Fault Tolerance

We are not happy with the Official Satellite Service of the HHB---As we watched what turned out to be the 99-95 Hawks win @ Detroit, we noticed that we had over an hour and a half of nothing---and then suddenly we were in the fourth quarter. The DVR has become an essential part of television watching certainly, sports watching definitely---but it's also become a single point of failure.

Alas, like reading a mystery novel's last page first to see what ultimately happens before you read the story, we popped in on the Birds as they were already up by (6) with over seven minutes left to play.

We noticed that, just like in the Wizards game prior, there seemed to be more energy on the defensive end, and offensively the ball seemed to move around quite well. We even noted that Joe Johnson, Flip Murray, and Al Horford scored on subsequent trips down the floor. The Hawks were up (7) with a little less than (3) minutes left to play.

All the Birds had to do---was keep doing what they were doing on offense and take care of the glass on defense.

But it's well known what the Hawks are going to do with their offense late in games. Give it to Joe Johnson and get out of the way.

And hey, we here at the HHB are all for Joe Johnson's Killer Sauce, but when the other team is overloading the floor to stop it---and it's working---it's time to try another recipe.

In fact, if the Hawks are not going to let anyone other than Joe go at it at the end of the game, then we suggest if he get triple teamed, instead of barely reaching iron with the shot, he heave it high into the rafters---sure, it's not likely to go in, or even avoid a shot clock violation, but we could run off another 2-4 seconds waiting for it to land---making it at least someone advantageous to us. It was nice though, to see Joe make those two clutch free throws with a few ticks left to seal the deal---Nice way to go into the break.

And we have to say---we enjoy the Mike Woodson Late Game Player Lottery---you know, the one where you might see any Hawk at any time on the floor---depending on the situation of course (wink)---Watch for your favorite player during crunch time! Fun for the whole family!

We're sure it confounds the opposition, but it may have a similar impact on the team---We are sure we saw Mo Evans head spin when trying to check Allen Iverson one on one as Iverson scored easily with 43 seconds left.

But hey, it was a win--the 31st before the all star break, which is the most since the HHB was using WEBTV to make their internet groove happen. 10 games over .500 at the break, (3) guys participating in the (official) AS Game festivities, and winning games in venues like the Palace, where the Hawks have seemed to wilt in the past.

We've had our concerned posts recently, and with good reason we say---but it's all in perspective---this has definitely been a step forward this season for the Birds, and if offered our current position before the season, we would have danced a winner's dance and taken it on the spot, anxious to see every minute of the story unfold.

If the DVR works of course.


The HHB shouts it loud for our buddy J-Roose, who we caught on the feed taking it all in on behalf of the greatest media relations department in sports. Hawks win AND a Sparty win over the Maize and Blue? Good times JR, Good times.