TMZ Sports - Page 23

Dolph Lundgren's not against recasting an iconic character -- telling fans to give David Corenswet's Superman a chance ... even if he's not entirely sure who he is.

We talked to the action movie star in Los Angeles Friday, and asked him all about the DC Universe coming to an end -- 'memba, Dolph starred as King Nereus in the 'Aquaman' films -- and he says he's sad to see it go 'cause of his great time working on the flick.

DL name-drops a few of his costars from the flick before moving on to the outrage surrounding Henry Cavill being dropped as Superman for Corenswet.

Lundgren says he isn't familiar with David -- by name or reputation -- but he says fans always get up in arms when one of their fav characters ends up being played by someone else ... and they need to give the guy a chance to flex his superhero muscles.

It seems like Dolph doesn't know Corenswet's work very well -- and yet, he's very positive here, saying he's rooting for DC's newest Man of Steel ... which is pretty awesome.

That said, Dolph's very clear there's one character he doesn't want recast ... Apollo Creed, played by the late great Carl Weathers.

95% of brackets had Kentucky beating Oakland in the first round of the NCAA Tourney, so while nearly no one in the outside world believed in the Golden Grizzlies, their squad did, including star hooper Trey Townsend who hopes this proves rankings ain't everything!

As you know, the 14th-ranked Oakland Golden Grizzlies officially kicked off the Madness in March when they defeated John Calipari's number 3-seeded Kentucky Wildcats ... the tournament's biggest upset (so far).

"You can't put that mindset on yourself going to a game thinking you're lesser than your opponent, because you're, per se, shooting yourself in the foot and giving yourself a disadvantage mentally," Townsend said.

"We come in confident and play our best game, play as hard as we can and we're just as good and can compete with anyone in the country. We proved it [Thursday]," the team leader told us.

Now, Oakland (located in Michigan, not California) will face No. 11 North Carolina State in the second round on Saturday ... and Townsend believes they've got a real path to the Sweet 16! Especially with Jack Gohlke shooting lights out (he knocked down 10 threes)!

"I think it's just playing the way we have all season," Townsend said. "The biggest thing, especially at this time of the year, is to stay consistent to what you've done to get you to this point."

"We're not gonna take anything lightly, even though we just had a big win. You gotta keep that in your back pocket for now and we can celebrate after a long run in this tournament."

As if Trey and Oakland's story wasn't already cool enough, his dad Skip Townsend, who was not only a credentialed media member working Thursday's game, but also a former hooper on the Golden Grizzlies team.

In fact, Skip played for Oakland's CURRENT coach, Greg Kampe, way back in the 80s! His mom Nicole was also on the women's basketball team.

"I always wanted to be an Oakland uniform and be like my dad," Trey said.

3/22 -- 3:18 PM PT -- MLB just announced it has officially launched its probe into the matter ... saying, "Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhari from the news media."

"Earlier today, our DOI began their formal process investigating the matter."

MLB is doing its due diligence with Shohei Ohtani ... with sources telling TMZ Sports that league officials are gathering information to determine if the face of baseball was involved in the gambling scandal surrounding his translator.

Ohtani's inteprator and best friend Ippei Mizuhara has given conflicting stories on Shohei's involvement ... first saying the Dodgers superstar was well aware of his huge gambling debts, and loaned him millions of dollars to get out of the hole. He later backtracked, saying the Japanese two-way athlete had no idea.

As for Ohtani, his attorney claims he's been the victim of a "massive theft."

Now, MLB's trying to figure out what the hell is going on -- not necessarily because they believe Shohei did anything wrong -- but because gambling is an existential threat to any pro sport.

Look no further than Pete Rose ... who despite his exploits on the diamond, was banned for life in 1989 after he admitted to wagering on games -- although no one has accused Ohtani of betting on baseball, or any other sport for that matter.

It's worth noting, it sounds like Ohtani -- who signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers this offseason -- has nothing to hide.

We're told his team alerted authorities to the "theft" ... and the feds are currently investigating.

No one connected to the probe has been arrested.

The Dodgers are 1-1 on the season, and their newly signed star is off to a solid start, despite the scandal ... collecting 3 hits and 2 RBIs in 10 plate appearances on the season.

1:10 PM -- Bijan Robinson is perfect no more ... Marquette just ruined the NFL star's previously unblemished NCAA tournament bracket.

The No. 2-seed Golden Eagles defeated No. 15-seed Western Kentucky, 87-69, making it the only game so far that Robinson hasn't gotten right.

What a run!!!

NCAA tournament bracket already busted? Bijan Robinson can't relate -- the NFL superstar is perfect through Day One!!

The Atlanta Falcons tailback didn't get one of his 16 picks wrong on Thursday -- somehow nailing Oakland's upset over Kentucky AND Duquesne's big victory over BYU.

