TMZ Sports - Page 3

Team USA superstar Simone Biles is finally revealing what led to the bedazzled goat on her leotard ... and it's a big middle finger to all of her haters!!!

You may have noticed ... the 24-year-old gymnastics G.O.A.T has added the extra flair to her competition 'fits since 2019 -- most recently rocking the goat (named "Goldie") on her leo during the U.S. Championships earlier this month.

As it turns out, it's not because Biles considers herself the greatest gymnast to ever walk the earth (although she certainly IS) ... but more so a major clap back to all the naysayers out there.

"The idea was to hit back at the haters," the 4-time gold medalist told Marie Claire. "I didn't feel like it was necessarily fair how they could keep saying whatever they wanted, but then if I said something, it wasn't fair."

She added ... "[The haters] were joking like, 'I swear, if she put a goat on her leo, blah, blah, blah.' That would make them so angry. And then I was like, 'Oh, that's actually a good idea. Let's make the haters hate it, and the fans love it.'"

"And so that's exactly what we did and why we did it."

Biles goes on to explain she wants to be an example for all the kids out there who are also incredibly good at what they do ... saying she wants them to embrace it and acknowledge their skills.

Tom Burke -- one of the best Univ. of Wisconsin football players ever -- has been charged with a felony after he was accused of sexually assaulting a 7-year-old girl.

According to court documents, obtained by TMZ Sports, the girl came forward to authorities in February 2021 alleging the 44-year-old was inappropriate with her on as many as 5 different occasions at her home in Minnesota.

For his part, the docs show Burke told investigators he flat-out denied the allegations ... saying he believed he was being "railroaded."

Burke, however, did confirm he was a caretaker for the girl ... according to the docs.

Officials ultimately hit Burke with a felony charge of criminal sexual conduct in wake of the girl's allegations, and issued a warrant for the former football player's arrest earlier this month.

Burke was eventually taken into custody and posed for a mug shot. He had a court hearing Monday in the case, and is due back for another hearing in early July.

If convicted, Burke is facing up to 30 years behind bars, court documents show.

Burke was a megastar for the Badgers from 1995 through 1998 -- famously logging a staggering 22 sacks in his senior season.

He was picked by the Arizona Cardinals in the 3rd round of the 1999 NFL Draft, though he only went on to play in 36 games before bouncing out of the league following the 2002 season.

Charles Barkley says his days of mocking the "big ol' women down in San Antonio" on TV are over ... and he's blaming cancel culture.

For YEARS, Barkley has talked about the "big ass women" of San Antonio on "Inside The NBA" ... but has repeatedly said it's just a joke, and he has nothing but love for his larger fans.

However, Charles says show producers have finally put the kibosh on the fat jokes -- after a recent article on MySanAntonio.com took aim at Barkley and his "fat-shaming shtick."

"They won't even let me talk about San Antonio anymore," Barkley said this week during an appearance on the "Grant & Danny" show on 106.7 The Fan.

"They're like, 'Charles, we got one lady wrote an article.' I'm like first of all, I didn't call anybody PERSONALLY fat in San Antonio. I was just joking around and when this one lady wrote this article ... we've been having fun with this for probably 10, 15 years!"

Barkley says the outrage is a product of cancel culture -- saying, "You can't even have fun nowadays without these jackasses trying to get you canceled and things like that."

The 58-year-old says he's not too worried -- because he plans on retiring in a few years anyway.

"I'm trying to hang on for another couple of years until I'm 60 and then they can kiss my ass."

Lights, camera, PAYTON!

That's New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton getting all Hollywood in Louisiana ... where he's shooting a new movie based on the fallout from the NFL's "Bountygate" scandal.

Kevin James is playing Sean Payton in the flick, called "Home Team" -- and even though they don't look exactly alike, you get the point.

Payton has a cameo in the film -- looks like he's playing a mechanic or something?!

As for the movie itself ... here's the backstory.

