TMZ Sports - Page 50

Laura Govan didn't need Ray J's help after he rammed into her her during a recent softball game ... 'cause she's a gangsta.

We ran into the former "Basketball Wives: LA" star -- more gently than Ray -- and asked her about the incident at a charity celebrity game. Laura said Ray J "could've been more respectful ... he just ran my ass over!"

Just as important, for Ray J's sake … is what Laura's fiancé Gilbert Arenas thought about the hit.
Laura tells us, and also reveals the new badass nickname Gilbert gave her after the collision. Check it out.

Super middleweight champ Andre Ward just took a $10 million shot to the chin from his promoter ... who says Ward destroyed his good name by accusing him of stealing.

Dan Goossen just filed a defamation lawsuit against his prize fighter in L.A. Superior Court in response to the Ward's suit last week. Ward, the #2 pound-for-pound boxer (behind Mayweather), sued Goosen ... claiming he never handed over details on how much money Ward's fights earned during a 9-year period.

Something called the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act ... requires promoters to fork over financials in a timely manner.

Goossen says Ward's suit is a smear campaign, intended to "assassinate" his good standing in the boxing community. According to the docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, Goossen says the whole Ali Act allegation is a lie.

Tony Stewart will once again sit out a NASCAR race in the aftermath of the fatal crash he was in last weekend that killed driver Kevin Ward Jr.

Stewart will miss the Pure Michigan 400 at the Michigan International Speedway on Sunday.

Following last Saturday's fatal crash, Stewart had originally planned to race the next day before deciding against it.

Michael Strahan and Nicole Murphy had lunch together Thursday in Beverly Hills ... and our sources say there's "a possibility" of getting back together.

Michael and Nicole went to South Beverly Grill. They walked out arm-in-arm. Sources connected with the former couple tell us ... they both still have love for each other and, as one source says they'd "like to work things out."

Another source was more guarded, saying, "It was a friendly lunch. They have 7 years of history together."

Michael seemed stunned on his way out when our photog tried to get a debrief. And much to Michael's dismay, the restaurant has one of the worst, most congested parking lots in Bev Hills, so our guy peppered him with questions as he waited, including, "Who paid for lunch?"

The Washington Redskins just filed an appeal to get their trademark back -- and the heart of the argument is the government bureaucrats just don't get grammar.

The docs, filed today in federal court, challenge the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruling that the "Redskins" name is disparaging to Native Americans. Registered trademarks can't be offensive to individuals or groups under federal law.

In the appeal ... the Redskins claim their 1st and 5th Amendment rights were violated -- because they didn't get an opportunity to present their case. They also say the government didn't prove the name was offensive back in 1967 when the trademark was first granted.

But here's the best part ... the Redskins claim patent officials don't understand the difference between a proper noun and an adjective. Seriously. Here's the sentence: "Even if the term 'redskin,' used in singular, lower case form, refers to an ethnic group, the term is not disparaging when employed as a proper noun, as a team name, in the context of professional football."

If Orlando Bloom comes around looking to finish what he started, Justin Bieber will be ready.

The diminutive pop star posted a video Thursday afternoon on Instagram ... showcasing his boxing skills while sparring with his bodyguard Hugo.

He captioned the video, "Not a boxer but it's cardio and it's fun so don't judge me lol."

Orlando, you've been warned.

Al Sharpton had some choice words for Gilbert Arenas (once we told him who he was) over the former NBA star's use of a racial slur in criticizing the good reverend for his role in the Michael Brown riots.

During a rant on Instagram, Arenas railed against Sharpton, which is fine ... until he referred to him as "AL coon sharpton." Not cool.

TMZ Sports spotted Al on Thursday afternoon ... and he told us he thought Gilbert's use of the racial slur says more about him than it does Al.

Sharpton also challenged Arenas to compare his basketball resumé against Sharpton's civil rights work.

Cristiano Ronaldo took part in a Real Madrid team photo before the European Super Cup and there's something not real about it ... his height!

