It’s National Wright Brothers Day. I’d exercise caution if you celebrate by flying your drone, though. We’re a little on edge about those right now.
Also, you don’t want to accidentally buzz a tree stand this time of year.
Thanks for reading,
Ike
Sick poultry
A pair of fowl sites have been quarantined after an outbreak of avian flu, reports AL.com’s Howard Koplowitz.
About 116,000 chickens have been killed at a Cullman broiler farm. Add to that 70 birds in a Pickens County backyard flock that included guineas, ducks, turkey and chicken.
The Cullman broilers, Pickens chickens and others were put down to stop the spread of the flu. Poultry within a 6.2-mile radius of the broiler farm are being tested and monitored.
So be on the alert if you keep chickens, especially in the affected areas. The agriculture commissioner and state veterinarian issued a joint statement calling for commercial and backyard poultry operators to monitor the health of your flock and to keep your birds enclosed if possible, and certainly away from other birds. The Agriculture Department added a list of recommendations that includes cleaning vehicle and equipment, limiting visitors to the area, cleaning shoes in a clean foot bath, changing clothes after you come into contact with birds, and avoid touching sick or dead poultry.
The CDC considers bird flu low-risk to humans.
Private-school funds
The Choose Act is nearly here. Beginning Jan. 2, you can apply for up to $7,000 in private-school financing for the K-12 student in your family, reports AL.com’s Rebecca Griesbach.
The money will be deposited into an education savings account, or ESA, for students to use on tuition and other specified educational needs.
Alabama residents between the ages of 5 and 19 who have not graduated from high school may apply. If the students have a disability they can be up to 21 years old.
Students with special needs will receive the first 500 ESAs, and after that priority will go to siblings of eligible students, students in military families zoned to priority schools and students in families whose income is no more than three times the federal poverty level.
For a family of four, for example, three times the poverty level is currently $93,600.
Again, the application process opens up Jan. 2. We’ll have more on the Choose Act and ESAs as that time approaches.
Lake Martin tragedy
Longtime Auburn football chaplain Chette Williams died Sunday night after falling into Lake Martin, reports AL.com’s Carol Robinson.
Authorities said Williams and a neighbor had docked at a restaurant in Alexander City but found out it was closed for a private party. As they went to leave in Williams’ pontoon boat he fell between the dock and the boat. That was about 5:45 p.m. His body was recovered at 7:19 p.m.
Williams played linebacker at Auburn during the early 1980s. He was ordained in 1988 and became Auburn’s football chaplain in 1999 during coach Tommy Tuberville’s era.
Now-Sen. Tuberville posted on social media: “Brother Chette was a remarkable man who led hundreds of young people to the Lord through the years. … His leadership has been a steady part of Auburn athletics for more than two decades. But more than sports, Brother Chette helped athletes understand that their purpose was much greater than anything they could ever accomplish on the field.”
Williams also served as Auburn’s campus director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and was the FCA’s state director for urban ministries.
Chette William was 61 years old.
RIP Etta Freeman, 107
Etta Freeman, a Decatur teacher for more than half a century, passed away over the weekend at 107 years old, reports AL.com’s Heather Gann.
Freeman was born the summer the U.S. joined World War I, on July 27, 1917.
She graduated from Decatur Negro High and went to college at Alabama State College and Alabama A&M to earn her bachelor’s in elementary education.
More than 300 former students turned out for a big birthday celebration when she turned 90 — 17 years ago.
Quoting
“Today marks the 205th anniversary of Alabama becoming a state. To find out what life was like in Alabama 205 years ago, go to Mississippi.”
Saturday Night Live’s Michael Che, a New York native, during the show’s most recent “Weekend Update.”
By the Numbers
That’s what two former Hoover High football players are seeking in a lawsuit alleging they were abused by coaches at practice.
More Alabama News
Born on this Date
In 1935, actor George Lindsey of Fairfield. He was Goober on the Andy Griffith Show, Mayberry RFD and Hee Haw.
In 1939, Singer Eddie Kendricks of Union Springs. (His family moved to Birmingham when he was young.) He was a singer with the Temptations during the 60s. He sang lead on hits including “The Way You Do the Things You Do.”
The podcast
The Alabama Crimson Tide are headed back to the Rose Bowl for the College Football Playoff.
One hundred years after Alabama football’s first appearance in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 1926, the Tide will face No. 1 Indiana (13-0) in the CFP quarterfinals in Pasadena on New Year’s Day.
Alabama (11-3) rallied from a 17-0 first-half deficit to win its first-round playoff game, 34-24, against the Oklahoma Sooners (10-3) Friday night at Memorial Stadium in Norman.
Ty Simpson threw two touchdown passes to freshman receiver Lotzeir Brooks, cornerback Zabien Brown had a 50-yard interception return for touchdown, and Daniel Hill capped the scoring with a 6-yard touchdown run as the Tide closed the game by out-scoring Oklahoma 34-7 over the final 36:52.
Conor Talty added two clutch field goals in Alabama’s win, its 10th victory overall in the College Football Playoff since 2014, and its first since the Crimson Tide defeated the Cincinnati Bearcats, 27-6, in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Eve 2021.
