ESPN

If you thought Eli Manning flipping the bird on "Monday Night Football" pissed off America, just wait 'til you hear about all the people upset with Marshawn Lynch dropping f-bombs.

Just kidding.

Two total viewers throughout the country wrote in to the Federal Communications Commission after Lynch said "s***" and "f***" while hanging out with Peyton and Eli on their Week 7 broadcast of the "ManningCast" ... with one, in particular, going OFF in their complaint.

"NFL Player Marshawn Lynch made an appearance on 'Monday Night Football' with Peyton & Eli and repeatedly said 's***' and 'f***' on live prime time television," someone from Dahlonega, Georgia said.

"I had children in the room at the time and I am very upset that ESPN allowed Marshawn Lynch to repeatedly curse on live TV. I have an expectation when I turn on ESPN that I will not have to remove children from the room."

There's more ... "ESPN could have warned him of the rules for live television in advance, monitored his speech and conduct when he was on the air, and removed him immediately after the first curse word was uttered. This is totally unacceptable!"

The pissed viewer said the network needs to be "sternly punished for violating FCC regulations" ... although the FCC actually has no jurisdiction over ESPN or ESPN2.

The viewer even points out other times the "ManningCast" has had issues with swearing -- perhaps Eli's double bird or Travis Kelce's s-bomb.

The complaint continued ... "Issuing an apology from Peyton is insufficient because it can't take back what my children heard from Marshawn Lynch."

The other complaint -- from Greensboro, North Carolina -- was also passionate, but a bit briefer in getting their point across.

"The ESPN2 broadcast on Monday night was laced with vulgar words from Marshawn Lynch," it reads. "Peyton Manning apologized for it, but there is no place on this type of show at this hour for this language."

Great sight for hoops fans last night -- legendary college broadcaster Dick Vitale made his return to the broadcast booth amid an ongoing cancer battle ... and the scene was emotional.

Vitale -- who battled melanoma earlier this year -- revealed back in October that he was battling another form of the disease ... and would be required to undergo six months of chemotherapy treatment.

Dickie V announced that he would continue to call games even during his treatment for lymphoma ... saying "That's my best medicine of all," and on Tuesday, he kept true to his promise.

Vitale was on hand last night to call the highly-touted matchup between #1 Gonzaga and #2 UCLA ... and naturally, it was a special moment.

In the video, you can see an emotional Dickie V fighting back tears as he was overwhelmed with emotion ... detailing how he felt during his first college game since his most recent diagnosis.

"It's great being here, Dave. I didn't want to cry," Vitale said. "I can't believe I'm sitting here. It's really a big thrill for me."

82-year-old Dickie V also said he never thought he'd be at courtside again following the diagnosis, but the support from ESPN, his family and the fans made his return possible.

"I want to thank all you people who sent me so many great messages. I want to thank, certainly, my family. All the fans."

Legendary college hoops broadcaster Dick Vitale just revealed he has cancer again ... just months after beating another form of the disease in August.

"For the second time in just a few months, I've been diagnosed with a form of cancer," Dickie V said on Monday.

"As a result of some symptoms I've had in recent weeks, I've been undergoing tests and doctors have now confirmed it's lymphoma."

The 82-year-old says medical professionals don't believe the lymphoma is related to the skin cancer he had multiple surgeries on in August.

"What's evident is that the treatment plan for this lymphoma is going to be a lot tougher, and in both cases, early detection played an important role in helping to manage the cancers."

The ESPN great says he will do six months of chemotherapy and treat his lymphoma with steroids -- and, some good news ... "The medical experts tell me it has a 90-percent cure rate," he added.

"They say I can continue to work so I will have to manage my work schedule around my chemo schedule as they will monitor my test results along the way."

Dickie V says early detection is key to getting treatment for the deadly disease ... something he's learned from working with the V Foundation.

"If you see me, please just give me a fist bump and say a prayer that I can return from being 82 years old to acting like I'm 12. Thanks so much for your love."

Ashton Kutcher was invited to an ESPN set this weekend to share his thoughts on college football -- but all he got in return from the crowd was some harsh advice on his hygiene.

