Category: General

General

LSU’s Livvy Dunne, Paul Skenes guest pickers ahead of Alabama-LSU for ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’

Star power will be on hand Saturday for ESPN’s Week 11 “College GameDay” broadcast from Baton Rouge ahead of Alabama’s visit to LSU.

Gymnast Livvy Dunne and Pittsburgh pitcher Paul Skenes will be the celebrity guest pickers, sources told On3′s Pete Nakos.

It will be the first time this season a pair of guest pickers will be used.

Skenes, of course, was at the center of the 2023 LSU baseball team that won the College World Series.

Dunne, on the other hand, is a social media sensation and was a part of LSU national championship gymnastics team last year.

Rece Davis will be joined at the desk by analysts Lee Corso, Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and Nick Saban. College football insider Pete Thamel, college football betting analyst ‘Stanford Steve’ Coughlin and reporters Jen Lada and Jess Sims round out the “GameDay” cast.

The Crimson Tide (6-2, 3-2) and the Tigers (6-2, 3-1) were idle last week and face off at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.

General

Caitlin Clark signature basketballs are available at Target for only $20

We’ve found the perfect gift for the basketball lover in your life.

Target has Wilson’s Caitlin Clark Journey Basketball Series in 27.5 inch, 28.5 inch and 29.5 inch available for only $19.99. The ball honoring the college basketball and WNBA superstar is available in two styles – the Every Point, a black ball with colorful confetti images and Make Your Mark, a white ball with multi-color writing. Both of the balls contain Clark’s signature.

You can order yours here.

Here’s all you need to know about the balls:

Approved for official play

The Wilson Caitlin Clark Journey Basketball Series is available in three sizes: 27.5 inches, 28.5 inches, and 29.5 inches. Each ball features an all-surface cover that is ideal for outdoor play, ensuring durability and performance. The construction includes deep channels for enhanced grip, while the internal structure maintains a standard feel for players. The basketball employs a pressure lock bladder, which helps in retaining air and maintaining optimal performance during games. Notably, this basketball is approved for official play, making it a suitable choice for competitive settings. The retail price is set at $19.99.

Deep channel construction

One outstanding feature of the Wilson Caitlin Clark Journey Basketball is its deep channel construction. This design offers a superior grip, enabling players to handle the ball with greater control and precision. Whether shooting, passing, or dribbling, players can experience enhanced responsiveness thanks to the thoughtfully crafted channels.

All surface cover

Another unique aspect of this basketball is its versatility due to the all-surface cover. This feature allows it to perform well on varied outdoor surfaces, whether it’s asphalt or concrete, ensuring that players can enjoy a consistent game experience regardless of the environment.

Generative AI was used to create a product description for this story, based on data provided by Target.com. It was reviewed and edited by AL.com.

Sample HTML block

General

Can Trump be sentenced to prison now that he’s been elected president?

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan may soon be tasked with making the unenviable decision of whether to punish incoming President Donald Trump for crimes 12 New Yorkers determined he committed in a scheme to hide hush money payments to Stormy Daniels and others from voters.

Following Trump’s stunning election victory, it’s unclear what, if any, consequences he will face or if his sentencing will even happen on Nov. 26.

Merchan hasn’t yet ruled on Trump’s request to reject the jury’s findings and throw out the case.

Trump has argued that the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling granting the president sweeping immunity from criminal prosecution barred the Manhattan district attorney’s office from presenting evidence relating to his time in office at his spring trial and should nullify the verdict.

Should Merchan reject the argument in his decision expected by Nov. 12, Trump’s lawyers, who have already succeeded at getting the sentencing pushed back twice, will almost certainly challenge it from going forward.

Retired New York Supreme Court Justice Alan Marrus said Merchan might go ahead with it but that any term imposed would likely be “stayed” — meaning paused — until Trump is out of office unless he gets the verdicts overturned on appeal.

“This is such an unprecedented situation, I obviously have had no experience with anything like this before,” Marrus said.

Barring defendants who fled or died, Marrus struggled to think of a case where someone who was found guilty didn’t face sentencing.

“There has to be something that finalizes the whole process,” he said. “Technically, [Merchan] has no power to just come into court and say, ‘I’m not going to sentence the man because he won an election.’ There’s nothing that authorizes a judge from just doing that.”

If prosecutors have a suggestion for what punishment they think Trump should face, they must tell the judge within 10 days before sentencing. The Manhattan DA’s office declined to shed light on what they plan to communicate to Merchan or comment for this story.

“I don’t see why Bragg’s office would want to not go forward with sentencing. What the sentencing would be now faces practical hurdles because you don’t really want to interfere with the transition into a new government,” said a former Manhattan prosecutor who asked not to be named.

