The former Auburns standout thanked both NBA and Amazon.
“My heart will always be with Turner Sports,” he said.
Barkley, 61, said the only thing left to decide is how much he is going to work.
“I’m hoping this thing comes together when I can stay with TNT and ESPN,” he said. “As I’ve said, it’s all dictated on my work load. I’m not going to work more as I get older.”
He added TNT has been “amazing,” and he loves it “to death.”
“I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving here because 25 years is a long time,” he added.
TNT will lose live NBA rights starting with the 2025-26 season, and there’s been speculation that Barkley’s “Inside the NBA” would could be broken up.
In addition, Barkley said he relies on conversations with guys who have been in the business to guide him through the process, like Mike Wilbon, Tony Kornheiser, Bryant Gumbel and Ahamaad Rashad.
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.
FOX Sports gave Cleveland Browns quarterback Jameis Winston a microphone and turned the former Hueytown High School star loose at Super Bowl Opening Night to ask players about their favorite color, seek advice on his NFL future and toss out W’s at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on Monday.
When Winston arrived at the interview spot of Philadelphia Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata, he decided to try his question in an Australian accent, as learned from the movie “Crocodile Dundee.” Mailata entered the NFL from Australian rugby.
Mailata couldn’t keep from laughing.
“Brother, that was the worst Australian accent I’ve ever heard,” Mailata said. “The only word you got right was color.”
Winston’s “eat a W” pregame speech came in New Orleans before a Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ game against the Saints in 2017. It’s gone from a viral joke to a trademark, and on Monday night, Winston tossed cookies shaped like the letter W to players.
Winston started seven games for the Browns after Deshaun Watson got hurt in the 2024 season. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent if Cleveland does not re-sign him by March 12. On Monday night, Winston asked Super Bowl players which team he should sign with if he becomes a free agent.
Eagles running back Saquon Barkley moved from the New York Giants to Philadelphia in free agency last offseason. He steered Winston toward his old team.
“I think New York needs a quarterback right now,” Barkley said.
Winston told NJ Advance Media that signing with the Giants sounded like a good idea.
“Would I really sign with the Giants? Absolutely!” Winston said. “I want to keep playing and do what I do best. …
“I have a ton of respect for coach Brian Daboll, the things he does offensively. I think we have a young — whoa — they have a young roster. But they have a young roster that’s ready to win. They’re ready to bounce back. I know they’re hungry over there.”
Led by their senior frontcourt duo of Yaxel Lendeborg and Christian Coleman, the UAB Blazers came up with an essential 64-61 conference win over North Texas, who they were tied with for second place in the American Conference prior to Monday’s matchup. The Blazers’ record improved to 15-8, with an 8-2 conference record that has them now in sole possession of second place.
Lendeborg, who says he’s still not fully recovered from the illness he was suffering against Charlotte, had an average night in terms of his numbers, posting a 17-point, 13-rebound double-double, his 15th of the season.
In what was still a stellar performance, the biggest moment of the night for him came from the free-throw line, where, in front of one of the best crowds Bartow Arena has seen this season, and on a nationally televised stage, he had the chance to put the Blazers up three to give North Texas just five seconds to attempt a game-tying three before the buzzer. He would go on to hit both despite North Texas head coach Ross Hodge calling a timeout after his first shot to attempt to ice him.
“I love that pressure. I had a similar moment in JUCO and I was nervous that day but I feel like I was built for the moment this time. I was really eager for it to happen.” Lendeborg said after the victory.
Coleman, the other half of the Blazers’ dynamic frontcourt duo, had a bounce-back performance after struggling in his last three outings, recording 13 points to go with eight rebounds and two blocks Monday. His impact went far beyond the stat sheet, however, and was a defensive factor in multiple crucial late misses by North Texas players.
On getting Coleman back to playing like himself, Lendeborg said “I always talk to him about it (struggling) and he always talks to us as well, we did today. He just felt like the devil was on him, so we had a little prayer moment about it, to just try to let him know that God is with us and God is always going to be on his shoulder no matter what. After that he started to believe in himself a little more and today was a breakout game and I feel like next game is going to be even better.”
