Live from Georgia-Alabama basketball . . .

An artist's rendering of a renovated Stegeman Coliseum with wider concourse and massive glass exterior wall

ATHENS — Hello. Hope you’re enjoying this beautiful day.

I’m in Stegeman Coliseum, where Georgia and Alabama are about to tip off.

Speaking of Stegeman: Thanks to all who shared their thoughts on the blog yesterday about the building and its upcoming renovation.  Several of you asked to see artist renderings of what the building will look like, post-renovation. I posted one above, showing the wider interior concourse and the massive glass exterior wall. I’ll try to get an exterior view and post it later. Here’s a link to the Stegeman story in today’s paper. I particularly liked the description of Stegeman by Georgia fan Jim Veal of Tucker, who in a recent blog fondly described the look as that of “a massive, white flying saucer that seems to have landed gracefully in the middle of campus.”

OK, to today’s game. . . .

Couple of pregame notes:  Georgia will be trying for its first win of the season against an SEC Western Division opponent. The Dogs are 0-4 vs. West teams. . . .  Interesting day for  Georgia assistant coach Philip Pearson, who spent 16 of the past 20 years in the Alabama program as a player, assistant coach and, for the final 13 games of last season, interim head coach. . . . This, of course, is Georgia’s first game against Alabama under Mark Fox and Alabama’s first game against Georgia under Anthony Grant. You’ll recall that Grant was linked to the Georgia job in rumors — although apparently only in rumors — before he was hired at Bama.

Feel free to discuss the game (it’s on SEC Network; Peachtree TV in Atlanta) . . .