Hard Knocks?

[Caynine29]

How would you feel about seeing your 'blue and gold' on HBO's flagship NFL series, "Hard Knocks"? Well, it's a very real possibility. As you all know, the show's all-access, borderline 'invasive' nature has become pretty unpopular among NFL coaches and I'm sure Jeff Fisher is no exception. Many teams turned down the program the last couple years, citing concerns of "distractions". But, the NFL announced last year that if a team doesn't volunteer for the show, then one will be chosen by the league to participate.

There are only 3 criteria for being "selected":

-Team does not have a 1st year head coach.
-Team hasn't made the playoffs in the last 2 years
-Team hasn't been featured on Hard Knocks in the last 10 years.

There are currently 8 teams that meet these qualifications... the Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, Arizona Cardinals, New York Giants, Jacksonville Jaguars, Oakland Raiders, Pittsburgh Steelers and... of course... your St. Louis Rams.

If no one steps forward, the odds are very good that the Rams could be "volunteered". The show is one of the league's biggest PR tools and the Rams have no shortage of interesting storylines. From Sam Bradford's "make-or-break" season (again), to the league's youngest roster. From Jake Long's return from injury... to the flashy WVU dynamic duo of Austin and Bailey in their sophomore season. The list goes on and on. Let's face it... right now, the Rams are the most compelling team nobody's paying attention to and the league knows it.

Question is, how would you feel about having our team under the microscope? Good idea... or a bad one?

 

[Red_Chaos]

neh wouldn't get to watch it anyway i have "redneck" tv

 

[27mtrcougar]

It would be fun to watch, but as a fan I hope it doesn't happen. it has to be a major distraction for the team. Especially the youngest team.

 

[Retroram52]

Freakin' Goodell thinking up more stupid ways to bastardize the integrity of the game with this drivel in hopes of making even more money. I wouldn't watch this garbage.

 

[icefreeze57]

I kinda wouldn't mind having the show do us. I think Jeff will control it well and there is a lot of things going on for our team, all positive. And while we are young, we are disciplined and don't have many "problem players"

 

[mutigers1fan]

I would love to see a coach who is volunteered do everything possible to piss off the show like hiring high school kids to walk around standing in front of cameras and other gimmick crap like that. If I was a coach and got volunteered the league would regret it.

 

[BOSS429Mustang]

Freakin' Goodell thinking up more stupid ways to bastardize the integrity of the game with this drivel in hopes of making even more money. I wouldn't watch this garbage.

Man, you got that right Retro. Goodell doesn't care about anything about this game except squeezing the most money he can out of it. Everything he does is about the almighty buck. Longer season, expanded playoffs, a team in London and LA, rules to promote scoring (and remove defense from the game) crap like Hard Knocks whether you want to participate or not. Our game is evolving into something completely different than it was when I started watching it in the early 70s. Until the many rule changes to favor the offense, I thought the NFL had a good balance of offense and defense, and that was part of the beauty of the game---you could win with so many styles of play. But today, offense wins....period. Seattle and SF still have good defenses, but they are about the only teams in the NFL that do, and neither of those defenses would stack up to some of the great Bears, Steelers, Ravens defenses of the past. Goodell is one of the worst things that has happened to this league. The question is how much of it is his doing, and how much of it is initiated by the owners?

 

[zeke2829]

Man, you got that right Retro. Goodell doesn't care about anything about this game except squeezing the most money he can out of it. Everything he does is about the almighty buck. Longer season, expanded playoffs, a team in London and LA, rules to promote scoring (and remove defense from the game) crap like Hard Knocks whether you want to participate or not. Our game is evolving into something completely different than it was when I started watching it in the early 70s. Until the many rule changes to favor the offense, I thought the NFL had a good balance of offense and defense, and that was part of the beauty of the game---you could win with so many styles of play. But today, offense wins....period. Seattle and SF still have good defenses, but they are about the only teams in the NFL that do, and neither of those defenses would stack up to some of the great Bears, Steelers, Ravens defenses of the past. Goodell is one of the worst things that has happened to this league. The question is how much of it is his doing, and how much of it is initiated by the owners?