In the Blazers’ backcourt, guard Ja’Borri McGhee had an impressive night as well, finishing two layups with foul contact in the first half, and forcing a miss on UNT’s Jasper Floyd’s attempt to tie the game with less than a second left. McGhee found himself in foul trouble late, but finished the night with nine points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals.
UAB will go the next seven days without a game after playing three games in the last week, with their next contest coming at East Carolina next Tuesday night.
Food producer La Fiesta is recalling two types of its breadcrumbs due to concerns the product can cause severe allergic reactions.
The California-based company has recalled 26,400 eight-ounce packages of its Unseasoned Bread Crumbs (Pan Rayado) and 6,240 eight-ounce packages of its Seasoned Bread Crumbs (Pan Rayado Sazonado) because the products contain sesame as an “undeclared allergen” identified as sesame.
“People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to sesame run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products,” according to an announcement from the FDA.
The FDA also reports the labels do not include the allergen declaration in Spanish. As of Jan. 28, no illnesses in connection with the recall have been reported, according to the FDA.
The Unseasoned Bread Crumbs (Pan Rayado) were sold nationwide from April 10, 2024 through January 22, 2025. The items have the UPC No. 032327000886 and lot codes 26032; 26073; 26082; 26092; and 26094.
The Seasoned Bread Crumbs Seasoned (Pan Rayado Sazonado) were sold nationwide through distributors to retail stores from August 29, 2024 through January 22, 2025. The items have the UPC No. 032327000887 and lot codes 26094 and 26123.
Consumers who purchased the products are urged to return them for a full refund.
Long before Jimmy Buffett strummed a guitar, his family’s story was intertwined with Mobile Bay.
Nearly 72 years ago, the Chiquimula—a schooner once captained by his grandfather, the inspiration behind ‘Son of a Son of a Sailor’ —stood tall along the Causeway and served as a floating landmark. But in 1953, vandals set it ablaze, sending a piece of Buffett’s Mobile roots up in smoke.
Now, decades later, those roots are drifting back home. The National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico, docked on the Mobile River, is developing an immersive, 5,000-square-foot exhibit celebrating Buffett’s seafaring heritage and legendary island sound. Slated to open in September 2026, the exhibit will bring Buffett’s story full circle, back to the waters where his grandfather once sailed and where his parents built a life on the waterfront.
“Our view is that the National Maritime Museum is positioned uniquely being across the river where Jimmy’s parents worked and adjacent to the river where his grandfather sailed,” said Matt Anderson, executive director of Civic, Culture, and Maritime Affairs with the City of Mobile. “When he talks about the ‘Son of a Sailor,’ he is talking about the man who sailed across the Mobile River.”
Claiming Jimmy
Anderson said the city wants to put its imprint on the Buffett legacy, creating a must-visit spot for funky and laid-back Parrot Heads and curious history buffs alike.
The feature will be located on Deck 1 and 1A, essentially the museum’s main entrance.
“A lot of places are wanting to claim Jimmy,” Anderson said. “He only has one home and that is Mobile.”
Buffett, born in Pascagoula, grew up in Mobile and attended St. Ignatius and McGill-Toolen High School. He played his first shows downtown at the Admiral Hotel and made his first recordings inside a studio that was once located within the Loop.
Early mementos will be included within the exhibit, including his first signed music contract, family photos and a paper he wrote when he was 8 years old.
Karen Poth, executive director of the museum, said they have been working with Buffett’s family to acquire items that will be displayed inside the exhibit.
“They’ve kept everything including grade school papers, and things he wrote,” she said. “The gallery part has been a lot of fun to research.”
She said that museum officials are also working with Margaritaville Holdings LLC and other entities on the exhibit.
Coastal focus
It will go beyond Buffett’s Mobile roots and will connect to the museum’s overall theme of celebrating the entirety of the Gulf of Mexico.
“He spent his whole life in the Gulf of Mexico whether it’s Key West (or other places),” Poth said. “We will cover all of those things.”
She added, “It will be about his life and his contributions to the Gulf of Mexico identity and the contributions to his identity.”
