TMZ Sports - Page 50

Meghan Markle and Baby Archie joined forces with Auntie Kate Middleton and her brood for a play date of sorts -- with both the kids and their daddies horsin' around in a field.

The Duchesses linked up Wednesday at Billingbear Park in Wokingham, England, where Prince Harry and Prince William were playing a charity polo match -- opposite teams, naturally. They had the support of their entire fam as they galloped after the ball, mallets in hand and helmets intact.

As the Royal papas squared off, their wives and children looked on from the crowd ... and, let's be honest, probably stole the spotlight.

Meg showed up cradling her newborn, who was sporting a comfy-looking white outfit, with his chubby legs sticking out. Kate, meanwhile, had her hands full with at least two of her boys -- Prince George and Prince Louis, the latter in full walking mode.

It's one of the first times we've seen Archie hang out with his cousins -- although something tells us it's just a haze to him at this point. He is just two months old, after all.

Scary moment at the race track Tuesday ... Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s 18-year-old niece was involved in a horrific crash -- but miraculously escaped uninjured!!

It all went down at a USAC Racing event at Red Dirt Raceway in Oklahoma ... where Karsyn Elledge -- whose mom, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, is Jr.'s older sister -- flipped her sprint car multiple times over a barrier and fencing.

Elledge was coming down turn 3 at the track when she lost control ... causing her car to go airborne and tumble several yards OVER a wall before coming to a stop.

The video is crazy ... but, somehow, Elledge -- whose goal is to follow in her family's famous racing footsteps -- was able to walk away from the wreck under her own power.

"Tonight I am so very thankful that all my safety equipment did it's job & that my team built a safe car," Elledge wrote after the crash ... "Thank you to everyone who's reach out, I am sore, but most hurt is my pride."

It's great news ... seeing as the incident hits WAY too close to home for Earnhardt racing fans. Remember, it was just 18 years ago that Dale Sr. tragically passed away in a wreck at Daytona International Speedway.

Andrew McCutchen's wife threw him an All-Star party Tuesday since an injury wiped away his chances at a real ASG invite ... and the MLB stud's reaction to the gesture will make ya cry.

The Philadelphia Phillies outfielder tore his ACL back on June 3 ... immediately killing any chances the 32-year-old former MVP had of making Tuesday night's All-Star Game in Cleveland.

But, McCutchen's wife wasn't going to let that stop him from feeling special ... 'cause she threw him an AMAZING All-Star party of his own instead!!!

The bash had it all ... there was a custom "Cutch" sign, baseball-themed snacks, balloons, pizza and even a cake with a mini-McCutchen topper on it!!

The best part of the party ... McCutchen's reaction afterward -- 'cause the dude clearly wanted to shed a few tears after his wife went all-out for him.

"She took the time out of her life to do something like this for me. And, it means a lot. It means so much because you work so hard, you know?"

"And, to have an injury like this to where it gets wiped away -- all your work, everything you prepared for -- the year's just wiped away. And, for her to do this for me, it means the world to me. Honestly."

Megan Rapinoe and Team USA celebrated their World Cup victory with some MASSIVE bottles of champagne ... downin' bubbly and partying it up at the parade in NYC!!

Of course, it's the 4th World Cup victory for Team USA -- but this seems to be the biggest celebration yet ... the ratings for the women's World Cup in the U.S. were the biggest ever!

The champs pulled out all the stops for their big party -- with Rapinoe and her teammates passing around the huge gold bottle of Ace of Spades in the early hours of Wednesday's event.

The team took the stage following the parade and received keys to the city ... and Rapinoe -- who has publicly shared her issues with President Donald Trump -- shared a message of love for the crowd in attendance.

Team USA defeated the Netherlands 2-0 in the World Cup final. Rapinoe won the Golden Boot for scoring the most goals in the tourney ... and the girls have been celebrating the huge accomplishment ever since -- including a pool party with a bunch of dancing and rapping on Tuesday!!

Music of choice?? Some old Migos and Lizzo!!

The win had President Barack Obama pumped up for Team USA -- showing off his awesome custom jersey and saying, "Proud to rep America’s best team! Congrats @USWNT and thanks for being such a strong inspiration for women and girls—and everybody—all across the country."

Floyd Mayweather ain't mad or embarrassed about being put on his back by streetball legend Bone Collector -- telling TMZ Sports, "My bank account won't change!"

