From left, Emma Stone, and Oscar nominees
Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis star in “The Help.”

Hollywood has been reaching deep into Alabama’s past, present and future this week …

• Last week, “Red Tails” opened nationwide. The George Lucas-produced action movie follows the story of Alabama’s Tuskegee Airmen in their aerial battles against German pilots and their ground war against discrimination. The stars include Terrence Howard and Method Man. “Red Tails” reached No. 2 last weekend in box office take.

• Black history also plays a role in Tuesday’s Oscar nominations, which included two state connections. Montgomery native and Auburn grad Octavia Spencer earned a spot in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role as Minny Jackson in “The Help.” Earlier this month, she won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.

The movie, based on Kathryn Stockett’s novel of the same name, follows the relationship of a young white woman and two black maids in Jackson, Miss., in the 1960s. “The Help” earned four nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Viola Davis and another Best Supporting Actress for Jessica Chastain.

In the Best Documentary Short category, “The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement” scored a nomination. The 25-minute movie tells the story of James Armstrong, who marched carrying the American flag at Selma on Bloody Sunday in 1965. He was the first to file suit to desegregate Birmingham’s schools. Armstrong died at 86 in 2011 of heart failure.

Director Robin Fryday of San Francisco teamed up with director Gail Dolgin, who received a previous Oscar nomination for “Daughter from Danang” and died from breast cancer in 2010. “The Barber of Birmingham” had its Birmingham premiere in March at the Alabama Theatre.

The Academy Awards airs at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 26 on ABC 33/40.

• “A Smile as Big as the Moon” tells the true story of Mike Kersjes, a high school football coach and special education teacher who leads his special needs students to Space Camp in 1988. Kersjes and Joe Layden co-wrote the original book of the same name. The movie, filmed at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville and also in Wilmington, N.C., stars John Corbett, Moira Kelly and Cynthia Watros. It has its Huntsville premiere  at 7 tonight and airs at 8 p.m. Sunday on ABC 33/40.

Video: Minny (Octavia Spencer) gets a taste of revenge
in a scene from “The Help.”

Video: George Lucas discusses the struggle to find funding
for “Red Tails.”

Video: interview with director Robin Fryday and
James Armstrong’s grandson Darren on
“The Barber of Birmingham.”

Video: a look at “A Smile as Big as the Moon”

Video: a look at the storm damage in a Center Point neighborhood

Storms and tornadoes made an unwelcome encore following their devastating march through Alabama on April 27. A series of tornadoes and severe storms passed through the central portion of the state in the early Monday morning hours.

Two were killed, and hundreds were injured. Hardest hit areas in Jefferson County included Center Point, Clay, Oak Grove and Trussville. Center Point received so much damage that Center Point Parkway wasn’t cleared to reopen for 2 days.

Hundreds of houses were destroyed or damaged along the path, which mirrored the same path of the deadly April tornadoes. Center Point Elementary, built in 2003, was damaged beyond repair and will have to be bulldozed and rebuilt.

Gov. Bentley declared a state of emergency for all counties.

[See post to listen to audio]

Audio: storm survivor stories

ABC 33/40 viewer-submitted photo

An EF-3 tornado tore through Center Point Monday.

Relief efforts are under way:

• Texting REDCROSS to 90999 will donate $10 to American Red Cross Disaster Relief.
• Those affected by the storms can call the Red Cross on a special line at (205) 439-7800, option 6.
• Donations can be made online to Samaritan’s Purse U.S. Disaster Relief fund and the Salvation Army’s Emergency Disaster Services fund (specify for ”January 2012 Tornado Relief”).
• The Junior League of Birmingham is collecting nonperishable foods, cleaning supplies and batteries at its office, 2212 20th Ave. S. [map] during office hours.
• Three Trussville churches are collecting water, food, toiletries, diapers, cleaning supplies and more.

Gallery: Jan. 23 storm aftermath

Video: Scott Douglas spars with Stephen Colbert
on the Jan. 16 “Colbert Report.”

“The Colbert Report” took up Alabama’s immigration law, HB56, once again. Monday, host Stephen Colbert “debated” Scott Douglas, executive director of Greater Birmingham Ministries.

The law has stirred debate over federal enforcement of immigration, labor rights, employment and more. Douglas spoke out against the law, saying the federal government should enforce a rewritten national law, rather than having local law enforcement uphold up to 50 separate state laws.

The comedy show had done a segment on HB56 in October, focusing on the law’s impact on state agriculture.

Video: “The Colbert Report” on Alabama’s immigration law
in October. 

Angela Blake

The Alabama Social Media Association holds educational lunches
throughout the year at the Hill Event Center at the Alabama
Theatre downtown.

In honor of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, I want to turn the spotlight on one of my favorite Birmingham nonprofit organizations …

It was 1 year ago at this time that I was deep in the throes of creating a new nonprofit organization. Six weeks later, we launched.

