Birmingham News

al.com — MOBILE, Alabama - They kept looking at the scoreboard as though it was wrong or by looking at it a second time the numbers might change. But the heartbreaking truth remained aglow for the members of South Alabama's softball team Sunday night: Florida State 7, South Alabama 6.

al.com — PRICHARD, Alabama - Auburn commit Justin Thornton breaks into a wide smile when he thinks about the love of his life right now. No, it's not football. It goes much deeper than that. Thornton's mother, Zandra, gave birth in February to William James III - Justin's little brother.

al.com — PELHAM, Alabama - Trey Garman has no doubt where Bill Johnson would have been in the days leading to the XTERRA Southeast Championship triathlon at 8 this morning at Oak Mountain State Park.

al.com — PELHAM, Alabama - Josiah Middaugh called Conrad Stoltz the man to beat at today's XTERRA Southeast Championship. But an injury beat the man who had won this event six of the past seven years and Middaugh, who is establishing a track record of his own, came from behind to win this year's event at Oak Mountain State Park.

al.com — NEW ORLEANS - The Sun Belt Conference unveiled its new logo and brand today which comes after a nearly yearlong examination of the impact, sustainability and core values associated with the Sun Belt Conference.

al.com — MOBILE, Alabama -- Farish Beard threw a two-hitter, striking out eight, in leading South Alabama to a 3-0 victory over Florida State in the first game of the championship finale of the NCAA softball regional this afternoon at Jaguar Field. The Jaguars' win forces a second game to begin at approximately 6:05 p.m.

al.com — AUBURN, Alabama -- Auburn did not look the part of an NCAA Tournament team in March. The Tigers started the Southeastern Conference season 1-8, dropping close games and committing errors on what seemed to be routine plays. The offense was silent and the rotation was not steady.

al.com — Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley is asking our state Legislature to postpone implementation of the controversial Alabama Accountability Act for two years. Rather than accept the governor's 11th-hour amendment to the bill, Senate President Protem Del Marsh said he will allow the original bill, passed early in the session, to remain in force.

al.com — MOBILE, Alabama - This year's Sun Belt Conference spring meetings, which begin Monday in Destin, Fla., will feature a full house. And some important issues up for discussion. There will be the core members who have been in the league for a while and are remaining in the league, along with the soon-to-be-former members who are heading to Conference USA - North Texas, Middle Tennessee, Florida Atlantic, Florida International and Western Kentucky.

al.com — TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- Justin Kamplain will be Alabama's starting pitcher Tuesday in a Southeastern Conference Tournament play-in game against Auburn. It will be the second of four games Tuesday at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. The first game starts at 9:30 a.m. CDT. Kamplain (1-0, 4.53 ERA) has made 19 appearances this season but will be making only his sixth start.

al.com — In a tightly scheduled festival setting, bands generally don't have the option of doing encores and the fans know it -- but that didn't prevent an urgent chant of "One more song! One more song!" at the end of the Revivalists' early-afternoon Hangout Music Fest performance.

al.com — BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - His legacy may be intertwined with Coach Bryant's at the University of Alabama, but new member of the 2013 Alabama Sports Hall of Fame Bill "Brother" Oliver said that "they ought to have a hall of fame for Coach Bryant and then one for the rest of us."

blog.al.com — GULF SHORES, Alabama -- There are a handful of music performances I'm pretty sure I'll remember forever: Eric Clapton at the Pyramid in Memphis in 2001; Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at the BJCC in 2002; Pearl Jam from last year's DeLuna Fest.

al.com — The photo of a Marine holding an umbrella over the president's head - at the president's request - might hang over Obama's head longer than the potential Benghazi, IRS or AP phone record scandals.

al.com — GULF SHORES, Alabama - If you lost your butterfly net at the Hangout Music Fest, they've got it at Lost and Found. Along with a treasure trove of phones, wallets, keys and other items. The gates had barely opened Sunday for the third and final day of the fourth annual festival, and married couple Kim and Billy Brewer had a steady stream of customers.