TMZ Sports - Page 50

No word on how big his handicap is.

Former legendary L.A. Laker Elgin Baylor has just filed a lawsuit against the L.A. Clippers and the NBA, claiming he's the victim of rampant racial discrimination.

In the lawsuit, filed today in L.A. County Superior Court, Baylor -- who was unceremoniously dismissed as VP and General Manager last October -- claims the team has "egregious salary disparities" based on race. Baylor claims he was told to "induce African American players to join the Clippers, despite the Clippers' reputation of being unwilling to fairly treat and compensate African American players." Baylor says the owner, Donald Sterling, has a "pervasive and ongoing racist attitude."

Baylor cites the case of NBA player Danny Manning, where Sterling allegedly said, "I'm offering a lot of money for a poor Black kid." The suit claims Sterling repeatedly referred to the team as "poor Black kids" and "he wanted a White coach directing the Clippers." Sterling is being sued as well.

Baylor says he personally got stiffed, only being paid $350,000 a year since 2003, when a "Caucasian head coach was given a 4 year, 22 million dollar contract."

Take last year's Brett Favre retirement speech, substitute Jets for Packers (and remove any references to playing well), and you've got today's news: Favre is done.

It's simple math, really -- $3.9 million is greater than a tarnished legacy.

Everything is still on for Friday's ceremony at the University of Miami to name the new baseball field Alex Rodriguez Field. Lying Liar Field was apparently too cumbersome.

Although A-Roid didn't actually go to UM, he has been close to the program and the entire Miami community and donated $3.9 mil back in 2002. A rep for the school tells us "We are moving forward with the event. The donation was announced at a press conference on Oct. 10, 2002."

In this economy, nobody is about to give back money based on principle.

Tennis great Jimmy Connors has just dodged a bullet.

A Santa Barbara judge has just dismissed the criminal charge against Jimmy Connors. Jimmy Boy had been charged with trespassing after allegedly going a little crazy last November at a UCSB basketball game.

McEnroe -- your move.

OVERKILL - noun - 1) the amount by which destruction or the capacity for destruction exceeds what is necessary. 2) excessive treatment or action; too much of something.

Eight people connected to that infamous Columbia, SC pot party where Michael Phelps was photographed taking a bong rip back in November have now been arrested by the Richland County Sheriff's Department -- seven for possession and one for dealing.

Included in Sheriff Leon Lott's arrest extravaganza: The suspected owner of the bong -- who wasn't even at the party -- but was allegedly trying to sell the bong on eBay for $100,000, according to WIS.

The bong is reportedly not responding well to Lott's questioning -- and is blaming it on a loss of short-term memory.

Don't worry -- Phelps is still a free man.

Smokey McSpeedo's "extracurricular activities" have perked the interest of a Gurkha Cigars, who just offered Phelps a cool $25,000 to be their official "smokesperson."

Now the 22-year-old Spanish stud can give anyone a ride.

Cheater Rodriguez told ESPN's Peter Gammons, "When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure. I needed to perform, and perform at a high level every day."

Liar Rodriguez continued, "Back then, [baseball] was a different culture. It was very loose. I was young, I was stupid, I was naïve. I wanted to prove to everyone I was worth being one of the greatest players of all time."

Ruiner of Sports Rodriguez also said, "I did take a banned substance. For that, I'm very sorry and deeply regretful."

Blah, blah, blah cheater.

Charles Barkley has finally admitted how "stupid" he was for drinking and driving -- and it only took him two months to publicly admit it.

For the first time since his Dec. 31st arrest, Barkley is finally addressing the subject, telling a Florida paper, "Clearly, I made a mistake drinking and driving. And I'm getting penalized for that, and rightfully so."

He added, "Drinking and driving is a very serious thing. It was stupid, and it was 100 percent my fault,''

Chuck also felt compelled to weigh in on Michael Phelps, saying, "I don't think he's the worst person in the world. Everybody's a hypocrite right now ...I guess they want us to take him out back and shoot him. He made a mistake and I wish him nothing but the best.''

Barkley's next court date is yet to be determined.

The WWE is officially weighing in on the Chris Jericho brawl in Victoria, BC yesterday, by releasing the following statement to TMZ:

"After leaving a live event in Victoria, British Columbia on Saturday evening, Chris Jericho's car was attacked by a mob when he was stopped at a stop sign. Unable to proceed, Chris Jericho exited his car to ask the crowd to clear a path so he could continue through the intersection. A man and a woman physically and verbally assaulted Mr. Jericho. Arena and WWE security arrived to establish enough order to allow Mr. Jericho to re-enter his vehicle and depart. The local police arrived minutes later. Mr. Jericho was unharmed in the incident. The WWE is working with local authorities who are investigating the incident to identify the man and woman who fled the scene."

Another former Falcon's behind bars -- this time it's a running back.

Jamal Anderson, the former superstar who invented the "Dirty Bird" endzone dance, was busted at an Atlanta area tavern last night and charged with felony possession of cocaine and misdemeanor possession of marijuana

Cops say they found some powdered coke and a joint on Anderson's person, and whisked him off to Fulton County jail.

Anderson has a hearing set for Monday morning.

UPDATE: TMZ has learned former Atlanta Falcons running back Jamal Anderson was busted inside a bathroom stall -- with another -- at the Peachtree Tavern after a patron heard someone making a "snorting noise."

The patron reported the "noise" to a bar security guard -- who happened to be an off-duty Atlanta Police Officer.

The Atlanta PD tells TMZ the security guard went into the bathroom to investigate when he heard the suspicious noise. We're told the guard then popped over the top of the stall and claims to have seen Anderson and another man doing lines of coke off the toilet tank. He immediately arrested both men.