The Alabama Social Media Association has been an exciting journey of planting seeds, asking for favors and bringing to life a sorely needed resource: social media education.

I’ve always known Birmingham to be a font of social media experts, people who offer great advice and think innovatively about how we share information in the 21st century. Why were these folks not getting more recognition?

Because this city has grown a thriving digital community, we needed to put the spotlight on it throughout the year. It has been home to great conferences, including this past weekend’s WordCamp Birmingham, and many user groups. But very little for those who don’t work in the industry to jump in and learn and discover.

In 2011, we put on five free educational events, offering networking, lunch and a speaker with a 45-minute presentation. We met a great cross-section of the community, from law enforcement, from churches, from nonprofit groups and utilities and banks and startups. And we had a lot of fun. In addition, ALsocme held social events nearly every month to expand our social circles.

Behind the scenes, it has been a never-ending list of funds to find, people to meet and tasks to do or delegate. I have found it is one thing to serve on a board for an established organization, but quite another to build everything from scratch.

The truly exciting part is doing it our way, redefining expectations and constantly striving to improve, so that we may reach more people and share the bounty of social media knowledge in our community.

If you want to find out more about the Alabama Social Media Association, visit the website and also sign up for the free email newsletter. And if you’d like to volunteer to help with our events, our blog and more, fill our our application form. If you have a question, email alsocme@gmail.com.

• Alabama Social Media Association website | Facebook | Twitter @ALsocme
  

Video: a look at the Alabama Social Media Association

They’re with the band: Kate Hudson and Patrick Fugit star
in the 2000 coming-of-age film, “Almost Famous.”
It’s part of the 2012 Thursday Club Cinema lineup.

Black and White’s Thursday Club Cinema series last graced the screen at the Alabama Theatre 12 years ago. At the turn of the millenium, before Blu-Ray, or Netflix, or Hulu, or iPads and Redbox.

The weekly series returns tonight with a six pack of films all made around the previous 1998-2000 run.

(Note: Links below are affiliate links.)

• Tonight: “The Big Lebowski” [Amazon | iTunes]
• Jan. 19: “Donnie Darko” [Amazon | iTunes]
• Jan. 26: “Rushmore” [Amazon]
• Feb. 2: “Best in Show” [Amazon | iTunes]
• Feb. 9: “Almost Famous” (director Cameron Crowe’s “bootleg cut”) [Amazon | iTunes]
• Feb. 16: “The Limey” [Amazon | iTunes]

Tickets are $9 online or at the door. The movies start at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Alabama Theatre, 1817 Third Ave. N., downtown [map].

For more information, visit the Black and White page or email thursdayclubcinema@readbw.com.

• Thursday Club Cinema on Facebook

Video: “Tiny Dancer” sing-along, in a scene from
“Almost Famous”

Video: At the movies with Frank the rabbit,
in a scene from “Donnie Darko”

Video: Jane Lynch and Jennifer Coolidge discuss family dynamics,
in a scene from “Best in Show”

Video: a look at the life of Gene Bartow

He coached basketball at six universities, with a .647 record.

He took UAB to the NCAA Men’s Tournament an astonishing seven times in a row in his first 8 years as new head coach.

And he served as the school’s first athletic director, after 34 years in coaching, including a 52-9 record at UCLA.

Gene Bartow died Tuesday at age 81 after a 2-year fight with stomach cancer. He’s best known as the “father of UAB athletics.”

On Saturday, Memphis plays UAB in the Conference USA season opener, otherwise known as the third annual Bartow Classic. Two dollars of every ticket sold goes to the Coach Gene Bartow Fund for Cancer Research at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. at Bartow Arena, airing on CBS Sports Network. Tickets are $22-$27.

Video: tribute to Gene Bartow

• Chinese New Year is Jan. 23, marking the year of the dragon.

Video: Alabama coach Nick Saban discusses his team’s
trip to the BCS National Championship Game.

In the 2009 season, it was Alabama. In the 2010 season, Auburn.

And this year, Alabama again plays for the national championship. The Tide faces LSU in a rematch, or perhaps, grudge match. Alabama lost to LSU 9-6 in overtime on Nov. 5.

No. 1 LSU was a lock for the game at a perfect 13-0. Alabama (11-1) waited until Sunday’s official announcement, just edging out No. 3 Oklahoma State in the BCS rankings. LSU beat Georgia Saturday 42-10 for the SEC Championship, while Alabama’s last game was the Iron Bowl, beating Auburn 42-14 on Nov. 26.

No matter who wins, the SEC will take home the national title for the sixth consecutive year. Auburn won the 2010 title, while Alabama won the 2009.

The game airs at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 9 on ESPN, in 3D where available.

• Heisman finalists will be announced tonight, and expected to make the short list is Trent Richardson, running back at Alabama. Mark Ingram won it at Alabama in 2009. Update: It’s official, as Richardson will be competing against Tyrann Mathieu of LSU, Andrew Luck of Stanford, Montee Ball of Wisconsin and Robert Griffin III of Baylor.

