TMZ Sports - Page 50

The New England Patriots have issued an apology for one of the biggest Twitter backfires EVER -- when the team celebrated it's 1 millionth follower ... by retweeting a user with a SUPER RACIST handle.

The NFL team decided to celebrate reaching the 1 million follower milestone by allowing creating custom webart for anyone who retweeted the team's original celebratory post.

The Patriots team account would then automatically tweet the custom art for ever single person who took part in the publicity stunt.

Problem is ... one of the users was using the Twitter handle "IHATEN**GERSS."

Long story short ... the Pats Twitter page retweeted the super racist jersey that had been auto-created to their 1 million followers ... and all hell broke loose.

The team eventually deleted the racist piece of art ... and issued an apology:

"We apologize for the regrettable tweet that went out from our account. Our filtering system failed & we will be more vigilant in the future."

[Insert Bill Belichick disapproving scowl here]

Kim K ain't got nuthin' on Sir Chuck.

Yasiel Puig has landed in Japan ... and the guy's LOVING IT.

The L.A. Dodgers slugger is part of an MLB All-Star team that's taking on the Japanese national team in a 5-game series ... but when he's not on the field, Puig's been taking in as much culture as he can.

"We visited some temples, that was a very spiritual experience," Puig tells TMZ Sports ... "We took the bullet train from Osaka to Tokyo, very cool."

"I have not been shopping yet, but I will go here in Tokyo."

Puig says he's a HUGE fan of sushi -- and has been scarfing up as much raw fish as he can get his hands on ... saying, "I LOVE IT!"

Puig and his MLB All-Star teammates are reportedly getting $100k each for participating in the series.

Well ... this is awkward.

Shelly Sterling just praised the new owner of the L.A. Clippers ... while standing right next to the disgraced old one -- and TMZ Sports has the footage.

It all went down in Beverly Hills ... where Shelly and Donald Sterling were hanging out together ... despite the fact they ripped each other apart in court earlier this year.

Oh, and remember when Donald claimed Shelly basically stole the team from him?? Yeah.

Anyway, she didn't let the presence of her racist old husband keep her from giving props to Steve Ballmer -- who she says is doing a great job running her old team.

Ronda Rousey is always in the convo when listing hottest athletes, but her pick for most doable male sports star is NOT in the fight game -- instead she's going for balls ... footballs.

You gotta watch to see if she's talking about the American variety or the worldwide brand (aka soccer). While she was at it ... Ronda also named her top smoke show female athlete.

Hint: She's got good feet too. Powerful feet that could give Ronda a run for her money in the Octagon.

Blake Griffin is finally talking about the pimp slap he allegedly delivered at a Vegas nightclub -- saying he's very confident he will be exonerated.

The L.A. Clippers star spoke with reporters before practice Thursday -- saying, "I'm really not allowed to speak on [the case] ... but I'm very confident in the situation, so once I can [speak on it], I will."

Kris Humphries is still being harassed over his 72-day marriage to Kim Kardashian ... with an entire section of Toronto Raptors fans starting a "Kanye" chant to troll him during a recent NBA game.

TMZ Sports has the footage showing Humphries at the free throw line during Friday's Wizards vs. Raptors game in Toronto.

The chant worked. Humphries missed the shot ... and the crowd went insane.

It's not the first time Kris has been trolled about the marriage -- in fact, Kanye himself took a shot at Kris right when he started dating Kim ... rapping that Kris was lucky Yeezy's pal Jay Z didn't drop him from the team he was on at the time.

For the record, it's been THREE YEARS since Kris and Kim broke up.

Tony Hawk pulled a Marty McFly Wednesday in Los Gatos ... when the pro skater rode a REAL hoverboard -- and the results were pretty awesome.

As you may recall ... Hawk pranked "Back to the Future" fans earlier this year when he starred in a fake hoverboard commercial ... but now, he's floating on the real deal.

A rep for Hendo Hover says they invited Tony to their warehouse last month to try out their crowdfunded product -- which hovers an inch off the ground at 15 miles per hour -- and Wednesday Hawk took them up on the offer for a 3 hour ride.

We're told there are no plans to court Tony into becoming a sponsor ... but they'd love to have his input for their next protoype.

Matt Lauer says his sitdown with Ray Rice's wife was "great" -- but it's clear he doesn't want to give too much away ... because he just bobbed and weaved like Muhammad Ali!

Matt was heading over to 30 Rock in NYC this morning when he acknowledged the interview was in the can.

