there. I know I'll never be the same. It's going to be different. But, I believe that I can find happiness again."

All seems well for the Stallones ... as Sylvester, his wife Jennifer Flavin, and their kids all attended a fashion show together -- this coming on the heels of the couple dismissing their divorce case.

Sly and Jennifer stepped out to the SS23 Runway Show on Thursday in San Marino, CA ... with 26-year-old Sophia and 24-year-old Sistine joining their mom and pops.

Sistine posted a TikTok vid, with the whole fam dancin' to some tunes together -- Sly even introduced Jennifer into the video to the words "bad bitches."

The 4 seem to be a happy bunch once again ... as you know, it's been choppy water for Jennifer and Sylvester the past couple of months -- Jennifer filed divorce docs in August, accusing Sly of secreting marital assets.

The "Rocky" actor denied the claims, but work began on a divorce settlement in September. The couple eventually decided to reconcile, officially dismissing their divorce earlier this month.

Draymond Green says he will be able to coexist with Jordan Poole and compete for a championship together ... but when it comes to being buddies again, he's "not sure" that's going to happen.

Green addressed the media for the first time since rejoining the Warriors on Thursday ... and made it clear he's ready to put last week's practice altercation behind him and focus on the season.

Draymond says he hung out with his kids during his time away from the team ... and had some "long days" dealing with the aftermath of the practice punch.

When it comes to repairing his personal relationship with Poole, which used to be tight, Green says the ball is in his court ... and it certainly doesn't sound like he's holding his breath.

"I'm not sure," Green added. "As I said before, that's not up to me. Nor do I think there's much relevance."

"Quite frankly, we both know how to play basketball and that is the most important for us. We're paid to do a job and we're gonna come and do that job to the best of our ability. We wanna continue to win so we gonna do what we have to do to win."

As TMZ Sports previously reported ... the beef between Draymond and Poole started in the parking lot and escalated at team practice last Wednesday, where our sources on site say Poole called several fouls during a scrimmage, and Draymond called him a "bitch" multiple times as a result.

Sources say Poole has been getting "cocky" lately over an upcoming contract, but multiple players have flat-out denied that's the case.

David Schumacher -- the nephew of racing icon Michael Schumacher -- suffered a broken spine during a terrifying crash in Germany, his family announced on Thursday.

The scene was tough to watch -- David's Mercedes-AMG GT3 crashed during the final round of the 2022 DTM season at Hockenheim ... after his car crashed into fellow racer Thomas Preining as the two were battling for seventh into Turn 8.

Ralf Schumacher, David's father, shared the update with German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) ... saying his son has to wear a corset due to the accident but won't require surgery.

"When David came home, he was still complaining of back pain," Ralf Schumacher told the outlet. "We then decided to go to a hospital in Salzburg to have an MRI done."

David will be sidelined for at least six weeks.

The crash sparked a chain reaction -- causing Ricardo Feller to hit the back of Dennis Olsen's Porsche ... and prompting officials to red-flag the session.

David was taken to the hospital after the accident, where preliminary scans revealed that he suffered a scraped knee and bruising to his lumbar spine.

The crash ended David's season and any hopes he had of competing in the title decider at the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters last Sunday.

Eastern Michigan basketball star Emoni Bates was deeply emotional as he sat handcuffed in the back seat of a cop car ... breaking down in tears and talking to his mom on the phone right after his gun arrest, footage obtained by TMZ Sports shows.

18-year-old Bates -- one of the top prospects in the class of 2021 -- was pulled over in Superior Township, Michigan after allegedly running through a stop sign around 10:45 PM on September 18.

During the traffic stop, Washtenaw County sheriff's deputies -- who immediately recognized Bates -- told him there was a strong scent of weed coming from his vehicle and asked if there were guns or drugs in the Mitsubishi Outlander.

Bates -- who was driving without a license -- initially claimed he didn't, but eventually came clean ... admitting he had marijuana and a gun, putting his hands up and complying with the officers.

The 6'9", 190-pounder was then placed under arrest and put into the back seat of the cop car. While his vehicle was being searched, cops allowed him to use his phone ... and he called his mother to apologize for the arrest -- breaking down in tears in the process.

During the search, cops found what appeared to be a bag of marijuana ... as well as the gun.

