The Hard Knocks Thread

[DrDawkinstein]

3 minutes ago, Brand J said:

Hard Knocks commentary starts at 2:25

 

I like watching GetUp! in the morning, but no amount of Bills coverage could make me watch Mad Dog/Stephen A on First Take. So much yelling.

[stevewin]

Hard Knocks crew going to be at Skoobs in downtown Lancaster today with Andreesen and his family.

 

Looking forward to seeing what they include in the next episode.  Skoob (the proprieter) is an old friend of mine from HS and a great dude - he could have his own storyline  

Edited August 7 by stevewin

[Einstein]

5 minutes ago, Brand J said:

Hard Knocks commentary starts at 2:25

 

He’s not wrong.

 

And it’s really a commentary on sports journalism in general in 2025.

 

Every question has become a softball. No one asks difficult questions anymore. 

[DrDawkinstein]

3 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

He’s not wrong.

 

And it’s really a commentary on sports journalism in general in 2025.

 

Every question has become a softball. No one asks difficult questions anymore. 

 

Hard Knocks is not sports journalism tho. That isnt what this show is about.

 

Why would anyone expect Hard Knocks to roll up and start busting the balls of the HC, GM, MVP QB and focusing on their latest failure? 

 

[paulmm3]

First episode focused a little too much on Josh for me. Obviously I love the guy and understand why Hard Knocks would focus on him but was hoping to see more of players who don't get tons of camera time.

 

Also I accuse Terry of excessive meddling in the Sabres and multiple times I have gotten the "well, we only get edited video clips, so we don't REALLY know how much he meddles." Which is fair, but my counterargument would be that if you’re a huge Bills and Sabres fan and watch most videos both organizations' media teams have put out over the last 10 years and your synthesis of hundreds of hours of clips is that it seems like he meddles too much, he probably meddles too much.

[Einstein]

3 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

Hard Knocks is not sports journalism tho. That isnt what this show is about.

 

Why would anyone expect Hard Knocks to roll up and start busting the balls of the HC, GM, MVP QB and focusing on their latest failure? 

 

You clearly didn’t watch the show in the earlier seasons (or you’re forgetting).

 

My favorite season is when they aired full out fights between the coaches of the Browns, including the head coach and the offensive coordinator. Chad Johnson getting cut on camera and Vontae Davis being traded on camera was pretty wild too.

 

Also, they 1000000% focused on the teams most recent failure in most seasons. That was literally most of the first episode for the first dozen seasons.

[DrDawkinstein]

2 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

You clearly didn’t watch the show in the earlier seasons (or you’re forgetting).

 

My favorite season is when they aired full out fights between the coaches of the Browns, including the head coach and the offensive coordinator. Chad Johnson getting cut on camera and Vontae Davis being traded on camera was pretty wild too.

 

Also, they 1000000% focused on the teams most recent failure in most seasons. That was literally most of the first episode for the first dozen seasons.

 

That wasnt the HK Producers asking hard hitting questions and putting them on the spot for their most recent failure. Everything you mentioned was simply sitting back and capturing it on tape and then replaying it. Which is exactly what entertainment documentaries do.

 

Any mentions of the failures is because it is typically a bad team that is under the gun and that is their entire story line that makes them interesting. All they had were failures. Browns sucked, Bengals sucked, Miami sucked. That's the story line. They had no big-personality MVP to focus on.

 

Also, the things you mentioned all happened at least a few episodes in. We'll see some of that same "realness" in a couple weeks once we get to cut time.

[Warcodered]

12 hours ago, Low Positive said:

Don't you worry. Next week will be all about the Cook "hold-in."

Makes it sound like he's constipated.

[Warcodered]

11 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

You clearly didn’t watch the show in the earlier seasons (or you’re forgetting).

 

My favorite season is when they aired full out fights between the coaches of the Browns, including the head coach and the offensive coordinator. Chad Johnson getting cut on camera and Vontae Davis being traded on camera was pretty wild too.

 

Also, they 1000000% focused on the teams most recent failure in most seasons. That was literally most of the first episode for the first dozen seasons.

 

5 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

That wasnt the HK Producers asking hard hitting questions and putting them on the spot for their most recent failure. Everything you mentioned was simply sitting back and capturing it on tape and then replaying it. Which is exactly what entertainment documentaries do.

 

Any mentions of the failures is because it is typically a bad team that is under the gun and that is their entire story line that makes them interesting. All they had were failures. Browns sucked, Bengals sucked, Miami sucked. That's the story line. They had no big-personality MVP to focus on.

 

Also, the things you mentioned all happened at least a few episodes in. We'll see some of that same "realness" in a couple weeks once we get to cut time.

This would be the difficulty when Hard Knocks covers a really solid team like the Bills. The HC, GM, QB and leadership of the team are all bought in and the whole system runs smooth.

