So. Carolina 67, Auburn 63

*Auburn led by 10 in the first half, needed a late rally to make the game competitive.
*Auburn grabbed 24 rebounds to USC's 34.
*Final home game for Ronny LeMelle. Nice line: 12 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals.
*Surprise of the day: Joey Cameron scores 7 points. Shocking.
*Non-surprise of the day: Auburn melts down, quits scoring, loses game. Never shocking.
*Seriously not a surprise of the day: Shot clock stopped working. That happens all the time. It's pathetic. What would happen if the Jordan-Hare clock stopped working ONCE? Chaos would ensue, jobs would be on the line. Yet it happens in the Beave all the time and nobody seems to care.

Football Scrimmage I

Plenty of activity at Auburn this morning/afternoon. Let's break it down by sport.

FOOTBALL
*Scrimmage lasted approximately two hours.
*97 plays
*Tailback Ben Tate, who should be a high-school senior right now, was the team's offensive highlight. He rushed for 60 yards or so on approximately 15 carries. The offense was very basic. I'd say 85% of the play calls were runs.
*Best individual play: Jonathan Wilhite intercepted a Brandon Cox pass thrown deep for wideout Courtney Taylor. Wilhite fell behind while chasing Taylor downfield, but caught up, got in proper position and made the play.
*Redshirt freshman linebacker Tray Blackmon made three graphic hits. He looks like a player.
*The kickers (Vaughn and Kutch) missed one field goal apiece. They looked good overall.
*Cox and tailback Kenny Irons played sparingly.
*Linebacker Karibi Dede wore the No. 3 jersey (instead of his usual No. 21) because he was late to the scrimmage and grabbed the first jersey he saw. He was late because he had an accreditation exam to take at Alabama State University at 8 a.m.
*Tailback Brad Lester is wearing the No. 1 jersey this spring. He plans to go back to No. 28 in the fall.
*Fullback Mike McLaughlin (left knee), linebacker Merrill Johnson (ankle) and safety Lorenzo Ferguson (right shoulder) were injured today. Johnson's injury seemed serious, though that's purely speculative at this point. He and McLaughlin were carted out of the stadium.

Alabama 71, Auburn 61

A few thoughts from the game:

*Auburn shot 33.3% in the second half, 37.1% overall.
*Alabama shot 60% in the second half, 49% overall. Easy enough.

*It's clear to me -- or to anyone who watches this team regularly -- that Auburn needs more size inside. Kids like Jermareo Davidson and Richard Hendrix are too bulky for Vot Barber and Josh Dollard. It's not their fault. They're only so big.

So what do the Tigers have coming in next season?

A 6-foot-4 combo guard named Kelvin Lewis and 6-6 forward Lucas Hargrove. Lewis is a scorer. Hargrove has the body of a shooting guard but the skills of a forward. Neither player is going to grab rebounds over guys like Glen Davis or Davidson.

I don't get it.

It's too early to condemn Lebo, he seems to have a plan on the court, but his recruiting decisions are curious.

Wrapup: First half at Alabama

*Auburn leads 31-26.
*Auburn is shooting 41% overall; Alabama 37.5%.
*Ronny LeMelle hit two technical free throws with 3:50 remaining. Alabama coach Mark Gottfried drew a tech for arguing with an official. Then an official was hit with a quarter. Gottfried then addressed the crowd and asked them to behave with class.
*Daniel Hayles, for some reason, has hit three baskets from three-point range. His final shot, which landed with 1 second remaining in the half, had the highest arc I've ever seen. And this from a guy who typically has no arc on his shot. He has nine points.
*Tez Robertson has four assists and no turnovers. He's playing with a more calm demeanor, and it shows.
*Brett Howell (5-foot-11 at best) was called for a foul while defending 6-11 center Jermareo Davidson. Howell was being too rough.
*Frank Tolbert rejected Davidson on a dunk early in the period. Remember that Tolbert is 6-4, Davidson is 6-11 and both were jumping at the time. Davidson hit one of the free throws.

My foray into the blogosphere

Who is it? Oh, I'm sorry. I can't come to the door right now. I'm afraid that in my weakened condition, I could risk a nasty spill down the stairs and subject myself to further school absences.

That seemed appropriate for some reason. I hope you got the reference.

The Advertiser is trying to boost its presence in cyberspace. We started with the website in 2000. We added our first sports-themed podcast this morning, and we're now adding blogs to provide additional insight and information.

So I'll be updating this every few days with some stuff that I find interesting. Stuff that doesn't get in the paper for whatever reason. The newspaper can hold so much stuff, and there often are little notes or funny stories that don't fit. This is where blogging comes in handy.

Until my next blog, dive into our website and keep yourself occupied.