The soccer stud was apparently feeling a tad short, so he decided to stand up on his tippy toes for the shot -- which is a little weird since he's 6'1" ... pretty tall for the average soccer player.

Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant blasted FIFA over its plan to play the women's World Cup matches on artificial turf -- and they did it with a bloody illustration of how turf tore up U.S. star Sydney Leroux's legs.

The pic shows the U.S. national team forward's shins and knees with a few bloody gashes and some really nasty bruises.

Kobe punctuated his twitpic of Sydney's injuries with "#ProtectTheAthlete."

In his Facebook post, KD said, "C'mon now FIFA u can't have our women playing on turf. @sydneyleroux I got ya back."

Gilbert Arenas uncorked a racial slur on Rev. Al Sharpton ... attacking him over his reaction to the police shooting of Michael Brown and the riots that have followed.

Arenas posted his rant on Instagram, saying ... "the stats also show AL coon sharpton has not helped one situation he has protested at,he actually made it worst and because of him the jury goes the other way."

Gilbert's post included a plea to Michael Brown's family to leave Sharpton out of planned protests. He said, "FAMILiES of the victims pleaseeeeee stop asking #alsharpton to speak or ur behalf,you have a better chance having #caesar the monkey from #planetoftheapes to get justice for you."

Gilbert appeared to be reacting to news coverage of Sharpton arriving in the St. Louis area and marching arm-in-arm with protesters.

As if the racial slur wasn't enough, Arenas added, "#AL ur like a #THOT in the club,lookn for attention what u said at trayvons rally #enoughisenough ur right were tired of u PRETENDING."

If you don't know ... THOT is another term for ho. It appears Arenas took down the original attack, but he rips Sharpton for not showing up in St. Louis until the national media showed up there too.

Nicki Minaj is being sued because time is money -- and NBA All-Star party promoters say she took $50,000 to make a one hour appearance, but came late and left early.

According to the court docs ... Nicki was supposed to appear at Siren Studios in Hollywood during the 2011 NBA All-Star Weekend in L.A.. Lil Wayne, Drake, and Trey Songz were also slated to be there.

Nicki's contract said she would attend -- not perform -- from 12 AM to 1 AM. But in the suit, promoters say she didn't get there until after 1:30 and took off before 2 AM.

Now they want their $50K back, and then some to cover the cost of her hotel arrangements and other lost revenue.

Porn star Christy Mack and War Machine were still close enough 20 days ago that they were holding hands in public at an MMA fight.

TMZ obtained the pic taken in Temecula, CA while they were attending the fight ... and their coziness seems to contradict Christy's initial claim that they've been broken up for several months.

Christy's family and friends tell us although the pair "officially" broke up in May ... they still consistently hooked up from time to time. The pic may explain War Machine getting jealous of Christy's new boyfriend Corey Thomas.

The test results are in, and according to a DNA lab ... Nerlens Noel ... YOU ARE THE FATHER OF A BEAUTIFUL 14-MONTH-OLD BABY BOY!!!!

We broke the story ... the 20-year-old Philadelphia 76er initially acknowledged he fathered the kid in a legal doc -- but then backtracked and demanded DNA proof ... which TMZ Sports has learned he got done last month.

According to the docs, Noel admits he's had "limited contact" with his son -- and agrees Jamie, the boy's mother ... should have primary custody.

Noel is now asking the court to determine a "minimal level of child support."

The Rock is one of the biggest movie stars in the world, and his old WWE tag team partner Mick Foley totally saw it coming. And while Rock's got "Hercules" … Mick's shooting his own cool flick.

Hellevator? C'mon, like you don't want to see that??!!

ASU backup offensive lineman Chip Sarafin has come out publicly as gay ... making him the first active NCAA football player to do so.

Sarafin revealed he was gay during a recent interview with Compete Magazine, and says he started telling his Sun Devil teammates a few months ago during Spring practice. He says opening up to them "was really personal to me, and it benefitted my peace of mind greatly."