DJariya

This is going to be an interesting season.

JeffTheAlpaca

Sucks they have to do the Rams again

Decker

The coach is always the star and Sean McVay is WAY more interesting than Jeff Fisher was. I’m up for it.

JeffTheAlpaca

There are so many teams that have not done it yet like the 49ers, Bills,, Eagles, Bears, and Steelers that have never done it and would be nice to see a new team.

Decker

You mean like the Chargers?

Rob V

No pre-season games is gonna make it tough for bubble players to show what they can do. I have little to no interest in this team, but I'll still watch.

GoldenJCJ

Maybe the decision was made to cover LA teams before COVID hit but if not, it seems reasonable to keep the film crew as local as possible.

Of course, if other teams were asked to participate, I’d figure this season is already FUBAR, I can’t imagine the Hard Knocks crew would be any more of distraction to the teams than there already is this season.

Rob V

I believe it was decided before Covid that both LA teams were going to be featured. Maybe I'm wrong.

Barth

I will as well. I feel for the bubble players this season. For some, just saying they played in an NFL game would be a memory of a lifetime. They won’t get that opportunity now with no preseason.

sauce07

If only it was the Washington Football Team this year

dino88

I'd be down for that just to see Alex Smith back on the field.

JeffTheAlpaca

We will get a first hand look as the Rams prepare to be in the cellar of the NFC West.

They lost a lot of guys and Wade Phillips retired so this could be a rebuilding year.

~~ PAL ~~

Aren't the Rams still paying Goff and Donald top tier salary for their positions? Plus they are almost certain to have to pony up another top of the market contract for Jalen Ramsey next year. So how could they possibly be rebuilding?

But seriously, if somebody points a gun to my head to pick the NFC West winner next season, I would probably not go with the Rams there either.

Rob V

The Rams leadership went from genius to morons in a season. They handed out contracts like they were candy -- to players / positions that didn't warrant it. You do NOT overpay a RB in 2020.

JeffTheAlpaca

Which makes me happy as a Niners fan

JeffTheAlpaca

Never thought of McVay as a pit bull owner.

So far I liked the Raiders season better but hope maybe they can do a extra episode this year with camp practices since the first show was all about Corona precautions.

DJariya

That was a solid 1st episode. They did a good job balancing things between the two teams.

McVay: Hey don't be the guy who takes a shit in the porta potty. I went in there and about threw up. Have a little social awareness. OMG, I was crying laughing at that.

and then that Rams coach.....Somebody who's part of the Hard Knocks crew taking a shit in the porta potties.

McVay's a character.

I liked that cut Chargers rookie who got pissed off that he got cut when he went to see Lynn. Lynn revealing that he had coronavirus in this episode made the news here locally.

Too bad that Rams rookie had to be "the guy" who caught coronavirus.

Funny how Ramsay got really pissed off when one of those reporters (who I know from work) asked about his contract in that Zoom session. That was pretty rude for him to barge out like that. But, I did like seeing the uncensored game footage of him saying he's the fucking best.

I think Herbert will be the Chargers starter by mid season if not earlier. That dude has a cannon for an arm and looked really accurate.

Deftones

McVay is Gruden 2.0. The way he talks and his cadence is crazy similar. I wasn't sold on having 2 teams but since this is a weird year, may be better that they have 2 teams. Easier to fill time.

lwhy?

I kept calling him baby Gruden as I was watching. Having two teams with similar team colors was a bit confusing for me, but I was watching while on the exercise bike. That could have also added to my confusion.

JeffTheAlpaca

Watching the NFL Films highlights of the preseason games was one of the best parts of the show and you won't get that this year.

DJariya

The LA Chargers official YouTube channel tried to post the 1st episode of Hard Knocks on their channel and it got promptly removed by HBO and they got a copyright strike.

Barth

Great first episode. It was kind of weird seeing cuts already. It makes sense with covid but I can see why players are getting upset. Made me realize how much I enjoy anything football. I really hope we can get a full season with very few hiccups. Looking forward to the next episode.

Rob V

I really liked the first episode and I'm actually happy they focus on two different teams... I thought Ramsey's response was fine. Reporters keep asking the SAME question expecting him to say "yeah, it's messing with my head, I'm a wreck"... he gave them an answer and they kept asking. Enough. Plus, Ramsey is one of those guys with a bit of a chip on his shoulder and he can only be pushed so far before he kinda snaps. They know his demeanor by now.

I really had to laugh when all this big football players - who exact all this punishment on the other team - were squeemish and whining about the covid tests and getting blood drawn lol.

DJariya

Apparently the live ratings for the 1st episode were very low. But this doesn't count re-airs and on demand.

Twitter

Some people on social media said that HBO did a bad job marketing it and had no idea it was on this week.

and it doesn't help that a lot of people who don't watch live can't see it because of the HBO Max stalemate.

fujishig

With Go and now Max (if you have a platform that supports it of course) I don't see why anyone would watch this live and not just on demand. If they're only counting live numbers that seems like a fool's errand.