!!!OFFICIAL HARD KNOCKS EPISODE 4 THREAD!!!

[Jason]

What happened to the cookies?????

[Bengals1181]

[quote name='Hint of Snow' date='02 September 2009 - 11:50 PM' timestamp='1251946245' post='797426']
That's a big big man
[/quote]


maybe its just camera angles and stuff, but hell it looks like he gained 2 inches on his gut between signing the contract and that last shot. Did he drop a million at Graeter's over the weekend?

[RickyD]

[quote name='Hint of Snow' date='02 September 2009 - 11:50 PM' timestamp='1251946245' post='797426']
That's a big big man
[/quote]

Thats what I thought too, WOW

[mhfinks]

Cut down day is going to be a BITCH!

[RickyD]

Marvin is really getting on them, that was good to see.

And there are some good running backs that will get cut.

[Jungle1]

ESPN reported Andre weighed in at close to 4 bills----about 35 pounds over weight---boo!

[Since 87]

that Mike Brown/Andre Smith conversation was fairly awkward.

[mhfinks]

[quote name='Since 87' date='02 September 2009 - 11:58 PM' timestamp='1251946706' post='797434']
that Mike Brown/Andre Smith conversation was fairly awkward.
[/quote]


Mike just wanted to say "I paid ya, now get your ass to fucking work!" but he couldn't

[oldschooler]

[quote name='Jason' date='02 September 2009 - 10:23 PM' timestamp='1251944583' post='797411']
JB has Oldschooler's dream job.



[/quote]


Yeah he does.

I actually used to work with him at a printing company in Middletown.
His real name is Jimmy Brown.
He lives in Middletown Ohio.
Biggest Homer you will ever meet.

Oh yeah, and at lunch, he used to eat chicken legs, BONES AND ALL.
He would say "That's were all the protein is".

I had him get me some signed stuff. He said Corey Dillon wouldn't
sign nothing.

[Jungle1]

I hope Tom Nelson makes the team----he has some drive.

[RickyD]

[quote name='mhfinks' date='03 September 2009 - 12:00 AM' timestamp='1251946807' post='797436']
Mike just wanted to say "I paid ya, now get your ass to fucking work!" but he couldn't
[/quote]

I was surprised he didn't just come out and say it, he said something about Andre being out of shape.

[esjbh2]

[quote name='oldschooler' date='02 September 2009 - 11:00 PM' timestamp='1251946824' post='797437']
Yeah he does.

I actually used to work with him at a printing company in Middletown.
His real name is Jimmy Brown.
He lives in Middletown Ohio.
[i][b]Biggest Homer you will ever meet.[/b][/i]

Oh yeah, and at lunch, he used to eat chicken legs, BONES AND ALL.
He would say "That's were all the protein is".

I had him get me some signed stuff. He said Corey Dillon wouldn't
sign nothing.
[/quote]
Ummm...no comment.

It was great that they did a piece on JB. I remember you talking about him in the past. What a great story with his start with Paul Brown and still leading the team on field each game.

[mhfinks]

[quote name='RickyD' date='03 September 2009 - 12:02 AM' timestamp='1251946941' post='797441']

I was surprised he didn't just come out and say it, he said something about Andre being out of shape.
[/quote]


MB was right - did you see Andre stuggle out there in practice - MOOOOOOO

[|kennethmw|]

[quote name='oldschooler' date='03 September 2009 - 12:00 AM' timestamp='1251946824' post='797437']
Yeah he does.

I actually used to work with him at a printing company in Middletown.
His real name is Jimmy Brown.
He lives in Middletown Ohio.
Biggest Homer you will ever meet.

Oh yeah, and at lunch, he used to eat chicken legs, BONES AND ALL.
He would say "That's were all the protein is".

I had him get me some signed stuff. He said Corey Dillon wouldn't
sign nothing.
[/quote]

Exactly right, he lives in Middletown and he made me feel like a poser as a Bengals fan. He even showed me the DVD that NFL films did on him. Old, we may have to fight when that job comes open!!

[Rumble In the Jungle]

[quote name='Jason' date='02 September 2009 - 11:13 PM' timestamp='1251943980' post='797405']
WOWWW!


Holy shit Maya was scorching!!
[/quote]

lol, me and my boy saw her coming in the stadium and were thinking bout going to hit on her, but we were like she's by herself.....and going into the player suit were we were, without anyone. so we put one and one together and realized she was for sure dating one of the players and we guessed chad lol. hahaha that is funny.

