TMZ Sports - Page 50

Sad (but expected) news from the WNBA ... the 2020 season has been officially pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But there's a silver lining -- the virtual draft slated for April 17 will still go on as planned, the league announced Friday.

“As developments continue to emerge around the COVID-19 pandemic, including the extension of the social distancing guidelines in the United States through April 30, the WNBA will postpone the start of its training camps and top of the regular season originally scheduled for May 15," commish Cathy Engelbert said.

The league will now focus on the draft in 2 weeks ... with Engelbert explaining it's important for the event to happen as scheduled.

"This virtual draft allows players who have worked so hard to have their dreams realized when they hear their names called and provides teams the opportunity to build their rosters in anticipation of the day that we are able to move forward with our season."

Pete Alonso just poured his heart out about missing Mets baseball in an epic rant on social media ... and the speech is so legendary, WE'RE READY TO RUN THROUGH A WALL RIGHT NOW!!

(But we can't because we're essentially confined to our homes)

The NY superstar says he's been watching 2019 Mets highlights every night since the league suspended play over coronavirus ... and he says he CANNOT wait to get back on the diamond.

In fact ... the 25-year-old, who hit a rookie record 53 home runs last season, is promising to deliver an epic performance once The Show finally returns!!!

"This year, when we have our normal lives and our game back, I can't wait to let all this pent up anticipation out," Alonso said. "We're going to play our hearts out."

Then, Pete demanded the fans reciprocate his energy ... saying, "I can't wait to hear ya'll cheer your lungs out! Shake the damn stadium! You guys are going to sound like an eruption."

LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Of course, Pete ended his speech responsibly, imploring everyone to stay indoors and safe until the pandemic passes on.

What a guy.

Los Angeles residents are used to seeing high-speed car chases on the local news, but the coronavirus pandemic has changed everything ... so this will have to do.

A paddleboarder was arrested in Malibu Thursday after he disobeyed the Coast Guard's order to get out of the water ... according to law enforcement. We're told there were other people in the ocean who complied and paddled in, but the rogue paddleboarder just kept paddlin' ... so L.A. County sheriff's got in their patrol boat and zeroed in.

The man chose to stay in the water near the pier for more than 30 minutes before swimming to shore, where he was arrested for disobeying lifeguard warnings and violating California Gov. Gavin Newsom's stay-at-home order, which is a crime.

The paddleboarder now faces a maximum of 6 months in jail and a $1,000 fine for his stunt.

As we've reported ... beaches closed in L.A. last week after many residents simply couldn't stay home and comply with social distancing rules.

Besides that, a leading scientist warned that the SoCal ocean water is one of the riskiest places to be when it comes to catching coronavirus, but clearly ... some people still aren't scared.

Charlotte Flair says she's feeling crazy pressure to deliver the best performance of her life at WrestleMania 36 this weekend ... especially since it could be the most-watched event in wrestling history!

Flair is taking on NXT women's champion, Rhea Ripley, during the April 4 and 5 event at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando. It's one of the biggest matches of the event.

And, when Flair appeared on "TMZ Live" Friday, she told us straight-up -- "The pressure is on to deliver!"

Flair pointed out the fact there will be no live crowd at the event puts more of a focus on the wrestling performance -- and she knows she's gotta come through strong!

Also, since there's no other live sporting events due to the pandemic -- 'Mania could attract a record number of viewers.

"This might be the most-watched WrestleMania!"

There's more ... Flair also talked about Rob Gronkowski's involvement -- and while she respects the hell out of him, she's keeping it real about her in-ring expectations from the NFL superstar.

"I have a lot of respect for Gronk for what he's done with his athletic career but I always say this ... just because you're a talented athlete does not mean you're going to succeed in the ring."

"I'm so excited to have him as part of the team but I have no idea what his in-ring career will look like."

Earlier this week, we spoke with Charlotte's dad, Ric Flair, about Mania ... and yeah, HE'S FIRED UP! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Anyone down for a backyard marathon?!

Retired javelin thrower James Campbell said he'd run back and forth in his tiny garden 7,000 times if he got 10k retweets on Twitter ... and guess what -- he got the retweets!!!

So, the 32-year-old decided to live stream his whole backyard journey to prove he's a man of his word ... while asking viewers to donate to his fundraising campaign for COVID-19 relief throughout the event.

The #6MetreGardenMarathon took 5 and a half hours to complete ... and after word spread about his accomplishment, Campbell raised more than $33,000 for his cause!!

