DEAR MISS MANNERS: My boyfriend’s ex moved to our city and asked to stay with us for a week while renovations were being finished on her new apartment.
While she was here, I found broken drinking glasses in the garbage, twice, hidden under a paper towel. After the second time, I said it wasn’t a big deal, but asked if she could let us know they were there so we wouldn’t accidentally cut ourselves.
She was offended and complained to my boyfriend, who said it was rude of me to say anything. Could I have handled it better?
GENTLE READER: You handled both the situation and, luckily, the garbage, remarkably well.
Breaking things and hiding the evidence is not polite guest behavior. Miss Manners hopes you take some solace, however, in this woman making it obvious why she is your boyfriend’s ex. She will leave it up to you to decide if his calling you rude and siding with her is worthy of making him your ex, too.
Please send your questions to Miss Manners at missmanners.com, by email to [email protected], or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.
Looking for adventure? Try redesigning a sport utility vehicle.
Friday saw the beginning of production on Honda’s new 2026 Passport SUV and Passport TrailSport, debuting a more rugged version of the models at the automaker’s plant in Lincoln.
As on previous occasions, employees at the factory, accompanied by music from the Miles College Marching Band, waved hands and cheered as the newest vehicle came rolling by for inspection.
The fourth-generation Passport features a 3.5-liter DOHC V-6 and Passport’s first 10-speed automatic transmission, plus several off-road features designed for drivers with a bit of wanderlust.
Todd Hemmert, chief engineer of the Passport, said the changes to this model were intended to make the Passport distinct from “start to finish” from Honda’s other off-road models.
The 2026 Passport comes in three primary trim levels – RTL, TrailSport and TrailSport Elite –all built on the Honda light truck architecture first applied two years ago to the new Honda Pilot, which the company says is an extremely rigid platform engineered for off-road capabilities.
The Passport RTL has a suggested retail price in the neighborhood of $45,000.
“We changed proportions of the vehicle to really improve the rugged appeal, including the approach angle and departure angle,” Hemmert said. “That makes it that more compact, off-road capable vehicle. It had the capability before, but it looks like it does now, which should give the customer a lot more confidence.”
Some of the changes came after suggestions from owners and dealers. “And also where the market is going, and how we can differentiate it within our own lineup,” he said.
Each redesign can present its own issues. Alabama associates worked closely with Honda’s Ohio-based research and development team.
But Honda’s “One Floor” approach is to have R&D, manufacturing and purchasing associates collaborating from the earliest stages of vehicle creation.
And for the first time, members of the Alabama New Model Team were based at the North American Automotive Development Center in Ohio. What followed were refinements to the vehicle design and creation of new processes and tools to make the Passport easier to build, said Mike Smith, senior staff engineer at the Alabama Auto Plant and the Engineering Project Leader for Passport.
For example, Passport is assembled in a way for associates to step into the front of the vehicle and install components inside the engine room, rather than reaching over the front end of the vehicle.
Another design addition is a trailer hitch on both Passport TrailSport models which can tow as much as 5,000 pounds. But the hitch comes with features that protect the rear fascia from off-road damage.
Another component is the matte finish on the exterior of the rear cargo area, which allows drivers to lean skis, fishing poles and other equipment against Passport without scratching the surface.
“Honda associates in Alabama worked with ingenuity and determination to bring to market the most rugged Honda SUV ever for our customers,” Lamar Whitaker, plant leader of the Alabama Auto Plant, said.
Honda employs more than 4,500 in Lincoln, building the Passport, Pilot, Odyssey and Ridgeline along with TrailSport models.
The plant has an annual capacity of more than 350,000 vehicles and V6 engines and has manufactured more than 6.5 million vehicles since production began in 2001. Honda has invested more than $3.1 billion at the 4.9 million-square-foot facility.
Fourteen women sat on the front porch of a new home, waiting to hear if their name would be called.
One winner would get a fully-furnished home for free. Around them, a DJ played while food trucks served the dozens of people gathered on the lawn.
