Longtime figure skating coach Callaghan banned
Richard Callaghan, who coached Tara Lipinski to Olympic gold, was banned from figure skating by the U.S. Center for SafeSport for sexual misconduct.
Callaghan, who also coached sixtime U.S. champion Todd Eldredge, was ruled “permanently ineligible” on Wednesday for actions involving a minor. Callaghan was accused by a former student, Adam Schmidt, in a lawsuit. Schmidt alleged that Callaghan sexually abused him from 1999-2001. Schmidt was 14 in 1999.
Also in 1999, Callaghan was investigated for sexual misconduct involving another coach, Craig Maurizi, but U.S. Figure Skating dismissed those charges. Maurizi said the incidents began in 1976 when he was 13, and continued for years.
Now 73, Callaghan was suspended in March 2018 by SafeSport and by the federation. He sued SafeSport, but the lawsuit was dismissed.
Pro football
XFL REVEALS TEAM NAMES >> The XFL has names for its eight teams, now it needs players. The league, which begins play in February, revealed team logos and names. The teams are the Los Angeles Wildcats, New York Guardians, DC Defenders, Dallas Renegades, Houston Roughnecks, St. Louis BattleHawks, Seattle Dragons and Tampa Bay Vipers.
Jurisprudence
PAVELICH CHARGED WITH ASSAULT ON NEIGHBOR >> Mark Pavelich, a forward on the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” U.S. Olympic hockey team who went on to play for the New York Rangers and two other NHL teams, was charged with assault for allegedly beating a neighbor with a metal pole and breaking several of the man’s bones.
Pavelich, 61, attacked his neighbor last week at Pavelich’s home in the small Lake Superior community of Lutsen, Minn., after they returned from fishing, authorities allege in the criminal complaint. Pavelich told investigators he believed the man had “spiked” his beer, leading to the alleged attack, it states.
First responders found the neighbor in shock with “obvious disfigurement of his leg,” KMSP-TV reported. He also had a bruised kidney, two cracked ribs and a fractured vertebra.
Pavelich faces charges of secondand third-degree assault, possession of an illegal shotgun and receiving a gun with an altered or missing serial number. During a hearing Monday in Cook County District Court, the judge ordered a mental competency hearing for Pavelich. He remains in custody in lieu of $250,000 bail, the Star Tribune reported.
Pavelich played five seasons with the Rangers and parts of one season each with the Minnesota North Stars and Sharks, potting 137 goals and dishing out 192 assists in his 355 NHL games. He also played professionally in Europe.
Pavelich had two assists in the United States’ “Miracle” 4-3 win over the Soviet Union in the semifinals of the 1980 Olympic tournament. The U.S. went on to beat Finland in the finals to win the gold medal. EX-NEW MEXICO AD INDICTED >> Former University of New Mexico athletic director Paul Krebs, who left in 2017 amid questions over spending, was indicted in connection with a lavish 2015 golf trip to Scotland that was partly paid for with state funds, according to court documents.
The indictment filed in state district court charges Krebs, 63, with embezzlement over $20,000 for using $24,500 in school money to pay for three people not affiliated with the university to go on the trip. He also is charged with lesser embezzlement counts, larceny, and tampering.
College football
NO EARLY KICKOFFS, YET >> Morning kickoffs very well could be a part of the Pac-12’s future, just not in 2019.
The conference has opted against scheduling games this season at 9 a.m. PT as a means of gaining exposure on the new FOX broadcast window.
Andrew Walker, head of communications for the Pac-12, said several schools are interested in playing early, but the conference couldn’t find “good options” over the coming three months.
The plan, Walker added, is to monitor whichever Big 12 and Big Ten games are slotted into the 9 a.m. window, then reassess for next season.
By delaying any early kickoffs until at least 2020, the Pac-12 will allow time for the schools and fans to plan for the unusual logistics. — Jon Wilner BADGERS’ CEPHUS RETURNS TO PRACTICE >> Wisconsin receiver Quintez Cephus returned to practice, though he is not eligible to play in games yet at least in part because he lacks credits after he was expelled this spring amid sexual assault allegations.
Hockey
WILD HIRE GUERIN AS GM >> The Minnesota Wild hired Bill Guerin, who won two Stanley Cups as a player and two more titles in the front office with the Pittsburgh Penguins, as their new general manager. Guerin was announced as the fourth GM in the team’s 19-year history, three weeks after predecessor Paul Fenton was fired by owner Craig Leipold. Guerin spent the last five seasons as assistant general manager of the Penguins, who won consecutive Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017.
SENATORS SIGN WHITE >> The Ottawa Senators signed forward Colin White to a six-year contract with an average annual value of $4.75 million. White had 14 goals and 27 assists in 71 games last year in his first full season in the NHL, his 41 points fifth best among rookies.
SWEDISH FEMALE PLAYERS TO BOYCOTT TOURNAMENT >> Female hockey players in Sweden will go ahead with their boycott of an international tournament in Finland because of their unhappiness about pay and working conditions. Sweden was to play its first game of the Five Nations Tournament on Wednesday against Japan in Vierumaki, but the squad of 43 players will be absent. They refused to attend a five-day training camp in Sweden last week.
Tennis
U.S. TO FACE LATVIA FOR FED CUP SPOT >> The United States will face Latvia for a place in next year’s Fed Cup finals, the first time the “World Cup of Tennis” tournament system will be used.
The draw for February’s qualifying matches pits the Americans against a Latvian team that could include former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and last year’s U.S. Open semifinalist Anastasija Sevastova.
Romania, the home country of Wimbledon champion Simona Halep, will play Russia, while Spain will face Japan, Canada plays Switzerland and Britain takes on Slovakia.
Race walking
RUSSIAN ATHLETE GETS BAN >> Russian race walker Sergei Bakulin, who was previously stripped of a world title for doping, was banned again, this time for eight years. The Athletics Integrity Unit saID Bakulin’s blood passport data showed signs of doping. It is the same rule that cost him the 2011 world 50-kilometer title.