Several NFL stars have received letters from Nike -- warning the players to stop customizing their cleats ... or else Nike will KILL their endorsement deals ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Cleat customization is all the rage in the NFL right now -- with big stars like Marshawn Lynch, DeSean Jackson, Terrell Suggs, Reggie Bush and more taking their shoes to famous artists to swag out before games.

But after Nike got word of the customizing fad, they sent out letters to players reminding them that the point of the deal is make sure the Nike Swoosh is visible on TV during games ... and customization could get in the way.

The letter reads, "Your Nike Football Contract requires that you wear 'Nike' products that have been designated by Nike Sports Marketing for such use."

"Nike views third-party customization (or post-embellishment) of Nike footwear to be a violation of the contract, triggering Nike's right to immediately terminate the contract."

The company continues ... "Nike Football values its endorsement relationship with you and presumes you were unfamiliar with these previsions in your Nike Football Contract."

"However, please know that Nike expects that you will observe the requirements of our contracts."

Dennis Rodman is no Jason Bourne -- and was NOT a government spy sent to North Korea to help free the American prisoners ... at least that's what John McCain wants you to think.

Of course, Rodman's been taking credit for helping to convince Kim Jong-un to release Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller -- saying he was lobbying hard on behalf of the U.S. during his basketball summit in the DPRK earlier this year.

But when McCain was asked if he believed The Worm ... McCain didn't exactly back the NBA legend.

Doc Rivers says he has NO PROBLEM with Kobe Bryant breaking the record for most missed shots in NBA history ... telling TMZ Sports, "The only way you can make 'em, you gotta take 'em."

FYI -- Kobe broke the record earlier this week ... passing Celtics legend John Havlicek, who missed 13,147 shots during his career.

But the L.A. Clippers honcho says it's not necessarily a bad record to have -- in fact, Rivers says he WISHES he had a title like that under his belt.

He ain't exactly Nolan Ryan ... but Jerry Seinfeld can BRING THE HEAT ... so says Mike Piazza, who tells TMZ Sports the comedian is the best celeb pitcher he's ever caught.

And Piazza knows what he's talking about -- he caught in the Majors for 15 years ... playing backstop for all sorts of famous people who fired out the 1st pitch before games.

So when we asked him to name the #1 celebrity when it came to mound dominance, Mike didn't hesitate ... and explained why he's got so much respect for Jerry.

#YadaYadaYada

Ray Rice's wife Janay is ready for her close-up ... meeting up with beauty specialists before her big "Today" show interview with Matt Lauer.

With cameras setup in her Maryland home, Janay Palmer -- the woman Ray KO'd in the elevator back in February -- invited over a local company that specializes in photo shoots to gussy her up.

The company is called Franchon Parlour -- and it does everything from wardrobe selection to hair extensions.

It's clear that Janay and Ray want it to look like the interview is all about Janay -- but our NBC sources tell us Ray is the main reason they want this interview. And, our sources say Ray WILL be participating in some way even though his people say he is not yet committed.

Investigators in the Blake Griffin pimp slap case have obtained nightclub security footage which shows a confrontation between the NBA star and his accuser ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... the footage from Tao nightclub in Vegas shows Blake and his accuser Daniel Schuman in a heated situation -- but we're told the alleged slap was not captured by the security cameras.

We broke the story ... Griffin has been charged with misdemeanor battery for allegedly going all Zsa Zsa Gabor on Schuman on October 19th.

In the moments following the incident, Schuman gave a report to Tao security saying Blake got physical with him because he thought Daniel was sneaking a cell phone pic.

Blake's teammate DeAndre Jordan -- who was with Blake and several other Clippers at the club -- told us he NEVER saw Blake strike anyone that night (video below).

As for Blake, he has yet to comment on the situation.

Blake Griffin has been charged with a crime for allegedly slapping the crap out of a man inside a Las Vegas nightclub ...TMZ Sports has learned.

The incident went down last month when Blake was at Tao Nightclub. According to the alleged victim -- Daniel Schuman -- the Clippers superstar was upset by camera flashes in his face ... so he grabbed Daniel's phone and neck. Daniel says Blake squeezed his neck, and demanded he give up his phone.

According to docs -- obtained by TMZ Sports ... the Clark County D.A. has now charged Griffin with one count of misdemeanor battery. He faces 6 months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine -- though a jail sentence is highly unlikely since Blake has no prior convictions for violent crimes.

Blake was with DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul that night. None of the other players were involved in the alleged incident.