A key with the name of each woman was put in a bingo cage – Desiree McGuire’s came out. The others on the porch hugged her as the crowd cheered. McGuire put on the heels she brought with her, just in case.
“It means hope, stability and a better chance at life,” she said.
McGuire put her name in the lottery that was available for families who have children in the Black Belt Community Foundation Head Start program.
The non-profit is working with the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, a national nonprofit that helps people access affordable housing, the city of Selma and the Selma Housing Authority to build 100 new affordable homes. The goal is to help revitalize the city after a tornado hit in 2023, destroying more than 600 structures and roughly half of the residential neighborhoods in Selma.
“It’s amazing to know I get to live here with my family,” McGuire said. Along with her four-year-old, who is enrolled in Head Start, she will be moving into the home with her 7-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son.
“This gives my children a better chance and a head start as they become adults,” she said.
From left to right: Bruce Marks, CEO of NACA, Taquila Monroe, president of the AL Head Start Association, Desiree Mcguire, new homeowner, Felicia Lucky, CEO of the Black Belt Community Foundation and Kennard Randolph, president of the Selma Housing Authority.Savannah Tryens-Fernandes
The homes are energy-efficient and climate resistant to help Selma be more resilient in the face of future natural disasters. They are also affordable, with a list price of $169,500 for the three bedroom, two bathroom homes.
For the first time, the Selma Housing Authority will also allow people to use Section 8 vouchers toward home ownership. The subsidies from the housing authority vouchers can go toward paying a mortgage every month instead of rent.
“This is the work that needs to be done, the work of not only giving away a home, but the work of transforming a family’s life,” Kennard Randolph, president of the Selma Housing Authority, said during the giveaway. “This is an opportunity that some of these people may never have reached, but because of this moment, they will reach it.”
Newberry, who won the home across the street from McGuire, came to meet her new neighbor, saying the first year in her home has been “amazing.”
Like Newberry, McGuire will also have her home fully furnished by the organizations, the first year of insurance paid for to give her time to save money and financial counseling to help her sustain home ownership.
But this time around the winner was not chosen among families who lost their homes to the tornado, and instead was chosen among those who have kids enrolled in Head Start. Randolph told AL.com that decision was made because they wanted to support families with young kids who are experiencing hardship or homelessness.
He said the goal of this affordable housing program is to build generational wealth – “becoming a homeowner allows you to gain generational wealth not just for you but for your children and grandchildren.”
Taquila Monroe, president of the Alabama Head Start Association, added that “it reflects our true commitment to uplifting families and uplifting people who are often overlooked.”
The public-private partnership has built the first 10 homes, which are available for sale. The housing authority purchased the land while NACA purchased the houses with $700,000 in funding coming from the community foundation, according to leaders of the initiative.
Bank of America is also subsidizing the project.
Desiree Mcguire pictured with the key to her new home, which she won during a giveaway on Feb. 28, 2025.Savannah Tryens-Fernandes
The iconic civil rights city of just under 17,000 people west of Montgomery, has been the fastest-shrinking city in Alabama for many years. The population decline, hastened by white flight and the Craig Air Force Base closure in 1977, has caused many businesses and community centers, such as the Brown YMCA, to permanently shutter.
Since Selma won the nation the right to vote in the 1960s, the population has gone down by 37% and by 13% in the last decade alone.
The city has long been plagued by a housing shortage that makes it difficult for people to both live and work in Selma.
Many of the affordable multi-family and single-family homes in Selma were designated for low-income residents or senior living, leaving middle class families and individuals few options. Some buildings were left abandoned as residents moved away or died.
“We want to create those opportunities, not only for our residents, but for school teachers, for firefighters, for people that work at the hospital, anybody who wants to live and work in Selma,” Randolph told AL.com last year. “This could significantly help with our city’s growth and revitalization.”
Once the first 100 houses are built, the partnership wants to then expand the affordable housing program throughout the Black Belt.
