TMZ Sports - Page 50

UFC star Derrick Lewis says an Astros World Series championship would be HUGE for Houston ... 'cause it's exactly the boost his city needs after Hurricane Harvey.

"We need the money," Lewis told TMZ Sports. "All the bars and the sports stores ... hopefully we continue doing great things and they'll dish it back out to the city."

He would know -- in the weeks after the hurricane hit, "The Black Beast" went full Dark Knight, abandoning fight camp to rescue flood victims in H-Town.

Derrick says he ain't too concerned about this series, though -- 'cause the Dodgers won't take A SINGLE GAME from the 'Stros!

"I believe we'll sweep 'em, 4-0 ... mark my words."

Dodger fans obviously see the series going very differently ... including Blue Crew lifer Danny Trejo, who told us why it's L.A.'s year.

Young American soccer players should STEER CLEAR of MLS -- and take their talents to Europe to get World Cup ready ... so says former Team USA star Jermaine Jones.

With Team USA soccer in shambles -- not even qualifying for the World Cup -- we asked Jermaine for answers ... and dude kept it real.

"I think that you have to battle with the best and the best play in Europe."

FYI, Jones currently plays in MLS (LA Galaxy) -- but started his career in Europe, where he grew up. Clearly, he thinks the European leagues are better suited to grow talent because they're more competitive.

There's a twist in the Robert Mathis arrest ... his blood alcohol level was BELOW the legal limit, law enforcement sources tell TMZ Sports.

When the ex-Indianapolis Colts star was pulled over at 12:09 AM on Tuesday, we're told he blew a .052 -- well below the legal limit, .08.

So, why was he still arrested for operating while intoxicated?

We're told cops conducted a field sobriety test -- Mathis didn't do well -- and officers ultimately determined Mathis was impaired and unable to drive.

FYI, the law allows officers to arrest someone for OWI based on other tests besides B.A.C.. That seems to be what happened in this case.

As we previously reported, Mathis was stopped in the first place after cops say he was driving the wrong way down a 1-way street.

Michael Rapaport is finally coming clean about his beef with LeBron James ... saying it all goes back to how The King treated his 2 sons back in the day.

"When they ran into LeBron, he dissed my kids," Rapaport said on The Breakfast Club. "He gave 'em the f**kin' Heisman and turned his back to them."

Mike thinks 'Bron held a grudge against him 'cause their friends of friends had a bad falling out ... and took it out on his boys.

Rapaport couldn't believe it -- and says that makes LBJ the worst celeb he's ever met.

"It has nothing to do with a 10 and an 8-year-old ... don't play me and my kids."

"Out of all the athletes, out of all the celebrities, out of all the rappers I've ever met -- especially with my kids -- that was the only motherf**ker that ever did that. And I was like, 'Hell f**kin' no.'"

All in good fun ... and funny as hell!

Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall went all out to dress as teammate Von Miller for the team Halloween party on Monday night.

He got the cowboy hat. He got the Old Spice. HE GOT THE SEX TAPE!!!

Yep, Marshall spoofed Von's very public 2016 court battle to keep a sex tape he shot in Mexico from going public ... and it was kinda hilarious!

You remember the story ... Von claimed his sex tape partner Elizabeth Ruiz was trying to shake him down for millions ... allegedly threatening to release the tape if he didn't pay up.

The judge eventually blocked Ruiz -- and ordered her to destroy all copies of the video.

But Monday night, Marshall's detailed costume was the hit of the party. By the way, Von was at the party and we're told he LOVED it -- complimenting Marshall all night.

Von dressed up as Col. Sanders. Other players showed up as Mr. T and Zoro. And there were some SMOKIN' HOT ladies wearing barely anything. Good times!

Happy Halloween!!!

Charles Barkley ain't shy about what he'd do to Lonzo Ball if they played in the same era ... saying he'd try to take the kid's head clean off as punishment for his father's antics.

"I would've been goin' at his head, no question. Would've been talkin' to him the whole time about his daddy," Barkley told TMZ Sports.

Chuck actually REALLY likes Lonzo ... but 100% agrees with Kenny Smith, who told us LaVar Ball has put a target on his son's back.

"His dad has put so much pressure on him, he makes people not like him. Now he's got everybody not liking his son and he's gonna have to deal with that."

Sir Charles also had a pretty funny take on Lonzo's 1 big game for the Lakers -- saying it didn't count because it came against the crappy Phoenix Suns.

Speaking of the Suns ... Barkley also trashed Eric Bledsoe for tweeting that he wanted off the squad.

"Someone's paying you $15 million a year -- you shouldn't say, EVER, 'I don't wanna be here.'"

"You don't go on the Internet. You don't do that ... that was just bad."

Former Indianapolis Colts star Robert Mathis -- a 6-time pro bowler -- was arrested in Indiana early Tuesday morning after cops say he was driving while intoxicated.

Officials say Mathis was initially pulled over after officer spotted him driving the wrong way on a 1-way street around 12:09 AM and noticed he wasn't using his turn signals.

During the stop, officer noticed signs Mathis was impaired and arrested him for OWI: Endangering a Person.