The feat is incredibly rare ... out of the 22 million-or-so brackets that were filled out this week -- less than 2,000 remain unblemished!!

The 22-year-old was thrilled to be right ... he posted a pic to his Instagram page late Thursday night, flashing a million-dollar grin with the caption, "They said it was crazy."

"Yessirski," he added.

The running back will have quite the hill to climb in order to stay undefeated going forward. He's got No. 11-seed North Carolina State and No. 12-seed Grand Canyon advancing to the Elite Eight ... as well as his alma mater, Texas -- a No. 7 seed -- winning the whole thing.

But, hey, if the guy made it this far this good, perhaps the choices aren't that wild after all!!

His NFL team, meanwhile, celebrated the feat with a late-night tweet Thursday -- writing, "A PERFECT bracket for @Bijan5Robinson on day one?! 🤯"

Tip-off for Day Two is just a couple hours away -- if you need betting tips for the afternoon, probably best to check out Robinson's bracket above!!

NC State might wanna triple team Jack Gohlke in their second round matchup of the NCAA tournament … 'cause Oakland's March Madness hero simply cannot miss -- nailing a full-court shot at practice!!

Gohlke drained 10 three-pointers en route to the Golden Grizzlies' first tourney win in school history on Thursday ... helping No. 14 Oakland get the upset win over No. 3 Kentucky.

The hot streak continued on Friday ... with the sharp shooter pulling up from the opposite baseline and connecting on the loooooooooong three-point attempt.

Luckily, Gohlke's teammate, Evan Solomon, was recording the whole thing ... and the dude celebrated by yelling and chest-bumping his squad.

"That's a good sign," someone is heard saying in the video ... and it could be bad news for the Wolfpack.

Gohlke oozed confidence following the Grizzlies' huge 80-76 win ... saying he knew his team would be able to pull it off.

"I know they have draft picks, and I know I’m not going to the NBA … but on any given I can compete with those type of guys and our team can compete with those type of guys," Gohlke said after the win.

"That’s why I say we're not a Cinderella."

Even the college basketball world took a momentary pause to digest Kate Middleton's cancer announcement on Friday ... with CBS interrupting its NCAA tournament coverage to bring the news to fans.

With around five minutes remaining in the FAU vs. Northwestern game ... Norah O'Donnell came on the screen to inform CBS' audience that Middleton had just revealed she's been diagnosed with cancer.

The broadcast then played around 30 seconds of Middleton's video explaining her prognosis.

O'Donnell spoke on camera for roughly a minute more ... before the network resumed its planned coverage of the big hoops game.

Owls and Wildcats supporters didn't miss a second of in-game action ... as a lengthy timeout had been called on the floor during the special report.

Tim McGraw showed love to Iowa's biggest star when he performed in Des Moines ... wearing Caitlin Clark's Hawkeyes jersey while he rocked out on stage!

The country music legend was in the Hawkeye state at Wells Fargo Arena for the latest stop on his Standing Room Only Tour ... and he was spotted rockin' a black and yellow Clark jersey while singing his hits, including the platinum song, "Truck Yeah".

"Gotta represent," 56-year-old McGraw said while pointing to his jersey.

The Iowa Hawkeyes-themed performance comes just two days before Clark and her top-seeded squad play the Holy Cross Crusaders in the first round of the NCAA tourney.

It's an interesting wardrobe choice for TM, a Louisiana native who pledged Pi Kappa Alpha at Northeast Louisianan University.

But, when in Rome ... not to mention Clark is one of the biggest women's basketball stars we've ever seen. In fact, she's the NCAA's all-time leading scorer, men or women, in addition to holding numerous other records.

Soon, Clark won't be hooping in Iowa ... she recently declared for the 2024 WNBA Draft.

There's a good chance LSU and Iowa may see each other down the road ... they're on a collision course that could see the rivals play in a highly anticipated Elite 8 matchup.

Celine Dion's proving she can still rock by jamming out to Bon Jovi at a Boston Bruins game ... and the heartwarming video also makes it clear she's not letting her health challenges stop her from living life to the max.

Check out the clip -- Celine didn't hold back as she started singing along to the rock band's classic "Livin' on a Prayer" Thursday night at the Bruins game against the NY Rangers ... a rare public appearance amid her ongoing Stiff-Person Syndrome battle.

Celine's right in the thick of the action at Boston's TD Garden alongside her twin sons Nelson and Eddy ... when the camera zeroes in on her as she pumps her fists in the air and claps along while singing along to the catchy tune.

Her inner rockstar comes alive in the X clip shared by fan account @celinebible ... she rises from her seat to unleash an air guitar solo that's pure magic.

You can take the girl off the stage, but you can't take the performer outta her!

