When the Cincinnati Bengals were chosen for HBO’s annual reality series Hard Knocks this past offseason, I kind of laughed it off and figured the show was in trouble if the best team they could come up with were the lowly Bengals. Well, the laugh’s on me now as the Bengals are off to an impressive 7-2 start. And this afternoon, they took control of the AFC North with an 18-12 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
After the game, quarterback Carson Palmer credited his team’s work in the trenches:
“We kept grinding, and at the end of the day, I think the …read more

Rather than relying on the words of this source or that source (from this network or that network), we finally got to hear from Brett Favre himself last night on HBO’s new Joe Buck Live. And Brett made it clear he wants to play football again, saying “I am considering it.”
He also confirmed that he did have surgery to repair a partially torn biceps tendon last month. And if the surgery is deemed a success, he will probably “unretire” for a second time and play quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings—the only team he has talked to about joining this season:
“First …read more

The Cincinnati Bengals will be featured on the annual HBO Sports series Hard Knocks later this summer. A 24-person NFL Films crew will set up shop at the Bengals’ training camp site — Georgetown (Kentucky) College — to shoot more than 1,000 hours of exclusive video beginning July 30. There will be a total of five shows, debuting August 12 at 10 p.m. ET.
A lot of teams would consider this type of coverage more of a distraction than anything else, but Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis isn’t one of them:
“I think our football team is beyond that point. I think …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
Hard Knocks: Training Camp With the Dallas Cowboys debuts tonight on HBO. The first sports-based reality series — and one of the fastest-turnaround reality series — kicks off its fourth season at 10 p.m. ET. Subsequent hour-long episodes air each Wednesday at the same time, culminating in the September 3 season finale, with regular encore plays on Thursdays. HBO playdates for episode one: August 7 (3:30 p.m., midnight), August 8 (11:00 p.m.), August 9 (10:00 a.m., 11:40 p.m.), August 10 (11:30 a.m., 11:15 p.m.) and August 11 (10:30 a.m.). HBO2 playdates for episode one: August …read more

Blogcasting the National Football League, Blogcasting the NFL

The Dallas Cowboys‘ 2008 training camp in Oxnard, CA, will once again be featured as part of the HBO series Hard Knocks. With its reality TV appeal and rare insider access, Hard Knocks has easily been one of my all-time favorite television programs. It has not been a regular series, but NFL Films’ previous work with the Baltimore Ravens (2001) and Cowboys (2002) was brilliant. Sadly, last season’s return (they had mysteriously taken four years off) with the Kansas City Chiefs was forgettable.
Some people can’t miss an episode of Lost. Others wait all …read more

Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL
Some people can’t miss an episode of Survivor. Others wait all week for another dose of Amazing Race. For my money, it just doesn’t get any better than HBO’s NFL reality series Hard Knocks. After a four-year hiatus, the series finally continues with Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Kansas City Chiefs. The previous installments featured the Baltimore Ravens (2001) and Dallas Cowboys (2002) and they were some of the best “insider” television shows covering the NFL I have ever seen. I would literally cancel any plans to see this show. The HBO …read more

I was watching Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO the other night and there was a segment on post-concussion syndrome in the NFL (Episode 122, Story 1, Head On) that caught my attention. The preview at HBO.com read:
In the violent world of the NFL, helmet-crushing hits that sometimes cause concussions are commonplace. Research has shown that multiple concussions can cause permanent brain injuries, possibly leading to debilitating memory loss, confusion, dementia and even suicidal depression. A host of former players and one unlikely advocate from the world of pro wrestling have turned to the NFL for answers, but …read more