[quote name='Jason' date='02 September 2009 - 11:23 PM' timestamp='1251944583' post='797411']
JB has Oldschooler's dream job.



[/quote]

[T-Dub]

This episode seemed more "doom & gloom" than the previous ones.

[H.B. Bengal]

[quote name='mhfinks' date='02 September 2009 - 09:00 PM' timestamp='1251946807' post='797436']
Mike just wanted to say "I paid ya, now get your ass to fucking work!" but he couldn't
[/quote]


Sop shows his true colors.

Nice job... "way to inspire your workers"...I know they make millions, but they will make that even if the boss is a dick.... or perhaps they might work try harder if his boss not a total out of touch douchebag, or not. Anyway...

I would HATE to work for this man/family.


Love the team but....



Why do they make it so hard to like them?

[sois]

I hope they keep all 4 RB's and only one FB. Hell cut JJ to and go with Leonard as the FB. Stash Pressley or Fui on the PS and bring them up when DD gets hurt.

Shirley is awesome. I already feel better about him than Goings or any other guard not named Bobbie.

I didn't know about this JB guy and that he led the Bengals on the field before every game. That was an awesome piece.

Andre Smith is fat. He isn't going to help for a while. That sucks.

[oldschooler]

[url="http://cincinnati.com/blogs/bengals/2009/09/03/thornton-hard-knocks-iv-top-5/"][b][size="5"]Thornton: Hard Knocks IV Top 5[/size][/b][/url][size="5"] [/size]
Posted by [email="nhurm@enquirer.com"]nhurm[/email] September 3rd, 2009, 4:12 am

[i]

After each episode of Hard Knocks, former Bengal John Thornton will give his opinions on the episode, lending a player's perspective. Thornton, who played for the Bengals from 2003-08, is the founder and co-CEO of JockBiz along with running Allproblogger.com. He also appears on Thursday nights on WLW-AM as part of the Bengals Roundtable.[/i]

Out of all the episodes of Hard Knocks, I felt like this is the show that I have been waiting for. HBO has done a great job of depicting the Cincinnati Bengals so far, but all along I felt that they needed to dig into Bengals history a little more. Even though they missed the boat on a few things, I still enjoyed it. The true personalities of the team have been coming to light the last few weeks and it seems like HBO is going to focus on them the rest of the way.

In case you are wondering who those people are - Marvin Lewis, Carson Palmer and Chad Ochocinco. Marvin is the voice of the team. Carson is the best player on the team, but also the most laid back. And Chad Ochocinco is the most flamboyant, but he is also the hardest worker. Here are my top 5 moments of episode 4 of Hard Knocks.


[b]1. The Intro.[/b] I blogged and tweeted on Wednesday that I couldn't wait to see if Hard Knocks would show Marvin Lewis address the team after losing to the St Louis Rams last Thursday. And they started off with that very scene! I wanted to see it because I knew Marvin would be pissed. It was the home preseason opener, the Bengals had just played a tough, gritty game, beating the New England Patriots the previous week.

The Bengals played a sloppy game and lost to the Rams. The looks on the new players faces said it all. They were probably like, "what the heck?" Losing at home is a bad feeling in the NFL, and you can tell from that scene that coach Lewis knew that the team needed a kick in the butt to get going.

[b]2. Marvin Lewis.[/b] Since I brought up coach Lewis, I will keep it going. I have been around many of Marvin's blow-ups. Each one is different. I could always tell when we were going to get it. Any sloppy loss at home equals a blow up. Any game lost by the defense equals a blow up. Any loss to a division team equals a blow up. Any loss to Steelers or Ravens equals a double blow up!

When the F-bomb comes put, coach is really upset. And it came out after the Rams game. Hard Knocks did a nice job of talking about Marvin's six seasons in Cincinnati. It started in 2003 with everyone welcoming this rising coach to the city. Now people are on his back to win more. They even showed how he's adapting to certain things. His key to lift the gate in the coaches parking lot didn't work, so he just said "screw it" and drove his pickup truck over the curb.

I know he will hate this, but one time during the bye week in 2006, Coach Lewis was yelling at a player for having a sweat shirt hoodie over his head during a team meeting. Coach put his hoodie on while he was yelling to show the player what he looked like, but Coach couldn't get the hoodie off of his head for some reason, so he finished yelling at the guy with the hoodie on. We couldn't see Marvin's face - we just heard yelling coming out of this black hole. When he left the room, everyone was pretty quiet, then DT Bryan Robinson turned and whispered to me after a few minutes and said, "that was pretty funny." Sorry coach, funny story, had to tell it.