Poth said the exhibit’s immersive feature is still in its “beginning stages.” She said that requests for proposal will go out soon for the feature’s design.
Jimmy Buffett performs at Lulu’s at Homeport Marina on Wednesday, June 30,2010. (Correspondent, Jon Hauge) Jimmy Buffett, right, and his Coral Reefer Band, including Peter Mayer and Mac McAnally, play a surprise show Wednesday night at Lulu’s at Homeport Marina in Gulf Shores. More than 2,000 fans made their way to the event.File photo
Poth said the goal is to give visitors a feeling of attending a Buffett concert in an “intimate setting.” One potential show to be featured is the intimate concert Buffett delivered at Lulu’s, the popular Gulf Shores venue owned by his sister, Lucy. Buffett played a surprised concert before about 2,000 people at Lulu’s in 2010.
She said the shows will be interchangeable, allowing the museum to switch out shows to give visitors a different experience.
Poth said one feature the museum is considering is building a replica of Shrimp Boat Studios, a white building with no windows that Buffett used a recording studio in Key West.
“It’s a white building that looks like a giant Yeti cooler,” Poth said. “My hope is to build that out in the middle of the gallery and the interactive component is that people can look and see the recording sessions.”
She added, “It will be things that people have never experienced before, will be neat and something interactive for the Parrot Heads.”
Paying debts
The National Maritim Museum of the Gulf of Mexico as pictured on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in downtown Mobile, Ala.John Sharp
Anderson said that in order to raise the funds to build out the exhibit, the council needs to pay off the previous debts to build out the museum when it first opened about a decade ago.
Potential donors, Anderson said, are uninterested in supporting the museum’s debt payments. They are interested in fundraising that includes “events that are fun and engaging.”
“We want to make this as clean as possible so the board (of directors) can spearhead the private fundraising for this,” he said. “They are raring to go. They are being held back by this right now.”
The museum was a costly and lengthy construction project for the city, wrapping up and opening in 2015. The total price tag was around $62 million, and close to half was covered through grant money. The city’s remaining debt on the building is set to expire by 2030, as part of a general bond package that was refinanced over 10 years ago when Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson took office.
Renewed focus
The museum has struggled to attract visitors for years, but changes are occurring as revenues begin to rise.
The museum received $2.3 million from oil and gas lease revenues that Alabama gets each year from the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006. The federal money is administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior and was committed to the museum by the governor’s office last year.
An interactive exhibit about the Mobile-Tensaw Delta is being funded by this money. The exhibit will encompass the museum’s entire third floor, and the contract to build it will be awarded on Friday. That exhibit will open by 2027.
The Buffett exhibit will join other celebrations of the Mayor of Margaritaville in coastal Alabama.
Last August, The Wharf in Orange Beach announced plans to build a Margaritaville Resort on 70 acres along the Intracoastal Waterway. The project’s first phase is expected to open by 2027, with the complete resort opening in 2029.
The first time was the charm for Jess Russ, a songwriter from Alabama.
Russ won a 2025 Grammy Award on Sunday in the category of Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song, for her work on “That’s My King.” The song was recorded by gospel great CeCe Winans and released on Winans’ 2024 album “More Than This.”
Russ, 27, earned a Grammy on her very first try, sharing the award with Winans and three other songwriters: Taylor Agan, Kellie Gamble and Lloyd Nicks. Their win was announced on Sunday afternoon during the Grammys Premiere Ceremony.
“This song was written by a bunch of strangers who became family in a room, and the room was full of joy,” Russ said on stage as she accepted the award with her colleagues. “God is kind.”
Most Grammy winners for 2025 were announced at the Premiere Ceremony, held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles and live-streamed on YouTube and the Grammys website. Only a handful of awards, pulled from a total of 94 Grammy categories, were given out during the televised ceremony on Sunday night at the Crypto.com Arena.
“I’m fighting back tears, but we’re doing all right,” Russ said in a backstage interview after her Grammy win. “We wrote the song four years ago, almost to the day. It’s taken a journey for sure. … And thank you, CeCe Winans. I mean, she’s a legend. I weep like a baby every time I hear ‘Alabaster Box’ still, and so does my mom. We just are grateful that she decided that this was a song she wanted to carry.”
