May 30, 2024

We're leaning a little heavier into the sports world today.

As always when we do sports stuff, it's more Alabama cultural news than ball scores, so even if you don't like sports there should still be something in it for you.

Thanks for reading,

Ike Morgan

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A judge has dismissed the case against an Ozark man who was caught speeding and said he'd rather go to jail than give the police officer a written apology for his behavior, reports AL.com's Amy Yurkanin.

The story was picked up on some national outlets. Reginald Burks was pulled over and ticketed for speeding while taking his kids to school. He said that as he was trying to leave the officer was standing in front of his car so that he had to back up and go around. He said he then told the officer to "get your (butt) out of the way," but he didn't say "butt."

(Note: This is the most G-rated newsletter you'll read today. Apparently more G-rated even than car line.)

Now, folks may have varying degrees of respect for law enforcement or opinions on their motives, but this isn't one of those stories. The big question in this story is not so much the appropriateness of the officer, or of the motorist. It is about the appropriateness of the Ozark Municipal Court judge's order for the man to apologize to the officer in writing or face 10-30 days in jail.

University of Alabama law professor Jenny Carroll said up to 30 days is a long sentence for somebody who dropped a mere A-bomb in a moment of frustration.

The man wasn't budging, either. He said he'd pay his fines. However: “What am I going to do? I’m going to jail. I ain’t writing no letter.”

A hearing was set for June 4, but evidently the city's prosecutors weren't interested in pursuing the case because the judge dismissed the case on Wednesday.

The Birmingham-Southern College baseball team is now in Eastlake Ohio, where it plays Friday in the first round of the Division III College World Series. Also on Friday, Birmingham-Southern College, the university, is officially closing its doors.

BSC is seeded seventh in the tournament, but you can probably throw that out. Because the Panthers are likely to have a whole higher sense of urgency since a two-and-done in the double-elimination tournament would mean really, really done.

BSC will play at 3:45 Alabama time against Salve Regina University, which I'm sure needs no introduction. AL.com sports columnist Joseph Goodman is there covering the team. You can follow the coverage at al.com/sports.

The Auburn men's golf team won its first national championship with a 3-2 win over Florida State at the Omni La Costa Champions Course in Carlsbad, California.

Auburn freshman Jackson Koivun chipped in for birdie on No. 14 to end his match early and stake the Tigers to a lead. Earlier Wednesday he received the Fred Haskins Award, which you know as the Heisman of men's golf.

The NCAA and the Power 5 conferences last week agreed to a court settlement that is going to mean that schools will be directly paying some of their athletes. Before we really know what the fallout is going to be, expect a flurry of activity from lawyers, rules committees and market forces.

But it looks like one leg of this is an addition expense to athletics departments of up to $22 million. So how do you balance that in the budget?

University of Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne, when asked about the possibility of cutting sports during the SEC meetings in Destin, Florida, said that is not a path they want to take, reports AL.com's Michael Casagrande.

“But it’s also very, very costly. And that’s not just Alabama. That’s across the board in everything we do. And I’m proud of how we support our Olympic sports.”

“Triston Harper is like my little brother. I love that kid so much. Me and him would just sit there and crack jokes that not everybody would get because they just, they ain’t redneck.”

Mia Mathews, recent "American Idol" contestant, talking about the friendships that develop among the singers.

12th

That's where a Forbes study ranks Alabama nationally on a list of the states with the worst drivers. (Mississippi, incidentally, has the 9th worst drivers.)

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