• Other bowl games:

• Chick-Fil-A Bowl: Virginia (8-4) will face No. 25 Auburn (7-5) on New Year’s Eve in Atlanta.
• BBVA Compass Bowl: Southern Methodist (7-5) will head to Birmingham for the Jan. 7 game, thanks to the SEC pulling out of the bowl this year, opening a slot for a Conference USA team. SMU will face Pitt (6-6) representing the Big East. Pitt defeated Kentucky this year at the first BBVA Compass Bowl.

• UAB finished its season 3-9, leading to the firing of coach Neil Callaway and Sunday’s hire of Garrick McGee, Arkansas’ offensive coordinator, as his successor.

• Hoover, the only Birmingham-area team to play in the state finals, lost to Prattville 35-34 Friday in Tuscaloosa.

After William Bell won his runoff a mere 19 months ago to become mayor to succeed the convicted Larry Langford, the city faces another election. In this case, it was to accommodate a new city election cycle, putting mayoral and city council races in the same year to save money on elections.

The winner will have a 2-year term, before facing the next trip to the polls in 2013.

The other candidates are Kamau Afrika, Patricia Bell, T.C. Cannon, Willis H. “Mickey Mouse” Buddy Hendrix and Harry “Traveling Shoes” Turner Jr. All of them — including Bell — have run unsuccessfully for mayor in elections past.

Polls, now open, close at 7 tonight.

To locate your polling place, call (205) 325-5550.

Hop over to Magic City Post
tonight for election results.

The crowds will converge on the Alabama Theatre downtown
a month earlier for the 13th annual Sidewalk Moving
Picture Festival.

Note: This is an expanded version of a story that originally appeared on Magic City Post.

The state’s biggest film festival is hitting the streets.

When the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival returns a month earlier for its 13th edition, it will offer a new venue unlike any other: an outdoor screen and stage.

The free area, Sidewalk Central will feature live music and comedy, as well as panels and one or two evening screenings. It will run all day Aug. 27 and 28 in conjunction with the annual downtown event, which shows more than 200 movies from local and out-of-state filmmakers. The festival had taken place in late September in previous years.

“We’ve tried a variety of things over the years,” says Chloe Collins, festival executive director, about finding a way to feed attendees on site. “This is providing a central hub for everybody to possibly be entertained, definitely get something to eat or drink, hang out for a while and cool off in the misting tent.”

Food vendors at Sidewalk Central will include Bottletree Cafe, Brick and Tin, Carmella’s Italian Ice, the Dreamcakes Bakery cupcake truck, the Cantina food truck, plus beverages from Buffalo Rock. Also available will be vegetarian options, beer, wine and frozen drinks.

Schaeffer Eye Center, which will sponsor the audience choice award, will do a special promotion on site, though Collins declined to elaborate.

Take it outside

The new outdoor hub will be just west of the Alabama Theatre, on a closed-off portion of 18th Street North between Third and Fourth Avenues. In case of rain, Sidewalk Central will still offer food and drink service, but the stage will be shut down.

Festival organizers have tried other options in the past, including asking area restaurants to stay open for the weekend and including their info in the program, and providing on-site caterers. In 2010, the SideLot was to be a meeting place in the parking lot across from McWane Science Center, with bands, sponsor tables and a food vendor.

Instead, it hit a series of mishaps and became the focus of ire for many attendees. The lot’s owner changed the allotted space to one-half the original size a few weeks before the festival; the food vendor didn’t open for business until late Saturday afternoon; sponsors tables went unstaffed for most of the weekend.

While the outdoor area will serve as a gathering place, it’s the indoor venues that will again serve as film oases from the brutal August heat. Sidewalk dropped a venue and shrunk the festival “footprint” considerably: All seven venues encircle a two-block area.

“I’m really excited about the footprint,” Collins says. “Pulling everything closer together is going to force more interaction. It’s going to be really obvious that an event is taking place.”

Map: Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival 2011 layout

No more long walks or drives uptown to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Alabama Power headquarters or even the Birmingham Museum of Art. (In fact, sponsor Landers McLarty Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram is providing five Dodge Durangos for continuous shuttle service around the site.)

[Update July 11: Scratch that. The festival swapped in Alabama Power and dropped the Harambe Room in its venue list. The map above has been updated to reflect the change.]

The festival still plans to cross-promote with the Civil Rights Institute during Aug. 27 and 28, offering free or discounted admission to the museum with certain Sidewalk passes and booth space.

The footprint has shrunk, but one major genre has spread out. Like 2010, both Sidewalk and gay/lesbian film festival Birmingham Shout will take place the same weekend. Shout screenings, which had all been at the Hill Event Center at the Alabama Theatre, will be interspersed throughout all venues in 2011. As before, a 1- or 2-day pass allows entrance into both Sidewalk and Shout screenings.