Emoni's mom, Edith, calmed him down during the phone convo ... and then handed the phone over to a man, who seemingly said he is the owner of the gun.

The man appears to ask if cops found "my stick in your car?" ... to which Bates replied, "Yeah."

Bates was hit with two felonies -- carrying a concealed weapon and altering ID marks on a firearm -- but on Thursday, Bates' attorney, Steve Haney, told ESPN he expects the charges to be dismissed after agreeing to a plea deal.

Haney says he will plead to a misdemeanor count of attempted illegal transportation of a weapon ... which will be dismissed off his record if he completes a diversion program.

The school confirmed the news to TMZ Sports ... saying, "The Eastern Michigan University department of athletics has received notification that there is an agreement between the Washtenaw County prosecutor's office and Emoni Bates' defense team that would result in the felony charges being dismissed."

The beef between Patrick Beverley and Russell Westbrook may not be over after all ... because Russ appeared to snub Pat during the Lakers' preseason game Wednesday night.

The awkward moment occurred in the third quarter of the home game against the Timberwolves ... when Beverley tried to rally his teammates on defense.

In the clip, Pat -- who was acquired via trade in the offseason -- was calling for a team huddle with LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Lonnie Walker IV.

The issue ... Westbrook was reluctant to join Pat Bev's impromptu meeting on the court, leading AD to go over to Russ to see why he refused to join the huddle.

Beverley seemed to sense Russ wanted no part of his motivational speech, but that didn't stop him from repeatedly motioning for Westbrook to be included in the discussion.

The cringe moment -- which had the sports world talking -- comes as the Lakers prepare to kick off their season next week against the defending champion Golden State Warriors.

Even Jake Paul chimed in on the situation, writing, "Lakers need to pull the plug and trade Russell Westbrook for their sake and for The Brodie’s sake."

"He’s a star and needs his own team. Lakers need less stars and more Pat Bev’s," he continued.

The Lakers missed the playoff last season ... and with incidents like this, they could be in danger of history repeating itself.

Troy Aikman is speaking out publicly for the first time since making controversial remarks during "Monday Night Football," calling his comments "dumb."

"My comments were dumb, just shouldn't have made them," Aikman said during a radio appearance on 96.7 The Ticket, adding, "Just dumb remarks on my part."

Of course, during Monday night's Raiders-Chiefs game, the former Cowboys QB voiced displeasure with how the NFL is enforcing the roughing of the passer penalty.

"My hope is the competition committee looks at this in the next set of meetings, and, you know, we take the dresses off," the three-time Super Bowl champ said during the broadcast.

Aikman has been under siege ever since ... with the QB being accused of being sexist and misogynistic.

The roughing penalty has become a big talking point this season, especially given Tua Tagovailoa's injuries and the call Tom Brady received against the Falcons.

Aikman, however, isn't alone in his gripes with the NFL -- HOF head coach Tony Dungy took to Twitter to express his confusion with how rules are being enforced against quarterbacks.

A longtime L.A. Kings fan and season-ticket holder got pucked up before opening night Tuesday ... when a slap shot cleared the boards and hit the guy square in the face, breaking his nose and cutting his forehead.

The fan, Jeremy Aaronson, attended the game at Crypto.com Arena with his 11-year-old son. Prior to the first period, Aaronson and his boy were standing by the glass, watching the Kings players warm up before the game with the Vegas Golden Knights.

That's when a Kings player took a shot that sailed ... hitting Jeremy in the nose, breaking it in the process. Medics treated Aaronson at the arena, but his injuries required care from a doctor at the hospital.

So, instead of watching opening night live and in person, Jeremy was forced to ride in the back of an ambulance, and follow the game on his phone.

Thankfully, Jeremy's son was able to stay and watch the game with friends who happened to be at the arena.

As for his condition, Jeremy tells us he saw a specialist on Wednesday, and the doc told him his nose was broken. Aaronson will require further treatment from the nose doc once the swelling subsides.

Jeremy's forehead was also cut by the puck.

As for the team, we're told they reached out to Jeremy on social media the morning after the game ... and linked up with Jeremy on the phone later in the day.

Dwight Howard says his iconic Superman cape from the 2008 NBA Slam Dunk Contest was used to score in more ways than one -- he says he's worn it during sex!!