The actor got tapped by the network to be the guest prediction picker ahead of Saturday's slate of games, especially the big Iowa matchup later today between Iowa State and the University of Iowa -- with the latter being Ashton's alma mater.

As soon as AK touched down by jet and was revealed as the big surprise for the broadcast, he got torched by the college crowd that were standing by at Jack Trice Stadium.

They were chanting "Take a shower!" pretty damn loudly ... which the mics on set were picking up and broadcasting while Ashton was being intro'd. Doesn't seem like he heard it right then and there, but don't sweat ... the Cyclone fans had another go at it.

Not too long after, Ashton eventually plopped down on his chair for the pre-game panel ... where he was talking football and charities of his -- and there, too, the "Take a Shower!" chant picked up again. This time, it was way closer ... and Ashton probably heard.

He didn't flinch ... acting as if it didn't bother him. And, who knows ... maybe it doesn't. The guy already made fun of himself over the whole bathing fiasco earlier this summer.

ICYMI ... Ashton and Mila Kunis revealed back in July that they didn't really wash their kids daily, and only threw 'em in the shower as they saw fit, or if they saw noticeable dirt. It sparked a huge debate about kids and cleanliness -- but the Kutchers took it in stride.

Todd McShay just announced he's temporarily stepping away from his role at ESPN ... just 3 days after viewers expressed concern over his appearance at the Alabama-Miami game.

McShay was reporting from the sideline during the big college football matchup ... when fans -- including ex-NFL player Darius Butler -- noticed things looked off with the reporter.

"I don't know Todd McShay personally," Butler said, "but I hope he's ok."

It's unclear if McShay's announcement Tuesday is in any way related to the concerns over his television appearance ... the longtime ESPN reporter said only, "I am going to take some time away to focus on my health and my family."

"Thank you ESPN for being so supportive and for all the well wishes -- I can't wait to be back on the sidelines soon."

ESPN announced it's fully supporting McShay's decision ... adding in a statement of their own, "Todd has ESPN's full support as he steps away at this time to focus on his health and his family."

McShay has battled health problems in the past year ... he tested positive for COVID in early 2020, and he was also removed from his role as a sideline reporter during a game in November due to illness.

Started from the bottom, now he's taking over "Monday Night Football" ... 'cause Drake is teaming up with ESPN to curate music for the upcoming season!!

The announcement just dropped minutes ago ... with the network saying the 6 God will be in charge of the aux cord for 10 games throughout the 2021-22 campaign.

ESPN says Drake will feature his newest songs and possibly some classics ... and while he has more than enough tracks to fill that demand, he'll also feature some other artists worthy of getting exposure.

Of course, this isn't the first collab between Drake and ESPN -- he "hacked" into "SportsCenter" last month to share the release date for his newest album, "Certified Lover Boy," ... which is doing record-breaking numbers in its first week.

"Now we are here ... the kickoff of the football season," ESPN's VP of Sports Marketing, Emeka Ofodile, said Tuesday. "And, who better to curate music for Monday Night Football than Drake, who sits firmly at the intersection of music and sports."

BTW -- Drake is a massive sports fanatic and can be spotted passionately cheering at sporting events ... so it's a safe bet he'll put that same energy into his new gig.

"We couldn't be more excited for this upcoming collaboration," Ofodile added.

Big names like Diplo and DJ Khaled have shared music duties in previous years ... which ESPN said was a "big hit."

Paul Pierce is NOT sorry for posting a bunch of booty-shakin' women on his Instagram Live earlier this year ... saying he was just having some harmless adult fun.

The 43-year-old NBA legend posted a kinda NSFW video from inside a friend's home after a night of drinking and smoking back in April ... showing a group of barely-clothed ladies twerking and dancing.

The video went viral on social media ... and ESPN parted ways with The Truth shortly after.

Now, Pierce is opening up on the days following the incident ... saying his agent recommended he apologize -- in case it would affect Hall of Fame voting -- but he elected not to.

"Come on, I didn’t do anything illegal," Pierce told Sports Illustrated. “These motherf***ers in the Hall of Fame, some did [cocaine], f***ing battery. What the f*** did I do? I was just having a good time."

"All the people coming after me, half you motherf***ers do the same s***. You’re just hiding it. And, you all are married while you’re doing it. I’m divorced. I’m retired. I’m having fun."

Of course, the vid had zero impact on getting Pierce into the Hall -- he's set to be enshrined alongside Chris Bosh and Chris Webber this weekend -- but if it did, he says it would have been "the biggest stiff job in Hall of Fame history."

Pierce had previously told us he's poised to make a BIG comeback ... but as for now, he's remained off the TV.

Rachel Nichols is out of a TV hosting gig, but not the big paycheck that comes with it -- 'cause TMZ Sports has learned the network will honor Nichols' deal, and continue to pay her.

Nichols -- who's been with ESPN since 2004 -- was removed from the network's NBA coverage on Wednesday ... and saw her show, "The Jump" canceled.

Question is, with all her current responsibilities taken away, what's the veteran TV host and reporter's future with ESPN?

The answer ... well, no decision has been made.

Our ESPN sources tell us that while Nichols was solely concentrating on the NBA, the network has not yet decided whether they will use her in another capacity.

We're told Nichols' contract doesn't expire anytime in the near future -- and rather than try and find a way out from underneath the lucrative deal -- ESPN has decided to continue to pay the star TV anchor.

Of course, Nichols was at the center of an explosive controversy back in June ... when the NY Times released audio of Rachel venting to a top PR consultant about fellow ESPN employee, Maria Taylor.

Nichols was heard blasting ESPN for attempting to move her aside to make way for Taylor -- a Black woman -- in light of the current racial climate and the network's "crappy longtime record on diversity," as Nichols phrased it on the recording.

As for Taylor, she turned down a big-money offer from ESPN, and left for NBC.

Nichols acknowledged the move on social media, writing ... "Got to create a whole show and spend five years hanging out with some of my favorite people, talking about one my favorite things."

"An eternal thank you to our amazing producers & crew — The Jump was never built to last forever but it sure was fun. More to come..."

ESPN recently charged Senior VP Dave Roberts with overseeing their NBA coverage. We're told the decision was ultimately made by Roberts.

On Wednesday, Roberts issued a short statement on the shakeup, saying both sides "mutually agreed that this approach regarding our NBA coverage was best for all concerned."

Roberts continued ... "Rachel is an excellent reporter, host and journalist, and we thank her for her many contributions to our NBA content."

Nichols reportedly has about a year remaining on the deal ... and will likely have no trouble finding work when her current deal expires.

Dana White says it was a "massive f*** up" by the UFC for NOT showing former President Donald Trump during the Conor McGregor fight card.

The UFC prez tells TMZ Sports the flub was a mix of his production team dropping the ball, a technical issue, and the unpredictability of live television.

The way Dana explains it ... there was a plan in place to show Trump sitting near the Octagon. Cameras were supposed to pan from some big-name celebrities to the former Prez ... but things didn't go according to script.

“We were getting ready to show him right between the co-main and main events, I think you remember that we showed OBJ. We showed OBJ, then it was supposed to go to David Spade, 2 Chainz, and then the president, and we had some kinda glitch in the truck. Then the Conor fight ended up ending in the 2nd round so we never got a chance."

White continued ... "Let me tell you what, massive f*** up by my production team, but ya know, it’s live TV and these things happen.”

We obtained video of DT arriving at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas midway through the main card ... and you see Trump being greeted by Dana and getting a nice ovation from the packed crowd.

But, Trump was never seen on the broadcast ... leading some to speculate there was something nefarious going on with the ESPN broadcast.

Dana says that's NOT the case ... telling us any former president deserves to be shown on TV, regardless of political affiliation.

Rachel Nichols has apologized to fellow ESPN colleague, Maria Taylor, on national television -- this after a bombshell NYT report -- and ex-NBA stars Kendrick Perkins and Richard Jefferson were there to add their two cents.

The veteran NBA anchor took a moment Monday on "The Jump" to address the Times' story from this weekend -- which shed light on drama at the sports network over the past year ... this following recorded controversial remarks Rachel made surrounding Maria, who's Black.

Right off the bat, RN acknowledged she didn't like that she'd become the story ... but owned up to it nonetheless, saying she was deeply sorry to anyone she let down with her comments, especially Maria. Rachel added she was grateful to be part of the ESPN team.

