Alabama News

DEAR ABBY: I live five hours away from my hometown. My mom is 98 and in assisted living there. In recent years, my younger sister has become cruel to our mom and is trying to take advantage of her.

Instead of helping Mom, she does things to deliberately upset her and raise her blood pressure. Two examples: putting dog poop on my recently deceased brother’s grave and stealing a gun from Mom’s home.

She also threatened to remove Mom’s recliner from her while she was sitting in it. My sister has caused major issues at the assisted living facility, which greatly upsets my poor mother, since she loves the care she gets there.

My older brother and I have met with an attorney to get an order of no-trespass, no-contact at Mom’s facility. It’s still in the process. My sister puts on a totally different mask at her church and has everyone believing she’s a victim. What do you suggest we do in the future with this out-of-control, full of hate sibling? — ASHAMED SIS IN ONTARIO, CANADA

DEAR SIS: The term for what your sister has been doing is elder abuse. Stealing and threatening to do something that would cause great bodily harm qualifies. Continue working with the attorney on the no-contact order and let the process play out.

Your mother’s doctors should be told what has been going on. What the worshippers in her church think about her should be of no consequence.

Read more Dear Abby and other advice columns.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

Auburn men’s basketball is one of the latest programs to add a general manager to its staff, but the Tigers took a slightly different approach in selecting their GM.

The program hired Matt Gatens, who spent the last three seasons as the associate head coach at Iowa and was an assistant under Bruce Pearl at Auburn from 2016-2018. Gatens doesn’t have an NBA or personnel background like some other college basketball GMs, but he’ll still take over many of the typical GM tasks.

“What we’ll kind of do with Matt is bring him along in some of the things that we were doing in the NIL space, in the revenue sharing space, from a donor relations perspective, and just kind of help bring him in to kind of help us in those areas,” associate head coach Steven Pearl told reporters Tuesday.

Pearl added that he and former assistant coach Chad Prewett handled most of those duties before, with Gatens taking some of that load off the coaching staff.

In the press release from Auburn announcing the hire of Gatens, the school said that he will be responsible for roster management and evaluation, agent and donor relations, scouting, recruiting and game planning as Auburn’s general manager.

According to his bio on the Iowa men’s basketball website, Gatens assisted “in all aspects of the program, including recruiting, opponent scouting, practices, player development and game preparation” while with the Hawkeyes.

His role at Auburn will be a new one for him, but one that is increasingly necessary in the modern age of college basketball.

“He’s not your typical GM that you’re going to see from other schools bringing in from like NBA clubs and stuff like that,” Pearl said. “But we have a ton of support in Auburn and other areas where he, plus our administration, can figure out the best avenues forward in this space.”

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m

EDITOR’S NOTE: Every day until Aug. 29, Creg Stephenson is counting down significant numbers in Alabama football history, both in the lead-up to the 2025 football season and in commemoration of the Crimson Tide’s first national championship 100 years ago. The number could be attached to a year, a uniform number or even a football-specific statistic. We hope you enjoy.

“Dual-threat” quarterbacks have been all the rage in recent college football, but one of the greatest in Alabama history played nearly 80 years ago.

Harry Gilmer, who wore No. 52, ran and passed his way into Crimson Tide immortality during the years immediately following World War II. Prior to the Nick Saban era, he was the only Alabama player who twice finished in the Top 5 in the Heisman Trophy balloting and the only one who was selected No. 1 overall in the NFL draft. (He remains the only player in Crimson Tide history to earn first-team All-SEC honors four times and to lead the team in passing yards four straight years.)

Gilmer was responsible for 52 touchdowns in his career — 29 passing, 19 rushing, two on punt returns and one each on a kickoff return and an interception return. That mark is now eighth in Crimson Tide history, but was first until first being surpassed by John Parker Wilson in 2008.

A Birmingham native who led Woodlawn High School to an undefeated record in 1943, Gilmer took advantage of temporarily relaxed NCAA rules during the war that allowed him to play on the varsity as a freshman at Alabama. Though technically the starting left halfback in the Crimson Tide’s Notre Dame box offense, he was the team’s primary passer and thus the equivalent of a modern quarterback.

At Alabama, Gilmer became famous for his “jump pass,” a skill he had developed in high school. His arm was purportedly so strong he could throw the ball 70 yards in the air.

“I never tried a pass in a regular game until my senior year at Woodlawn,” Gilmer told The Tuscaloosa News in 1978. “Of course, I used to pass the ball around in practice and in sandlot games, but until I shifted to left halfback, I never practiced seriously. I don’t know why I started to jump or leap nearly every time I passed. We had some halfbacks at Woodlawn who did it on a play designed by our coach, Malcolm Laney, so I guess I started jumping without realizing it.”