Payton received a 1-year suspension from the NFL in 2012 for Bountygate  -- when Saints players were getting cash payouts from 2009 to 2011 for targeting and injuring opponents during games.

During his suspension, Payton coached his son's youth football team -- and reportedly used the time away from the league to "reassess his life and put it in some perspective."

The movie will focus on Payton's time away from his job -- and how he grew as a person because of the experience.

The movie is being produced by Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions -- so it seems the flick will be a lighthearted, family-friendly depiction of the situation ... despite the heavy and despicable nature of the suspension in the first place.

The cast includes stars like Taylor Lautner and Rob Schneider -- as well as Isaiah Mustafa ... aka the Old Spice guy!!

Shelby Houlihan -- arguably the USA's best female runner -- is insisting she is NOT a cheater despite a recent positive steroid test ... claiming it's all a mixup caused by a pork burrito.

The 28-year-old Olympian spelled it all out in a social media post Monday ... explaining she believes she's been wrongfully hit with a 4-year suspension due to a trip to an "authentic Mexican food truck" in Oregon several months ago.

Shelby says back on Jan. 14, the Athletics Integrity Unit informed her a sample she submitted on Dec. 15, 2020 had contained the banned substance Nandrolone.

The anabolic steroid is considered a performance enhancer, and Shelby says she was immediately suspended for having it in her system.

But, Houlihan says after she did her research ... she found the substance can wrongfully show up in tests if the person consumes pork products prior to giving out their sample.

And, Houlihan says just 10 hours before she gave her December sample ... she had gotten a pork burrito from a local stand near her house in Beaverton.

The problem for Shelby? She says despite a mountain of evidence proving the Mexican food feast was the reason for the positive test -- the World Anti-Doping Agency denied her appeal and formally hit her with a 4-year ban from competitive running last Friday.

Of course, that means Houlihan -- who owns U.S. records in the 1,500- and 5,000-meter runs -- will now be barred from competing in this summer's Tokyo Olympics.

"I feel completely devastated, lost, broken, angry, confused and betrayed by the very sport that I've loved and poured myself into just to see how good I was," Houlihan said.

"I want to be very clear. I have never taken any performance enhancing substances. And that includes that of which I am being accused," Houlihan wrote. "I believe in the sport and pushing your body to the limit just to see where the limit is. I'm not interested in cheating. I don't do this for the accolades, money, or for people to know my name. I do this because I love it. I have so much fun doing it and it's always the best part of my day."

"It's not as bad as it looked."

That's UFC fighter Jamahal Hill telling TMZ Sports the nasty injury he suffered during UFC 263 on Saturday is gonna be FINE ... and he's already thinking about his next fight!!!

YO, THAT'S CRAZY CONSIDERING IT LOOKED LIKE HILL'S ARM WAS SNAPPED IN TWO!!

The backstory ... Hill was fighting Paul Craig when the 30-year-old got caught in an armbar and Paul pulled Jamahal's left arm in a way it's not supposed to bend!

The good news ... Hill confirms the arm was NOT broken -- "just dislocated pretty badly."

"They were able to pop it back in and the doctor said it’s rock solid. It’s doing all the movement that it needs to, it’s just going to be sore for a while."

So, what's next?

"I’ll follow up with my doctor when I land back at home and we’re going to go from there. Hopefully I can be back in real soon."

As for the pain, Hill says there was a "little discomfort" -- but that's it!

He was more upset about getting caught in the armbar in the first place and losing the fight.

But, Hill's a tough guy and vows to return to the Octagon ASAP -- and he even wants to run it back with Craig!!

"I gotta handle whatever I gotta handle through the loss or whatever, that I just went through. But, definitely I hope he keeps winning, so that way next time we meet is for some serious marbles. But yeah, that’s definitely one I want to run back."

There's more ... Hill also talks about his future and addresses the criticism of the referee who was working the fight.

