Alabama
Alabama lost one of its superfans, and I lost a great friend, in Mike Parker | Goodbread
I’ll call Mike Parker a superfan only in the purest, most rudimentary sense of the term.
He was, no doubt, the biggest Alabama fan I’ve ever known, so it’s a fitting way to describe him, although he had zero interest in launching a personal brand around his fandom. That he started Crimson Cover, a local radio and television show covering Alabama athletics, might sound contradictory to the notion of a humble superfan. But for Mike, Crimson Cover was never about him, only about the school he loved. Which is to say that he was nothing like the typical sports superfan who seeks to draw attention to self, go viral at any cost, and feed off any scrap of notoriety.
I said goodbye to Mike at a memorial service on Saturday morning — he was 42 — and he would’ve been glad to know that as the church gathering paid its respects, his Crimson Tide basketball team was putting the finishing touches on a 93-91 overtime win over Auburn.
Life dealt Mike the toughest of hands, but he played it with the toughest resolve.
He became quadriplegic in the summer of 2004 after a diving accident in Destin, Fla., while celebrating the Fourth of July. He was confined to a wheelchair for roughly half his life, but his personality refused to be confined to anything. In 2008, he convinced me to co-host Crimson Cover radio with him, having secured a small loan from a relative to pay for the airtime, because he had no advertisers. Within a year, he’d recruited former Alabama All-American defensive end John Copeland as a third co-host, and the three of us would become the best of friends. Soon after, he willed it into existence in its current form, a weekly television show on WVUA.
Among the myriad of health issues related to Mike’s paralysis was a relatively constant battle with nausea, and back when Crimson Cover was strictly on radio, he’d arrive at the station most Saturday mornings with a large plastic bowl in his lap and looking a bit pale. He would warn us and apologize for what he was sure would happen during the show. But the moment the red “on the air” light came on, his nausea would vanish until the show ended, and he’d take the bowl home clean enough to put right back in the cabinet. I always likened it to the “clutch gene” that great athletes have when the game is on the line. Mike mentally locked out his nausea for the show the way Michael Jordan locked out distractions for game-winning shots. His parents saw it more as an indicator of how much he loved talking about Alabama sports. Either way, Crimson Cover broadcasts made him feel better than any prescription ever could.
So did watching Alabama football or basketball games. He never missed one on television, but I know he would’ve been to many more in person were it not for his paralysis. He hated his wheelchair about like how he hated Alabama’s rivals; not shy to curse either. At the visitation following his memorial service, the wheelchair he hated was appropriately turned upside down.
But that wheelchair also got him around to make Crimson Cover a reality.
In an era when growing an audience demanded savvy social media promotion, Mike — who cared so little about social media that he barely kept a Facebook page — did it the hard way. And for someone in a wheelchair, it was the extra-hard way. He went all over Tuscaloosa to grow the show’s audience by taking the brand to the streets. He secured deals for remote broadcasts of Crimson Cover radio and TV at local businesses all over town. BamaLand. Archibald’s BBQ. The Bear Trap. Northport Pharmacy. Wings U. The Purse Man. The Booth. Crimson Carpet and Flooring. Corks & Tops. Even BabyTalk in Northport, an infant/toddler emporium. Yep, Mike could talk Alabama football while pitching onesies and rattles.
On Saturday mornings in the fall, the radio show broadcast live from the Holiday Inn Express lobby on Veterans Memorial Parkway. That’s where the CBS broadcast crew used to stay when it was in town, and its announcing team of Gary Danielson and Verne Lundquist would often come down for the breakfast buffet, then sit in for a segment with Mike on the radio show.
Eventually, as the show transitioned from radio to TV at Mike’s behest, he maintained an integral role in planning its content, piloting its fun, off-the-cuff style on air, securing title sponsors, and more. Now, after 15 years and roughly 750 episodes on WVUA, Copeland and I will continue hosting Crimson Cover in Mike’s memory. But it won’t ever be the same.
Mike was a force of nature, and I wish I’d met him before his diving accident.
But I’m lucky to have met him at all.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
The iconic wooden roller coaster at Alabama Adventure & Splash Adventure is officially back in action, along with some seasonal deals. This Father’s Day, dads can get into the park for free to ride the restored coaster, Rampage.
It’s not the only attraction returning; this Halloween, Alabama Adventure is bringing back not one but two haunted houses for the first time since the late 2000s.
If you can’t wait until then, the Bessemer park will be open late on Saturdays and end with a pop of color. Adventure Summer Nights will have the park open until 9:30 p.m. once a week with a fireworks show to round off the night.
And as an apology to their loyal visitors, people who bought a daily ticket before June 10 are welcome to come back and try their new and improved attractions for free. If you’re a season pass holder, don’t feel left out—pass holder discounts are doubled for the month of July.