“The homes that you see before you are not the end product. We plan to go north, south, east and west. We plan to revitalize every neighborhood that was affected by the storm,” Randolph said. “Selma is on the rise…it will be great again.”
Julian “Judy” Rayford knew exactly what he had started.
Yet, in the years after he created Mobile’s Joe Cain Day, Rayford would sit quietly on a bench along Royal Street. He was just another face in the crowd and played the part of an unsuspecting bystander.
“What’s going on here today?” he’d ask a passersby with a twinkle of mischief in his eye.
“He knew full well what was going on,” said historian Wayne Dean, who first met Rayford during the inaugural Joe Cain Day procession in 1967.
Of course, he did. He created the day.
Yet, nearly 45 years after Rayford’s death, his contributions to Mobile’s Mardi Gras and his unique talents are fading into obscurity, just like the man himself once did during those long-ago processions.
In the folklore of Mobile’s Mardi Gras, Rayford was to Joe Cain what Victor Frankenstein was to his creation. But as with Cain, it’s the spectacle that people remember. Just as Boris Karloff’s iconic portrayal of the monster in 1931’s Frankenstein overshadowed the actor who played its creator, Colin Clive, Joe Cain’s legend has long outshined the man who revived it.
That doesn’t mean Rayford’s influence isn’t forgotten by Dean and other longtime Carnival historians and students. They would like to see the creator enshrined into Mobile, somehow and someday.
“We’ve attempted to have a person portray Judy and say, ‘I’m back and here is what I did,’” said Dean, about how to incorporate Rayford as a character into the annual Joe Cain Day Procession. Dean has, for 40 years, portrayed Chief Slacabamarinico – the Mardi Gras character first created by Joe Cain in 1868 but revitalized and embellished in the 1960s by Rayford, during the inaugural Joe Cain Day celebrations.
“One of the things Julian was concerned about was Joe Cain was not getting his due,” Dean said. “With the Joe Cain Day Procession, we got to thinking (lately) that Julian wasn’t getting his due. He has faded into the background and that’s a shame.”
Renaissance man
Julian Rayford, the famed folklorist whose efforts created the modern-day Joe Cain Day celebration during Mobile’s Mardi Gras, speaks during the 1980 event in Bienville Square in downtown Mobile, Ala. Smiling in the background is Lambert Mims, a former Mobile city commissioner. The 1980 Mardi Gras and Joe Cain Day celebration was the last one for Rayford, who died on Aug. 3, 1980. (supplied photo).
Rayford, often called a ‘renaissance man,’ had influence that reached beyond Mardi Gras. His story is one of complexity and peculiarity.
Some notable examples:
He was a respected artist who once hobnobbed with Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore and Stone Mountain fame.
His artwork can be found in Mobile. A sculpture of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville is at the entrance to the George Wallace Tunnel downtown, across from Fort Conde. He also created the Farragut-Buchanan sculpture, located in Mobile’s Bienville Square that commemorated the centennial of the Battle of Mobile Bay.
He was the author of multiple books including “Cottonmouth,” a 1941 novel in which Rayford writes about his upbringing in Mobile.
Rayford was considered the “greatest living authority” on Paul Bunyan. He was fascinated with folklore, and even wrote a book about Mike Fink, who was called the “Snapping Turtle.” Rayford would also argue with historians who disputed the realism of Prince Madoc’s story of sailing up the Mobile Bay hundreds of years before Christoper Columbus landed in America.
Rayford was a poet, and a sought-after speaker in the 1970s. A Kansas City newspaper article from 1975, described him as a “short, rotund man who looks like Santa Claus” … and who was a “living, national monument to American folksong, legend and poetry.”
Despite the impressive resume, Rayford never had much money. He lived his final years at the Cathedral Place in downtown Mobile. But he remained a sought-after interview by the local media, and his street chants would draw crowds.
“There were people who thought he was just a guy who doesn’t have a real job who just goes around and spouts poetry,” said John Peebles, a longtime member of the board of governors with the Mobile Carnival Museum who can recall Rayford’s chants that “make the hair stand on the back of your neck.”