[b]3. Chris Henry.[/b] Man, WR Chris Henry will never get out of Coach Lewis' doghouse! I don't care how many touchdowns he catches or how many big plays he makes, Marvin will always keep a tight leash on him.

During the Rams post game blow-up, coach Lewis mention what the team had did wrong and that players didn't make a tackle on an interception. The player he was talking about was Chris Henry.

Even though Chris came back later in that game and caught a sweet 50-yard touchdown, all coach remembered was that missed tackle. I think he doesn't want Chris to stop working hard. If he gives him too much credit, Chris may feel satisfied. Marvin also knows that a healthy and motivated Chris Henry means two or three deep balls a game that could result in touchdowns. So Chris, enjoy your seat in that doghouse. I have a felling you won't be getting out this season. But if you do the right thing, there will be a big fat contract waiting on you when you do finally get out.

[b]4. The Brown Family.[/b] HBO has showed a few different sides of the Brown family. Early in training camp, Mike Brown was shown running all personnel decisions. He even asked if a defensive end could be moved to tight end if needed. Now the cameras are showing Mr. Brown as an owner/GM who is depending on the advice of his coaches
to make the roster decisions. When speaking about the running back decisions, Mr. Brown said to running backs coach Jim Anderson, "That really presents a heart-breaking problem, you've got a tough call."

Then Mr. Brown asks Anderson about his thoughts on the fullbacks. When Jim said that he thought that fullback Chris Pressley blocked the best, Mike Brown then asked, "Are you firm on that?" Sort of like the "Final answer?" on the popular Millionare TV show. All coaches defer to him, but he lasks their imput and asks their advice.

Mr. Brown's daughter, Katie Blackburn, had some air-time as well. She has been shown handling the Andre Smith negotiations - at one point telling agent Alvin Keels, "You guy's (agent and player) keep making up these things that make something a good or a bad deal. All that matters to the guy, at the end of the day is the amount of money he's going to get paid."

That's not exactly true, but I liked how she made that sound true, LOL. I even believed her for a second. Mr. Brown followed that up with a little foreshadowing when talking about Andre Smith losing this whole season. This is a tight-knit family and they are very careful with who they let in.

[b]5. Dropped ball.[/b] HBO finally showed a lot of things that I have been screaming (writing) for over the last few weeks. More player evaluations, more Mike Zimmer, and they even showed Coach Lewis talking to a player after he was released. All things that I thought would make the show better. But I still feel they are dropping the ball on Bengals' history. They teased with a clip of the late Paul Brown walking on the sidelines and they kept showing his name on the stadium, but nothing else. They could have talked about Bill Walsh being a coach for the Bengals in the 70's after DT Tank Johnson screwed up his name while talking to defensive line coach Jay Hayes.

Prime reason why HBO should show that stuff. There are players on the Bengals that don't know that The Great Bill Walsh was a coach in Cincinnati before he got his fame in San Francisco. Not only players on the Bengals, but around the league. And also young Bengals fans need to know what was here before they were born.

Another good show. One moment that almost made my Top 5 was coach Zimmer talking to DT Tank Johnson about the perception his teammates have of him. Pretty cool stuff. Most people probably didn't understand that conversation, but something had to have happened for Zimm to call Tank in for a sit down. Sometimes new guys come to a
team and rock the boat.

Tank is good player and a loud guy - and Zimm likes what he brings to the table. But you have to fit in with your teammates or it's going to be a long year. Tank said that he never really cared what guys thought about him, but by the end of the conversation, Tank said he would take it down a level. Zimm asked that he remained himself, but know that players are watching. Very real stuff right there. Tank has been around long enough to adjust.

Another real moment was the sloppy practice the day before the game, which in turn led to the sloppy game. There were a few bad scenes in that footage, but that didn't make my Top 5, so we don't have to go there. All in all, good show. I like how they show the team forming. Next weeks show will be the best. There will be some tough roster cuts. Major names. Always the toughest day of the year for any football team.






[url="http://cincinnati.com/blogs/bengals/2009/09/03/thornton-hard-knocks-iv-top-5/"]http://cincinnati.com/blogs/bengals/2009/09/03/thornton-hard-knocks-iv-top-5/[/url]

[oldschooler]

[url="http://cincinnati.com/blogs/bengals/2009/09/02/hard-knocks-iv-decisions-decisions/"][b][size="5"]Hard Knocks IV: Decisions, decisions[/size][/b][/url][size="5"] [/size]
Posted by [email="jreedy@enquirer.com"]Joe Reedy[/email] September 2nd, 2009, 11:11 pm





It has become clear that Hard Knocks is now focused on three storylines — Tom Nelson, Chris Pressley and the third running back battle between Brian Leonard and DeDe Dorsey. Sprinkle in a little bit of Chad Ochocinco, the Palmers and Marvin and the show has become more focused.

