Jan 02, 2024

Whether you dropped a ball, a Moonpie, a blue marlin, a sausage, a peanut or a stuffed monkey on your new Year's Eve, or just slept through it all, you've made to 2024.

Congratulations are in order. Now here's some news.

Ike Morgan

Looking for the podcast? Click here or check other options below.

College football is more like politics all the time. People put their whole identity into their side, and they often use it to feel superior to those other guys. In both college football and politics, the media are always on the other side. And if you lose it's probably because some cheating was going on.

In the world of Name, Image and Likeness -- NIL -- the similarities continue to grow. Just like a political organization will fundraise off the desire to improve on a recent election, NIL funds are wide-open to fans who hope their teams can compete better next year.

AL.com's Mark Heim reports that the University of Alabama's NIL group, Yea Alabama, was reaching out out to supporters after the Crimson Tide's 27-20 overtime loss to Michigan in Monday's Rose Bowl.

Aaron Suttles is Yea Alabama's director of content. In a video on the group's X account, he said, “In this disappointment, we need to take action. We need you to build Alabama’s NIL entity into the biggest in the country. Yea Alabama needs your support.”

Currently, according to On3.com, Jalen Milroe has the highest NIL valuation among Alabama players at $1.4 million.

For the second year in a row, Mobile had a fatal shooting during New Year's Eve celebrations, reports AL.com's John Sharp.

It was a year ago when a man fired a gun into a crowd, killing one and wounding nine others. He's serving 10-year prison sentence on the federal crime of possessing a machine gun and still faces charges in state court.

About a block away from that shooting, a wounded man was found at 12:16 a.m. Monday on Dauphin Street. The man later died at a hospital.

This comes after Mobile police announced they had increased law-enforcement visibility during the annual MoonPie Over Mobile event.

Birmingham in 2023 had another bad year for homicides, although the total went down for the first time in six years, reports AL.com's Carol Robinson.

The 135 homicides is nine fewer than the city had in 2022. But it's still more than it had in 2021 and only 13 fewer homicides than the all-time record -- 148 in 1933.

Nine of the 135 homicides this past year were ruled justifiable.

It's amazing how regular the killings were through the year. In 10 of the 12 months, there were either 10, 11 or 12 homicides. The outliers were July with 15 and February with two.

Don't miss this week's quiz ... especially if you're into politics, dogs, boxing or food.

77.44%

That was the completion percentage for Oregon's Bo Nix this season. The Pinson Valley High grad set a new NCAA record, surpassing the 77.36-percent mark set by Alabama's Mac Jones in 2020.

I'm a day late, but I wanted to mention a born-on-this-date for yesterday, Jan. 1, for a couple reasons. First, I think not everyone recognizes this guy as being from Alabama but they should, even if he was here mostly before we became a state. And, second, right now it doesn't hurt to find any tenuous commonality between Alabama folks and Florida State folks.

Stay with me.

Born on Jan. 1, 1804, Billy Powell of what's now Tallassee. No, not the Billy Powell that used to play piano for Lynyrd Skynyrd. This Billy Powell was of a man of diverse heritage born among the Muscogee Creek Indians, also known during that time as the Red Sticks. After the Red Sticks were defeated by U.S. Forces he and his family left and eventually joined the Seminole Tribe in Florida. He became a leader during the Seminole Wars and, although he didn't have the birthright of a chief, his fame grew and he is casually known to history as ...

Chief Osceola.

That's right, Osceola's from Alabama. And Lynyrd Skynyrd's from Florida. Ain't life full of irony?

We appreciate you for taking the time to read today. Hope you're able to check back soon. Meantime, reply to this email with any suggestions you might have.

If you're so inclined, we'd love it if you'd forward to friends who might be interested in reading. (And if you're someone who's been forwarded this newsletter, we encourage you to subscribe and get this in your inbox every day.)

The “Down in Alabama” podcast is short and free. Listen to it by clicking on the player above or subscribe by looking for “Down in Alabama” on the device of your choosing.

You can find “Down in Alabama” wherever you get your podcasts, including these places: