The Hard Knocks Effect

This must be what middle age does to you.

Sure, I have not yet technically hit middle age quite yet but I have noticed some changes. Maybe not changes quite as obvious as the annoying hair like that last ‘change’ about twenty years ago but there are changes nonetheless.

The first hint was when I found myself on occasion rooting for a Steve Spurrier coached team.

I know – it scares me too.

Just a decade ago, literally my entire week could be made by a Spurrier visor being ripped off his head and thrown to the turf. There was nothing I loathed more in this world than Spurrier (well, almost nothing. Ever smell someone throw up? Yeech).

Even five years ago, when he joined me in D.C. as the coach of the Redskins and the Super Bowl hype went through the roof, I enjoyed nothing more than watch his pathetic press conferences as the never-ending arrogance was slowly chipped off him like the funk in that disturbing Axe body wash commercial.

But now that he has left the Swamp and Fed Ex Field behind and become the relatively harmless coach of the Gamecocks, I have come to enjoy his antics and his taunting.

If this is maturity…I don’t like it.

So now that I wear my visor in concert with Spurrier (occasionally), I have noticed another equally frightening development over the last week. I…. (gulp)…(deep breaths)…almost like the Cowboys.

Damn you HBO.

For those of you not willing to pay HBO’s extortionate rates, the Cowboys are the subjects of this year’s Hard Knocks, HBO’s sort-of annual behind the scenes look at one NFL team’s training camp. Last year we were subjected to Herm Edwards’ endless stadium step running and his underachieving, uninteresting Kansas City Chiefs. Given the Chiefs are the fierce rival of my boys in blue and orange it was never a concern I would find myself cheering for them. In fact, a full year later, still the only redeeming quality of my hours of Hard Knocks viewing was my introduction to Mrs. Brody Croyle. When Brody is inevitably waived and his NFL career ends, I will be here to console her.

But this year is different. While I have always hated the Cowboys and reveled in their annual playoff failures, I have found myself enjoying the series and have come to start to like some of the players, even T.O.. Yes, the scourge of the Forty-Niners, Eagles and Skip Bayless comes across almost exactly like you would almost never expect – relaxed, having fun and coming across as a good guy. His stuffing of Jerry Jones’ grandson in a bucket of ice water was one of the best moments on TV not involving Michael Phelps in the last month.  

NOTE: Did you ever think we would see a summer in which the two greatest sporting moments would be a tennis match and a swimming relay race? I don’t even know what to think about this. But I have to admit, I am a little frightened.

All of this begs the question – if even I can feel a small ember of warmth in the cold of my heart for the Cowboys, why don’t more teams give fans a behind-the-scenes look at the team, so we start to realize that these guys (despite all outward appearances) are human?

Brian Billick was a genius at this. As the participant in the initial Hard Knocks after the Ravens Super Bowl win in 2001 and then allowing John Feinstein unlimited access for the book Next Man Up during the 2004 season, Billick seems to have realized long ago that being open and honest with the media and your fans goes a lot further then being secretive and paranoid.

It could probably even be argued that Billick’s persona kept him in the job of Ravens coach for a season or two longer than he would have if he viewed the NFL on par with national secrets like some of his coaching brethren.

It is a simple fact that it is much easier to complain about and disagree with faceless football uniforms or maniacal coaches on the sideline than someone you feel like you know personally.

Look at the rise of the internet. It is a lot easier to be mean, rude and insulting from the safety of your keyboard – not that I know anything about that. In a face-to-face conversation a lot of those inept, incompetent and insulting comments posted on the internet would probably never see the light of day.

I am as critical on Mike Shanahan as anyone and much of that can be traced directly to his secrecy and his seeming belief that he knows better than anyone else all of the time. A little transparency and openness might make his decisions a little easier to understand.

Unless he keeps reading playbooks while on vacation. That is just sad.

Just reading the book mentioned the other day – A Few Seconds of Panic – provides more understanding of Shanahan and the decisions he makes than anything else we as fans ever get to see. I still may not agree with some of his decisions but I have a better understanding of how he arrived at them.

Isn’t that all we ask for as fans?