Downtown concentration

The total number of venues for the combined festivals will be seven, one fewer than in 2010, though Collins says the total number of films to be scheduled, more than 200, will be only slightly less than in previous years. That’s because Shout is dropping a single film block, the opening night film that had been on Thursday night in 2010.

Even the awards ceremony has moved on site to the Alabama Theatre, after having been held for years on Sunday night at WorkPlay in Lakeview.

Both festivals will share a single 8.5- by 11-inch program, though with only a one cover this year (2010 had dual covers for Sidewalk and Shout). In addition, Collins says the festivals will offer a pocket-size version, similar to other film festivals, because of audience demand for something more portable.

And both festivals continue to be programmed by separate committees, with separate entry processes for submitting filmmakers. In addition to a Sunday night closing film for each festival, organizers may also have a Saturday night spotlight film for each. (While the festival will have two encore screenings s on Sunday, the Edge 12 will offer more Sidewalk encores in a 5-week series in the fall.)

No lineup has been announced for either festival, though organizers plan to show previews of a few selections at the free monthly Sidewalk Salon at 6 tonight at Rojo on Southside. In addition, the Filmmobile will be stopping by. The blue bus from Echo Park Film Center in Los Angeles is on a 6-week cross-country tour showing movies and providing filmmaking workshops.

Sidewalk itself has been on the move, having completed a 2-week online fund-raising campaign last week to bring in $20,682.

The momentum has Collins cautiously optimistic, looking to increase revenues by 7 percent.

“This year, I feel really good, and I’m knocking on wood that that’s not an omen of bad things to come,” she says, with a laugh.

Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival takes place Aug. 26-28 downtown. Tickets are $10 for a single film up to $275 for a VIP pass and can be purchased online. For more information, visit theSidewalk Moving Picture Festival site.

Also:

• Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival Facebook | Twitter @sidewalkfilm
• The festival is still seeking volunteers. Sign up online.

• • •

Action! Complete Sidewalk Festival coverage.

Video: Wade Kwon’s interview for WhyBHM

Scott Pierce and I have several things in common. We both work on the Internet (he serves as director of technology for Intermark Interactive). We both love public speaking, having shared the stage at Ignite Birmingham. We’ve both spent years recruiting people to work in our city.

And we both love Birmingham.

Recruiting nationwide has been challenging at times, trying to convince talented professionals to consider Birmingham, not only as a place of future employment but as a livable city. It often took both sweet talk and careful strategy to lure, for lack of a better word, candidates here to see what we have to offer.

At the Birmingham Post-Herald, we went to considerable expense and trouble to show off what we loved about our chosen location. We took immense pride in showing off our hangouts, our restaurants and our ways about town. If we had someone look beyond the uninformed perception that Birmingham is a backward, terrible, hostile city, we succeeded.

There’s your new tourism slogan … “Birmingham: It’s not as horrid as you might think!”

Pierce has made it his mission to change those outside perceptions using a new website, rather than take the super-expensive inefficient route of flying everyone in the world to Birmingham for a visit. It is narrative journalism on video.

He calls it WhyBHM.

Pierce interviews residents from the metro area to ask two questions: Why did you come to Birmingham? And why did you stay?

I was honored to be one of the initial six participants, whose videos are posted on the site. My 9-minute story talks about my serendipitous journey through journalism and how Birmingham became not just my hometown, but my home.

Viewers will learn that the answers to those two questions vary greatly. And that each person’s story helps build the case for why Birmingham.

If you want to participate, email Scott Pierce at whybhm@piercingwit.com.

Take a look at nearly 40 newspaper front pages from around the world on April 29 featuring coverage of the natural disaster.

• Newspaper front pages from Alabama and across the United States
• Ways you can help with tornado aid

(An embeddable version is included at the end.)

Clarin (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

El Territorio (Posadas, Argentina)

La Nacion (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Vorarlberger Nachrichten (Vorarlberg, Austria)

Jornal de Jundiaí Regional (Jundiaí, Brazil)

A Tarde (Salvador da Bahia, Brazil)

Jornal da Cidade (Bauru, Brazil)

Folha de Londrina (Londrina, Brazil)

Folha de S. Paulo (São Paulo, Brazil)

Gazeta do Povo (Curitiba, Brazil

O Estado de S. Paulo (São Paulo, Brazil)

Corriere Canadese (Toronto, Canada)

Calgary Herald (Calgary, Canada)

El Colombiano (Medellin, Colombia)

La Patria (Manizales, Colombia)

Phileleftheros (Nicosia, Cyprus)

Lidove Noviny (Prague, Czech Republic)

Diario El Universo (Guayaquil, Ecuador)

La Prensa (San Pedro Sula, Honduras)

Waspada (Medan, Indonesia)

Haaretz – Hebrew Edition (Tel Aviv, Israel)

La Stampa (Torino, Italy)

Arab Times (Shuwaikh, Kuwait)

Al Watan Daily (Shuwaikh, Kuwait)

L’Orient Le Jour (Beirut, Lebanon)

La Voix du Luxembourg (Luxembourg City, Luxembourg)

Star (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

La Prensa (Panama City, Panama)

El Comercio (Lima, Peru)

El Dia Nuevo (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico)

The Chosun Ilbo (Seoul, South Korea)

The Segye Times (Seoul, South Korea)

Today’s Zaman (Istanbul, Turkey)

The National (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)

Stars and Stripes – European Edition (Kaiserslautern, Germany)

Stars and Stripes – Mideast Edition (Kabul, Afghanistan)

Stars and Stripes – Pacific Edition (Tokyo, Japan)

Zoom to full screen, zoom in on page details
and embed on your site.