“Do you really have him clean the highways while he’s the president-elect and probably has better things to do? I think probably not,” he said, adding that they could not imagine Trump facing jail time.

“It’s a mitigating circumstance — the fact that he was elected with the public knowing that he was convicted of these crimes. I think that’s that.”

Duncan Levin, a defense attorney and former federal prosecutor, questioned whether the matter may end up before the nation’s highest court.

“I don’t know that the Supreme Court would allow a local court to restrain the liberty of even the president-elect,” Levin said.

Trump has also been charged in three other cases. The Associated Press on Wednesday reported that special counsel Jack Smith is searching for avenues to wind down the two federal ones, in which Trump is accused of trying to overturn the results of the last election and hoarding classified documents after leaving office. The latter was thrown out by Trump-appointed federal Judge Aileen Cannon this summer, which Justice Department prosecutors appealed.

Regardless of what Smith does, Trump has vowed to fire him, and his pick for attorney general would have the power to drop both cases.

Unclear also is the fate of Trump’s Georgia state case, in which he’s charged alongside more than a dozen others with RICO offenses stemming from alleged election subversion efforts. Legal onlookers have said that prosecution, which has stalled for months for various reasons, is unlikely to see a resurrection with Trump in the White House.

Outside of his criminal matters, Trump, in the last 18 months, was found civilly liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll in a Midtown department store changing room in the 1990s and defaming her decades later.

His victory “does nothing to change either the fact, as determined by two separate juries, that he sexually assaulted and defamed Ms. Carroll, or the applicable legal principles under which he was held liable for that conduct,” Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, told The News.

The $5 million Trump was ordered to pay Carroll in May 2023 is secured in a court-controlled account. Kaplan said the $83.3 million a second jury awarded her this year for defamatory comments he made as president is fully bonded. Trump is appealing the outcomes of both lawsuits.

Trump and his crew are also appealing the almost half a billion dollars he and his business associates were ordered to pay this year after being found liable for large-scale business fraud. State Attorney General Letitia James said she doesn’t expect the process to wrap up anytime soon.

“We anticipate a decision from the Appellate Division, but as you know, at that point, there will be an appeal to the New York State Court of Appeals,” James said.

The News reached out to Trump’s attorneys for comment.

_______

(Daily News staff writer Josephine Stratman contributed to this story.)

_______

General

South Alabama extends apparel deal with adidas for 5 more years

South Alabama has extended its athletic apparel deal with adidas through 2030, it was announced Thursday.

The Jaguars have worn the famed adidas “three stripes” in all 17 varsity sports since 2018 as part of a contract that was set to expire at the end of May 2025. The new deal extends the partnership another five years through the 2029-30 athletic year, and also adds Game One as the school’s official supplier of apparel, shoes and other equipment.

“We are truly excited to extend our partnership with adidas,” said South Alabama Director of Athletics Dr. Joel Erdmann. “The quality and style of the products adidas supplies reflects our standards and expectations as a department. We are also pleased to begin our relationship with Game One, who has brought to the table proven expertise and customer satisfaction.”

Prior to 2018, Nike was South Alabama’s official athletic apparel supplier.

General

Carolina ‘didn’t want to trade’ Bryce Young, but it hasn’t committed to the QB either

The NFL trade deadline passed on Tuesday without the Carolina Panthers moving Bryce Young. Instead, the No. 1 pick of the 2023 draft will start at quarterback against the New York Giants on Sunday.

“We never got into any discussions,” Panthers general manager Dan Morgan said on Wednesday about trading the quarterback. “I never opened that door. Didn’t want to trade Bryce. Still don’t. And committed to working with him and helping him grow and helping him develop.”

Does that mean Carolina is re-committed to Young as their franchise quarterback?

“I think every week, you know, we’re assessing Bryce,” Morgan said when asked that question. “We’re just seeing, just taking it day by day, really just seeing him grow, seeing him develop, be under coach and work with him, learn under Andy (Dalton). I think we do see him growing every day. We’re excited to work with him and keep working with him in the future. And at the end of the day, we’ll have those conversations once the season ends, and we’ll see where we’re at.”

After trading up to spend the No. 1 pick on Young last year, the Panthers had the former Alabama All-American in their starting lineup for 16 games in 2023. But when Carolina opened with two losses in 2024, new coach Dave Canales benched the second-year signal-caller for Dalton.

The 14-year NFL veteran started the next five games. But when Dalton sustained a thumb injury in a traffic accident on Oct. 22, Young returned to the starting lineup. After the Panthers’ 28-14 loss to the Denver Broncos on Oct. 27, Canales kept Young in the lineup for another game.

Carolina broke a five-game losing streak by beating the New Orleans Saints 23-22 on Sunday, and Canales announced on Wednesday that Young would make another start.