But, Hill also delivered this message to his fans ...

"I just want everybody know I’m good, I’m alright. I’ll be back."

Michael Brockers says revenge WILL be had over his former team this October ... the new Lions star tells TMZ Sports he's already giving Detroit a win over the Rams in their 2021 matchup!!

"Definitely," Brockers said when we asked the pass rusher out at LAX if he's already got a W circled on the calendar. "Come on, now!"

Michael took it a step further ... and said he's gunning for at least one sack on Matt Stafford when he heads back to L.A. on Oct. 24 for the big tilt!

"I got to get at least one," Brockers told us. "I'm trying to sack every quarterback, but I got to get that one."

Brockers was traded to Detroit from L.A. in March ... a shocking move considering just days prior, he had gassed up the Rams and Stafford HARD.

At the time, the 30-year-old told us Stafford was a better QB than Jared Goff ... and insisted the Rams were a legit Super Bowl contender.

Brockers, though, tells us it hasn't been weird at all being sent to Detroit with Goff despite the comments ... he reiterated to us there is absolutely no beef between them whatsoever.

Ex-WNBA superstar Shoni Schimmel -- the 2014 All-Star Game MVP -- was arrested following an allegedly violent incident in Oregon on Monday ... and is currently behind bars.

TMZ Sports has learned, 29-year-old Schimmel is being held on felony charges of assault and criminal mischief ... as well as misdemeanor charges of menacing, recklessly endangering another, harassment, and domestic abuse.

Jail records show Schimmel was booked at 1 AM. Her bail has been set at $48,750.

We’re working on the rest of the details -- stay tuned on that.

Schimmel -- a native of Mission, Oregon -- was an All-American guard for Louisville before going #8 overall to the Atlanta Dream in 2014, where she became a 2-time All-Star.

Schimmel was named ASG MVP in 2014 after scoring 29 points and adding 8 assists ... winning the honors over Skylar Diggins and Maya Moore.

She was traded to New York prior to the 2016 campaign ... playing for the Liberty for one season.

After sitting out the 2017 season, due to personal reasons, Schimmel signed with the Las Vegas Aces in May 2018 ... but was waived 8 days later.

Cristiano Ronaldo HATES processed drinks so much, he removed Coke bottles from his podium Monday ... all while imploring people to drink water instead.

Ronaldo's rejection of the sweet stuff went down just before a meeting with the media ahead of Portugal's UEFA Euro 2020 game with Hungary ... and the whole thing was caught on video.

You can see in the footage, just before reporters fired questions at the soccer star, he noticed Cokes placed in front of him (Coke is a sponsor of Euro 2020) and immediately gave them a look of disdain.

But, rather than just keeping the products there like tournament officials no doubt wanted -- Ronaldo straight-up grabbed the bottles and moved them out of his sight.

He then held up a bottle of water, screamed, "agua!" ... and then appeared to mumble something about the sodas.

Of course, Ronaldo's famous for his perfect body -- one that was built off of eating healthy and limiting processed foods ... and it's clear, the guy takes that all VERY seriously.

In fact, Ronaldo's been on record saying he absolutely HATES when his son drinks Cokes and eats fries!!

'Cause, after all, abs (and apparently great soccer players too) are made in the kitchen.

"His ankles is f**ked up and Lucky got his ass!"

That's Glen "Big Baby" Davis doubling down on his attack on Kyrie Irving -- saying Kyrie's ankle injury is "karma" for stepping on the Celtics during the playoffs.

Actually, what Glen specifically said was ... "Karma is a motherf**ker!"

Here's the backstory ... Kyrie made a point to step on Lucky the Leprechaun after the Brooklyn Nets beat Boston in Game 4 of their playoff series.

Kyrie famously played for the Celtics from 2017 to 2019 -- but clearly doesn't feel love for the city.

Big Baby, on the other hand, won a championship with the Celtics in 2008 and LOOOOOVESSSS all things Boston.