The 36-year-old was locked up at Hamilton County Jail. According to a jail official, he was released this morning without bail after spending about 9 hours behind bars.

Larry King has made MILLIONS over the years -- but he's drawing a hard line when it comes to how much he'll shell out for World Series tickets.

Don't get it twisted, King -- a HUGE Dodgers fan -- will be sitting in his usual home plate seats for Game 1 on Tuesday. But with tix in his section running at least $6,000 each, he's sending his kids to the nosebleed section.

"My sons who usually sit behind home plate, they're gonna be up in upper left field," King told us Monday night on his way out of Craig's.

The Los Angeles Dodgers will all be upright Tuesday when the National Anthem is sung before game 1 of the World Series ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Sources familiar with the situation tell us, none of the players will take a knee, which is consistent with the entire season ... not a single member of the team has taken a knee. In fact, aside from one Oakland player, there has been no such protest on any team for the entire season.

Our sources say it's such a "nonissue" for the Dodgers ... management hasn't even spoken to the players about it.

Oakland A's catcher Bruce Maxwell -- the only MLB player who took a knee this season -- tells TMZ Sports he was confronted by a pro-Trump waiter at an Alabama restaurant who refused to serve him.

"He was like, 'You're the guy who took the knee? I voted for Trump and I stand for everything he stands for.'"

Maxwell says it all went down at a lunch with a local politician -- and after they complained to management, they got a new server.

But Maxwell says there's been a lot of POSITIVES that have come from his demonstration -- including a new friendship with Colin Kaepernick who's sort of mentoring him now.

"The dude's so positive," Maxwell says ... "He's such a strong, level-headed individual."

"His friendship definitely helps. His guidance comes through that. And just being able to use him as a sounding board some days does me some good."

Maxwell also says some very big names from both the NFL and MLB have reached out to lend their support ... guys like Dusty Baker, Coco Crisp, Torii Hunter, Adam Jones and more.

He hopes to unite everyone to help spread Colin's message. We know where they WON'T be having the next lunch meeting.

The Rams have returned to L.A. after stomping the Cardinals in London ... and as you'd expect, head coach Sean McVay was in a GREAT mood!

WARNING: Our photog was SUPER excited (big Rams fan) and fanboy'd out a little too hard when talking with Jared Goff.

But he settled down by the time McVay came by -- and talked to the 31-year-old head coach about how the Rams (and Goff) are taking the league by storm.

One of Tiger Woods' biggest rivals on the links thinks the golf superstar can still chase Jack Nicklaus' 18 majors ... telling TMZ Sports he believes "everyone" is pulling for him to make a HUGE comeback.

Vijay Singh -- the world's top-ranked golfer for several weeks in '04-'05 -- says now that Tiger's cleared to practice after having back surgery 6 months ago, he's not counting out a big return.

For the record ... Tiger's sitting at 14 majors, which is 2nd only to the Golden Bear.

UFC rising star Sage Northcutt ain't afraid of no man ... even if that man is a heavyweight MONSTER that outweighs him by about 100 pounds.

Irish bodybuilder Blessing Awodibu posted a video of his grappling match with Super Sage ... which went down in September during Northcutt's trip to Shanghai.

Blessing looked good from the jump, but Sage got the best of the big man as the match went on.

Awodibu was a great sport -- saying the ring-work was "fun as f**k" and even calling Sage "a gentle giant."

Nothing about that looked gentle.

Marcin Gortat thinks it's hilarious LaVar Ball said his Wizards should be afraid of Lonzo Ball ... telling LaVar that his teammate, John Wall, is gonna "TORTURE" the rookie.

The Big Baller Dad issued a warning to the Wiz -- who are set to play Lonzo's Lakers on Wednesday -- after L.A. dropped to 1-2 on Sunday ...

"They better beware, 'cause Lonzo ain't losin' again. Not in the same week!"

The Polish Hammer wasn't havin' none of that -- letting LaVar know Wall's comin' for 'Zo just like Clippers point guard Patrick Beverley did in the Lake Show's season opener.

David Beckham's beach bod is unlike any dad bod you've ever seen ... you're welcome.

The 42-year-old -- cool dad status in full effect -- hit up Malibu Sunday with a bunch of his kids to cool off after a blistering weekend in Los Angeles. A little boogie boarding did the trick to cool the brood in the ocean.

Perhaps the only disturbing thing we see in this family outing -- using a beach volleyball as a futbol.

Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Nigel Bradham just a caught a huge break -- prosecutors have officially let him off the hook for bringing a loaded gun into an airport.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Bradham was arrested at Miami International Airport back in 2016 after he put a loaded gun through the X-ray machine.

Bradham had claimed he simply forgot the gun was in a zippered part of his backpack that he rarely used.

Initially, Bradham was charged with a 2nd degree misdemeanor -- but we've learned that charge was dropped.

We spoke with Bradham's attorney, Adam Swickle, who tells us, "The state had no case against him and they found that it wasn’t something he should be criminally sanctioned for."

Swickle pointed out Bradham had a valid concealed weapons permit and didn't intend to break the law. Simple accident.

He adds, "Nigel is a fantastic football player and a very high character guy."