After Alabama’s rally, Tide players did some celebrating on the Sooners’ field.
Follow us at @RollTideWire on X and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Alabama Crimson Tide news, notes and opinions.
NORMAN, Oklahoma — The stage was set for Oklahoma. Heck, the Sooners earned the right to set it. This was supposed to be the ushering in of a new era of postseason football for the No. 8 team in the country that had won 10 games in what was one of the toughest schedules this year.
No. 9 Alabama was even one of those teams that Oklahoma beat on its way to earning this spot. And Saturday night, all was going well for the Sooners. It was going so well, in fact, that after the first quarter, some Oklahoma fans might’ve peeked at flights and hotel rates for the Rose Bowl from inside Memorial Stadium.
And then the Alabama Crimson Tide curled and rolled the Sooners, 34-24, and are headed to Pasadena. After opening with 17 unanswered points, Oklahoma collapsed under the weight of that wave, becoming the only team in College Football Playoff history to blow a 17-point lead. And now, the Sooners have done it twice — before Saturday, in 2018 against Georgia.
[Best Teams in the College Football Playoff Era: Creating the Ultimate 12-team CFP]
Here are my takeaways from Alabama’s College Football Playoff first-round victory against Oklahoma on Saturday:
NORMAN, OKLAHOMA: Zabien Brown #2 of the Alabama Crimson Tide stiff-arms John Mateer #10 of the Oklahoma Sooners during the second quarter during the 2025 College Football Playoff first-round game on December 19, 2025. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson is an avid reader and listener of college football news. Following the largest comeback win in Alabama postseason history, Simpson took a moment to facetiously thank media members for choosing Oklahoma to win on Saturday night.
“I guess we can thank you guys for that,” an emboldened Simpson said. “You guys kind of wrote us off in a sort of way. So I appreciate that.”
After building a three-score lead, the Sooners watched the Crimson Tide recover a fumbled punt, pick off Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer and return it 50 yards to the end zone — all before their First Team All-American kicker Tate Sandell missed not one but two field goals in the final minutes to solidify the worst collapse in College Football Playoff history.
Meanwhile, the Alabama Crimson Tide will prepare to take on No. 1 Indiana in the Rose Bowl for the CFP quarterfinal game. This team that punches back and played its best football with its back against the wall is one that the Hoosiers must prepare for on New Year’s Day.
[College Football Playoff Predictions: First-Round Winners to The National Champion]
NORMAN, OKLAHOMA: John Mateer #10 of the Oklahoma Sooners is hit by Deontae Lawson #0 of the Alabama Crimson Tide during the first quarter during the College Football Playoff first-round game on December 19, 2025. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
The Crimson Tide began down — just like they did against Georgia in the SEC championship game. But the last three quarters of Saturday’s game demonstrated Alabama to be just who it says it is: the kind of team that can open with a loss to a bad Florida State and also be the first team in six years to walk into Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia, and come out with a win.
DeBoer’s task now is to find a way to make certain that the team that showed up at Georgia earlier this season and at Oklahoma in the first round is the same one against the Hoosiers. Linebacker Deontae Lawson said that’s his job too. But Bama’s best trait isn’t one that shows itself until it’s in a fight for its life.
“Man, I just think we’re a resilient team,” Lawson said. “And even though we were down 17-0, we didn’t really look at the scoreboard. Coach DeBoer always says, ‘Keep playing the game. The game will come back to you.’ … We just keep fighting.”
NORMAN, OKLAHOMA: Head coach Brent Venables of the Oklahoma Sooners speaks to an official during the fourth quarter against the Alabama Crimson Tide on December 19, 2025. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
Let’s look at the bigger ones:
These are blunders. Errors that aren’t forced but self-inflicted. It’s difficult to win any game with those kinds of mistakes on your drive chart. It’s nearly impossible in a game of this magnitude, against a team as talented and as resilient as the Crimson Tide.
NORMAN, OKLAHOMA: Keon Keeley #31 of the Alabama Crimson Tide celebrates after defeating the Oklahoma Sooners in the College Football Playoff first-round game. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Oklahoma usually plays 50 Cent’s “Many Men” before the start of the fourth quarter. In an attempt to make a statement for its first CFP game at Owen Field, the Sooners brought the rapper himself out onto the field to perform the song for fans in a Hard to Kill Hoodie.
“I didn’t know it was live,” DeBoer said.
“I didn’t know who 50 Cent was,” Simpson said, “but I know that song.”
“We play that song at practice on Fridays,” Lawson said.
RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him @RJ_Young.
Hello college football fans, and welcome to The Athletic’s live coverage of the 2025 College Football Playoff!
Yes, after a 2025 season full of an incredible amount of twists, turns, controversy and pure chaos, the second edition of the 12-team College Football Playoff gets underway tonight. Our opening matchup is a battle of blue-bloods whose first meeting this season contributed to that chaos, as No. 9 Alabama takes on No. 8 Oklahoma in Norman.
Follow along for live pregame build-up and the latest news, play-by-play updates and real-time analysis from The Athletic’s college football staff!
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