Alabama did not field a football team in 1943 due to war-time manpower shortages, but returned to the gridiron the following year. The 6-foot, 155-pound Gilmer was one of coach Frank Thomas’ “War Babies,” a group that also included fullback Lowell Tew and center Vaughan Mancha, a 23-year-old Merchant Marine veteran who had lost vision in one eye during a childhood accident.

Alabama went 5-2-2 in an abbreviated schedule in 1944, losing to Duke 29-26 in the Sugar Bowl. Gilmer went 8-for-8 for 142 yards with a touchdown pass in that game, causing famed sportswriter Grantland Rice to exclaim he was “the greatest college passer I ever saw.”

The 1945 season was a glorious one for Alabama, which finished 10-0 and outscored its opponents 430-80. The Crimson Tide rang up scores such as 55-0 over South Carolina, 60-19 over Kentucky and 71-0 over Vanderbilt, then finished things off with a 34-14 rout of Southern Cal in the Rose Bowl (a game in which Gilmer was named Most Valuable Player).

Alabama finished No. 3 in the polls that year, with fellow unbeaten Army — who, it must be said, had its pick of the best draft-eligible football players in the country in those days — claiming the national championship (Navy, whose only loss was to Army, ended up No. 2). Gilmer accounted for 21 touchdowns and nearly 1,500 yards combined rushing and passing, winning SEC Player of the Year and first-team All-America honors and finishing fifth in the Heisman Trophy balloting.

It was during the Nov. 3, 1945, blowout of Kentucky that Gilmer enjoyed arguably his greatest individual day — and one of the greatest in Alabama football history. He carried the ball for a whopping 215 yards on just six carries, including touchdown runs of 95 and 59 yards, plus an 8-yard touchdown pass to Rebel Steiner.

Alabama slipped back to 7-4 in 1946, as Thomas began to suffer from the heart and lung ailments that would cause him to step down following the season (and led to his eventual death in 1954 at age 55). Gilmer was still productive as a junior, leading the country in both interceptions (8) and punt return average (11.8 yards).

Coached by Harold “Red” Drew in 1947, the Crimson Tide shook off early-season losses to SEC rivals Tulane and Vanderbilt to win seven straight games before falling to Texas in the Sugar Bowl. Gilmer accounted for just seven touchdowns rushing and passing that season (though he did add a school-record 92-yard punt return for a touchdown vs. LSU), and was a second-team All-American and again finished fifth in the Heisman voting.

The No. 1 overall pick by the NFL’s Washington Redskins in 1946 (Alabama’s only one until Bryce Young in 2023), Gilmer played nine seasons in the league with Washington and Detroit and was a two-time Pro Bowler. He later served as Lions head coach for two seasons in the mid-1960s.

Gilmer was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1973 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1993. A frequent visitor to Tuscaloosa during his later years (he’d settled in St. Louis during a lengthy stint as quarterback coach for the NFL’s Cardinals), he died in 2016 at age 90.

Coming Friday: Our countdown to kickoff continues with No. 51, a special teams stalwart who survived tragedy during his Alabama career.

Dear Eric: At a recent family gathering pictures were made and then posted on social media. I had not seen them, but I did participate at the time. I don’t want my pictures posted for personal reasons and it causes mental distress seeing them. I don’t feel that I can ask for them to be removed without causing a rift in the family. I did post a brief comment that people should ask before posting and I would do the same. It was seen by the person, so I hope they removed them. I feel it may have been done for the wrong reasons as this person posted only flattering ones of themselves. Now a wonderful memory of the occasion will be ruined in my memories. Should people think before using others’ photos on social media?

– Social Dilemma

Dear Social: Short answer – yes. There are plenty of reasons that people may not want their photos posted – maybe it’s not an angle you like, maybe you want to preserve your privacy, maybe you don’t want just anybody knowing what you get up to in your spare time. It is always a good practice to ask before posting.

And it’s not rude or unseemly to ask that a photo be removed or to be edited out of a photo. Many social media platforms make it quite easy to crop a photo or even add a little emoji over the face of someone who’d rather not be in the photo. Plenty of people do that when posting family photos with kids in them, for instance.

It’s easy to think of social media as akin to a personal photo album – indeed, many social media companies want you to feel that way. But a photo album generally sits on the shelf and is only shown to a limited audience. Social media, even with privacy settings in place, is much more public. You can and should ask for what you need in this case.

Read more Asking Eric and other advice columns.

Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at [email protected] or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.

Dear Eric: My sister and brother-in-law live a couple of hours away. My wife and I get along with them but are not close, and we try to make an effort to see them when we are nearby (a couple times a year). We have a pre-school-age child, while they do not have kids. They are kind and generous to our child when they see him and bring him gifts from their travels when they do see him.