Celine wasn't just there to watch the game ... she and her sons got the royal treatment from Bruins coach Jim Montgomery, who introduced them to the team for a legendary line-up read.

The icon's ice hockey antics came hot on the heels of her heartfelt tribute on International Stiff-Person Syndrome Awareness Day ... where she thanked her family, team, and fans for all their love and support since her diagnosis.

Celine was diagnosed with SPS in 2022, and she's been fighting tooth and nail to cope with the autoimmune disorder, even pulling the plug on her tour to prioritize her health.

The truth is ... she has her good days, and bad ones too during this battle. Her sister has said at times Celine is suffering and completely immobilized.

Olivia Culpo is baring it all in order to drum up interest in her upcoming clothing line ... rockin' nothing but a tiny bikini bottom in a steamy new ad.

Christian McCaffrey's fiancée posted the short commercial on her Instagram page Friday morning ... and, yeah, it's spicy, to say the least.

You can see the former Miss Universe champion sitting by a pool with her top off ... posing for a camera placed strategically behind her.

In a subsequent IG post, Culpo explained it was all to help sell her Montce x Culpo '24 Collection -- which officially drops on March 25.

This ain't the first sexy advert Culpo has taken part in this week ... on Tuesday, she and McCaffrey posed for some sweaty shots to help hawk Bodyarmor's new zero-sugar drink.

It could be one of the last times, however, that Culpo films as an unmarried woman.

Travis Hunter is the early leader in the clubhouse for Son of the Year ... the college football star blessed his mom with a big, brand-new home, and her reaction was priceless!

The Colorado Buffaloes cornerback and receiver surprised his mother over St. Patrick's Day weekend when his family, plus fiancee Leanne, took a trip to Savannah, GA, to celebrate the holiday.

Hunter took his whole family to view the massive house, and while they were there, he gave his mom a card to read aloud ... and when she was done, confetti flew everywhere.

That's when mom realized the house was hers ... and she completely lost her mind when Trav handed her the keys!

"Y'all got me good," Hunter's mom said about the surprise. "Wooooo!!!!"

Hunter, 20, noted the "nice ass house" -- 5 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths -- was one of the two biggest purchases he's ever made.

Travis is a super generous person. Last year he got his fiancee a custom Hello Kitty Tesla along with a massive diamond ring when he proposed in February.

Hunter obviously isn't paid to play football yet (just wait), but he has benefited from several NIL deals, including one with Michael Strahan's company.

The money is well-deserved ... TH is one of the most talented and versatile athletes in all of college football. In fact, under Deion Sanders' tutelage at Jackson State and Colorado, he's racked up 5 interceptions and 50 total tackles in two seasons as a DB.

On offense, Hunter has 911 receiving yards and nine touchdowns ... and was awarded the 2023 Paul Hornung Award for being the most high-level performer in college football.

Jake Paul believes his boxing match against Mike Tyson is one for the history books ... saying the upcoming event with the combat legend will be "the biggest fight the world will ever see."

The Problem Child made the eye-popping statement on his latest episode of "BS with Jake Paul" this week ... in response to Conor McGregor's recent claim that there's a lack of interest in the bout.

Jake says the social media stats prove the UFC superstar is wrong ... and considering the whole thing will be available to Netflix's 260 million subscribers, it could go down as the most-watched event in the sport's history.

In fact, when he was asked if the Tyson fight would do better than Conor's Pay-Per-View fight against Floyd Mayweather ... Jake said it will undoubtedly outperform the 2017 spectacle.

"It'll be more viewed, 1,000%," Jake said. "For sure."

Jake made note of the fact they won't be able to compare PPV numbers, as the fight is free on the streaming service ... but in terms of eyeballs, he's going to run circles around Floyd vs. Conor.

FYI -- Conor's foray into the ring with Floyd had 4.3 million PPV buys ... and TBE's fight against Manny Pacquiao (the best-selling fight of all time) saw 4.6 million purchases.

Jake said the coverage leading up to the July 20 bout backs his stance ... and there are 10x more articles about the Tyson event than Conor's last fight announcement.

"No fight ever has done these numbers in terms of face-off views, Instagram reels," Jake said. "Just on our main pages alone, it's like 50-60 million Instagram views on both of our posts. Not to mention every single other sports page posting it, that's never happened in the history of the sport, to reach those numbers."

"So this is, in my mind, the biggest fight the world will ever see."

Jake said there's no need for anyone to be jealous ... 'cause, at the end of the day, he's helping the entire industry.

There's a lot more in the episode ... Jake also revealed he offered Tommy Fury a rematch, but his nemesis turned it down due to money.

News confirmed! Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler is finally happening!

