Steelers Could Be Forced To Do HArd Knocks???

Well that's it...it's been decided. We aren't supposed to think of this as a distraction.

And players have claimed that they gained an edge from watching:

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...cked-up-dolphins-snap-count-from-hard-knocks/

 

I like the inside view it gives the fans

 

NFL films already has cameras that follow the teams through out the week during the season, as well as local media being at camp, reporters waiting after practice, team media sessions, SteelersTV, the players own TV and radio show commitments, their various charity functions and personal appearances, and a hundred other media things that they deal with that is not in any way related to play on the field so it is hard for me to see how having a few more camera crews with slightly more access is going to be a bigger distraction than what they already face. If all these things are distractions then by all means lets stop them all. The proven distractions on teams that have participated in Hard Knocks have very little to do with the production crews and more to do with players themselves. During the Cowboys year they had Owens and constant media circus he caused that was distracting. The Bengals first go around I was surprised at how tame Chad Johnson was and how little drama he brought during filming, now he did provide teams distractions but they weren't related to the production of Hard Knocks.

I will admit that it will be disruptive to the normal way they go about things but again nothing that can't be accommodated especially with the increased access that seems to be more popular as teams begin to utilize the internet to really give their fans an all encompassing experience. Progress is coming to how the NFL presents its product. As much as many of us long for the days of Mean Joe and not giving autographs today's NFL is more about giving those fans not only autographs but unparallelled access to what goes on in the game they love. Yeah there is a possibility that the "Steeler way" might get out for all teams to see but that happens when players get cut and go to another team, or coaches get hired at a division rival doesn't mean that the Steeler way is in danger of being destroyed just that hey the secret is out, they treat men like men.

I don't know BF I have seen five of the eight seasons of the show and I don't think the producers ever tried what the NFL network people tried pulling with the Ben/Haley mess this year. For the most part they do a good job, they have played up some position battles or bubble guys that may not have been as close as they showed but it real isn't reality TV more like an in depth look at a team with some storylines to make it interesting. I liken it to the year-end highlight videos that teams do. Remember the year Ben was obsessed with Band of Brothers? That year the highlight video was called the "200whatever Pittsburgh Steelers a band of brothers" Can't wait to see what this years is called.

 

Boomer what exactly do you see as the distraction? That is what I am getting at here. There is already so much media attention going on in camp and through the preseason and into the regular season I don't see how more coverage can be distracting when they are already used to dealing with the media? They are going to go about the business of training camp and preseason regardless of camera's being there or not and if a player is bothered by how they appear on camera perhaps they should think about how they are acting. As far as team secrets as I said above I have watched five of the eight seasons and I don't think I have learned any insights into how the participants do things differently that can be used to an advantage. The Steelers like the backs on backers drill, the Bengals like the Oklahoma drill. The only thing I took away from the Bengals this year is that playbook are now being put on Ipads(pretty cool to me) and that Bengals coaches would rather start a converted TE at FB because he had more upside than the guy who clearly showed by his play that he was a FB. Other than that I got nothing.