He added, “There are other people who thought, ‘this guy is an intellectual underpinning of the city,’ and he needs a certain degree of respect for that.”
Local historians say the sculptures Rayford did represented his artistic best.
Raising Cain
But it’s with Mardi Gras that Rayford is best remembered in Mobile, some 63 years after his book, ‘Chasin’ the Devil Around a Stump,’ was released. The 1962 novel sparked a popular refreshing of Mobile’s Mardi Gras story from Rayford’s viewpoint. In it, Rayford positioned Cain as the seminal figure who revitalized Mardi Gras amid Union occupation of Mobile following the Civil War.
“(Rayford) gave sole credit to the renaissance of Carnival to Joseph Stillwell Cain,” said Cart Blackwell, a Carnival historian and curator at the Mobile Carnival Museum.
Part fact with plenty of embellishments and fiction, the inclusion of Cain as a Mardi Gras figurehead was Rayford’s idea.
“(Rayford) did not let facts slow him down,” Blackwell said. “He is the reason Joe Cain is known today. (Cain) would be a footnote in history if not for Mr. Rayford discovering him, having a reburial and writing about him and the creation of Joe Cain Day and the role of Joe Cain (with Mardi Gras).”
Rayford, ever the folklorist, was relentless in getting Cain transformed into the mythical savior of Mardi Gras. His quest was filled with persistence and patience, politicking and creativity that would be unheard of today.
“He couldn’t have done what he did with Joe Cain if he didn’t have a substantial footprint in the community,” Peebles said. “What he did, in creating a new public holiday in an almost 300-year-old city, and then getting this historic figure excavated from one graveyard and place in another and — more or less — canonizing him, he did all of that. It would have not happened without him.”
Joe Cain dressed as Chief Slacabamarinico. (Encyclopedia of Alabama)
Rayford’s immortalizing of Cain is based on his antics after the Civil War. As the story goes, Cain dressed in a plaid skirt and a headdress and paraded through the streets of Mobile on Fat Tuesday in 1868. The celebration took place in front of the citizens and the remaining occupying Union Army troops and represented the revival of postbellum Mardi Gras.
Clain claimed to be a Chickasaw chief – named Slacabamarinico – as a backhanded insult to the Union forces because the Chickasaw tribe had never been defeated during the war.
But none of that history, nor its tale, was celebrated until Rayford came along. And so began Rayford’s long and persistent focus of getting Cain’s remains disinterred from a cemetery in Bayou La Batre and reburied at the Church Street Graveyard, occurring in 1966.
Historian Wayne Dean, who has portrayed the Slacabamarinico character since 1985, stands next to his original outfit that he wore in the 1980s after receiving the feathers as “Slac IV” from James “Red” Foster. The Mobile Carnival Museum’s exhibit “Of Men and Myths” looks at the historical and mythological relevance of Mobile’s most recognizable Carnival character, Slacabamarinico and those who have portrayed him — Joe Cain, Julian Rayford, Foster, and Dean. It also looks at the quirky celebration, Joe Cain Day, that takes place every year on the Sunday before Fat Tuesday. (John Sharp/[email protected]).
Dean said it took Rayford 11-1/2 years to complete his plan, marking the first “passing of the feathers” from one Slacabamarinico to the next. The reason for the decade-plus wait, Dean said, was because one of Cain’s descendants declined to sign off on the reburial, and that Rayford had to wait for that person to die before he could proceed with his elaborate plans.
“He was very persistent,” Dean said.
Democratic Carnival
Documentation suggests that Rayford had been looking for an active role in Mardi Gras decades before his fascination with Cain. In an Oct. 18, 1935, letter to then-Mayor Cecil Bates, Rayford writes about a new plan for Carnival that he wished to take a leading role in directing.
He pushed for a street fair, stage by a local fraternal organization. He also wanted to form a float makers guild, host agricultural exhibits, allow high schools to participate in parades, and encourage mystic societies to choose a branch of local legend.