The boxing legend hit up a fashion show at Avalon in L.A. -- thrown by BoomCups -- just 1 night after the $50k Charity Challenge Celebrity Basketball Game ... where Bone crossed him up so hard, Mayweather hit the deck. 

"It was a cool move," Mayweather admitted ... "but did they tell you I got MVP? So, we gotta talk about me being MVP!"

He's right, Floyd did get MVP of the game and his team won by 40 points -- but all everyone is talking about is that viral clip with Bone Collector. 

"It was a good move, but that comes with the territory. It's not the NBA, and we live and we learn."

Floyd says he has nothing but respect for Bone -- "nothing but love" -- and he wishes him "nothing but the best."

And, in classic Floyd fashion, he tells us he takes solace in knowing he's still one of the wealthiest men in the history of pro sports ... and an international icon. 

"My name will live forever," Floyd said ... noting that he's famous everywhere from Tokyo to Africa. 

"Money May all f*cking day," he added. 

Oh, and one last comment just to make everyone else feel real poor ... 

Great news for UK soccer star Daniel Sturridge -- who was REUNITED with his beloved Pomeranian after the dog was jacked from his L.A. home Monday in an apparent burglary. 

The 29-year-old, who's been staying in a home in West Hollywood, had gone to social media to beg for his dog's safe return -- saying he'd pay ANY ransom money to get his pet back ... "It don't matter the cost."

But, Wednesday morning, Sturridge got a call from someone who claimed they had found little Lucci ... and wanted to return him. 

The LAPD tells TMZ Sports ... Sturridge is now in possession of the dog and he told cops he doesn't believe the person who returned the pet is the one who stole him in the first place. 

Unclear if Sturridge paid the ransom money or how the person who returned the dog got possession of Lucci in the first place. 

Cops say no arrests have been made in the case. Unclear if cops have identified any suspects. 

Sturridge had posted footage after the burglary showing a smashed door in his home -- the apparent entry point where the bad guys broke in. 

The soccer star also claims the burglars took other personal items from the house. Unclear if those other items have also been located. 

Sturridge recently played for Liverpool and has reportedly made more than $40 million in his pro soccer career. 

Megan Rapinoe finally responded to President Trump on Wednesay -- telling POTUS she feels Trump is dragging America back to a time of bigotry and hate. 

The Team USA soccer superstar appeared on CNN with Anderson Cooper and delivered a message directed at Trump:

"I would say that your message is excluding people," Rapinoe said ... "You're excluding me, you're excluding people that look like me, you're excluding people of color, you're excluding Americans that maybe support you."

Both Rapinoe and Anderson Cooper are openly gay -- and pointed out how terribly gay people in America were treated in the past. 

Rapinoe touched on that in her message to Trump ... 

"I think that we need to have a reckoning with the message that you have and what you're saying about 'Making America Great Again.' I think that you're harking back to an era that was not great for everyone -- it might have been great for a few people, and maybe America is great for a few people right now, but it's not great for enough Americans in this world."

She continued ... "You have an incredible responsibility as the chief of this country to take care of every single person, and you need to do better for everyone."

Of course, Trump had criticized Rapinoe on Twitter after she said she wouldn't be going to the "f*cking White House" if Team USA won the World Cup. 

Cooper asked if she still felt that way -- and if other teammates stood behind her. 

"I would not go, and every teammate that I've talked to explicitly about it would not go," Rapinoe said.

"I don't think anyone on the team has any interest in lending the platform that we've worked so hard to build, and the things that we fight for, and the way that we live our life -- I don't think that we want that to be co-opted or corrupted by this administration."

However, Rapinoe says the team is interested in meeting with U.S. leaders in D.C. and WOULD accept invitations from other politicians. 

Ex-NBA star Gilbert Arenas was involved in a WILD car crash over the weekend -- where a Toyota flipped on its head -- but TMZ Sports has learned, miraculously, nobody was seriously hurt.

We're told a RAV4 collided with Arenas' pricey Maybach at around 2:55 PM on the 101 freeway in Encino, California on Sunday.

The RAV4 appeared to brush up on Arenas' rear quarter panel before it rolled onto its head ... and the footage of the aftermath is crazy.