The hilarious convo went down on a new episode of "BS w/ Jake Paul" ... when the Problem Child's girlfriend/co-host Julia Rose bluntly asked Howard if he ever threw on the look for a bit of intimacy.

Howard was caught off guard by the question, but laughed it off and nodded ... which was more than enough to confirm the deed.

"He did!!" Paul laughed. "Dwight Howard had sex in the cape!"

But it wasn't just a one-time thing -- Howard admitted to wearing his cape while getting it on multiple times following the contest.

"Oh my God!" Rose yelled. "I love it!"

All good things come to an end, however -- the cape has officially been retired since the 36-year-old placed it in a plaque.

"Every time I look at it, it's like a gold medal. Ahhh!"

German track star Luz Long battled Black American star Jesse Owens during the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin -- while Hitler watched -- but instead of treating each other like enemies, the men became close friends.

And, now, Luz's famed silver medal from the long jump is on the block at SCP Auctions ... one of the most important medals in Olympic history.

Owens won four gold medals during the '36 Games ... and became a global superstar almost overnight. But, one of the medals almost never was ... 'cause Jesse was one missed jump away from failing to qualify for the medal round of the long jump.

That's when Carl Ludwig "Luz" Long -- born across the world and in very different circumstances than Jesse -- approached his competitor and offered him some advice.

“Why don’t you draw a line a few inches in back of the board and aim at making your take-off from there," Luz said to Jesse, saying, "You’ll be sure not to foul, and you certainly ought to jump far enough to qualify. What does it matter if you’re not first in the trials?”

Owens later talked about what those words meant for him, and did for his performance.

“Suddenly all the tension seemed to ebb out of my body as the truth of what he said hit me. Confidently, I drew a line a full foot in back of the board and proceeded to jump from there. I qualified with almost a foot to spare.”

In the finals, Long and Owens battled, both breaking the previous Olympic record in the process. In the end, Jesse, with a jump of 8.06 meters, beat Luz, and won the gold medal ... while LL took silver.

Luz, could've been mad, jealous, or even seen Jesse as the enemy, but instead was actually the first to embrace the man who just dashed his dreams of Olympic gold.

"You forced me to give my best,” Owens told Luz.

After receiving their medals, in one of the most courageous moments in Olympic history, Jesse and Luz walked side by side around the stadium, waving to the 110,000 spectators in attendance.

And remember, one of those people was Adolf Hitler ... who was annoyed a Black man dominated the Games, exposing his lies about race.

“It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler,” Owens later said.

“You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn’t be a plating on the twenty-four karat friendship that I felt for Luz Long at that moment.”

Berlin, 1936, is the last time Jesse and Luz would see each other. The German track star was killed in 1943 during World War II at the age of 30.

However, shortly before his death, Long wrote a handwritten note to his friend Jesse, where he sadly predicted his impending death, and asked a favor.

"My heart tells me, if I be honest with you, that this is the last letter I shall ever write. If it is so, I ask you something. It is a something so very important to me. It is you go to Germany when this war done, someday find my [son], and tell him about his father. Tell him, Jesse, what times were like when we not separated by war. I am saying -- tell him how things can be between men on this earth.⁣"

In 1951, years after the letter, Owens fulfilled his promise and met Luz's son. Jesse would later serve as his best man at his wedding.

Now, nearly 90 years after he won the medal, Luz's granddaughter, Julia Kellner-Long, the daughter of the son Jesse befriended, has decided to put the medal on the block as a way to keep her grandpa's memory alive.

The auction for the medal -- estimated to be worth between $500K and $1 million -- ends this weekend

L.A. Rams players weren't the only ones taking a beating from Dallas on Sunday ... their fans were, too -- with one dude getting KO'd by a Cowboys fan during a parking lot brawl.

The SoFi Stadium parking lot brawl was caught on video as the Rams were losing to "America's team."

The video shows several people in Rams and Cowboys jerseys going at it as a few people attempted to keep the peace.

But, nobody listened ... and then, out of nowhere, a guy in a #88 jersey (CeeDee Lamb, Dez Bryant, Michael Irvin, Drew Pearson??) -- throws a superman punch at a fan wearing a Cooper Kupp jersey, knocking him to the ground.

