E' stato trasmesso il primo episodio Hard Knocks (training camp with cincinnati bengals).
Qui vi riporto i commenti dell'ex DT dei bengals Thornton
Thornton: First episode interesting and surprising
After each episode of Hard Knocks, former Bengal John Thornton will give his opinions on the episode, lending a player’s perspective. Thornton, who played for the Bengals from 2003-08, is the founder and co-CEO of JockBiz along with running Allproblogger.com. He also appears on Thursday nights on WLW-AM as part of the Bengals Roundtable.
Let me start off by saying that I think that NFL Films does the best job at covering the NFL. All of their shows are well put together and make you want to keep watching no matter what the show is about. I have to be honest, I didn’t think that the Bengals should have agreed to allow Hard Knocks to film their training camp. I felt it would be too much of a distraction and it would focus on negative stories about the Bengals. But to my surprise, I found myself hanging onto every word of Hard Knocks and I think the show was great and I was entertained.
Even though I was a Bengal for the last six years, it was still interesting for me to see this team practicing and going about everyday life in training camp. I liked how they started the show off by showing the team in minicamp. Marvin Lewis and the team had a skills competition that brought the team together and had some fun. The team did this in years past, but this one looked like the players liked it. The party at Marvin’s house showed all of the staff getting together for drinks before the grind of training camp. ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY
The behind the scenes stories are the ones that interested me the most. The practice clips are the same in every camp, but what the Bengals do behind the scenes were the best part of the show. As a player, we only know what happens in our own room. The defensive line doesn’t know what the other positions are talking about, and vice versa. So when the cameras went into the tight ends meeting room, it was something new for me. I think Jon Hayes is a great coach. He probably works his players harder than any other coach on the field. So to hear him coaching in meetings was an eye opener. He is very direct. He holds his guys accountable. He swears at them. And they respect it. That shows fans how rough it is. When that practice or game film comes on, there is no hiding. Either you did it right or wrong. No grey area.
Also the HBO Team showing the staff meetings was a good thing. I never even knew what room they met in before HBO showed me. But to see that Mike Brown runs all the meetings and how the coaches were sitting there like students was a shock. Weird seeing the coaches in different roles. And the all had their notebooks out taking notes from Mr Brown. All in all I thought that the show was good. They focused on football and not the Bengals’ recent history. I would think that most fans would enjoy this rare inside look of the Bengals.
Most real moment
When TE Reggie Kelly tore his achiles tendon. The show did a good job of talking Reggie up and showing what he meant to the team before they went to the shot of him getting hurt. Then to see him there on the training room table getting the news that his season was over was really tough. Reggie is in his 11th season and in the last year of his contract, and to hear that you have a long recovery ahead of you has to be tough. That showed the other side of sports.
Most real moment II
The releasing of fullback J.D. Runnels. I’ve seen guys get cut before but the way that this was done was kinda classless. This guy was the same guy that was doing a good job a few days before, and not only does he get released, but you do it a 5:30 a.m., and you tell the guy he has no ability. The person who told him was Jim Lipincott. I like Jim and I think he is a good guy, but that was just way too cold for me. Show the guy some respect. He didn’t even give J.D. time to realize he just got cut before he was asking him where he was flying to. I know Jim has a hard job, and having to tell guys that their dream of playing in the NFL may be over is tough, but there has to be a better way to do it. This was one of the few dark spots of the show for me. I’ve watched Hard Knocks before and each team at least gave the guy being released better treatment than this. Maybe this part was edited to make it look harsh, but wow, it doesn’t have to be so “wham bam, thank you…”
Andre Smith Mess
Andre Smith should have declined the offer to have the cameras film him working out back home. I know that they showed him out in the sun working, but he did not do himself any favors. The longer he holds out, the higher the chance of someone getting hurt. And then the Bengals talk about how much money they are offering him, just not a good situation. I blame both parties, hopefully they meet each other halfway and get the deal done.
Comedy
The funniest part of the show to me may have been missed by most. Assistant strength coach Ray Oliver is in charge of waking guys up and blowing that horn every morning at 6:45 a.m. Anyone who knows Ray will know that he probably hates having to blow that horn. I could just picture him cursing under his breath as he gets dressed in the morning to go do this. Once he gets outside, he gives a countdown to 6:45 a.m. And after each countdown, he takes a sip of coffee. Then before he blows the horn, he lets off this big smile, like he is making everyone else pay for him having to get up early. You have to look carefully to see the smile, but I saw it. Classic Ray Oliver. Funniest man on the team.
Mike Brown in charge
During the staff meetings, Mike Brown is clearly running things day to day. He meets with the coaches on a daily basis. He showed a nice side when he told the coaches to make sure that they called TE Reggie Kelly after he got hurt because Reggie would feel better knowing that the team and players were thinking about him. Then Mr Brown made the coaches squirm in their seats a little later on in the show when he asked the coaches if they thought DE Chris Harrington could move to TE after all over the injuries to the position. TE coach Jon Hayes scratched his head a little before answering the question then passed a little of the heat over to his brother DL coach Jay Hayes.
I’m looking forward to the rest of the series. I think this team can handle being on Hard Knocks. Players and coaches are having fun and are excited for the season and it shows on camera. After watching the Bengals practice four times during training camp, I think they have the right mental make up not to let the cameras be a distraction. The coaches and the owners haven’t changed because of the increased publicity either.
Going forward I would like to see the show focus on the tradition of the Bengals and the great Paul Brown. Young Bengals fans and young NFL fans in general should know this teams past, not just its recent past. There have been some great teams, great coaches and great players that have come through Cincinnati over the years, they should be remembered for just a bit.