Also:

• Newspaper front pages from Alabama and across the United States
• Ways you can help with tornado aid

Both recent national championships by the Alabama and Auburn football teams received some front page attention, but the weather-related disaster dominated many papers across the United States in the 2 days following.

• Newspaper front pages from Alabama and around the world
• Ways you can help with tornado aid

(Embeddable slideshow versions are available on the last page.)

April 28

The Arizona Republic

Arkansas Democrat Gazette

The Fresno (Calif.) Bee

The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee

The Pueblo (Colo.) Chieftain

The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal

The Washington Post

The Gainesville (Fla.) Sun

Northwest Florida Daily News

Panama City (Fla.) News Herald

St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times

The (Lakeland, Fla.) Ledger

The Tampa (Fla.) Tribune

The Villages (Fla.) Daily Sun

The Albany (Ga.) Herald

Savannah (Ga.) Morning News

The Indianapolis (Ind.) Star

The Garden City (Kan.) Telegram

The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle

The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal

The Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader

The Winchester (Ky.) Sun

The Cumberland (Md.) Times-News

The (Minneapolis, Minn.) Star Tribune

Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune

The Kansas City (Mo.) Star

The (Columbus, Miss.) Commercial Dispatch

(Biloxi, Miss.) Sun Herald

The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer

(Hendersonville, N.C.) Times-News

Norfolk (Neb.) Daily News

Cortland (N.Y.) Standard

The New York Times

The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch

The Marietta (Ohio) Times

Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun

The (Toledo, Ohio) Blade

(Corvallis, Ore.) Gazette-Times

NEWSPAPER

(Spartanburg, S.C.) Herald-Journal

The (Rock Hill, S.C.) Herald

The (Memphis, Tenn.) Commercial Appeal

The Johnson City (Tenn.) Press

Austin (Texas) American-Statesman

Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram

Houston (Texas) Chronicle

Tyler (Texas) Morning Telegraph

The Roanoke (Va.) Times

The Virginian-Pilot

The (Vancouver, Wash.) Columbian

The (Spokane, Wash.) Spokesman-Review

Milwaukee (Wis.) Journal Sentinel

Watertown (Wis.) Daily Times

USA Today

• Newspaper front pages from Alabama and around the world
• Ways you can help with tornado aid

(Embeddable slideshow versions are available on the last page.)

Head to the next page to see the April 29 front pages …

• Newspaper front pages from across the United States and around the world
• Ways you can help with tornado aid

(An embeddable version is included at the end.)

April 28

The Anniston Star

The Birmingham News

Dothan Eagle

The (Florence) Times-Daily

The Gadsden Times

The Montgomery Advertiser

The (Mobile) Press-Register

Opelika-Auburn News

The Tuscaloosa News

April 29

The Anniston Star

The Birmingham News

Dothan Eagle

The (Florence) Times-Daily

The Gadsden Times

The Huntsville Times

The Montgomery Advertiser

The (Mobile) Press-Register

Opelika-Auburn News

The Tuscaloosa News

April 30

The Anniston Star

The Birmingham News

The Decatur Daily

Dothan Eagle

The (Florence) Times-Daily

The Gadsden Times

The Huntsville Times
(special double front page – click page to enlarge)

The Montgomery Advertiser

The (Mobile) Press-Register

Opelika-Auburn News

The Tuscaloosa News

Also:

• Tuscaloosa News photographer Dusty Compton’s tornado photo lands on the front pages of newspapers everywhere (a few examples).
• Newspaper front pages from across the United States and around the world
• Ways you can help with tornado aid

Zoom to full screen, zoom in on page details
and embed on your site.

A traffic camera shows a 1-mile wide tornado moving
across North Birmingham.

The death toll stands at 50 after more than 120 tornadoes tore through Alabama today. Those tornadoes followed a series of severe storms early in the morning, with the worst damage in Cullman, Tuscaloosa and near Birmingham in Pinson, Gardendale, Pleasant Grove and Fultondale.

Gov. Bentley and President Obama have declared a state of emergency in Alabama.

Take a look at the full report on Magic City Post, including ways you can help.

Samford’s Ruth Ketcham drives against Florida State
in the first round of the 2011 NCAA Tournament.

The post-season hopes grow ever dimmer with each passing game for Alabama teams.