“This is about the progress from one week to the next,” Canales said. “And then I preach finish. I talk about finish all the time. That’s finish everything — finish plays, drives, quarters, halves, finish games. He did a fantastic job of finishing that game the right way, finding a way to win and really battling that way, so I was really proud of Bryce for that. And just took all the information in and wanted to give him another opportunity to get out there and face the Giants this week in Germany.”

But like Morgan on next season, Canales won’t commit to Young beyond Sunday’s game.

“We have an opportunity here to play this game,” Canales said on Wednesday, “and we’re going take all the information in and then we’ll make a decision after that. …

“Again, right now, because of the progress he’s showed, I want to just focus on this week, I want him to play again. This gives us an opportunity with the bye week to take all the information and then make another decision after that.”

Young called it “part of the business.”

“I’m just here to do my job, whatever that job is called to be,” Young said on Wednesday. “I know what it is for this week, so grateful for that. And then just I have to, you know, I’m a pro no matter what it is. Just bring my best every single day and just lean in on that. …

“I just want to do everything I can to help the team. Obviously, my play being evaluated is out of my hands. I want to do everything I can to help the team win. I lean on my teammates, the coaches and all that and just try to execute. And I know after every week, obviously it’ll be evaluation, so I try not to think about that. I just try to do everything I can to help the team.”

Over the past two games, Young has completed 40-of-63 passes for 395 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.

“Finding throws down the field,” Canales said of Young’s improvement since the quarterback opened the season by completing 13-of-30 passes for 161 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions in a 47-10 loss to the Saints on Sept. 8. “A lot of it’s chemistry with the guys he’s been working with and finding completions, some really cool explosive plays that showed up in the game. It’s just, again, just our third-down operation. I know we didn’t have the best third-down day that we wanted to, but I saw progress there just with the whole group, getting up and operating that way and a lot of the other specific things.

“Again, I won’t go into those details. Those are private conversations in the QB room, so I’ll keep it at that. But just the steps forward, the progress, and then the finish. And that’s what we look for. We’re looking for that finish.”

The Panthers trailed New Orleans 22-17 when they took possession at their 36-yard line with 3:26 to play on Sunday. Young hit a third-down pass to wide receiver Xavier Legette for a 26-yard gain, and a 22-yard defensive pass interference penalty on the next snap moved Carolina to the New Orleans 16. Running back Chuba Hubbard covered that distance to the goal line to give Carolina a one-point lead with 2:18 remaining.

“I think it was great for us as a unit, as a team, just to finish that way,” Young said. “But also not downplaying the defense coming up with a huge stop and a huge moment. Again, it was a one-point game. They had time. And for the defense to come up big like that, too, again, full team win. So I think it was great for us just to be able to do it and play off of each other, play complementary and both sides of the ball step up.

“And now, again, it’s just building off of it, making sure that we can harness it, continue to grow, continue to build off of it. And it was great while it lasted. Now it’s just: What can we do better to continue to improve?”

The Panthers and the Giants will square off at 8:30 a.m. CST Sunday at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany. NFL Network will televise the game.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.

General

Why Nate Oats and Alabama scheduled Will Wade’s McNeese State

A familiar foe for Alabama basketball returns to Coleman Coliseum on Monday. Will Wade, the former LSU coach, now at McNeese State, will lead the Cowboys to face Nate Oats and the Crimson Tide.

The two coaches developed a rivalry while Wade was leading the Tigers, before he was fired when the NCAA served LSU with a notice of allegations for recruiting violations in 2022. Still, any bad blood that may have existed didn’t stop Oats from putting the Cowboys on UA’s 2024-25 schedule.

“I have a ton of respect for Will,” Oats said Thursday. “I played him when he was at VCU and I was at Buffalo, and he was good, he was better than us then. We had some battles at LSU. He’s got McNeese State back in the national stage quickly.”

Wade was hired to coach the Cowboys before last season. He was suspended for the first 10 games of the 2023-24 campaign, and is serving a two-year show-cause as well.

He led McNeese State to the NCAA Tournament once he began coaching. When it came time to fill out the 2024-25 schedule, the Cowboys called a man who loves to play tough games early on in the season.

“I know what it’s like to be a good mid-major,” Oats said. “It’s hard to get good games. Will;s trying to get good games for their team. They call us because pretty much everybody in the country knows we play good teams and we want good teams. We don’t want to play bad buy games, I don’t think that makes you better.”

Oats has carried that strategy throughout his Alabama tenure. It also applies to the Tide’s Monday matchup with Arkansas State at Coleman.

Former US assistant Bryan Hodgsen took over as head coach of the Red Wolves before last season. Arkansas State won 20 games, and was picked to win the Sun Belt ahead of Hodgsen’s second year in charge.