A couple observations from the episode:

* The Mike Zimmer comment on Nelson ("I could've made that tackle") came during a interview with Zimmer, Bengals.com writer Geoff Hobson and I in Zimmer's office the weekend after the New England game. It just goes to show you that the cameras are everywhere.

* How come I have the feeling out of that dinner scene between Leonard, DeDe Dorsey, Antonio Chatman and Chris Pressley that only one of them is going to remain on the roster?

* While Nelson is in competition with Corey Lynch, he's also vieing with Quan Cosby, which made it a little surprising that Cosby's punt return wasn't shown.

* Whereever Tank Johson goes, Roy Williams usually follows. Both were in Dallas last year and the two of them drove in for training camp. Pretty good conversations between Tank and Zimmer and also Williams, Tank and Joe Torre.

* Good to see them get in Andre Smith's injury and how it happened. It also means that Camp Chrock, otherwise known as strength coaches Chip Morton and Ray Oliver getting players in conditioning shape, will be back in session.

* It was also nice to see Lewis talk with Pernell Phillips after he was released along with the return of angry Marvin. Nice way to open the episode as a theme for the week.





[url="http://cincinnati.com/blogs/bengals/2009/09/02/hard-knocks-iv-decisions-decisions/"]http://cincinnati.com/blogs/bengals/2009/09/02/hard-knocks-iv-decisions-decisions/[/url]

[Jungle1]

[quote name='oldschooler' date='03 September 2009 - 09:18 AM' timestamp='1251980290' post='797533']
[url="http://cincinnati.com/blogs/bengals/2009/09/03/thornton-hard-knocks-iv-top-5/"][b][size="5"]Thornton: Hard Knocks IV Top 5[/size][/b][/url][size="5"] [/size]
Posted by [email="nhurm@enquirer.com"]nhurm[/email] September 3rd, 2009, 4:12 am

[i]

After each episode of Hard Knocks, former Bengal John Thornton will give his opinions on the episode, lending a player's perspective. Thornton, who played for the Bengals from 2003-08, is the founder and co-CEO of JockBiz along with running Allproblogger.com. He also appears on Thursday nights on WLW-AM as part of the Bengals Roundtable.[/i]

Out of all the episodes of Hard Knocks, I felt like this is the show that I have been waiting for. HBO has done a great job of depicting the Cincinnati Bengals so far, but all along I felt that they needed to dig into Bengals history a little more. Even though they missed the boat on a few things, I still enjoyed it. The true personalities of the team have been coming to light the last few weeks and it seems like HBO is going to focus on them the rest of the way.

In case you are wondering who those people are - Marvin Lewis, Carson Palmer and Chad Ochocinco. Marvin is the voice of the team. Carson is the best player on the team, but also the most laid back. And Chad Ochocinco is the most flamboyant, but he is also the hardest worker. Here are my top 5 moments of episode 4 of Hard Knocks.


[b]1. The Intro.[/b] I blogged and tweeted on Wednesday that I couldn't wait to see if Hard Knocks would show Marvin Lewis address the team after losing to the St Louis Rams last Thursday. And they started off with that very scene! I wanted to see it because I knew Marvin would be pissed. It was the home preseason opener, the Bengals had just played a tough, gritty game, beating the New England Patriots the previous week.

The Bengals played a sloppy game and lost to the Rams. The looks on the new players faces said it all. They were probably like, "what the heck?" Losing at home is a bad feeling in the NFL, and you can tell from that scene that coach Lewis knew that the team needed a kick in the butt to get going.

[b]2. Marvin Lewis.[/b] Since I brought up coach Lewis, I will keep it going. I have been around many of Marvin's blow-ups. Each one is different. I could always tell when we were going to get it. Any sloppy loss at home equals a blow up. Any game lost by the defense equals a blow up. Any loss to a division team equals a blow up. Any loss to Steelers or Ravens equals a double blow up!

When the F-bomb comes put, coach is really upset. And it came out after the Rams game. Hard Knocks did a nice job of talking about Marvin's six seasons in Cincinnati. It started in 2003 with everyone welcoming this rising coach to the city. Now people are on his back to win more. They even showed how he's adapting to certain things. His key to lift the gate in the coaches parking lot didn't work, so he just said "screw it" and drove his pickup truck over the curb.