Nowhere in the letter is Cain mentioned, though the foundation was laid for a common man’s version of the holiday that has become the hallmark of Joe Cain Day. Rayford wrote of a plan to “Americanize Mardi Gras” by making it more “democratic” through removing the kings and queens and replacing them – possibly – with a governor.
The letter also included a vision of incorporating Black Mobilians into the festivities during the Jim Crow South. According to Rayford, Black performers would carry out “jungle motifs” with warriors parading to “great humor” ahead of the Comic Cowboys parade.
Isabel Machado, author of the 2023 book, “Carnival in Alabama: Marked Bodies and Invented Traditions in Mobile,” said Rayford’s early views toward Mardi Gras reflected the time period when the holiday and festivities was told through white elites, and Black people were considered forms of entertainment.
Years later, Joe Cain Day began with the first procession in 1967, with Rayford referring him to an “uncrowned emperor of Mardi Gras, who was at home” at the Church Street Graveyard, according to The Mobile Register article of the event.
The activity has long been referred to as “uniquely Mobile” addition to Carnival traditions and one aimed at bringing Mardi Gras celebrations to the common people. Joe Cain Day, the day-long community-wide festival on the Sunday before Fat Tuesday, is considered the city’s antithesis to the mystic societies and private, invite-only Carnival balls often enjoyed by more affluent families and guests.
The 1960s
But is the timing of the reemergence of Joe Cain, with the help of Rayford, a coincidence in the midst of the 1960s Civil Rights era? -honoring a Confederate soldier in the direct aftermath of the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Machado says the timing shouldn’t be dismissed, but most Mobile-based historians reject the link. They say there was no connection between the national policies of the time and the creation of a day memorializing and embellishing the story of a Confederate soldier.
“I’m not saying people were consciously saying we would do this, but it was happening at that moment,” Machado said.
Dean said that civil rights were “never a thought in anyone’s mind.” He said Rayford’s embrace of the Cain story was not considered a “push back” against the current events at the time.
John Sledge, a longtime Mobile historian, said Joe Cain Day represented more of a celebration of the 1960s counterculture, but that civil rights was likely not the main issue.
“The idea of people taking ownership of (Joe Cain Day) and participating in it and not letting it be defined by the elites, I think, is part of it,” said Sledge.
The holiday is notably on a Sunday, a traditional day of church services in the Deep South.
“I don’t think you could have a Joe Cain Day in the 30s,” said Sledge. “In the 60s, it was in the culture.”
Mission accomplished
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Mardi Gras: Joe Cain Procession
Dean said that Rayford’s goals with the hoopla of Joe Cain Day was to give Cain the fame he deserved for reviving Mardi Gras. The other was to make sure a day was set aside during Carnival that was a democratic event – much like Rayford’s 1935 letter suggests – open for anyone who wanted to show up and participate.
Dean said he consider both goals accomplished, especially the part in getting Cain recognized.
In Mobile, the Joe Cain Day Procession – never called a “parade,” but a “procession” – has long been led by a man portraying Slacabamarinico, waving to onlookers while standing inside a horse-drawn coal wagon. Dean has been the longest “Chief Slac,” serving in the role Rayford revived since 1985.
Following Slacabamarinico are the foot marchers, or the people dressed in a variety of outlandish costumes who walk along the Mobile parade route. After them comes raucous floats on display by the parading society.
Cain’s image is everywhere throughout the day. It can be seen on T-shirts, cups, koozies and specialized Mardi Gras beads. During the procession, there’s Cain-inspired floats — Cain’s Misfits, Krewe of Cain’s, Isle of Cain, Friends of Joe Cain, the Many Masks of Joe Cain – and so forth. The Merry Widows are all about Cain, arguing over whom Joe loved the best. Not to be outdone are the Merry Mistresses of Joe Cain, adorned in all red.
Few, if any, U.S. city celebrates one individual like Mobile does with Joe Cain Day. Even other cities have borrowed on the fascination of the day, namely Nevada City, Calif. Initially, the city called their Mardi Gras celebration “Joe Cain Day.” But the Confederate roots of the holiday led to the city’s chamber of commerce to rebrand it as “Mardi Gras,” while scrapping Cain.