“Bryan told me he’s tried to get, tried to get, told me the teams in the SEC’s he’s talked to,” Oats said. “Most teams won’t play them, and I’m sure Will’s got that same problem. But we’re not really like that.”

Alabama and Arkansas State are scheduled to tip off Friday at 7 p.m. CT, on SEC Network+. The McNeese State matchup will begin at 6 p.m. CT Monday on the SEC Network, with both games played at Coleman Coliseum.

General

The UGG Nita Shearling Slippers are on sale for a limited-time

Nordstrom Rack is offering a limited-time deal on the Nita Genuine Shearling Slipper while supplies last.

During this sale, customers can get the cozy UGG slipper for $89.99 instead of the regular price of $140, a $50 discount overall.

UGG Nita Genuine Shearling Slipper

The UGG Nita Genuine Shearling Slipper is $50 off from Nordstrom Rack this week.

Buy Now

The UGG Nita Genuine Shearling Slipper is crafted with a genuine shearling and leather upper, complemented by a lining made entirely of UGGpure wool, a textile designed to mimic the plush feel of traditional shearling. The stylish platform aspect also gives it a fashionable look.

Highlighted Product Feature – Comfort and Style: The standout feature of the UGG Nita Genuine Shearling Slipper is its luxurious UGGpure wool lining. This material not only adds an extra layer of comfort but also effectively regulates temperature, ensuring your feet stay warm without overheating, making these slippers ideal for both lounging at home and running quick errands.

Other Features – Sourcing of Materials: An interesting aspect of the UGG Nita slippers is that the shearling might be sourced from various locations, including Australia, China, Italy, New Zealand, Spain or the USA. This diversity in sourcing not only supports global trade but also ensures a range of materials can meet quality standards, providing customers with a product that is both luxurious and responsibly made.

Those interested in this deal can check out more details here.

Generative AI was used to provide product description for this story, based on data provided by Nordstrom Rack. It was reviewed and edited by AL.com.

General

Ravens-Bengals free livestream: How to watch NFL game tonight, TV, schedule

The Baltimore Ravens play against the Cincinnati Bengals in an NFL game tonight. The matchup will begin at 7:15 p.m. CT on Prime Video. Fans can watch this game for free online by using the free trial offered by Prime Video.

The Ravens enter this matchup with a 6-3 record, and they are coming off a 41-10 win against Denver. During the victory, Baltimore accrued nearly 400 total yards. The team’s star running back Derrick Henry rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns, so he will look to perform similarly tonight.

Notably, the Ravens also threw the ball effectively last game. Baltimore’s quarterback Lamar Jackson completed 16-19 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns. He has thrown for 20 touchdowns and only two interceptions this season, making him one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.

The Bengals enter this matchup with a 4-5 record, and they are coming off a 41-24 win against Las Vegas. During the victory, Cincinnati’s star quarterback Joe Burrow threw for five touchdowns and more than 250 yards. The highly talented player has completed more than 70% of his passes this season, so he will be a key player to watch tonight.

Fans can watch this game for free online by using the free trial offered by Prime Video.

General

Ex-employee indicted on 17 charges after BMW plowed into Leeds business in 2023

A 29-year-old man has been indicted on 17 charges after police say he intentionally crashed his vehicle into his former workplace in 2023.

A Jefferson County grand jury indicted Joshua Jermaine Hardrick, of Margaret, on six counts of attempted murder, 10 counts of reckless endangerment, and one count first-degree criminal mischief.

The indictments were issued Oct. 25 and made public Thursday.

Hardrick was initially arrested in February 2023 and remains out of jail on bonds totaling $307,500.

The incident happened at 3:25 p.m. on Feb. 1, 2023, at TA Services. That business is located at 1405 Eight Street in Leeds.

Police said Hardrick was a former employee of TA Services.

On that Wednesday afternoon, Hardrick “returned to the business in a violent manner and accelerated into this business in an area that is usually occupied by many employees,” Chief Paul Irwin said at the time.

Employees detained Hardrick until police arrived.

TA Services is a logistics company that deals with freight brokerage and warehousing.

Hardrick reportedly worked for the company for several months before he quit six months before the crash.

A trial date has not yet been set.

General

U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl praises ‘Team Mobile’ at final public speech as a congressman

U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl touted the city’s business and political leaders during what he said was his final public remarks to a local group as a member of Congress on Thursday, praising what he said was “Team Mobile,” but not confirming whether his future plans include a run for city office.

“I appreciate you allowing me to be a part of that for the past 13 years,” said Carl, R-Mobile, who served on the Mobile County Commission before he was elected to represent the 1st congressional district in 2020.