TMZ Sports - Page 50

Kaleeeefornia and parts thereof are broke-ass broke -- and ESPN may be partly to blame.

It all boils down to this: ESPN allegedly stiffed the City of LA out of $43,159.50 in back taxes from 2004-2006. Details are a bit sketchy, but the taxes were assessed as part of production on the X Games.

In the lawsuit against ESPN filed Friday, the City claims it mailed the bill to network offices in Bristol, but nobody ever sent a check.

Super Bowl fans in Tucson, Ariz. were subjected to 30 seconds of hard core porn -- wang and all -- when somehow, the game feed was suddenly interrupted by a clip from an adult television channel.

Yes, this actually happened.

Comcast -- the cable company in Tucson -- is working on an explanation, but right now it appears the porn break-in only occurred in its standard-definition feed reaching analog TV sets.

Fortunately -- or unfortunately, depending on your taste -- high def viewers were spared the wiener shot.

We're told JT and G.Lo got really caddy.

It doesn't matter what Michael Phelps put in that bong, he's still a hit with Speedo.

The mankini maker slapped Phelps on the wrist over Bong-gate today, but stopped short of axing their multimillion endorsement deal with the Golden Boy. In a statement, Speedo says it "does not condone such behavior and we know that Michael truly regrets his actions."

But they also call Phelps a "valued member of the Speedo team and a great champion." They're clearly hoping the whole thing blows over quickly.

In perhaps the greatest, longest running publicity stunt since the inception of the WWF, Shaquille O'Neal tells ESPN, "I always did love Kobe. It was all marketing."

That's right Lakers fans, telling Kobe to "Tell me how my ass tastes", was all teasing. And that whole kooky thing during his rape trial when Kobe accused Shaq of cheating on his wife and Shaq responded by basically calling him a snitch and a rat -- ACTING!

Shaq, we saw you in "Kazaam." You're not that good.

The cash-strapped duo will appear in a Super Bowl spot showing peeps how they can make ends meet by selling some of their mama's gold, silver and platinum bling for dollas.

U can't touch this, but you can sell it!

Michael Vick is just days away from the sweet smell of freedom -- the kind you find at a half-way house.

Vick's lawyer told a Virginia bankruptcy judge this morning he expects Vick to be released to a halfway house "any day" -- which means he could be out from behind bars several months before the end of his 23-month prison sentence at Leavenworth.

Vick could end up serving the rest of the term in Newport News, Va.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons would not confirm the early release plans, but his lawyer seems pretty damn sure of himself.

Now, Mark's a smart guy, as evidenced by his college degree and the fact he was the only USC player to answer our impromptu "current events quiz" during the Rose Bowl -- but why would anyone on the planet have any legitimate desire to play for the worst team in the history of professional sports?

The 31-year-old sandwich man hit up Kim Kardashian & fellow Subway pitchman Reggie Bush at a pre-Super Bowl party and rolled into the event with one of the biggest posses of the night -- nine peeps total.

Who needs a Super Bowl ring, when you got a footlong!

Former MLB star Lenny Dykstra earned the nickname "Nails" for his tough and aggressive playing style. But four men have a new nickname for him: Deadbeat.

According to a lawsuit filed today in Los Angeles Superior Court, Dykstra has yet to fork over the cash he promised to pay four pilots in exchange for flying his private plane. Dykstra had until January 12 to pay up, the lawsuit says, but thus far he hasn't.

What's more, the four pilots claim Dykstra promised them a four-month gig, but didn't deliver on that either.