In the National Invitation Tournament, No. 1 Alabama managed to defeat No. 4 New Mexico 74-67 on Monday. So far, Alabama is 18-0 at Coleman Coliseum.

The Tide earns one more home game, this time against No. 2 Miami, 8 p.m. Wednesday, airing on ESPN2. Tickets — $8, $4 for students and age 18 and younger — are available online, by calling (877) TIDE-TIX (877-843-3849) and at the door. [NIT bracket]

Should Alabama win, the team will head to the semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York against Colorado or Kent State.

Samford‘s first trip to the NCAA Women’s Tournament ended abruptly Sunday. The No. 14 Lady Bulldogs lost to No. 3 Florida State 76-46 in the opening round at Auburn. Samford ends the season at 25-8.

Also:

• More basketball coverage

Alabama’s Chris Hines takes the leap against New Mexico.

Photo (bottom): Kent Gidley, Alabama Athletics

Alabama’s Senario Hillman, left, and Trevor Releford play defense
against Coastal Carolina. The Tide won 68-44 in the NIT opening round.

It’s been somewhat of a downer post-season so far for Alabama men’s basketball teams.

The bright spot is No. 1 Alabama‘s win Tuesday over No. 8 Coastal Carolina 68-44 in Tuscaloosa in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament. The Tide faces No. 4 New Mexico at 8 p.m. Monday, also in Tuscaloosa. The game will air on ESPN. Tickets — $8, $4 for students and age 18 and younger — are available online and at the door. [NIT bracket]

UAB fell to fellow No. 12 seed Clemson 70-52 Tuesday in the new NCAA First Four round in Dayton, Ohio. The Blazers end the season 22-9.

And Alabama State lost to Texas-San Antonio 70-61 Wednesday in a battle of the No. 16 seeds, also in Dayton. The Hornets finish 17-18.

Meanwhile, the Samford Lady Bulldogs won the Southern Conference Tournament Championship earlier this month, earning their first trip to the NCAA Women’s Tournament. No. 14 Samford faces No. 3 Florida State at 4 p.m. Sunday in Auburn, to air on ESPN2, WVSU (91.1 FM) and streaming online. [NCAA bracket]

Also:

• Men’s teams announced for tournaments

Photo: Kent Gidley, Alabama Athletics

A talk at Ignite Birmingham

One troubling but recurring theme in Birmingham’s struggle to emerge as a true New South city is splintered efforts. This isn’t a surprise: Our community has been fractured for decades: black and white, suburbs and city, educated and uneducated, white collar and blue collar and so on.

We see recurring examples of a lack of cooperation, communication and coordination across the city. But we can also break this pattern with concerted effort.

A telling example of this duplication problem is the battle over the Neighborhoods USA annual conference, this year in Alaska. The City of Birmingham has sent an overwhelming number of delegates in years past, mostly leaders of the 99 neighborhoods.

The original travel plans for this year included sending 168 delegates for a total cost of more than $370,000. The finalized plan — after weeks of deliberation and political tactics — has whittled it to $68,000 for 28 representatives.

This would seem sane, except that the city continues to struggle with finances after the fiscal irresponsibility of one Larry Langford.

But a city that understood the value of proper leadership training would have invested in a more homegrown approach decades ago. Simply put, the conference trip is nothing more than political patronage for the mayor and city council.

Neighborhood leaders should be well trained to run their associations, 99 in all throughout the city. But to have to do it across a continent seems extravagant at a time when jobs, salaries and budgets are being cut.

The leaders who actually want better training and resources could work together with City Hall to come up with modestly funded workshops every 2 years for incoming officers. And the leaders who just want a free trip to Anchorage are unlikely to do much beyond what benefits them most.

The next example hits a little closer to home for me.

For the past 12 months, my friend Henry McBride has been working tirelessly on putting together a quarterly series of free events called Ignite Birmingham. This would be in addition to his full-time job, his family and his other community obligations.

An Ignite brings together speakers from across the community to share ideas and passions onstage. These talks are often recorded on video to share online. It gives people the opportunity to learn and to discuss ways to make the world a better place.

The idea has been kicked around Birmingham for at least 3 years, but Henry was the one who started actually putting nose to grindstone in early 2010. Since then, hundreds of attendees and dozens of speakers have taken part in a lively and intriguing event.

I’ve had the privilege of working with Henry on publicizing the events, recruiting speakers and even speaking at a couple of them.

Henry had a bigger concept in mind, what he calls the Birmingham Idea Ecosystem. He wrote about it on his site earlier this month, outlining how Ignite and another similar international phenomenon, TED Talks, could enrich the community.

Fortunately, someone launched TedxRedMountain last week, an eerily similar cause and event. How similar?