FYI -- Campbell is a damn good javelin thrower too ... he was once the 8th best junior thrower in the world.

"There’s not much positive news around at the moment," Campbell said on the "TODAY" show. "To take people’s mind off of it for a day and give them a bit of a laugh and a bit of entertainment, that job's done."

He added ... "It’s just been a very long week at home on my own."

"As soon as you gain momentum, it was like, if I’m going to do something like this, then it’s got to be for a good cause."

And, if you have nothing better to do, you can watch the whole marathon below.

Pretty awesome move from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft who sent his team jet on a mission to China to bring back 1.2 million N95 masks!

Kraft reportedly negotiated with several bigwigs around the globe to get the masks -- used by health workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic -- and once the deal was done, he sent the plane to Shenzhen, China to pick 'em up.

Once it touched down Thursday morning, the plane was only allowed to be on the ground for 3 hours while workers in full-body suits loaded up the masks.

The plane was reportedly upgraded to handle the cargo -- and get this, Kraft is said to have initially negotiated for 1.7 million masks, but they could only fit 1.2 million onboard.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker thanked Kraft and the Pats -- "No days off. Thanks to some serious teamwork, Massachusetts is set to receive over 1 million N95 masks for our front-line workers."

"Huge thanks to the Krafts and several dedicated partners for making this happen."

Both Kraft and Baker are expected to greet the plane when it arrives at Boston Logan National Airport on Thursday.

After it lands, the MA National Guard is set to bring the masks to a central stockpile in Marlborough.

Our sources say Kraft spent several million dollars on the mask mission -- which includes 300,000 masks he will be sending to NYC "out of respect for Andrew Cuomo’s leadership."

We’re told the 300,000 masks will be delivered to the makeshift hospital at the Jacob Javits Center on Friday morning.

”Kraft issued a statement saying, "It is an honor for our family to be a part of this humanitarian mission."

"We knew that purchasing greatly-needed N95 masks and providing the Patriots plane to expedite their delivery to local hospitals would immediately help protect our courageous healthcare professionals."

"Multiple organizations across the public and private sectors, all of which were in lockstep with Governor Charlie Baker's visionary leadership, worked together to execute this mission with the purpose of helping save lives."

"I truly hope that in doing so, we can in some way inspire others to find creative ways to give more in support of our doctors, nurses and first responders. It's nice to care for those who provide such compassionate care for us."

Jacksonville Jaguars legend Tony Boselli says he was THIS close to dying amid his battle with coronavirus last month ... saying the disease straight-up "buried me."

The former offensive lineman broke his silence about his COVID-19 complications Thursday ... and hearing him speak about his experience with the virus is downright terrifying.

The 47-year-old told The Florida Times-Union that on March 16 -- days after a round of golf in Florida -- he began to feel ill ... and woke up two days later on March 18 with a fever.

Boselli says nearly a week later -- after docs confirmed he had coronavirus -- he could "barely move" and was eventually hospitalized.

While in the ICU, Tony says he fought for his life ... requiring two IVs, oxygen and other medication to get him through it all.

"I guess the thought was there’s no way this is how the story is supposed to end here,” Tony said. "This is nuts. I never felt like, ‘poor me, or why me?’ You get sick, it happens."

"But the fact I was in the hospital with the coronavirus and crazy thoughts were going through my mind, like ‘I can’t believe this is going on.'"

Tony -- whose wife also tested positive but didn't have the same dire symptoms -- was able to make it through ... although he said he lost 20 pounds in the fight and still isn't quite 100 percent.

But, Boselli is expected to make a full recovery ... and, now, he's urging people to get serious about stopping the virus' spread.

"The reality is the majority of people my age or younger who get it are probably going to be fine," Boselli said. "But look at me, I was healthy with no issues at all and ended up in ICU. I guess you can play the odds and be okay."

"Made shoes yesterday. Making masks today."

New Balance is turning its focus from shoes to protective masks during the coronavirus pandemic ... using its stateside facilities to help out with the huge demand.

The U.S.-based shoe company -- which also recently donated $2 million to COVID-19 relief -- debuted its prototype mask this week ... saying the goal is to make 100,000 masks-per-week to send to medical facilities.

"This is not a commercial opportunity," the company said in a statement. "NB is pursuing break-even pricing and/or donations for the face mask."

On top of the masks, New Balance is hoping to whip up other equipment like hospital gowns, foot coverings and other helpful items needed in hospitals.