I know he will hate this, but one time during the bye week in 2006, Coach Lewis was yelling at a player for having a sweat shirt hoodie over his head during a team meeting. Coach put his hoodie on while he was yelling to show the player what he looked like, but Coach couldn't get the hoodie off of his head for some reason, so he finished yelling at the guy with the hoodie on. We couldn't see Marvin's face - we just heard yelling coming out of this black hole. When he left the room, everyone was pretty quiet, then DT Bryan Robinson turned and whispered to me after a few minutes and said, "that was pretty funny." Sorry coach, funny story, had to tell it.

[b]3. Chris Henry.[/b] Man, WR Chris Henry will never get out of Coach Lewis' doghouse! I don't care how many touchdowns he catches or how many big plays he makes, Marvin will always keep a tight leash on him.

During the Rams post game blow-up, coach Lewis mention what the team had did wrong and that players didn't make a tackle on an interception. The player he was talking about was Chris Henry.

Even though Chris came back later in that game and caught a sweet 50-yard touchdown, all coach remembered was that missed tackle. I think he doesn't want Chris to stop working hard. If he gives him too much credit, Chris may feel satisfied. Marvin also knows that a healthy and motivated Chris Henry means two or three deep balls a game that could result in touchdowns. So Chris, enjoy your seat in that doghouse. I have a felling you won't be getting out this season. But if you do the right thing, there will be a big fat contract waiting on you when you do finally get out.

[b]4. The Brown Family.[/b] HBO has showed a few different sides of the Brown family. Early in training camp, Mike Brown was shown running all personnel decisions. He even asked if a defensive end could be moved to tight end if needed. Now the cameras are showing Mr. Brown as an owner/GM who is depending on the advice of his coaches
to make the roster decisions. When speaking about the running back decisions, Mr. Brown said to running backs coach Jim Anderson, "That really presents a heart-breaking problem, you've got a tough call."

Then Mr. Brown asks Anderson about his thoughts on the fullbacks. When Jim said that he thought that fullback Chris Pressley blocked the best, Mike Brown then asked, "Are you firm on that?" Sort of like the "Final answer?" on the popular Millionare TV show. All coaches defer to him, but he lasks their imput and asks their advice.

Mr. Brown's daughter, Katie Blackburn, had some air-time as well. She has been shown handling the Andre Smith negotiations - at one point telling agent Alvin Keels, "You guy's (agent and player) keep making up these things that make something a good or a bad deal. All that matters to the guy, at the end of the day is the amount of money he's going to get paid."

That's not exactly true, but I liked how she made that sound true, LOL. I even believed her for a second. Mr. Brown followed that up with a little foreshadowing when talking about Andre Smith losing this whole season. This is a tight-knit family and they are very careful with who they let in.

[b]5. Dropped ball.[/b] HBO finally showed a lot of things that I have been screaming (writing) for over the last few weeks. More player evaluations, more Mike Zimmer, and they even showed Coach Lewis talking to a player after he was released. All things that I thought would make the show better. But I still feel they are dropping the ball on Bengals' history. They teased with a clip of the late Paul Brown walking on the sidelines and they kept showing his name on the stadium, but nothing else. They could have talked about Bill Walsh being a coach for the Bengals in the 70's after DT Tank Johnson screwed up his name while talking to defensive line coach Jay Hayes.

Prime reason why HBO should show that stuff. There are players on the Bengals that don't know that The Great Bill Walsh was a coach in Cincinnati before he got his fame in San Francisco. Not only players on the Bengals, but around the league. And also young Bengals fans need to know what was here before they were born.

Another good show. One moment that almost made my Top 5 was coach Zimmer talking to DT Tank Johnson about the perception his teammates have of him. Pretty cool stuff. Most people probably didn't understand that conversation, but something had to have happened for Zimm to call Tank in for a sit down. Sometimes new guys come to a
team and rock the boat.

Tank is good player and a loud guy - and Zimm likes what he brings to the table. But you have to fit in with your teammates or it's going to be a long year. Tank said that he never really cared what guys thought about him, but by the end of the conversation, Tank said he would take it down a level. Zimm asked that he remained himself, but know that players are watching. Very real stuff right there. Tank has been around long enough to adjust.

[b]Another real moment was the sloppy practice the day before the game, which in turn led to the sloppy game. There were a few bad scenes in that footage, but that didn't make my Top 5, so we don't have to go there. All in all, good show. I like how they show the team forming. Next weeks show will be the best. There will be some tough roster cuts. Major names. Always the toughest day of the year for any football team.[/b]


I remember Marvin said he got a sick feeling about losing the day before the game----guys showing up late to practice, etc. This seems to go back to Rudi Johnson always being the last on the field. I wonder if some cuts will make examples of the players not giving 100% every day----even if they are good players?