Our son has no cousins or family members that are close in age to him, so we try to encourage strong relationships with the adults around him. Recently, we didn’t answer our door when our family members dropped by, unannounced. We were in the backyard. They deposited some nice gifts by the front door and left, sending a text message of regret.

On its face, this gesture is considerate and appropriate. But we were truly disappointed. We don’t want our son to receive random gifts and material objects, we want him to know his aunt and uncle, have a bond with them, and associate any material gifts with them and their love. Our relatives have done this more than twice, so it’s a pattern.

It’s hard to know how to tell them that their kind gesture fell very short with us. Had they given us 15 minutes advance notice (or even called while on the doorstep), we could have seen them. Every response I imagine sounds ungrateful for their gifts. Is it too much to ask them to spend a little time with their nephew?

– Time Is Better Than Gifts

Dear Time: You’ve got a situation that’s almost worthy of an O. Henry story. But all is not lost. They have good intentions, as do you. And everyone is trying to be generous. That’s a great place from which to start.

Thinking generously about their actions, maybe they don’t want to bother you or presume that parents of young kids don’t have time to entertain. Working from that premise, you can start to proactively encourage them to behave differently when they visit.

Try saying something like, “we really hate to miss you; next time you’re coming by, just give us a call when you’re on your way. We’ll be happy to make a visit work. Seriously.” You can make it plain that you want them to build a relationship with your son and invite them to spend quality time with him. “It’s so important that our son knows you; can we set a date for a proper visit?”

Keep the focus on the future, as much as you can, rather than talking about the last fly-by visit. Sometimes people need explicit invitations. But it seems their hearts are in the right place so, with a little guidance, their actions will follow.

Read more Asking Eric and other advice columns.

Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at [email protected] or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.

Will Robertson, Jr. needs a little help writing a song.

Who better to turn to than Luke Bryan?

In the latest episode of “Duck Dynasty: The Revival,” Willie Robertson tasks his son, Will Robertson, Jr., with writing a song for a live recording at the family’s LO Worship Night.

Bryan, who is Robertson’s partner in his deer hunting brand, Buck Commander, makes a cameo on the popular reality show with some advice.

“So Will, you gonna start messing with songwriting?” Bryan asks the younger Robertson. “My advice for songwriting is just, you know, I’ve always said just get out there and live.”

He also encouraged Robertson Jr. to find a specific place to write his music.

“Hey, feel lucky that you’re a good enough person where your parents want you back,” Bryan jokes. “We’re at a phase where we don’t know where we want our children right now.”

Bryan wasn’t the only one to chime in.

The Robertsons also got a visit from Tyler Farr, who sat down with the younger Robertson and started working on a song.

“There’s a big draw of family back home,” Robertson Jr. told Farr. “Abby and I both have family in West Monroe. Everybody is kinda wanting to pull us back. So I’m having a hard time in navigating that.”

“I mean, that sounds like a country song,” Farr encourages him.

Before meeting with the country music stars, the younger Robertson made it clear he had no idea what he was doing.

“I’ve never written a song in my life, ever,” he said. “… Do you know how hard it is to write a song? Sometimes it takes years to write a song.”

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.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I often hear someone say something along the lines of, “We politely ask that you refrain from …” or “We politely decline to accept …” Silly question, but this doesn’t make sense to me: If you’re asking or doing something politely, should you actually SAY you are doing that thing politely?

GENTLE READER: The correct form is, “We respectfully ask (or decline),” which Miss Manners would normally agree is silly, except that it is not easy to convey respect in very few words.

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.

Up, up and Away

It won’t be long until commercial space launches become more frequent than some people leaving the house.

The Federal Aviation Administration released a new report with launch statistics, and AL.com’s John R. Roby reports that, in 2024, space launches hit an all-time high. Which you may have expected. But you might not be aware of these numbers: There were 142 operations throughout the year by seven companies. Most launches are for satellite deployments.

The agency believes that the U.S. could be sending up more than a launch a day by the year 2034.

As goes the space industry, so goes North Alabama, the home of manufacturing and integration operations for United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin, which both sent payloads into orbit just last month.

Of those 142 launches in 2024, 118 were performed by SpaceX. Blue Origin had three launches and ULA had two.

Restarting repair work

Birmingham’s water board voted to restart work on the leaky Lake Purdy Dam, just a few days after stopping it, reports AL.com’s Joseph D. Bryant.

The decision to forge ahead came in response to some pretty blunt risk assessment. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers classified it as high hazard based on the danger of a breach.

Last week, Arcadia engineer Patrick Flannelly told the board that a dam failure would affect thousands of home and possibly kill people.

The first phase of the project will cost $28 million. Indeed, the cost issue is what led to pausing the project.

Alabama’s got talent

The Birmingham Youth & Young Adult Fellowship Choir became one of 10 acts to receive a Golden Buzzer on “America’s Got Talent,” reports AL.com’s Patrick Darrington.