Russ and her fellow songwriters also gave a shout-out to The Bridge Church in Spring Hill, Tenn., where they evidently worked together at a writing camp.
“A member of the women’s lacrosse team, a student ambassador for the admissions department, and an organizer of student life events, Jess finds that she feels most attuned to herself when she’s practicing, creating, learning, and teaching music,“ says a profile of Russ on the Concordia website.
Russ lives in Nashville, and works as a creative specialist at Integrity Music, according to her LinkedIn profile.
“I don’t know how to begin to describe or explain how life all feels right now. Both extremely hard and overwhelmingly beautiful,” Russ said in November 2024 on Instagram, after her Grammy nomination was announced. “To this little girl, Your dreams matter. Your dreams are valid. Your dreams can come true. Your dreams are worth believing in. You are worth believing in. No matter what. I am so proud of you.”
Overall, BaubleBar’s Collegiate Collection features 12 powerhouse schools from across the U.S., offering chic, customizable accessories that allow fans to show off their school spirit in style.
Other schools included in this collection include Clemson, University of Texas at Austin, Florida, Michigan, University of Kansas, Michigan State University, Oklahoma, Penn State, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Texas A&M.
This collection is available at BaubleBar.com and in bookstores at the 12 participating schools. BaubleBar has states that it plans to expand to more colleges in the future.
Those interested can browse the entire BaubleBar Collegiate Collection here. Everything in the collection are officially licensed NCAA products.
The Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles will meet in the 59th Super Bowl on Sunday. Counting down to the NFL title game, AL.com is spotlighting a Super Bowl hero with Alabama football roots daily through Sunday. The series started Monday with Bart Starr and continues with Alabama alumnus Joe Namath:
After the NFL champion Green Bay Packers dominated the second half in each of the first two Super Bowls against their AFL opponent, hardly anyone seemed to see any reason the Baltimore Colts would not maintain the NFL’s superiority in third Super Bowl.
The Colts had lost once in 16 games on their way to the AFL-NFL World Championship Game and had avenged that 30-20 setback to Cleveland on Oct. 20, 1968, by beating the Browns 34-0 in the NFL Championship Game.
At 18 points, Baltimore remains the biggest favorite in Super Bowl history. But instead of a rout, Super Bowl III was a revelation.
The New York Jets beat the Colts 16-7 on Jan. 12, 1969, at the Orange Bowl in Miami – just as Joe Namath guaranteed they would three nights before.
“I try to explain that it wasn’t an arrogant line; it was an angry one,” Namath said almost 40 years after the game. “I was at the Miami Touchdown Club dinner at the Miami Springs Villa, and I was up at the mic, and someone yelled something nasty from the back, and I said, ‘Wait a minute, let’s hold on. You Baltimore guys have been talking all week, but I’ve got news for you, buddy: We’re going to win the game. I guarantee it.’”
Namath completed 17-of-28 passes for 206 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions in Super Bowl III. He followed fellow Alabama alumnus Bart Starr as the winner of the Super Bowl MVP Award.
It was the second time that Namath had put the American Football League on the map. The day after his final game for the Crimson Tide, Namath signed a three-year, $427,000 contract with the New York Jets rather than join the St. Louis Cardinals, who had picked him at No. 12 in the 1965 NFL Draft. The highest-paid player in the NFL in the 1964 season had been Cleveland running back Jim Brown at $60,000. Namath’s contract was the most lucrative to that point in pro football history.
Four years later, Namath and Jets provided validation for the AFL – and for the coming merger of the two pro football leagues, a process that had been agreed upon in 1966.
Namath’s final pass in Super Bowl III went for a 39-yard completion to end George Sauer. It came on the next-to-last snap of the third quarter. With Jets leading 13-0, Namath, as New York’s play-caller, handed off 16 times in the fourth quarter without dropping back to pass once.
“We had a system called ‘check with me,’ which meant I called most of the plays at the line,” Namath told the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “We got in and out of the huddle in a hurry so I’d have more time to look things over. If you look at the films, you’ll see how many times I made a call, saw something and changed off. It looks like we’re up there over the ball forever, but that’s where we made our calls.