[url="http://cincinnati.com/blogs/bengals/2009/09/03/thornton-hard-knocks-iv-top-5/"]http://cincinnati.com/blogs/bengals/2009/09/03/thornton-hard-knocks-iv-top-5/[/url]
[/quote]

[oldschooler]

[b][size="5"]Hard Knocks IV[/size][/b]
GEOFF HOBSON

Posted Sep 3, 2009

Posted: 7:40 a.m.

Hard Knocks IV spent a lot of time Wednesday night looking at the heat Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis is under as well as the heat that made him explode following the 24-21 loss to the Rams.

"This is your team. Find a way to fix it. Reach down and be a (bleeping) pro," Lewis steamed after the cavalcade of turnovers and mistakes."I don't like this feeling. I can't stand it. I had this feeling yesterday morning when we were (sloppy and late) getting on the field. We're going to be going on all cylinders. Because we're going to go with or without you.

"You guys wonder why you don't play and start. It's because you don't make tackles on interceptions. It's because you don't do what you're supposed to do."

The cameras got up with Lewis one morning and recorded him leaving his Indian Hill home at 5 a.m. The electronic arm at Paul Brown Stadium wasn't working and a giggling Lewis had to get his truck over the curb as the narrator talked about obstacles in the NFL.

The documentary did a mini rewind when Lewis and quarterback Carson Palmer arrived together in 2003 and how there has been only one playoff appearance since. In an interview with wide receiver Chad Ochocinco, who has had his ups and downs with Lewis, The Ocho allowed that the players were committed to winning for Lewis.

If Lewis got a lot of air time, the show had a built-in climax with Sunday's Andre Smith signing. The head coach might have had something to do with that when he was seen on the phone in an apparent conversation with agent Alvin Keels telling him about Bengals president Mike Brown's approach to negotiations.

"I've been here seven years ... I know he is not going to change. He is not going to cave," Lewis said.

The cameras caught Brown's frustration with the 30-day holdout, first in a personnel meeting before the agreement when Brown wondered if Smith could contribute at all this year, and then when Smith came into his office to shake his hand after he signed.

"You've got a lot of work ahead of you. We hear you're not in good shape," Brown said.

Knowing that the team was 20 minutes from practicing, Brown told him, "You better get started," but he also did tell Smith that he felt he could make a difference once he did get in shape.

Later, Smith admitted for the camera, "I want to clean up my image," but then the cameras caught him breaking his foot Tuesday when he merely stepped wrong in an 11-on-11 session. The show did say Smith would be out three weeks a day after Lewis said it would be "a few weeks."

The show also focused heavily on the battles at running back between DeDe Dorsey and Brian Leonard and fullback between rookies Fui Vakapuna and Chris Pressley.

In a coaches meeting Lewis talked about how Dorsey's athleticism is a selling point and offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski talked about Leonard's versatility.

In the personnel meeting Brown told his coaches, "You've got a tough call. How do you call it?"

It was a contrasting scene compared to the one in the first show in which Brown was scalded for exercising dictatorial powers. In this meeting he asked running backs coach Jim Anderson what he wanted out of his fullback.

"Blocking," Anderson said.

"Who's the best blocker?" Brown asked.

"Pressley has done the best job blocking," Anderson said.

Lewis also got a moment when discussing the league's new Twitter policy with his team. Calling out "Chinedum" and "Chad," he reminded everyone, "Don't say anything you wouldn't say in a public interview."

But the most riveting conversation in Wednesday's show might have been a heart-to-heart defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer had with tackle Tank Johnson. Zimmer told him he didn't want to see Johnson's reputation around the league sullied and was worried about Johnson coming across as a complainer.

"I don't think you're a negative guy," Zimmer said. "I have to be careful because some guys say I'm negative."

"You're right Coach. I'll just shut the (bleep) up," Johnson said, but Zimmer waved him off.

"No, you don't have to stop talking," he said, encouraging him to be more positive.

The cameras followed Johnson and safety Roy Williams across the street to Great American Ballpark for a Reds-Dodgers game decked out in Reds togs. Johnson, a big Joe Torre fan headed over to the Dodgers dugout, called out, "Coach Torre, can I talk you for a second?"

Torre came over, stuck out his hand, and Johnson said, "Tank Johnson with the Bengals," and then Williams did the same.

