Sports briefs
Rivers named future coach at Alabama HS
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Philip Rivers has already lined up the first job of his post-playing career.
Rivers was introduced Friday as the head coach-in-waiting at St. Michael Catholic High School in a news conference on campus.
The 16-year veteran of the Los Angeles Chargers signed a one-year deal worth $25 million guaranteed in March. Rivers didn’t offer a timetable on when he’d actually be available for the Fairhope school.
Athletic director Paul Knapstein will serve as St. Michael’s interim head coach in the meantime.
Ohio State to pay $41M settlement
Ohio State University will pay about $41 million to settle a dozen lawsuits by 162 men alleging decades-old sexual abuse and mistreatment by a team doctor, Richard Strauss.
About 350 former athletes and other men had sued the school for failing to stop the late doctor despite concerns raised during his tenure. The university first announced a settlement with some of them in March, but the cost wasn’t made public until Friday.
The school agreed to pay up to $500,000 for the costs of administering the $40.9 million settlement fund. The money will come from Ohio State’s discretionary funding, not tuition or taxpayer or donor money, according to the university.
Lawyers for scores more men with lawsuits still pending against Ohio State have pushed to continue litigation and accused the university of not negotiating in good faith with them, which school spokesmen emphatically deny.
Preakness to remain at Pimlico
The Preakness will remain a fixture at timeworn Pimlico Race Course, which will receive a much-needed facelift following the passing of a bill to redevelop Maryland tracks.
Gov. Larry Hogan on Thursday permitted a bill to become law that would enable the Maryland Stadium Authority to issue up to $375 million in bonds to refurbish Pimlico and Laurel Park. The money would be paid back by the Maryland Lottery and casino proceeds already designated to subsidize the racing industry.
This year’s Preakness was scheduled for May 16 at Pimlico but was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. A new date has not yet been set.
For the past several years, the Preakness was run on the third Saturday in May amid speculation that the prestigious race would ultimately be forced to leave Pimlico, which opened in 1870 and was clearly showing its age. Now, with a pending overhaul of Pimlico and the accompanying plan to augment the surrounding neighborhood, the second jewel of the Triple Crown will stay in Baltimore for years to come.
MLB draft reduced to five rounds
Major League Baseball will cuts its amateur draft from 40 rounds to five this year, a move that figures to save teams about $30 million.
Clubs gained the ability to reduce the draft as part of their March 26 agreement with the players’ association and MLB plans to finalize a decision next week to go with the minimum, a person familiar with the decision told the Associated Press.
There will be just 160 players drafted, and the combined value of their signing bonus pools is $235,906,800. The amount of signing bonus pool money eliminated is $29,578,100.
As part of the agreement with the union, players passed over in the draft are limited to signing bonuses of $20,000 or less.