Partnering
with the National Football League (NFL), the premium cable television network Home Box Office (HBO), is currently in the process of airing its ninth season of
the popular reality sports documentary known as “Hard Knocks.” Debuting in
2001, the show follows one NFL team per preseason throughout its preparation
for the upcoming season. The show includes footage of front office operations,
training camp, scrimmages, and preseason games.
To
present elements of the people for the viewers to identify with, the show
follows a more personal route of four-to-eight players, coaches, and staff
members of the roster, by attempting to capture an idea of what life is like
for an NFL player, coach, or staff member when they’re not at work. This can be
a wise decision, if the candidates are selected carefully. More often than not,
the candidates that are selected are
nauseating at best. Somewhere, somebody
thought it was a good idea to invest more camera time into these candidates. In
my own opinion, there isn’t a tolerable person in the entire lineup this
season.
HBO
is documenting the Atlanta Falcons franchise this year. According to Ledbetter
(2014), the first episode of the season attracted just over 3 million viewers (¶1).
Apparently, not all teams are
eligible to be filmed by the show. There are certain rules or credentials that
would make an NFL franchise ineligible for being selected for an upcoming
season of Hard Knocks. I should replace the word “selected” with the word
“chosen,” as the chosen team really has no choice and would be forced to
participate or force serious consequences from the league. According to
Graziano & Weinfuss (2013), certain teams would be exempt from being forced
to participate, those with new coaches, those that reached the playoffs in one
of the previous two seasons, and those who have appeared on “Hard Knocks”
within the preceding 10 years” (¶2). Of the nine years that HBO has broadcasted
this series, seven NFL teams have been chosen, including both the Dallas Cowboys (2002, 2008) and the Cincinnati Bengals (2009, 2013) twice.
While
the entire idea behind HBO’s “Hard Knocks” is a golden egg, the network’s
executives must keep it from turning into a goose egg by focusing more on
capturing the “documentary” side of things and less on staging the “reality
show” side of it all. A “shutout” is what a zero equates to in the NFL, and
unless the show cares to focus more on the original concept, then I’m going to
shutout HBO’s “Hard Knocks” from my viewing schedule.
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Works
Cited
Graziano,
D. & Weinfuss, J. (2013). Nfl owners ok ‘hard knocks’ rule. ESPN. Retrieved
on August 26, 2014 from http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9791975/owners-ok-nfl-pick-hard-knocks-team
Ledbetter,
D. O. (2014). Falcons a ratings hit for hbo. The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Retrieved on August 26, 2014 from http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/falcons-pulling-down-ratings-for-hbo/ng2W6/
NFL
Hard Knocks: About the show. HBO.com. Retrieved on August 26, 2014 from http://www.hbo.com/hard-knocks/about#/
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