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Homewood retailers hoping you are in the holiday spending spirit [Video]
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Homewood retailers hoping you are in the holiday spending spirit [Video]

MUCH TO EXPECT COMING UP. GUY. ALL RIGHT. JASON. WELL, IF YOU STILL HAVENT PUT AWAY YOUR HALLOWEEN DECORATIONS, YOU MAY NOT BE READY TO THINK ABOUT CHRISTMAS YET, BUT LOCAL RETAILERS ARE HOPEFUL THAT YOULL GET INTO THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT RIGHT NOW. WVTM 13 LISA CRANE LIVE AND LOCAL IN HOMEWOOD TONIGHT. ITS REALLY LOOKING LIKE CHRISTMAS THERE. LISA. YEAH, YOU KNOW, IT IS A LITTLE MUGGY OUT HERE RIGHT NOW. SO IT DOESNT REALLY FEEL LIKE THE HOLIDAYS. BUT LIKE YOU SAID, ITS STARTING TO LOOK LIKE IT OUT HERE RIGHT NOW. YOU CAN SEE THE GIANT CHRISTMAS TREE BEHIND ME THATS SURE TO GET YOU INTO A HOLIDAY MOOD. AND RETAILERS SAY GETTING SHOPPERS INTO THAT HOLIDAY MINDSET IS VITAL TO THEIR BOTTOM LINE. DOZENS OF HOMEWOOD RETAILERS ARE EXCITED ABOUT THE HOLIDAY SHOPPING SEASON. IT KICKS OFF OFFICIALLY THURSDAY NIGHT AT THE DOWNTOWN HOMEWOOD HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE. 18TH STREET WILL BE CLOSED OFF AND STORES WILL BE READY TO HELP YOU CROSS NAMES OFF YOUR CHRISTMAS GIFT LIST. WELL BE SERVING LIKE CHAMPAGNE, LITTLE BITES AND STUFF. WE DO LIKE DOOR PRIZES AND LIKE GIVEAWAY PRIZES, AND ITS JUST LIKE A GREAT WAY TO SUPPORT, LIKE THOSE SMALL BUSINESSES AND MAYBE SAVE A LITTLE MONEY IN THE PROCESS. WEVE GOT BUSINESSES THAT ARE OFFERING 20% OFF $200 GIFT CARDS. WE HAVE A LOT OF BUSINESSES THAT ARE ALSO USING LOCAL RESTAURANTS TO CATER FOOD, SO ITS A GREAT TIME TO TRY OUT SOME LOCAL FOOD TOO. THE OWNER OF ALABAMA GOODS SAYS THESE LAST FEW MONTHS OF THE YEAR CAN MAKE OR BREAK A SMALL BUSINESS, AND WITH ONLINE SHOPPING TAKING SOME OF THEIR BUSINESS. SHOPPING LOCAL HAS NEVER BEEN MORE IMPORTANT. WE ARE LOCALLY OWNED AND THEN WE ALSO SOURCE OUR PRODUCTS LOCALLY. IT NOT ONLY BENEFITS US, BUT IT ALSO BENEFITS OUR VENDORS WHO MAKE THE ITEMS THAT WE SELL AND THATS IMPORTANT TO KEEP THAT MONEY CIRCULATING WITHIN THE STATE. NOW, ONE OF THE RETAILERS HERE TOLD ME THAT THIS LAST QUARTER OF THE YEAR IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE, BECAUSE EVERYTHING UP UNTIL THIS POINT, ALL THE MONEY THEYVE MADE HAS JUST BEEN PAYING THE BILLS. ITS THIS LAST QUARTER WHERE THEY ACTUALLY GET TO S

Alabama is perhaps SECs best hope to end national title drought [Video]
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Small Business Funding

Alabama is perhaps SECs best hope to end national title drought [Video]

Alabama enters the season as perhaps the Southeastern Conferences best hope to end its national title drought in mens basketball.Nate Oats and the second-ranked Crimson Tide are fully embracing those expectations, with Mark Sears and Grant Nelson returning and several newcomers immediately grabbing starting roles. A 110-54 win over UNC Asheville on Monday night was a nice way to break into the season for a team coming off its first Final Four appearance.Overall, its hard to downplay a roster that added one of the nations top recruiting classes and some key transfers. No SEC team has won a national championship since John Caliparis 2012 Kentucky team.Alabama headed a group of nine SEC teams in the preseason Top 25, so Oats team is hardly the leagues only potential contender. Just the most prominent one entering the season.Weve got a really good team, Oats said leading up to that opening mismatch. We know that. Our guys deserve to have some attention but getting ranked high in the preseason and actually playing well during the season dont always correlate.We have talent. Talent doesnt win games. Talent doesnt necessarily guarantee good basketball, but we do have talent. People are expecting us to do well based on what weve done here in the last four years.Alabama was the No. 1 overall NCAA Tournament seed two seasons ago. This team has a preseason All-America guard in Sears, who scored 20 points in the opener. Sears and Nelson both opted to come back instead of turning pro and three newcomers started against UNC Asheville.They still have to do it in bigger games, but the opener provided a look at the new additions and the potential lineups.Former Rutgers big man Clifford Omoruyi, who filled the biggest need as an interior presence, debuted with 16 points and eight rebounds in just 19 minutes. He didnt miss any of his six shots.Freshmen Labaron Philon (10 points, nine assists) and Derrion Reed (nine points, six rebounds) also started. And Auburn transfer Aden Holloway had 11 points and no turnovers.>> FOLLOW YOUR TEAMS: Sports coverage from WVTM 13Much tougher tests await, starting with a visit to No. 14 Purdue on Nov. 15. An Alabama team that led the nation in scoring last season still clearly has the firepower, but the offseason emphasis on improving the defense remains to be tested.We know that we can score but if we play defense, itll be easy to score, returning guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. said after the game. Being able to get stops and get in transition is what we want to do. Thats our mind-set. We want to come out here and show that we can actually defend.Oats said Monday that Pepperdine transfer Houston Mallette and freshman Naas Cunningham will redshirt this season.Alabama is expecting South Florida transfer Chris Youngblood, the American Athletic Conference co-player of the year, back from an injury around mid-December.