The Cowboys fan didn't stop there ... the guy continued to punch the Rams fan in the face until witnesses broke things up.

The Kupp fan eventually gets up but falls back to the asphalt ... obviously shaken up from the blows to the head.

But, he wasn't the only one injured ... nearby there's another guy laid out on the ground.

It's not the only fight that went down during the Cowboys-Rams game on Sunday. Inside SoFi, a fan wearing a Matthew Stafford jersey was knocked on his ass by a guy in an Ezekiel Elliott jersey.

Goose took the field Wednesday night ... but we're not talking Gossage.

A brave fowl decided to get a closer look at the Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Diego Padres game on Wednesday ... by flying its way down to the field amid the postseason matchup.

The hilarious moment went down during the bottom of the 8th inning in the Dodgers' 5-3 loss ... when the Greater white-fronted goose did a mid-game tour of the diamond with Gavin Lux at the plate.

The bird had the best seat in the house as it remained on the field when Lux hit a single to the outfield.

The Padres made a pitching change after the hit, which was enough time for the Dodgers grounds crew to snap into action ... grabbing towels and a trash can in hopes of safely getting the intruder off the field.

Luckily, the mission was a success ... and the game went on without any other wildlife visits.

Ex-NBA star Ben Gordon was arrested AGAIN on Wednesday ... this time, in connection to an open assault case for a 2020 incident in Manhattan.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the 39-year-old was being processed in Queens after allegedly hitting his 10-year-old son multiple times at the airport on Monday, when NYPD ran a background check and discovered an open investigation for misdemeanor assault in Harlem.

We're told the case stems from an alleged incident on March 13, 2020 ... when Ben is accused of getting in a heated argument with an adult female friend and grabbing the cell phone in her hand.

Sources tell us a scuffle ensued ... in which Ben allegedly injured the woman's finger and eye, causing pain and swelling.

The woman went to police and filed a report ... and the case remained open.

Shortly after Ben made bail at his arraignment in the airport case, he was then taken into custody on Wednesday and taken to the Harlem precinct for processing.

While it's another legal issue for Gordon, his attorney, Joshua Kirschner tells TMZ Sports he believes the former Bulls star's name will be cleared in the case.

"It’s very early in the case and we believe he will be completely exonerated once the investigation is complete," Kirschner says.

Gisele Bündchen may have just dropped a massive hint about what led to the breaking down of her relationship with Tom Brady and what appears to be the end of their marriage.

Gisele was on Instagram Wednesday when she commented '🙏🏽' in response to a post that read, "You can't be in a committed relationship with someone who is inconsistent with you. Read that again."

The message is certainly interesting -- especially because many feel the beginning of the end of the couple's marriage was when Tom un-retired.

Of course, it's possible Gisele felt Tom was "inconsistent" in his commitment to his family ... first saying he was stepping away from football, only to announce he was going to play again.

TMZ broke the story -- both Tom and Gisele had been searching for divorce attorneys for weeks before reports surfaced they'd hired someone. At this time, we're told the marriage appears to be beyond repair.

Pope Francis' sneaker game is about to be on point ... 'cause the pontiff just got some dope custom Nike Blazer kicks featuring his coat of arms -- and a one-of-a-kind wooden shoe box.

TMZ Sports has learned ... Father Jim Sichko wanted to gift Pope Francis something "special and unique" while visiting the Vatican this week ... and not the same ol' kinda present he gets all the time.

So, he hit up True Blue Customs out in Lexington, Kentucky a few weeks ago to put some kicks together for the Pope ... and they delivered!

The finished result are some Nike Blazer Mid 77' Vintage kicks painted white and yellow/gold -- the same colors as the Pope's flag -- and a detailed portrait of his coat of arms displayed on the sides.

The Pope's name is also painted on the back ... and they came with a custom wooden shoe box.

True Blue Customs says it only took 10 hours to make this exclusive package ... and it's going down as one of their favorite projects.

"Pretty crazy," True Blue Customs tells us about designing the Pope's gift.

"I've done shoes for tons of celebs over the years but hard to top this one."

It seems like the Pope loved the gesture .. 'cause the 85--year-old was all smiles when Father Jim hand-delivered them to him on Wednesday.