9 / 50

Ben Flanagan | bflanagan@al.com

Alabama vs. Georgia ESPN College Gameday 2024

Pat McAfee (far left), Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer (center) and Nick Saban. Alabama fans at ESPN “College GameDay” on the Quad before the Crimson Tide’s game against Georgia in Tuscaloosa Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Ben Flanagan / AL.com)

The Alabama swim team won 30 of 31 events to claim a commanding victory on the road over Delta State in the team’s season opener on Friday. The men’s team won 218-44, and the women’s team claimed a 117.5-44.5 victory on the way to a sweep for the Crimson Tide.

In addition to sweeping the relay events, the Crimson Tide saw a pair of individual wins from Leonardo Alcantara (500, 1,000 free), Bernardo Bondra de Almeida (200 free, 100 fly) and Tommy Hagar (100 back, 200 IM) on the men’s side as Mackenzie Brandt (200, 500 free), Kate Christian (200 back, 200 IM) and Victoria Raymond (100, 200 fly) secured two individual wins on the women’s side.

“This meet is always a great opportunity to see our newcomers compete and gauge our areas of improvement with our returners,” head coach Margo Geer said in a press release. “It was also exciting to have Emily Jone sandJada Scott return to competition. We’re excited for the win and now will focus on how to improve from here and prepare for the rest of the season.”

Overall, Alabama had 29 swimmers, 13 males and 16 females, claim a first-place finish in either a relay or individual event.

September 28, 2013: Coming off a lackluster win against Colorado State, and a week of soul searching, Alabama shut out No. 21 Ole Miss 25-0. T.J. Yeldon rushed for 121 yards and Kenyan Drake 99 as the Crimson Tide outgained the Rebels 434-205 at Bryant-Denny Stadium. “It’ll be huge for the confidence of our players,” Nick Saban said.

September 28, 1963: With the defense limiting Tulane to 99 yards, Alabama rolled to a 28-0 win over the Greenies at Ladd Stadium in Mobile. Quarterback Joe Namath, who passed only nine times, scored on a 1-yard run. Benny Nelson went 33 yards for a score. Billy Piper returned an interception 51 yards for a touchdown. Hudson Harris also had a 20-yard touchdown run.

September 28, 2019: Alabama enjoyed a record-setting day en route to a 59-31 victory over Ole Miss at Bryant-Denny Stadium. DeVonta Smith set Crimson Tide records with 274 receiving yards and five touchdown catches, while quarterback Tua Tagovailoa did likewise with six touchdown passes and topped A.J. McCarron’s career mark of 80 touchdowns responsible.

“I can’t wait for tomorrow. Why? Because I get better looking every day.” – Joe Namath

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA)— From the time he was 10 years old, Al Eford knew what he wanted to do.

“Music has been a passion of mine all my life,” he explained. “I was basically raised on the radio.”

He’s been a disk jockey for about 40 years. During the pandemic, he decided to take his career to the next level and start his own radio network.

“I enjoy talking to the people. I just said one day, God knows, I’m gonna be on the air. And now I am heard worldwide.”

There is something most of his listeners on the Awesome Al Radio network probably don’t know. While the sounds are important, it’s sight that makes this show unique.

“I was born with glaucoma. The older I got, the more sight I lost. I went totally blind by 12 or 13 years old.”

He never let lack of sight affect his vision.

“I have speech synthesizers on my computer. When I put my headphones on, the synthesizer comes through the headphones to tell me what song I’m going to play.”

Song requests? No problem. He has a special printer that converts an email request into braille.

“Mr. Peoples in Laurel, MS, wants to hear the Supremes with “One Day We’ll Be Together,” he explained. Eford plays a little bit of everything. “Classic R&B, Today’s R&B, Neo Soul, Smooth Jazz, Country.”

It’s how he plays it that makes Awesome Al Radio special. Al hopes to keep growing his listeners and getting more sponsors, but nothing will slow this guy down. He’s doing what he loves every day.

Not reading this story on the WSFA News App? Get news alerts FASTER and FREE in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store!

Copyright 2024 WSFA. All rights reserved.