You can see the mangled Toyota lying wrongside up in the middle of the freeway -- with Arenas' supercar severely dented in the back.

Fortunately for everyone involved, we're told there were only minor injuries suffered -- with Arenas not even listed as hurt.

For his part, Gilbert seemed to joke about the whole ordeal on social media afterward, saying, "@thebig3 the ghost ballers musta sent a killer to stop me since they couldn't."

Turns out Lewis Hamilton hasn't added another name to the ridiculous list of hot women he's dated, because reports he's hooking up with bikini model Zahra Elise are untrue ... so says Zahra.

Lewis has been connected to a bevy of beautiful women in the past such as Nicki Minaj, Kendall Jenner, and Nicole Scherzinger, so when outlets saw him hanging out with Zahra at Kevin Hart's 40th bday party this past weekend, they thought it was on. 

It's not on ... we spoke to Zahra, a huge model on IG with 1 million followers, and she says she's known Hamilton for years, and it was all innocent.

"Just friends, saw each other at the same party, and just decided to hang out. Nothing romantic."

As for reports they left the party together, also not true says Zahra. Saying that while they left at the same time, they did so in separate cars. 

We've included a gallery of Zahra below ... and we gotta say, Lewis Hamilton has different "just friends" than we do. SHEESH. 

Kendall Jenner and Lakers star Kyle Kuzma might like yacht rock, but the yacht they were on together was NOT rocking -- not from them hooking up, anyway.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ ... those 4th of July pics of Kendall and Kyle yachting off the coast of Malibu last week were kinda deceiving. The closeup shots certainly made it seem like Kendall and Kyle were having a romantic day at sea -- but the wider shots revealed more. As you can see there were others on board. 

We're told this was a friendly outing for about 20 people, and that's it -- Kendall has not hooked into a new NBA BF on the heels of her split from Ben Simmons. The other guests were mostly Kendall's GFs, plus a few guys.

As we told you, once they got back to shore, Kuzma was spotted at a house party with Kendall. Again ... with more friends. A few days later, she was back in the ocean -- but all the way over in Greece and sans Kuzma.

Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout is honoring Tyler Skaggs during the All-Star Game on Tuesday ... sporting the late pitcher's #45 jersey when he takes the field.

Skaggs tragically died last week in his team hotel room in Texas. Details surrounding his death are still unclear ... but the news shook many teams, players and managers throughout the MLB.

Trout -- who usually wears #27 -- and injured Angels infielder Tommy La Stella will don Skaggs' digits on their backs during Tuesday night's ASG as a tribute to their teammate.

Trout shared his condolences last week ... saying "Words cannot express the deep sadness we feel right now."

"Remembering him as a great teammate, friend, and person who will forever remain in our hearts... we love you, 45."

UFC double-champ Henry Cejudo says he wants to add MORE gold to his collection -- and if that means fighting Amanda Nunes, he's DOWN! 

He seems like he's joking ... but maybe not! 

After all, Cejudo usually fights at 125 pounds. And, Amanda's last fight was at 135 pounds. And, since she's got the women's bantamweight and featherweight belts, Henry is calling her out!

"If Amanda Nunes wants to get it too? Valentina [Shevchenko]? I'm calling you guys out too. I take no prisoners."

Of course, Cejudo already holds the titles in the UFC's bantamweight and flyweight divisions -- plus, he's got an Olympic gold medal -- but he's a self-described "gold-digger" and he's very greedy!

In all seriousness, Cejudo says he wants to fight the winner of the upcoming Max Holloway vs. Frankie Edgar featherweight title fight at UFC 240 later this month. 

Cejudo says Holloway would pose a greater challenge because of the obvious height difference -- but tells TMZ Sports he still thinks he could win. 

"The fight would have to be so strategic," Cejudo says ... "But, he can get it too, man!"

Cejudo says his goal is to be known as the greatest combat sports athlete of all time. 

There's more ... we also asked Henry to break down that crazy Jorge Masvidal knockout of Ben Askren ... and he demonstrated on one of TMZ staffers (Lucas!). 

Don't miss the "TMZ Sports" TV show -- weeknights on FS1. 

Presidential candidate Julian Castro says there's an easy explanation for Megan Rapinoe's standoff with President Trump, and it won't change until 1600 Penn. gets a new resident.