Machado explains that while Joe Cain Day has clear ties to the Lost Cause narrative, its history is more complex. If anything, the day has become the embodiment of an inclusive celebration.
Rayford envisioned the event as a democratic celebration open to all, and over time, the day has been embraced by historically marginalized groups. In the 1970s, the LGBTQ community found a safe space for self-expression within the procession. Today, Machado’s research shows that Joe Cain Day remains one of the most anticipated events of the Carnival season, especially in Mobile’s Black neighborhoods.
It’s also one of the most popular days of Mobile Mardi Gras, with more than 100,000 people likely to visit the city to line the barricades and watch the procession.
The Marching Society participates in the Joe Cain Procession as it winds through downtown Mobile, Ala., during Mardi Gras on Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)
“Folks in the African American community are proud of Joe Cain Day,” she said. “Mardi Gras Day, people think of New Orleans. But Joe Cain Day is this thing that is uniquely Mobilian.”
The gravesite for Julian “Judy” Rayford at the Church Street Graveyard in downtown Mobile, Ala. Rayford is buried next to Joe Cain and the site is heavily visited upon each year during Joe Cain Day. The Merry Widows of Joe Cain will visit the graveyard each year to pay homage to Cain and Rayford.John Sharp
Rayford never married and had no children. After he died, he was buried next to Cain. Rayford never met Cain — he was born in 1908, four years after Cain died in 1904. The two both died at the same age of 72.
Unlike with Cain, the decision by Mobile city officials to have Rayford buried at the Church Street Graveyard was quick and obvious given Rayford’s obsession in getting Cain honored.
Joe Cain’s Merry Widows visit his gravesite in Church Street Graveyard in Mobile, Ala., on Feb. 23, 2023. Onlookers occupied any vantage point they could find, including the walls of the cemetery.Lawrence Specker | [email protected]
When the Widows visit the graveyard on Sunday, they will pay homage to Cain. They will also briefly reflect upon Rayford during what is the only moment of the Carnival season he’s given his due.
Peebles said he would like to see a statue of Rayford and Rosie, his beloved Fox Terrier that was “one of the best-known canines in the area,” during the 60s, erected that recognizes the folklorist and artist whose efforts redefined Mobile’s Mardi Gras. Dean said there has to be someway the city could do more to recognize his Mardi Gras mentor.
Perhaps the day should be called Joe Cain/Judy Rayford Day? That occurred only once, on March 1, 1981. That was the first Joe Cain Day after Rayford’s death.
Rayford, himself, sort of predicted the situation in 1967 during that first Joe Cain Day, when he called out Mobile for not embracing Cain appropriately.
“Mobile is a peculiar city,” Rayford said at that inaugural event. “Like real peculiar. Mobile does not honor its great men.”
A Madison company will help train information and cyber operators for the U.S. Air Force.
Tyonek Technical Services LLC was awarded a $98,115,620 firm-fixed-price contract this week for cyber operations formal training support, according to the Defense Department.
The company will provide subject matter expertise and other capabilities to the 39th Information Operations Squadron, based at Hurlburt Field, Fla. The 39th IOS trains personnel in offensive and defensive information and cyber operations for all Air Force major commands.
Work under the contract will also be done at Joint Base San Antonio in Texas and Keesler Air Force Base, Miss.
The contract runs until 2027, with $7,580,000 in Fiscal 2025 funds being obligated at the time of award.
The No. 1 Auburn Tigers play against the No. 17 Kentucky Wildcats in an SEC basketball game today. The matchup will begin at 12 p.m. CT on ABC. Fans can watch this Auburn basketball game for free online by using the free trials offered by DirecTV Stream and Fubo TV. Alternatively, Sling offers a first-month discount to new users.
The Tigers enter this matchup with a 26-2 record, and they have a 14-1 record in SEC play. Notably, the team has won five consecutive games.