Perk and Rich took it from there ... with the former chiming in first, thanking Rachel for taking responsibility for her actions, and relaying to the audience that he knew her heart -- while also pointing out he'd always felt comfortable in her presence. He also shouted out Maria, whom he said was deserving of every opportunity that came her way ... and that he hoped they could all support each other going forward. RJ echoed those sentiments as well.

He ended on a somewhat sobering note though, saying he, Rachel and others at ESPN have had hard convos of late in regards to this ... and that they'll continue to have hard convos. Rachel thanked them for their POVs, and they continued on with NBA Finals coverage.

The response comes on the heels of surfaced audio, which depicts Rachel having a candid conversation with LeBron James' PR advisor, Adam Mendelsohn, last year during the playoffs ... during which Rachel expressed frustration that ESPN was looking to have Maria share hosting duties with her during the Finals -- something Rachel likened to a "diversity" move.

Rachel Nichols -- a star anchor for ESPN, covering all things NBA -- was caught on camera last year talking to LeBron James' publicist about how to prevent a fellow female anchor, who's Black, from taking over her job during the Finals ... and the fallout seems devastating.

The New York Times published a bombshell report Sunday, detailing the drama at the sports network over the past year and change ... this after a video of Nichols talking to Adam Mendelsohn was secretly recorded by an ESPN employee, leaked ... and spread like wildfire.

Nichols was working/filming from a hotel room last May just as the NBA Playoffs were getting underway (due to the pandemic) and it appears she left her camera on somehow, and the thing was still recording when she had this chat with Mendelsohn ... with the feed going back to the ESPN studio, where somebody captured the damning words exchanged.

In the first snippet posted by the Times, you can hear Nichols venting to Mendelsohn -- who's a PR/comms wiz -- about how ESPN had approached her with the idea of doing sideline reporting during the Finals that year, as opposed to hosting -- a task Nichols has shared on and off lately with Maria Taylor, another rising star ... who's African-American.

Check out the convo ... Nichols basically says she declined ESPN's offer, because she knew it would make way for Maria to handle hosting duties full-time, essentially pushing Nichols out of the picture ... something she was clearly not down for, as she wanted to maintain her gig.

Nichols goes on to say of Maria shortly thereafter ... "If you need to give her more things to do because you are feeling pressure about your crappy longtime record on diversity -- which, by the way, I know personally from the female side of it -- like, go for it." She adds, "Just find it somewhere else. You are not going to find it from me or taking my thing away."

In a 2nd audio snipped ... Mendelsohn is heard giving advice to Nichols about how she could frame the dynamic of ESPN pitting two females against each other in order to gain leverage, even if it would potentially be at Maria's expense. He also had some interesting thoughts on #MeToo and BLM, saying he had "nothing left" and was exhausted ... in what sounds like what he (and perhaps Nichols) considered phony pandering/appeasing at the executive level.

After this video/audio was spread around among ESPN workers internally, it eventually reached the higher ranks ... and the NYT reports the network has been in damage control mode ever since, with fears that Nichols might sue -- and that Taylor might leave entirely.

Joey Chestnut is again a hot dog eating-champion, breaking his own record for a stunning 76 wieners ... something that would've been great to see, but made impossible by ESPN.

The annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest was held once more Sunday -- a 4th of July tradition now -- and JC was gunning for an even higher count than last year's haul ... which clocked in at 75, a new world record at the time. In 2021, he surpassed it by one.

Joey was scarfing down dogs on camera, but when the crucial moment arrived for hot dogs 75 and 76 ... the broadcast glitched up big time, and a still shot of Joey stayed frozen on screen for a good few seconds. Moments later, time had jumped ... and everyone missed it.

As incredible of a feat it was for Joey, his performance was unfortunately outshined by the technical issue ... which is going more viral than even Joey is right now. Some folks captured the flub live and reposted it on the internet ... and yeah, it's as bad as they're making it out to be.

Anyway ... congrats to Joey for taking the big prize (again) and holding on tightly to the belt. It's not an easy task, especially when you're pretty much tasked with one-upping your own stomach year after year ... something he's done successfully for quite a long time now.