So while I still may think that Wade Phillips and Tony Romo will never lead the Cowboys to a Super Bowl title, I can at least understand why this team improved drastically under Phillips last year and I can understand why despite his public antics, T.O. is one of the best receivers in the game.

And to answer the un-asked question:

Yes, I think Bill Belichick would still be a total jerk if New England participated on Hard Knocks.

Observations from the Student Section

More random thoughts on things that we saw this weekend on the college football field.

• Has there ever been a weekend that demonstrated that big games result in big hangovers not just for the fans but for the teams as well (who don’t have the excuse of pre-kickoff Jager shots…at least we hope they don’t…though that would explain Tennessee’s performance in the Swamp last week)? Nebraska squeaks by Ball State, Louisville gets stunned by the Orange, Florida has to hang on to beat Ole Miss and USC allows 17 points!
  • The most obvious hangover candidate (other than my friend Stacie who insisted on making something called ‘Pink Panty Pulldowns’ before the FSU/CU game) was the Kentucky Wildcats but despite spotting the Razorbacks a 21-6 lead, UK was able to fight their way back for a big victory in Fayetteville.
  • I will admit I thought Kentucky was a one-hit wonder, rising up to stun a cross-state rival last week, before crashing back to the reality of an SEC schedule. Now a week later, the Wildcats look like they are for real and Louisville can (at best) set their sights on the Alamo Bowl.
  • So what is the Wildcats reward for winning two big games in two weeks? A week off (sort of) against Florida Atlantic followed by South Carolina, Florida and LSU back to back to back. Thanks so much schedule makers. At least UF and LSU have to come into Lexington. If the Wildcats are still undefeated a month from now, Pete Carroll might as well start watching their game film for a little early prep for the national title game.
• Is it just me or are Texas A&M and Penn State the two worst big game offenses every single year? Texas A&M always seems to bring an offense based on an athletic quarterback and a sort-of power running game but when their running backs are stuffed by a quicker, stronger defense their quarterback is just never a good enough passer to back 1 or 2 defenders out of the box. Pick an approach Aggies! Either go get a quarterback who can pass or go all-in and get a true running quarterback and bring back the triple-option - there is only one Tim Tebow and he isn’t kissing Collies after each touchdown (fighting hard to not make comment about the women at UF…fighting…fighting…must resist).Penn State, on the other hand tries to employ a more standard offense but never seems to have a quarterback or running game quite good enough to dominate a big game (except the year they had a guy who is now a wide receiver for the 49ers as a quarterback). For some reason a big, slow quarterback throwing to small, less slow receivers never seems to work, huh, who knew? Maybe PSU should trade quarterbacks with A&M.
• Don’t look now but Michigan is looking like a great candidate to pick up the baton of the 1989 FSU Seminoles and 2001 CU Buffaloes as a team with 2 embarrassing early season losses who turn it around and end up as a top-5 team by the end of the year.
  • For the record, that Seminole team lost to a Brett Favre led Southern Miss team and the Buffs lost to a David Carr led Fresno State team, so if you are looking to take a flyer on a sleeper pick in next NFL’s draft, you might want to check out Dennis Dixon from Oregon or Armanti Edwards from Appalachian State.
  • Michigan would need a little help though, like either Ohio State or Wisconsin staying undefeated (since they play each other they can’t both be undefeated) until they play the Wolverines in November.
• I am trying to resolve a great existential problem that has been bothering me for awhile now: is it wrong to hate Steve Spurrier less than I used to? After the massive humbling that was his pro coaching experiment with the Redskins (12-20 record in 2 seasons) and his return to the perennial mid-tier program at South Carolina, I actually find myself cheering for the Ol’ Ball Coach occasionally. Now that he is tormenting the top tier SEC programs (and nowhere near FSU’s schedule), including the hated Florida Gators and Mark ‘Benedict Arnold’ Richt at Georgia, and seems to have a slightly quieter personality, I actually find myself enjoying him. Never before would I have thought going into a game ‘I know his team should lose big here, but Spurrier may have something up his sleeve’ and actually been happy about it. With the Gamecocks going into Baton Rouge this past week, I actually thought he might be able to pull out a shocker.
  • I may not have liked him back when he was leading the Gators, but his line “you can’t spell Citrus Bowl, without UT”, should go down as the greatest one-liner ever by a coach.