In their most recent game, the Tigers defeated Ole Miss 106-76. During the victory, Johni Broome led the Auburn offense. He scored a game-high 24 points and shot 7-12 from the field, so he will be a key player to watch today.
Broome leads the team in points, rebounds, and assists this season.
The Wildcats enter this matchup with a 19-9 record, and they are coming off an 83-82 win against Oklahoma. During the victory, Otega Oweh led the Kentucky offense. He ended the game with 28 points, so he will look to perform similarly today.
Fans can watch this Auburn basketball game for free online by using the free trials offered by DirecTV Stream and Fubo TV. Alternatively, Sling offers a first-month discount to new users.
The Nashville Predators play against the New York Islanders in an NHL game today. The matchup will begin at 11:30 a.m. CT on NHL Network. Fans can watch this game for free online by using the free trials offered by DirecTV Stream and Fubo TV. Alternatively, Sling offers a first-month discount to new users.
The Predators enter this matchup with a 21-30-7 record, and they have lost two of their last three games. However, the team is coming off a 2-1 win against Winnipeg.
In order to win this morning, the Predators will need to rely on their star forward Filip Forsberg. He leads the team in goals and assists, so Forsberg will try to continue his offensive success today.
The Islanders enter this matchup with a 26-25-7 record, and they have lost four of their last five games. In their last game, the Islanders defeated Boston 2-1.
In order to win this morning, the Islanders will need a great performance from their forward Anders Lee. He currently has 41 points, which leads the team.
Fans can watch this NHL game for free online by using the free trials offered by DirecTV Stream and Fubo TV. Alternatively, Sling offers a first-month discount to new users.
The air at Lucas Oil Stadium will be full of footballs on Saturday as the quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs take the field at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
NFL Network will televise the workouts from the annual event from noon to 8 p.m. CST Saturday.
The players will have the opportunity to participate in the 40-yard dash, vertical jump, broad jump, three-cone drill, shuttle run and position skill drills.
There are 15 quarterbacks, 49 wide receivers and 31 running backs at the combine this year.
Among the players in the Saturday group are 11 with Alabama football roots:
Texas wide receiver Isaiah Bond (played at Alabama in 2022 and 2023)
Louisville wide receiver Ja’Corey Brooks (played at Alabama in 2021, 2022 and 2023)
Oregon wide receiver Traeshon Holden (played at Alabama in 2020, 2021 and 2022)
UCF wide receiver Kobe Hudson (played at Auburn in 2020 and 2021)
Auburn running back Jarquez Hunter
Oregon wide receiver Tez Johnson (Pinson Valley High School, Troy)
Ohio State running back Quinshon Judkins (Pike Road High School)
Auburn wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith
Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard (Fairhope High School)
Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe
Memphis wide receiver Roc Taylor (Oxford High School)
Other SEC players in Saturday’s group include:
Arkansas wide receiver Andrew Armstrong
Florida wide receiver Elijah Badger
Ole Miss running back Ulysses Bentley IV
Texas running back Jaydon Blue
Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III
Missouri quarterback Brady Cook
Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart
Florida wide receiver Chimere Dike
Georgia running back Trevor Etienne
Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers
Texas wide receiver Matthew Golden
Ole Miss wide receiver Tre Harris
Arkansas running back Ja’Quinden Jackson
Florida running back Montrell Johnson Jr.
Georgia wide receiver Dominic Lovett
Tennessee wide receiver Bru McCoy
Florida quarterback Graham Mertz
Tennessee running back Dylan Sampson
South Carolina running back Raheim Sanders
Georgia wide receiver Arian Smith
Arkansas wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa
Tennessee wide receiver Dont’e Thornton Jr.
Ole Miss wide receiver Jordan Watkins
Missouri wide receiver Theo Wease Jr.
Ole Miss wide receiver Antwane Wells Jr.