Castro joined us on "TMZ Live" and said there's some pretty clear symbolism to Megan and the U.S. Women's Soccer Team skipping White House photo ops. He says it's simply a byproduct of Trump's "horrendous" and "divisive" policies.

As you know ... team captain Megan made it clear she's not down for a victory lap at the White House to commemorate winning the World Cup. 

Since Trump took office, 20 major sports teams have been crowned champions ... but only half of them celebrated with POTUS, and one of them -- the NBA's Golden State Warriors -- chose to hang with Obama instead.

Castro's told us he wants teams to be proud again to hang with POTUS -- the way they were when Barack Obama and every other Prez, for that matter, was in office. 

Well, this about seals it ... NFL star Christian McCaffrey and model Olivia Culpo holding hands in Mexico, confirming what everyone suspected -- they're dating and they're beautiful together. 

Seriously, look at these people ... she's one of the hottest models on the planet and the Carolina Panthers running back looks like he was sculpted out of granite. It's insane.

There have been rumblings about the two getting close recently ... and we know they've been in Cabo together for the past few days -- but these are the first pics of Olivia and Christian showing affection. 

The 23-year-old football star is coming off a stellar 2nd season in the NFL -- he rushed for more than 1,000 yards in 2018. 

27-year-old Culpo is coming off a wild breakup with 33-year-old NFL star Danny Amendola, a wide receiver for the Detroit Lions. 

Of course, Culpo was the 2012 Miss Universe winner. She was also a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition model and was recently named #1 on the Maxim Hot 100 list. 

No word on how long they've been seeing each other or how they met -- but who cares, it's on now and that's all that matters. 

"You don't respect it, you will get collected." 

That's Bone Collector -- the street ball legend who put Floyd Mayweather on his back Monday -- telling TMZ Sports he still can't really believe he crossed up The Best Ever!

"Floyd Mayweather is the richest ankle I've ever collected," Bone tells us. 

Of course, Bone's highlight at the $50k Charity Challenge celebrity basketball game has gone super viral ... everyone's praising the only pro athlete to ever drop Mayweather in any sport, EVER!

So, how did Floyd react after the embarrassing fall? Bone says the guy acted like a true pro -- he got up and continued to ball out. 

"He came back and played hard," Bone says ... "After that it was more of a mutual respect thing."

Bone says he kinda feels bad for Floyd because the two are good friends and he didn't want to humiliate the guy ... but on the other hand he's LOVING all of the praise he's getting!

In fact, Bone says everyone from Snoop to Nate Robinson to Rob Gronkowski dog-piled on him after the move in one of the coolest moments of his life. 

Tyreek Hill is now saying he NEVER roughed up his GF in a 2014 domestic violence incident that he pled guilty to back in 2015 ... saying, "Did I pick you up and slam you? Hell no."

It's all in new audio released by Kansas City radio station 610 KCSP ... which reveals more of the secret recording that was leaked several months ago between Hill and his fiancee, Crystal Espinal.

"You was in my house. And, did I pick you up and slam you? Hell no, I picked you up and put you out my door and after that you left," the K.C. Chiefs star says in the new portion of the audio. "And, on my son you did that, bro. And then you get in the courtroom, you want to sit up there and cry on the stand. ‘He hit me, he hit me.’ Man, come on, bro.”

Tyreek -- who was an Oklahoma State running back at the time -- pled guilty in August 2015 after he was accused of choking and punching a pregnant Espinal in Dec. 2014.

As part of the plea deal, Hill was sentenced to 3 years probation and ordered to complete a 52-week domestic violence program. When he successfully completed his sentence in 2018, the charge was wiped from his record. 

But, the new recordings show Hill is adamant he didn't do the crime ... with the NFL superstar telling Espinal, "Did I hit you? Tell me the truth in my eyes right now. Look at me." 

The first portion of the secret recording was released by a local Kansas City TV station in late April, and it showed an argument between Hill and Espinal over injuries their son suffered.

The NFL and the Chiefs are reportedly aware of the new version of the audio ... and an investigation into the child abuse allegations are still ongoing.

Hill has reportedly already met with Roger Goodell over the accusations ... sitting down with the NFL commissioner for 8 hours last week.

As for Tyreek, he's strongly denied ever hurting his son ... and in the new portion of the audio, he says, "You know how I am with [our son]."