“Another thing you’ll notice is I kept my hands under center the whole time. I wanted to keep the pressure on the defense. I wanted them to think the ball could be snapped at any time. It was a subtle thing, but it was one more thing to keep them off-balance. If they had a blitz on, I’d see the linebackers and safeties edging up, trying to get a jump, getting frustrated.
“I felt we had an advantage because the Colts were in a Catch-22 situation. They had this defense that had killed the whole NFL that season. Why should they change for one game against a nineteen-point underdog? So I knew they were going to stick with the same fronts, the same coverages, the same blitzes. It was like having all the questions for an exam two weeks before you actually take it. By the time we played, I knew those guys inside out.”
Baltimore’s chances to live up to its billing were sidetracked by turnovers – four interceptions, including two in the end zone (one with the Colts on the Jets 6-yard line), and a fumble on the first snap of the second half – field goals missed from 27 and 46 yards and a failed fourth-down try at the New York 9 in the fourth quarter.
Namath never returned to the Super Bowl – and the Jets still haven’t. When Namath retired after the 1977 season, his average of 197.6 passing yards per game was the best in NFL history, and he entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame with the Class of 1985. Namath (and Roger Staubach, who was in the same class) joined when there were only 10 quarterbacks in the Pro Football Hall of Fame — Sammy Baugh, Bob Waterfield, Sid Luckman, Otto Graham, Bobby Layne, Norm Van Brocklin, Y.A. Tittle, Bart Starr, Johnny Unitas, George Blanda and Sonny Jurgensen.
In 1976, the U.S. was awash with Bicentennial fever with red, white and blue everywhere to celebrate America’s 200th birthday. The U.S. Mint got in on the celebration as well, producing a special line of Bicentennial Quarters, many of which are still in circulation today.
Some of the Bicentennial Quarters are worth exactly what you’d think they’d be – 25 cents. But others are worth much more, including one worth more than $19,000.
According to the U.S. Mint, Bicentennial Quarters were produced in 1975 and 1976. The coin’s face was the same as the traditional quarter, depicting first President George Washington facing the left but the reverse featured a colonial drummer and a victory torch circled by 13 stars to represent the 13 original colonies. All of the coins were inscribed with the dates 1776-1976.
According to Chronicle Collectibles, some of the Bicentennial Quarters were clad, meaning they were made of multiple layers of different metals. The rest, however, were composed of 40% silver, and those are the more valuable ones. The condition of the coin and its mint mark indicating where it was minted also drive up the price.
The greatest number of Bicentennial Quarters, more than 860 million, were minted in Denver (D), followed by Philadelphia (P) with 809 million and San Francisco (S) with 11 million.
“The 40% silver Bicentennial quarters, which were minted in San Francisco, are composed of 40% silver and 60% copper. These coins have a more golden color and are slightly heavier than the clad versions. The 40% silver Bicentennial quarters were produced in limited quantities and were sold to collectors in special sets. They weigh 5.75 grams,” Chronicle Collectibles noted. “Due to the higher silver content and greater rarity, the 40% silver Bicentennial quarters are considered to be more valuable than the clad versions.”
You’re safe if your go-to Waffle House order is scattered, smothers or covered but if eggs are on the menu, get ready to pay a little more.
The 24-hour restaurant chain announced it is tacking on a surcharge of 50 cents per egg. The price hike comes amid soaring egg prices due to shortages caused by an aggressive strain of the avian flu.
“The continuing egg shortage caused by HPAI (bird flu) has caused a dramatic increase in egg prices,” Waffle House said in a statement to CNN. “Customers and restaurants are being forced to make difficult decisions.”
Atlanta-based Waffle House said it is “continuously monitoring egg prices and will adjust or remove the surcharge as market conditions allow.”
The average price for a dozen eggs in the U.S. has increased 50% in the past year, NBC News reported. In the week ending Jan. 18, a dozen eggs cost $5.29, compared to a year ago when they were $3.50. The increase is being blamed on bird flu outbreaks that have caused the slaughter of 13 million hens since December.