So, when Kyrie suffered a sprained ankle Sunday while playing the Milwaukee Bucks, Davis sounded off on social media ... saying the whole thing was "karma."

Davis got some pushback on social media -- but he's not fazed, and made a VIDEO going scorched-earth on Kyrie for the disrespect toward his beloved Celtics.

"Everybody mad at me 'cause Kyrie Irving stepped on Lucky and Lucky got his get back," Davis said ... "Don't get mad at me because Lucky got his get back!"

"Karma is a motherf**ker!!"

"You do right by people, people do right by you and I don't care if it's a logo. I don't even care if it's a logo! It means something to me!"

"Like, you know what I'm saying, for example, countries that have flags! You go and step on a logo flag, what is that?! That's disrespect!"

Davis continued, "I played for the Celtics, I'm a Celtic forever!!! So, it don't matter! It don't f**king matter! Stop getting mad because your man got weak ankles!"

Most impressive fan catch EVER??

A spectator at the Dallas Baptist vs. Virginia game made an insane head's-up play on Monday ... by not only snagging a home run ball -- but recording it on his phone at the same time!!

It all went down in the Columbia Super Regional matchup just minutes ago ... where a trip to the College World Series is on the line.

The game has been filled with highlight plays, but the biggest of all came when Jackson Glenn hit his 2-run dinger to put the Patriots up early in the 3rd inning ... with the fan snagging the ball in the left-field stands!!

Of course, the folks at ESPN tracked the fan down and got the footage he captured ... and it's pretty wild!!

The fan got a ton of praise from the guys in the booth, too ... saying, "That's just pre-determined knowledge of what's about to happen in the game."

"It's a smart baseball fan there!"

The kid's a natural with the glove ... so we gotta assume he's a baseball superstar for his local club.

Bob Baffert is so PISSED over his New York Racing Association ban ... he's now suing the org. and asking the judge to lift his suspension ASAP.

It's all in new court docs obtained by TMZ Sports ... in which Baffert says the NYRA has no basis to suspend him, despite what's been going down with Medina Spirit in Kentucky.

In the lawsuit, Baffert says even though Medina Spirit's primary sample came back with traces of a banned substance after the horse's Kentucky Derby win ... he still believes he should face no punishment until the full investigation into the matter concludes.

Furthermore, Baffert says because he's not facing any accusations of wrongdoing in New York and has never had a history of any sort of misconduct in the state ... he wants his suspension lifted STAT.

In the suit, Baffert says the ban placed on him by the NYRA in mid-May is costing him a fortune in missed racing opportunities ... and, in addition to the injunction, Baffert is also seeking damages.

As we previously reported, Baffert has claimed Medina Spirit's positive test was NOT a result of cheating ... saying he believes it was all possibly due to ointment prescribed to fix a skin issue on the horse.

"While we do not know definitively that this was the source of the alleged 21 picograms founds in Medina Spirit's post-race blood sample," Baffert said shortly after the race, "and our investigation is continuing, I have been told by equine pharmacology experts that this could explain the test results."

Have a bad weekend? There's probably no way it was worse than Beau Burrows' ...

The Detroit Tigers pitcher got so sick on the mound Saturday -- he blew chunks ALL OVER IT -- and then he was promptly sent down to the minors afterward.

The gross scene all went down in the Tigers' game against the White Sox ... when Burrows entered the contest in the 4th inning with Detroit losing 8-2.

The 24-year-old rookie cruised in his first inning on the bump ... but ran into some major issues when he came back out for the fifth inning.

He walked a batter, gave up two straight hits, then walked another batter ... and even though he went on to strike out the next two guys -- something went terribly wrong.

Check out the footage, as Burrows was trying to close out the inning ... he got visibly ill -- and threw up everywhere ... TWICE.

Burrows tried to stay in the game ... but he was pulled after trainers and coaches came out to talk with him.