Governor Kay Ivey on Thursday set an execution date for death row inmate Jeremy Williams, who was convicted in the 2021 kidnapping, rape and murder of 5-year-old Kamarie Holland in Phenix City.
Williams is scheduled to be executed by the state’s three-drug lethal injection during a 30-hour window beginning at 12 a.m. August 13 and ending at 6 a.m. August 14. The execution date comes after the Alabama Supreme Court granted a request from Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office on June 16, authorizing the state to carry out the sentence.
In a letter to Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Greg Lovelace, Ivey said the Supreme Court’s June 16 order serves as the official death warrant for Williams.
“By law, I am required to specify the time frame for carrying out the sentence of death,” Ivey said. “Accordingly, I hereby order that Jeremy Lee Williams’s sentence of death be carried out within a time frame beginning on August 13, 2026, at 12:00 a.m. and ending on August 14, 2026, at 6:00 a.m.”
Ivey noted that she retains the authority to commute the sentence before the execution takes place.
Williams, 34, was convicted in April 2024 on four counts of capital murder stemming from Holland’s death. Prosecutors charged him with capital murder during a kidnapping, capital murder during a rape, capital murder during first-degree sodomy and capital murder of a child younger than 14.
Authorities said Holland disappeared from her family’s home in Phenix City on December 13, 2021. Her body was discovered two days later inside an abandoned house less than a mile away. An autopsy determined that she had been sexually assaulted and strangled.
In addition to the death sentence, Williams received several other prison terms. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for human trafficking and for knowingly producing recordings depicting the sexual abuse of a child. He also received another life sentence for a separate sexual abuse conviction, along with a 20-year sentence for conspiracy to commit human trafficking and a 10-year sentence for abuse of a corpse.
Unlike most death row inmates, Williams sought to speed up the execution process. During a hearing, he told the court that he accepted responsibility for his actions and wanted the sentence carried out.
In 2025, Williams dismissed his attorneys and informed the court that he wished to waive any remaining appeals and proceed with his execution. Russell County Circuit Court Judge David Johnson determined that Williams was competent to make that decision and allowed him to forgo further legal challenges.
Under Alabama law, capital convictions automatically receive appellate review. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals subsequently affirmed Williams’ conviction and death sentence in March.
After that review concluded, the Alabama Attorney General’s Office petitioned the Alabama Supreme Court in May to authorize an execution date. The court granted the request earlier this week, clearing the way for Ivey to schedule the execution.
If carried out as scheduled, Williams’ execution would occur nearly five years after Holland’s death and a little more than two years after he was sentenced to death.
Williams’ execution would be Alabama’s first by lethal injection since April 2025. The state’s three most recent executions were carried out using nitrogen hypoxia, which Alabama began using in 2024.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – You don’t find too many camps where you learn how to slap someone. But this summer, you will in Montgomery. It’s one of many kids camps put on by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival.
“We have our Camp Shakespeare Junior which is our half day for the littles, kindergarten through 3rd grade,” said Cameron Williams, the ASF director of education. “We have Big Kid Shakespeare camp and everyone is learning all about ‘Much Ado About Nothing’.”
They learn about on stage combat, different acting techniques, and also how to be creative and think on their feet.
“I think theater skills are life skills. So, what makes this camp special is we’re doing more than just boosting literacy and doing theater things. We’re doing life skills, learning what it means to be team players, about discipline, and working with people who may have different personalities than you.”
Different kids have different talents. And even if your child isn’t up for a lead role in the next play, this place can leave a lasting impact.
“If you’re looking for a place where your kid can come out of their shell, to learn how to speak in front of a group, and develop some confidence, this is the place to be.”
It’s a place that’s a real treasure in Montgomery, and its mining some young gems, who one day, could be on the big stage themselves. There are still more ASF camps going on this summer for pre-teens and even adults.
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 2026 WSFA. All rights reserved.
-
Technology5 minutes agoNothing cancels this year’s CMF phone due to RAM prices
-
World12 minutes agoTwo-train crash leaves at least 1 dead, 89 injured as emergency crews rush to chaotic scene
-
Politics15 minutes agoDouble endorsement drama: Trump backs second candidate in red state’s GOP gubernatorial runoff
-
Health20 minutes agoMeasles-infected traveler may have exposed passengers at LAX and nearby hotel, health officials warn
-
Sports27 minutes agoWorld Cup Red Cards: 2026 Has More Red Cards Than Each Of Last 2 World Cups
-
Technology30 minutes agoChina’s brain chip breakthrough raises big questions
-
Business35 minutes agoRanch lovers can soon travel with a TSA-friendly kit of the popular American dressing
-
Entertainment42 minutes agoAt the Fonda, Jane Remover’s violent yearning heralds a new kind of stardom