"You guys are in training, aren't you?" Torre asked. "Are you tired yet?"

Then Williams drew a laugh when he asked Torre if he could talk "to our coach" about taking it easy on them. That got Torre talking about the differences between the two sports and how the players in baseball's 162-game grind need to be more on an even keel.

After Johnson told Torre how much he admired him, he and Williams left and he said to Williams walking away "that might have been the best thing I've done since I've been in Cincinnati."

The show also continued to look at free agent safety Tom Nelson's bid to make the team. The best line of the night probably came when he and his girlfriend were taking a ride in a horse-drawn carriage downtown.

"We're from Chicago," he answered and when asked if they were on vacation he said, "Job searching. Both of us."

The program also had a nice snippet on backup quarterback Jordan Palmer and how some fans at training camp mistook him for big brother Carson. A budding software developer with some friends in California, Jordan sat down for an interview to show how runpee.com and its iPhone application has become a big seller. It buzzes during the best moments to go to the bathroom during a movie and provides a written synopsis of what you've missed.

Hark Knocks also miked Jordan during the Rams game and honed in on his interception to wide receiver Chris Henry and his ensuing 54-yard touchdown pass to Henry. Also seen is why the coaches were mad at Henry for not making the tackle right away on the interception because he had the Rams defender right in his arms before he escaped for a long return in which Palmer had to make the tackle.

"Tackle him, Slim," Bratkowski moaned in the press box.

Carson Palmer, in street clothes as he rested his sprained ankle, was also miked and there was a good sound bite with him encouraging Jordan to go back out there and throw it because "You know you can."

And there was great interplay with Carson and rookie running back Bernard Scott. First, just after the introductions, Palmer went up to Scott on the sidelines and said, "In two weeks, this whole place is going crazy. It's great."

Then, after Scott followed his fumble with a big 22-yard run on third-and-21 from his own goal line, Palmer called him over with, "Young fella," and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, you're young. You're going to make mistakes," he told Scott. "But that run you made right there coming out of the end zone, in a real game that's a game-changer."

Along with Lewis' tantrum after the game, that had to be Hard Knocks IV's top moment. The final show is next Wednesday on HBO at 10 p.m.







[url="http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Hard-Knocks-IV/99653656-6746-4cb8-beec-cf18bbf9cd89"]http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Hard-Knocks-IV/99653656-6746-4cb8-beec-cf18bbf9cd89[/url]

[oldschooler]

From Lance McAlister's blog . . .



[b]Hard Knocks
[/b]I loved last night. I thought it was a bounce back episode. Better than the last two. The focus was on Marvin Lewis and the pressure he's facing to win.......and negotiations with Andre Smith.

*A classic tirade by Marvin following the loss to the Rams: "It's your football team. Find a way to fix it. Reach down inside and be an f---'in pro!"I don't like this feeling. I can't stand it. I had this feeling yesterday morning when we were late getting on the field. We're going to be going on all cylinders. Because we're going to go with or without you. You guys wonder why you don't play and start. It's because you don't make tackles on interceptions. It's because you don't do what you're supposed to do."

*Marvin talked about his time as coach here. "The most important thing I can do is never allow my players to accept mediocrity". Chad said the three people with the most pressure this year are him, Carson and Marvin. Great line by HBO...."Three with great pedigrees, but not nearly enough victories".

*Classic Bengals moment. Marvin leaves his home at 5am. He pulls into PBS...first to arrive. The security gate into the garage is broken. The arm won't go up. Marvin has to pull his SUV up over the curb and drive around.

*A lot of focus on Andre Smith negotiations. Katie to Alvin...."You guys keep making stuff up to make this a good or bad deal". Mike Brown, "He may have already lost the year". Marvin is shown in his office talking to someone on the phone, "I told Alvin that I've been here seven years. I know Mike. He's not going to cave".

*Chad is shown at home with his girlfriend, Maya. She tells the story of how they met. Chad is shown boxing in a gym.

*Tank Johnson talks with Jay Hayes on the practice field. He explains how he's recently learned about Donnie Walsh and the impact his West Coast Offense has had on the game. Jay tells him it's Bill Walsh, not Donnie. Jay tells Tank that Walsh worked for the Bengals. Tank says, "Donnie or Bill?". Then says, "Who is Donnie Walsh?"

*Great scene in Mike Zimmer's office with Tank. Mike says, "I don't want you to be a negative influence. I know you like to f--- with people. I don't want your reputation to be horse sh--. It's all about how you present yourself. You can play another 6 or 7 years and make a lot of money. The only thing that can run you out is you."
"You're right Coach. I'll just shut the F--- up," Johnson said. 'No, you don't have to stop talking," Zimmer said. He told Johnson to simply be more positive.