Days after The Notorious told reporters he would fight Iron Mike this summer, 37-year-old Chandler joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1) ... and we asked him if McGregor was being truthful, or just blowing smoke.

"I've got the official announcement. It's happening this summer," Chandler said, adding, "I can't tell you the actual date, but it's happening this summer!"

We followed up ... so it's official?!

"We have an agreement. We are fighting this summer."

Ears, meet music.

Of course, the Michael and Conor fight has been in the works forever ... going back to mid-2023 when the men coached opposite one another on "The Ultimate Fighter."

So, Conor the coach has been relatively active ... but not necessarily the fighter. That's because in addition to shooting the highly anticipated "Road House" remake (which dropped yesterday on Prime), McGregor was also healing up.

Remember, McGregor gruesomely broke his lower leg during his UFC 264 scrap with Dustin Poirier in July 2021. That was his last fight.

As for Chandler, he too last faced Poirier ... in November 2022.

Bottom line, both guys are ready to get back in the Octagon ... and although the date isn't publicly known, it's not that far off (check out the clip -- we also talk about which weight class the fight will be contested in.)

We're finally at the finish line here at TMZ, and we're finishing strong with our TV topics.

First, we got "TMZ Live" ... where Charles and Harvey talked about the brewing drama among Michael Jackson's surviving family members -- particularly, between his son Blanket and his mother Katherine ... who are at odds in court over attorney's fees and who should pay.

Next up, we got "TMZ on TV" ... where the gang discussed a miraculous breakthrough from Neuralink -- namely, its first human subject ... and they have video proving the tech works!

Finally, on "TMZ Sports" ... Babcock and Mojo talked about the Shohei Ohtani scandal.

Check your local listings for when TMZ is on in your area or catch up on past episodes!

Rejoice, Eagles fans ... the NFL is NOT banning the "Tush Push" play -- at least, not in 2024.

NFL exec Troy Vincent announced Thursday that league officials will not hear a proposal on the play at its annual meeting in Orlando next week ... clearing the way for Philadelphia to keep using their ultra-effective quarterback sneak for next season.

Of course, there were plenty around the game who wanted to see it kicked out ... as it wasn't exactly the most fun play for fans to watch -- and hardly the safest for players to execute either.

But Vincent made it clear ... the play is here to stay for now -- explaining, "There wasn’t the sort of injury data that would give the committee the opportunity to make a decision."

The Eagles popularized the play starting in the 2022 season ... letting Jalen Hurts burrow behind Jason Kelce and the rest of the Eagles' O-line to pick up key first-downs on short-yardage plays.

Some have wondered how effective the play will be with Kelce now retired -- but the Eagles will almost certainly try to find out plenty next season now that it'll be allowed.

There could be several rule changes still coming, however ... officials are slated to decide on hip-drop tackles, kickoff regulations and much more in sit-downs next week.

Prosecutors have charged a third man in connection to the death of Lisa Lopez-Galvan and injuries to more than two dozen others at the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl parade last month ... with officials tracking down the suspect using surveillance footage, social media and cell phone data.

20-year-old Kansas City native Terry Young was charged with second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of armed criminal action for his alleged role in the tragedy ... after he was accused of pulling out a gun and firing several times during the shooting.

According to court docs, officials claim surveillance footage shows an individual brandishing a firearm during a verbal argument ... which led Young to reveal his own weapon, walk toward them, and pull the trigger.

Detectives were able to identify Young by scouring his social media profiles and YouTube videos ... which showed him wearing the same green and yellow teddy bear backpack he allegedly had during the parade.

Detectives also obtained search warrants for two other suspects' cell phones ... and discovered a group chat in which a number believed to be Young's sent a text that read "I dropped dat n**** first shot."

Officials got access to Young's Facebook, as well ... and they say it featured videos of him with firearms and other suspects in the shooting.

Young was arrested on Wednesday ... and prosecutors requested he be held on $1 million cash bond.

As we previously reported, Lyndell Mays, Dominic Miller and two juveniles have also been hit with charges stemming from the shooting.

The Detroit Lions have released Cameron Sutton ... just one day after it was revealed cops are looking to arrest him following an alleged domestic violence incident in Florida.

The NFL org announced the roster decision on Thursday ... without providing any further comment.

As we previously reported, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office began looking for Sutton earlier this month ... after a woman alleged that back on March 7, he roughed her up during a violent encounter.

Police say despite attempts to call Sutton and locate him at his Pinellas County residence ... they haven't had any luck getting a hold of him -- and they're now seeking the public's help to find him.

If and when he's caught, the HCSO said in a statement he's facing a charge of domestic battery by strangulation.

Sutton -- a 29-year-old Univ. of Tennessee alum -- was selected by the Steelers in the third round of the 2017 draft. Last March, he inked a three-year deal worth $33 million to play for Detroit.