• Both events are spinoffs of global organizations.
• Both events features speakers sharing ideas in short presentations.
• Both events are new to Birmingham.
• Both events are volunteer driven and nonprofit in nature.
• Both events use similar promotional language …
  • Ignite Birmingham: Sparking the Magic City’s Creative Class. Ignite Birmingham is an information exchange for fostering and inspiring the city’s diverse community. While mainly focused on the tech and creative communities, we encourage anyone with a good idea to speak.
  • TedxRedMountain: Bringing together some of Greater Birmingham’s leading thinkers, doers, innovators, idea-generators, creators, developers, researchers, and connectors. Creating a spark, that ignites a fire. To Advance. Grow. Act. Produce. Change. Inspire.

A couple of differences do stand out.

For instance, Ignite Birmingham is free and open to all attendees. TedxRedMountain is not:

“Invitations are extended at the discretion of the organizing team based on a broad set of criteria. Attendees will be a diverse group of remarkable individuals from Birmingham, representing a wide variety of professions.” (from the TedxRedMountain website)

No information is given on if an admission fee will be charged or how much.

‘One of Birmingham’s least functional traits
is a strong tendency towards cliques —
very high school.’

Another is the approach to cooperation, communication and coordination. I can say first hand that Henry has been open to ideas, help, sponsorship and delegation throughout the past 12 months.

I asked him if anyone from Tedx had contacted him. No one had — and we both know members of the organizing group.

Without Henry’s prior knowledge, I e-mailed them last week to voice my concern.

While this is an exciting new addition to the Birmingham scene, it also represents another missed opportunity for cooperation and collaboration.

I’m terribly disappointed that no one from this new group ever reached out to my friend Henry McBride, who has almost singlehandedly organized Ignite Birmingham events for the last year. …

Although I do not speak for him, I think Henry would have been glad to help with advice, promotion or just a friendly welcome. But for some reason, this group chose to forge its own path.

Good luck with your new endeavor. I hope in the future you do not overlook those who paved the way for you.

After e-mailing twice, I did hear back. And it was an underwhelming, generic e-mail reply:

Thank you for your e-mail concerning TEDxRedMountain.

TEDx events are designed to be be an experience unique to other events and as such, will compliment and augment other presentation-format events in the area. Our goal is not to exclude, but to provide an enriching experience that will be a benefit for all realms of the Birmingham area.

We certainly hope that your concerns will not preclude you from applying to attend or nominate a presenter and we hope that you’ll still seek to join us as we help spread “inspiring ideas” on May 19th.

Sincerely,
TedxRedMountain

I guess the part about the “goal (being) not to exclude” rings the most hollow in my ears. One of Birmingham’s least functional traits is a strong tendency towards cliques — very high school. It’s bothered me every time I’ve reached out into the community.

I did apply to be a speaker, though I doubt my rabble rousing will endear me to the organizers. And when I say organizers, I’m talking largely about friends and acquaintances, not strangers. The disappointment is greater when it seems they are caught up in advancing a cause with little consideration to the community already in place, willing to help if only given the opportunity.

Birmingham certainly has room for two idea-generating events. If only they were working in tandem. (And this may border on the absurd, but a different Tedx Birmingham, completely separate from TedxRedMountain, is scheduled for August. Poetic, ironic and sad.)

My last example is also close to home, but one I feel is positive in approach and outcome.

Two weeks ago, we launched a new nonprofit organization called the Alabama Social Media Association, based in Birmingham. It is an open group that seeks to educate anyone interested about better uses of social media.

Our founding board — I am a member — reached out to organizations across the state before launch day to explain who we are and why we’re here. It was a gentle invitation to work together in the future on events and projects.

And we continue to reach out to groups to answer questions and explain our mission. If you’re interested, contact me, and I’ll be happy to give you more information.

We’ve been working on it since last fall, and we deliberated time and again if we could have done more to work within the existing social media group in Birmingham. But after repeated candid conversations with organizers at the local and national level, we reached an impasse.

But it forced us to line up a stronger mission and a more open, broader approach. And it worked well.

Our experience has shown us that cooperation, communication and coordination can yield great results. Not everyone will jump on board, but those that do begin building partnerships for the long haul.

We feel it’s critical, because we won’t always be here in these roles, and we want this association to be approachable, sustainable, durable.

Birmingham, blow up the sandboxes. Working together can make the load a lot lighter.

Update March 15: One of the Tedx Birmingham organizers called me today for a short chat. He reached out to Henry McBride, and they discussed ways Ignite Birmingham and Tedx Birmingham can collaborate.

He also said he reached out to TedxRedMountain, but has yet to hear back.

Photo: Josh Self

What do you think? What can be done to encourage cooperation and overcome cliques? Leave a comment with your thoughts.

Video: A look at the biggest surprises in the tourney field.

The college basketball post-season has a possible bright spot or two for state teams, depending on a couple of first-round games this week. UAB (22-8) faces Clemson in a battle of 12th seeds at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio, in the NCAA Men’s Tournament. The winner becomes the actual No. 12 East seed to play No. 5 West Virginia on Thursday in Tampa in the second round, which used to be the first round. Really.

