Not a Bengals fan, but I enjoyed the show. The ending with Black was hard to watch. Hate it for that kid.

Random thoughts:

 

I thought the cinematography was excellent. HBO has a talented bunch putting Hard Knocks together and I recommend this series to anyone interested in football.

I didn't like the way Dalton was portrayed. From Pilates with his wife, to not knowing anything about fantasy football, to wearing the rubber wedding ring, to playing ladder toss... Although there is nothing wrong with any of that none of it says to me Dalton is the leader of the this football team and he will take them to the Super Bowl.

The exchange between Gruden and Harrison made me cringe, I know James is "bad" but it came off as cavalier at best to me. Either Harrison is trying to be the star of the show or he is a bully. I understand he needs to be all tough and stuff but if he hurts AJ Green in practice I may kick his butt and I am not kidding.

Mike Brown talking a little trash about Geno Atkins and how he walks like a duck (I think duck is what he said).

The Doc having to treat Marvin Jones like a child after the ringing he experienced. Is Jones 2?

The Green injury was interesting because of what you could see in the slomo background. Nothing special, just the ice machine, plumbing, bridge, Rumpke Portalets, scissor lift, hose, metal garage doors, trailer, traffic cone, rocks etc.

Larry Black crying almost made me cry, that was horrible. I would like to buy Larry dinner and a beer.

Hue Jackson is a guy I want on my staff.

Marvin cleaning up after the staff party.

Zimmer laying down the Fbomb.

Pacman running out of gas.

Gio using his girlfriends mom's minivan. Gio does appear to be one heck of a nice guy.

Peko standing in the background with only a towel on. Has that man EVER touched a weight in his life.

Eifert introducing himself to Smith and getting the Roll Tide. And me having to explain to my girl why it was so funny.

As much as I am down on Gresham at times he was endearing talking about Adkins in the Oklahoma Drill and then cheating to beat him and then starting a pretend fight.

That roach motel the players were staying in.

Bernard and Hawkins teasing each other about their height.

Jackson making fun of Bernard's height and weight.

Fantastic hour of TV!

 

For us that don't subscribe to HBO, great thoughts and comments,please keep doing this after every episode,Thanks.

For us that don't subscribe to HBO, great thoughts and comments,please keep doing this after every episode,Thanks.

 

Thanks for the compliment. I will do my best but as we head into high school football season it will be a little tougher.

IMO anyone looking negatively at the Gruden/Harrison exchange is overreacting. Harrison has an image and he plays to it. You could tell from the get-go it was "in fun."

 

I am not sure I agree.

Isn't the Millenneum one of the better hotels in the downtown area? Has to be better than the old Wilminton College dorms.

 

I wonder if more than one hotel is in play. I agree it looked nice when they checked in but the actual rooms looked like a 35 dollar a night kinda place.

Harrison looked to be playing up to the cameras if you ask me.

I wonder if more than one hotel is in play. I agree it looked nice when they checked in but the actual rooms looked like a 35 dollar a night kinda place.

It actually used to be a nice hotel. Was a 4 star rated hotel, but I think it's gone way down hill over the last 10 years.

Harrison looked to be playing up to the cameras if you ask me.

 

Agreed but that's nothing new for him.

I like the way the team seems to all get along and there are no showboats like years past.

 

Harrison is a bad dude hands down. The Bengals definitely need someone like him on defense.

 

I watched it on Mo Egger's site, I just cancelled HBO because I never watch it. I only got it 5 yrs ago for Entourage and now that its no longer a show I have no use but hopefully I can get to watch online.

 

Geno Atkins getting pancaked by Grisham was classic....I know he jumped the whistle but man how about that fight from Grisham. We need to see that in games this year. He seemed very soft blocking last season.

Isn't the Millenneum one of the better hotels in the downtown area? Has to be better than the old Wilminton College dorms.

 

 

I thought so until I saw that they don't even have flat screen TV's.

My heart broke for Larry Black.

 

Also thought the Harrison/Gruden exchange made Gruden look weak.

 

 

Here's a link to the first full episode. Watch Hardknocks: Training Camp With The Cincinatti Bengals Episode One and videos online from HBO Sports.