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

On 8/4/2025 at 1:26 PM, YoloinOhio said:

 

Easily my favorite personality on the Bills. I love it when players make rooting for them so easy. I really hope we can get this man a ring. 

[DrDawkinstein]

8 minutes ago, Warcodered said:

 

This would be the difficulty when Hard Knocks covers a really solid team like the Bills. The HC, GM, QB and leadership of the team are all bought in and the whole system runs smooth.

 

Exactly. To @Einstein's point, one of my favotite HK moments was during the Browns season. Douglas had Gregggg Williams and Todd Haley as Coordinators, and it was OBVIOUS they both took the job just for the potential that Douglas would be fired and they would have a chance to be interim HC. Coaches meetings with those 2 just circling Douglas like a couple of sharks...

[jkeerie]

2 hours ago, Sierra Foothills said:

For some reason I thought Liev Schrieber was a woman. Please tell me I'm wrong.

You're wrong.  There's an actress Liv Ullman and then there is Maria Schriever (one of the Kennedy family who was married to Arnold Schwarzenegger).  Perhaps you're thinking of one of them.

[DrDawkinstein]

6 minutes ago, jkeerie said:

You're wrong.  There's an actress Liv Ullman and then there is Maria Schriever (one of the Kennedy family who was married to Arnold Schwarzenegger).  Perhaps you're thinking of one of them.

 

@Sierra Foothills like...

 

 

[Sierra Foothills]

19 minutes ago, jkeerie said:

You're wrong.  There's an actress Liv Ullman and then there is Maria Schriever (one of the Kennedy family who was married to Arnold Schwarzenegger).  Perhaps you're thinking of one of them.

 

Thanks for the escape hatch!  😆

 

I think it's because it sounds like a woman's name to me.

 

👍

 

[AlCowlingsTaxiService]

1 hour ago, The Jokeman said:

I don't want to reread the rest of the thread but anyone have any thoughts on the killer folding job by Mrs. Knox? lol

Impressive yes, but rolling shirts rather than folding them is actually a more efficient use of space 😂

[RoscoeParrish]

1 hour ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

Hard Knocks is not sports journalism tho. That isnt what this show is about.

 

Why would anyone expect Hard Knocks to roll up and start busting the balls of the HC, GM, MVP QB and focusing on their latest failure? 

 

I think it’s unusual this time around for Hard Knocks because they have never really done a good team before.

 

Usually the storylines revolve around turning around a struggling franchise, a young QB with pressure/expectations, and then the classic “UDFA you root for who inevitably gets cut.”

 

I liked the episode because im a bills fanatic, but it wouldn’t surprise me to find out other folks found it boring. Most fans know who Josh Allen and the other cast of characters are. they aren’t really treading new ground.

 

By the same token, I’m sure the Bills tried really hard to not give them “we need to beat the Chiefs and we keep failing” material. I get that too. The Bills don’t want it broadcast to the world how much the Chiefs are on their mind (despite us all assuming they are)

[NickelCity]

2 hours ago, Billy Claude said:

 

 

Most likely this was mentioned before but the Bills didn't have a choice.  Previous to this season any team that had made the playoffs the previous two seasons were allowed to decline.  This was why the most recent seasons were mostly the leagues sad sacks and why episode one has so much less drama.

 

Oh I know it. If they had had a choice I'm sure McD would have said no. 

[Jauronimo]

3 hours ago, DrDawkinstein said:

The first episode is always the fluffy "intro" episode. 

 

While most of the audience are football fans, that isnt the only audience HBO is targeting. For the casuals, and even the non-Bills fans, the first episode is the "origin story" episode. They had to set the stage with the 4 losses of the 90s, and how Bills Mafia is the best fanbase, and Tre White's injury comeback/rejoining the team, and Josh is the MVP who just wants to win a SB, etc.

 

So for most Bills fans it would be a boring episode. They didnt tell us anything we didnt know.

 

It should get deeper into actual camp happenings over the next couple of weeks.

Exactly.  This show isn't made for the people who tune into every shred of Bills related content available.

[Einstein]

2 hours ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

That wasnt the HK Producers asking hard hitting questions and putting them on the spot for their most recent failure. Everything you mentioned was simply sitting back and capturing it on tape and then replaying it. Which is exactly what entertainment documentaries do.

 

Any mentions of the failures is because it is typically a bad team that is under the gun and that is their entire story line that makes them interesting. All they had were failures. Browns sucked, Bengals sucked, Miami sucked. That's the story line. They had no big-personality MVP to focus on.

 

Also, the things you mentioned all happened at least a few episodes in. We'll see some of that same "realness" in a couple weeks once we get to cut time.

 

Ok yeah that’s a fair point.

[nedboy7]

3 hours ago, Einstein said:

 

And then others come on and complain that others are complaining, making the conversation even better. 

Real housewives of Miami might be what you’re after.