But, the worst part? The Tigers sent him down to Triple-A after the game ... meaning he's going to have to work his ass off to get back up to The Show anytime soon.

As for his health, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch didn't seem concerned this was a long-term or serious issue ... explaining his pitcher was simply just nauseous.

Hall of Fame hooper and coach Dawn Staley is 100% confident she would THRIVE at the helm of an NBA team ... saying, "I surely can stand in front of men and lead them."

Staley -- one of the greatest WNBA players of all time -- is reportedly one of two female candidates interviewing with the Portland Trail Blazers to replace Terry Stotts ... and if hired, she would become the first woman to be named head coach in the NBA.

While breaking that kind of barrier could come with an insane amount of scrutiny, Staley says "There are a lot of women good enough" for the task.

"I come with a lot of credentials," Staley told the New York Times. "I surely have the confidence. I surely can stand in front of men and lead them. First team All-Stars. MVPs. I’m okay with that."

Of course, Staley's résumé is stacked -- she was a 6-time All-Star in the WNBA and most recently named Coach of the Year with the Gamecocks in 2020 ... but she understands there will be a ton of critics against the hire.

"A lot of people would be out there, just waiting for you to make a mistake, waiting for you to be wrong," Staley added. "There’s a whole dynamic that men, white or Black, just don’t have to think about. It’s a female thing. The expectation will be so much greater than the male coach. So much greater."

Staley -- who led South Carolina to a national title in 2017 -- says she's more than happy with her current position at the college level ... but is adamant she is capable of making the jump.

"I haven’t coached in the league. But you know what? I’m a quick learner."

Staley and San Antonio Spurs assistant Becky Hammon are among the several coaching candidates to interview for the Blazers gig ... proving it's a matter of when, not if, a woman gets that kind of opportunity.

"It would be huge. We just need the right situation."

Matthew Stafford got one of his first tastes of the L.A. nightlife scene this weekend -- and there were paps, autograph seekers ... and even a fun answer about a silly tiff with his old pal, Clayton Kershaw!

It all went down Saturday night at Craig's ... where Matt -- who was just traded from Detroit to L.A. in March -- got in a night out on the town with his wife and friends.

You can see in the clip, the new Rams QB is clearly going to be VERY popular in his new city ... dude didn't even step 3 feet out of the restaurant before people wanted his John Hancock!

Of course, we were also there ... and we had to get his take on his old high school teammate, Kershaw, saying he would NOT wear Stafford's new jersey around L.A.

If you missed it, just a few weeks ago Kershaw went on the 'Dan Patrick Show' and said he's excited for Stafford's L.A. stay, but added he wouldn't be wearing Matt's Rams uni anytime soon.

But, Matt laughed that all off Saturday ... telling us he's got no beef with his friend -- explaining, "That's alright!"

A Pekingese named Wasabi hotdogged his way to Best in Show at the 2021 Westminster Dog Show ... following in the footsteps of his doggone brother!!!

It's a pretty incredible feat, but Wasabi's owner and trainer, David Fitzpatrick, already boasts one Best in Show winner ... his other Pekingese, Malachy, won the event in 2012.

But, Sunday's event was all about 3-year-old Wasabi, who flaunted a "proper Pekingese gait" that looks "like a goldfish moving through the water" ... according to the announcers.

Wasabi beat out 6 other group winners to take the top prize, with Bourbon the whippet coming in second.

There was also another very famous dog owner involved in the competition at the second-oldest continuous sporting event in the U.S. (behind the Kentucky Derby) ... Barry Bonds!!!

MLB's all-time home run leader's miniature schnauzer Rocky was in the mix, and although the good boy didn't win ... Barry was a proud dog dad for sure.

One more historical note -- this year's event was held at the Lyndhurst Mansion in Tarrytown, New York, and not Madison Square Garden ... where it has been held every year since 1877. The move was the result of the pandemic.