That means the act impressed one judge so much that it passes right into the live round without being facing all the judges.

The choir received the Golden Buzzer from judge Simon Cowell.

The group formed in 2015. It knocked out Cowell with a rendition of “Joyful, Joyful Lord We Adore Thee” infused with some hip hop.

A lot of toilet paper

Former NFL quarterback Eli Manning was in Auburn on Tuesday for an event billed as the setting of a new Guinness World Record, according to the Auburn Plainsman and other news outlets.

Whether or not it passes the Guinness folks to be a legitimate record, reports indicate that a crowd of hundreds tossed thousands of rolls of toilet paper into the tree limbs.

The Montgomery Advertiser reports that professor Keith S. Hébert presented Manning with a plaque from Gov. Kay Ivey. He announced that a record number of 7,125 rolls of TP were chucked into two trees and that it was a world record.

The reason behind staging such a rolling of Toomer’s Corner? Manning was featuring the Auburn tradition for his ESPN show, “Eli’s Places.”

Quoting

“The Texas floods were caused by natural weather dynamics—not human interference or weather modification efforts. It was not caused by Democrats or Republicans.”

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Born on This Date

In 1955, former Major League Baseball player Willie Wilson of Montgomery.

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DEAR MISS MANNERS: My parents decided to throw us a housewarming party — the day after we moved our family of five into a new home. They invited some people around town who’d known me as a kid. They also invited my friends, and then asked them to invite more people. And they brought their own snacks.

We had been cleaning the apartment we had moved out of, and still needed to put up curtains and assemble beds in the new place. The guests were polite, but did not help us unpack, except for my brother, who helped me with my daughter’s bed. Was there a polite way I could have asked these unexpected guests to leave so we could continue working?

GENTLE READER: Trying to explain to guests that, while it is true they were invited to your new home, you are not responsible for making them feel welcome because you were unaware an invitation had been sent is a bit like trying to explain to the police that, although you admit to driving the getaway car, you had no idea your friend intended to rob the bank.

Your audience will be skeptical — if not outright hostile — and you cannot rely on the people who know the truth to back up your story.

Miss Manners says this to encourage you to pay greater attention to your parents’ plans in the future, in case you missed an earlier opportunity to squelch this one. By the time everyone had arrived, the most you could do politely was look so tired and overwhelmed that the guests decamped voluntarily — or pitched in.

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 Annie: My husband has been coaching our 8-year-old son’s soccer team this season. At first, I thought it would be a great bonding experience for them. Our son is an active, sweet kid who used to spend hours in the yard practicing his kicks and counting down the days until the next game. But now, that excitement is gone — and I think I know why.

My husband is a very intense coach. He shouts directions from the sidelines and gets visibly frustrated when the boys mess up, and after every game, he breaks down what went wrong play by play. He even critiques our son in the car ride home. He says he’s “just being honest” and that kids need to learn discipline. But I’ve seen our son’s confidence drop. He’s gone from loving soccer to asking if he can skip practice.

He told me last week, “I don’t think I’m good at soccer anymore. Dad gets mad when I mess up.” My heart broke hearing that. This is supposed to be a recreational league — a place for kids to have fun, learn and grow — but it’s become high-stress under my husband’s watch.

I’ve tried to talk to him about backing off a little, but he gets defensive. He says the boys need structure and that he’s trying to prepare them to succeed in life. I understand his intentions, but I’m worried his style is doing more harm than good.

How do I help him see that his approach may be crushing our son’s spirit — without turning this into a bigger conflict between us? — Sideline Mom With a Heavy Heart

Dear Heavy Heart: Your concerns are valid, and your instincts as a mother are spot-on. At 8 years old, kids should be playing sports because they enjoy them — not because they’re afraid of disappointing their coach, especially when that coach is also their dad.

Your husband may believe he’s helping by pushing the team to be better, but what he may not realize is that his approach could be discouraging the very child he wants to inspire. When a child who once loved soccer starts wanting to quit, that’s a sign something is off.

I encourage you to talk to your husband again, but this time from a place of shared love for your son. Show him this letter. Let him know you admire his dedication, but remind him that building confidence and joy in the game is more important than winning. Sometimes the most valuable lessons in sports aren’t about performance; they’re about resilience, teamwork and simply having fun.

Keep standing up for your son’s emotional well-being. He’s lucky to have a mom who sees the big picture.

Read more Dear Annie and other advice columns.

“How Can I Forgive My Cheating Partner?” is out now! Annie Lane’s second anthology — featuring favorite columns on marriage, infidelity, communication and reconciliation — is available as a paperback and e-book. Visit Creators Publishing for more information. Send your questions for Annie Lane to [email protected].