UAB advanced one round in the 2010 National Invitation Tournament before losing to North Carolina at Bartow Arena.

Meanwhile, Alabama State (17-17) plays Texas-San Antonio at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in Dayton to be the No. 16 East seed. The winner faces top seed Ohio State on Friday in Cleveland. In all, four play-in games — airing on truTV — have expanded the tournament to a field of 68 teams overall.

UAB’s inclusion was not without some controversy, especially after the Blazers’ early exit in the Conference USA Tournament on Thursday.

Alabama won’t be sitting out. The Crimson Tide (21-11), a top seed in the National Invitation Tournament, will welcome No. 8 Coastal Carolina to campus at 6 p.m. Tuesday, airing on ESPNU.

Brackets:

• NCAA Men’s Tournament
• NIT [PDF]

Video: NCAA selection committee chairman Gene
Smith defends the picks, including UAB.

Birmingham mayor William Bell meets several “Littles”
at Glen Iris Elementary School during a Big Brothers Big Sisters
of Greater Birmingham media conference.

In honor of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, I want to turn the spotlight on one of my favorite Birmingham nonprofit organizations …

I’ve worked with a few nonprofit organizations in Birmingham over the years. But the group I spent the most time with was Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Birmingham. As a member of the junior board for 5 years, I recruited volunteers, raised money, organized events and helped the agency get the word out.

Many of you are likely familiar with the core program: matching adult mentors with children who need quality time in their lives. The commitments start at a year, but many “Bigs” in the program stick around with their “Littles” for years afterward. Bigs can take their Littles to fun events, to parks and arcades, but the most important thing Bigs do? Listen.

Surprising how that simple act can make such a major difference in a child’s life.

But one point I made over and over to potential volunteers was that Big Brothers Big Sisters need mentors in other programs, too. An interested adult could recruit her company to match up with a school to provide an hour a week per child on campus throughout the school year.

Though the needs of the agency continue to be more volunteers and more donations, it was interesting to me that they always needed more men to step forward. Another challenge was that the agency needed to reach more girls who might be interested in having a mentor, but not know how easy it was to enroll in the program, all for free.

If you’re interested in helping a really great cause and want to know you’re making an immediate positive contribution to Birmingham, I encourage you to take a look at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Birmingham. You have so many options on how you can help, but the first step is to get in touch with them at (205) 939-5590 or e-mailing chief executive officer Sue Johnson at sjohnson@bbbsbhm.org.

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Birmingham website | Facebook | Twitter @BBBSBHM
  

Video: Big Brothers Big Sisters … start something.

Video: Auburn coach Gene Chizik and Oregon coach
Chip Kelly look ahead to the big game.

Auburn has had a perfect season, looking to cap it with a couple of important victories.

• First, Heisman Trophy finalists will be announced at 5 tonight, and quarterback Cam Newton is considered the one to beat this year. The winner will be announced at 7 p.m. Saturday on ESPN. Should Newton succeed, he’ll be Auburn’s third Heisman winner after QB Pat Sullivan in 1971 and running back Bo Jackson in 1985. It would also move Auburn up to a five-way tie for fourth place among all-time Heismans by school. Update: Newton is one of four Heisman finalists, along with LaMichael James, running back for Oregon.

• Second, the No. 1 Tigers head to Glendale, Ariz., to take on No. 2 Oregon on Jan. 10 in the BCS National Championship Game. Auburn earned its trip after crushing South Carolina 56-17 in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday. This marks the Tigers’ first appearance in the BCS title game and the school’s shot at a second national championship, the first in 1957. The game airs at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN and in 3D where available.

See Auburn’s SEC victory across
newspaper front pages from Alabama.

Other bowl games announced Sunday (all airing on ESPN):

• R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: Troy (7-5) takes on Ohio (8-4) at 8 p.m. Dec. 18 in the Superdome. It’s the Trojans’ third trip to the New Orleans Bowl.
• Capital One Bowl: BCS No. 16 Alabama (9-3) faces BCS No. 9 Michigan State (11-1) at noon on New Year’s Day in Orlando. Alabama’s Nick Saban coached at Michigan State from 1995 to 1999; the Spartans’ coach, Mark Dantonio, was an assistant coach under Saban at that time. The two teams have not played against each other, and are scheduled for games in 2016 and 2017.
• BBVA Compass Bowl: Kentucky (6-6) meets Pittsburgh (7-5) at 11 a.m. Jan. 8 at Legion Field. The Wildcats make their fifth straight bowl appearance, with just two SEC wins this season.

Plus, the schedule and the networks for all 35 bowl games.

•

The AHSAA Super 6 football championships featured three teams from the Birmingham area. The Thursday and Friday results from Auburn:

• 6A: Daphne 7, Hoover 6
• 5A: Spanish Fort 14, Briarwood Christian 0
• 3A: Leeds 42, Hamilton 32

The Green Wave of Leeds won its second title, its first recently in 2008. All six games are available for viewing online.