First-rounders on the field
Projections vary, of course, but among the players thought to be possible first-round picks when the NFL Draft starts on April 24 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, who are in Saturday’s group are quarterbacks Cam Ward of Miami (Fla.) and Shedeur Sanders of Colorado, running back Ashton Jeanty of Boise State and wide receivers Tetairoa McMillan of Arizona, Luther Burden III of Missouri, Emeka Egbuka of Ohio State and Matthew Golden of Texas.
NFL.com’s top-graded players at each of the three positions are Miami (Fla.) quarterback Cam Ward, who is graded as “will eventually be a plus starter;” Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, graded as a “Pro Bowl talent;” and Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III, graded as “will become a good starter within two years.”
In the books
The best performances over the first two days at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine in the measured drills include the 4.28-second 40-yard dash by Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston, 43-inch vertical jump by South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori, 138-inch broad jump by Emmanwori, 6.71-second three-cone drill by Iowa State cornerback Darien Porter and 4.03-second shuttle run by Nevada safety Kitan Crawford.
The defensive tackles, edge rushers and linebackers were the first players on the field for the measured drills on Thursday. The defensive backs and tight ends took their turn on Friday.
Off the field on Saturday
The defensive backs and tight ends are scheduled to participate in the bench press and conduct media interviews.
The quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs will have their physical measurements taken before hitting the field.
The offensive linemen and running backs will undergo orthopedic exams, conduct media interviews and interview with NFL team representatives.
Who’s next?
The offensive linemen and specialists get their chance on the field on Sunday.
The Sunday group includes Alabama guard Tyler Booker, Ohio State center Seth McLaughlin (Alabama), Alabama A&M offensive tackle Carson Vinson and Jacksonville State guard Clay Webb (Oxford).
Combine bests
The NFL has been holding a league-inclusive combine since 1985, but the records are sketchy for the early years of the event. Profootballreference.com has compiled results since 2000, and these are the top performances in each of the combine drills since then:
40-yard dash: 4.21 seconds by Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy in 2024.
Vertical jump: 46 inches by North Carolina safety Gerald Sensabaugh in 2005.
Broad jump: 147 inches by Connecticut cornerback Byron Jones in 2015.
Three-cone drill: 6.28 seconds by Oklahoma defensive back Jordan Thomas in 2018.
Shuttle run: 3.73 seconds by Iowa wide receiver Kevin Kasper in 2001.
Bench press: 49 repetitions of 225 pounds by Oregon State defensive tackle Stephen Paea in 2011.
The three-cone drill is meant to measure a player’s ability to change directions while the shuttle run tests a player’s lateral quickness.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: My brother’s grown child is transitioning from female to male and is now called Gary. I love Gary and accept his choices. My brother is having a hard time. Gary has a toddler who calls him “Mum.” My question is: When I introduce Gary to someone, do I call him my nephew or my niece?
GENTLE READER: Why not ask Gary?
Please send your questions to Miss Manners at missmanners.com, by email to [email protected], or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: I had an art show last summer, the week before my birthday. An old friend stopped by and purchased a very nice glass platter (over $150) for her daughter.
As she was paying for it, she told me that this sale was my birthday gift. I smiled and said “thank you.” I didn’t really know how to react.
Then at Christmas, as I opened her gift, she told me she’d decided to follow the same process with her sister: Purchase something from her, call the sale a gift, then give the item to someone else. I smiled and thanked her (and wondered what her sister thought).
It’s so odd to me. I would rather not be given the gift of a sale. I think she feels that she’s supporting me and my art. It also might be a way for her to cut back on spending, as she is giving two “gifts” for the price of one.
It might be time to stop giving presents. I’m just not sure how to tell her that her scheme doesn’t feel like a gift.
GENTLE READER: With all of the demands and shenanigans associated with modern present-giving, Miss Manners is almost inclined to agree with you. The act has all but lost its charm.
You may try saying, “How kind of you to take an interest in my artwork. But I would never want you to purchase something merely as a favor if you would not otherwise do so. In that case, I am happier to sell it to a stranger.”
Please send your questions to Miss Manners at missmanners.com, by email to [email protected], or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.