It's the end of an era ... Kenny Mayne announced he's leaving ESPN after an epic 27-year run.

"I am leaving ESPN," Mayne tweeted Monday ... "Salary cap casualty."

61-year-old Mayne -- who started at ESPN in 1994 -- thanked former ESPN execs Vince Doria and Al Jaffe for helping him get hired back in the day ... and also praised the current staff.

"I will miss the people. I will miss the vending machine set up over by the old [Scott Van Pelt] joint. We had everything. IntoTheGreatWideOpen#."

Kenny is one of the most popular ESPN personalities ever -- both as an anchor of SportsCenter and as a feature reporter.

In fact, he was so popular, Mayne was tapped for "Dancing with the Stars" back in 2006 ... but was the first to be eliminated. But, the audience loved him and he would occasionally come back to the show for hilarious cameos.

Before ESPN, Mayne was a pretty solid QB back at Wenatchee Valley Community College in Washington and later played at UNLV.

Mayne signed a free-agent deal with the Seattle Seahawks in 1982, according to ESPN ... but eventually decided on a career in broadcasting.

There will be no pity party for Paul Pierce -- the NBA legend's not wasting any time sulking over his departure from ESPN ... insisting he's already on the verge of a major comeback.

"Truth gonna bounce back like never before ... that's all you gotta know," so claimed "The Truth" on his way out of Il Pastaio restaurant in Beverly Hills Friday night.

So what's Paul's big move?? Well, we know Barstool Sports is making a recruiting push. In fact, Dave Portnoy personally tweeted out to Pierce just hours after his split with ESPN ... urging him to hit him up.

Pierce wouldn't dish out any details of his next gig after dinner though, but whatever it is ... he's pretty fired up about it.

As we reported ... ESPN parted ways with Pierce last week, though the network wouldn't reveal the reason for its decision.

Paul Pierce's run with ESPN is officially over -- the network is parting ways with the ex-NBA superstar just days after Pierce posted a racy twerk session with some scantily clad women on Instagram.

Unclear if the video is the reason for Pierce's departure ... but it drew a lot of attention over the weekend.

Also worth noting -- the timing of the move is interesting ... especially since the NBA season is far from over.

Pierce spent the past 3.5 years with the network ... appearing on "NBA Countdown" and "The Jump."

The ex-Celtics forward seemingly addressed the split on Twitter just minutes ago ... saying, "Big Things coming soon stay tuned make sure u smile #Truthshallsetufree"

PP also shared a 4-second video with the message ... showing himself laughing and smiling.

Pierce played 19 seasons in the NBA before joining ESPN ... he was a 10-time All-Star and won a title alongside Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett in 2008. He was named NBA Finals MVP.

Like it or not, Floyd Mayweather is a genius -- and played the "game of boxing" better than anyone else in the history of the sport ... changing it forever, so says Max Kellerman.

There will always be an argument about who's the best pure boxer of all time -- Floyd? Muhammad Ali? Joe Louis? -- but when it comes to the business side of the sport, Max tells us there's only one name in the conversation.

"He retired undefeated. He made hundreds of millions of dollars. He never took a bad beating. He has a very good point that he's the best ever at playing the boxing game," the "First Take" star told us in NYC.

"Boxing, at its core, is basically fans and networks exploiting fighters. And, what Floyd and [his business partner] Al Haymon did is they flipped the paradigm around. They said 'No no, you're not gonna exploit us' -- in fact, the fighters, in this case, Floyd, are gonna exploit the fans and networks. 'I know you wanna see us in the maximum kinda risk situation but in fact, I wanna put myself in the minimum risk, maximum reward situation.'"

Max points out Floyd navigated his career masterfully with 3 main factors -- "The timing of when he picked the opponents, his boxing style and then, of course, his own excellence."

Think about it ... Floyd has some incredible names on his resume -- from Canelo Alvarez to Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao even Conor McGregor.

We also asked Max -- a boxing savant -- about the upcoming Gervonta Davis vs. Leo Santa Cruz fight ... and if he thinks Ryan Garcia would have a shot against Teofimo Lopez.