.....I agree with above but you forgot that he also likes to fine the crap out of players for doing something stupid.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...EzimlyJ7LLcVFR-ZEhNwlzw&bvm=bv.59026428,d.cWc

 

[Caynine29]

I actually would not be opposed to this, at all. I'd love to have that kind of in depth access to my team, during the summer. Certainly beats the hell out of watching some team I couldn't care less about. Besides... where else am I gonna get that kind of coverage for the Rams? ESPN?? Pssht! Maybe in between them sucking off the Patriots and some inexplicably forced 'story' on Tim Tebow, I might get 15 seconds of footage of Sam Bradford in the red jersey chatting with Jeff Fisher on the practice field (of course... they'll probably be talking about the 49ers when they show it).

Plus... there's been no real correlation between Had Knocks and "distractions". I think that's more in the mind of the fans than anyone actually in camp. Sure, there's a little media scrutiny, but it hasn't ever directly affected a team. Hell... The Benglas went 11-5 and won their division after appearing on the show last summer. I'd take that kind of distraction any day. Lol.

Of course, I wouldn't want it forced on anyone... but, I don't think it's a death sentence for the team. If it's the Rams this year, then so be it. I'll definitely be watching.

 

[icefreeze57]

I actually would not be opposed to this, at all. I'd love to have that kind of in depth access to my team, during the summer. Certainly beats the hell out of watching some team I couldn't care less about. Besides... where else am I gonna get that kind of coverage for the Rams? ESPN?? Pssht! Maybe in between them sucking off the Patriots and some inexplicably forced 'story' on Tim Tebow, I might get 15 seconds of footage of Sam Bradford in the red jersey chatting with Jeff Fisher on the practice field (of course... they'll probably be talking about the 49ers when they show it).

Plus... there's been no real correlation between Had Knocks and "distractions". I think that's more in the mind of the fans than anyone actually in camp. Sure, there's a little media scrutiny, but it hasn't ever directly affected a team. Hell... The Benglas went 11-5 and won their division after appearing on the show last summer. I'd take that kind of distraction any day. Lol.

Of course, I wouldn't want it forced on anyone... but, I don't think it's a death sentence for the team. If it's the Rams this year, then so be it. I'll definitely be watching.

Agreed with everything said, if Coach doesn't want it then neither do I, but if he's okay with it I think it'll be good. I think people will start to learn the young names on our team and the development of Bradford will be more featured.

 

[Rambunctious]

Can we be on the show?

 

[LTR1961]

It would be fun to watch, but as a fan I hope it doesn't happen. it has to be a major distraction for the team. Especially the youngest team.

Some of these younger Rams players are way too full of themselves as it is we don't need them on Hard Knocks.

 

[SJ76]

The Bengals were in the playoffs the past few seasons. Not sure about "the team hasn't been to the playoffs the past 2 seasons"?

And we are young and talk too much on the field. We don't need our young guys on TV more until the get more disciplined.

 

[Caynine29]

The Bengals were in the playoffs the past few seasons. Not sure about "the team hasn't been to the playoffs the past 2 seasons"?

And we are young and talk too much on the field. We don't need our young guys on TV more until the get more disciplined.

That's the criteria for teams to be "selected" by the NFL and was enacted only last October. The Bengals may still volunteer for the show, themselves... but they are exempt from being volunteered by the league.

 

[jacobarch]

I say no. We don't need distractions we need to concentrate on football.

 

[shopson67]

I'd be all for it. Time Warner does something kinda similar with the Lakers (Backstage Lakers) and it's pretty interesting to get to know the players better and see all the behind the scenes action. I'd like either the Rams or the local Bills to be the team this year.

 

[Retroram52]

Yea Shopson, I have seen that show. When asked, many of the players find it to be annoying more than anything.

 

[shopson67]

Yea Shopson, I have seen that show. When asked, many of the players find it to be annoying more than anything.

Yeah, but for the most part they have media in their face regardless. It certainly humanizes the players and most likely earns them new fans.

 

[Retroram52]

Perhaps, but I'd bet during this losing season with the Lakers, the image that is going to be portrayed is not going to win many fans. The same would probably be the scenario with the NFL and the Rams although this is entirely conjecture on my part.

 

[shopson67]

I think the Bengals came off favorably after this past season of Hard Knocks, so I guess you never know.

Lakers don't really need to win many fans, just need to keep from losing too many this tanking season.