*Clubhouse Assistant James Brown is featured. He's been with the Bengals since the Paul Brown days. He does everything, including leading the team onto the field each game.

*Tom Nelson and his girlfriend take a carriage ride in downtown Cincinnati. He's asked if he's on vacation. He says they are both job searching.

*The battle at #2 FB plays out. Chris Pressley hits a guy so hard he bends his face mask. The equipment manager says he's never seen that before.

*Jordan Palmer talks about how disappointed fans are when he signs auographs and they thought he was Carson. He discusses a website he created, RUNPEE.COM. It's designed to tell you the best point in a move to run to the restroom without missing much. There is a phone app that gives you a 1-minute warning when a moment is coming up....and tells you what you are missing while you are gone/going.

*Tank and Roy Williams attend the Reds-Dodgers game and meet Joe Torre. Tank says, "That might be the coolest thing I've done since I've been in town".

*Chris Henry fails to tackle a Ram after Palmer's pass is picked off. Marvin ripped the lack of effort in the opening scene. Bob B says from the press box, "Tackle him Slim".

*Marvin warns players about Twitter...and says to not get into pissing matches because they won't win.

*Marvin unloads on the practice field. He wonders why some guys are in flip flops and slippers? He yells to tuck in a shirt and complains guys are late. "This is not a god d--- day off".

*Mike Zimmer is on the sidelines, bending over, before the Rams game, "My stomach kills me every f---'in week. I guess I could be at home watching".

*Chad watches all the cheerleaders run onto the field, past the team. He says, "Call me, call me, call me" as they pass by.

*Carson calls Bernard Scott over during the Rams game. He puts his arm around him and praises him for bouncing back from the fumble that led to a TD by the Rams. Scott ran 22 yards on a 3rd and 1 when they were backed up. Cool scene."Young fella, you're going to make mistakes...but that run you made right there coming out of the end zone, in a real game that's a game-changer."

*Mike Brown discusses the RB battle with coaches..."this is a heartbreaking problem". You've got a tough call. How do you call it?". In this meeting he asked running backs coach Jim Anderson what he wanted out of his fullback. "Blocking," Anderson said. "Who is the best blocker?" Brown asked. "Pressley has done the best job blocking,"

*Jim Lippincott is waiting for guys to walk in...to make cuts. This time Marvin is shown sitting and talking to Pernell Phillips. He thanks him and wishes him good luck.

*Andre Smith signs his new contract in Katie's office. How icey was that handshake between Katie and Keels. Keels turns to Andre and says, "You are now a millionaire". Hmmmm, not that he is now officially a Bengal....but that he's rich.

*Andre walks into Mike's office to say hello. Wow..very uncomfortable scene. Mike says, "You've got a lot of hard work ahead of you. You are not in good shape from what I hear. You have to put your nose to the grindstone".

*Andre tells HBO that he looks forward to cleaning up his image

*I gotta tell ya....the more I see of Smith....the less impressed I am. Seems like a big dopey fat kid....not a football player.

*Final scene is Smith hobbling off the field with his broken foot.





[b]Hard Knocks update
[/b]From listener Matt
Every morning on my way in to work, I go by the PBS gate that Marvin went around in last night's episode. This morning, there were a few orange traffic cones placed in front of the curb, as well as a manned security truck blocking the path that Marvin took. Classic.



[url="http://www.1530homer.com/pages/lancesBlog.html"]http://www.1530homer.com/pages/lancesBlog.html[/url]

[oldschooler]

[url="http://cincinnati.com/blogs/tv/2009/09/03/marvin-lewis-delivers-some-hard-knocks/"][b][size="5"]Marvin Lewis Delivers Some Hard Knocks[/size][/b][/url][size="5"] [/size]
Posted by [email="jkiesewetter@enquirer.com"]John Kiesewetter[/email] September 3rd, 2009, 12:14 am


Finally what I've been waiting for — some insights into head coach Marvin Lewis on "Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cincinnati Bengals." In week four of the five-week series, HBO finally spent more time on Lewis than Chad Ochocinco. (But Chad delivered the comic relief again; more about that later.)

Viewers saw Lewis leaving home before dawn and driving his Chevy pickup to Paul Brown Stadium. When the stadium parking gate wouldn't take his key card, Lewis backed up and drove around it. Nice move!

Numerous times Lewis was seen talking about demanding nothing less than excellence from his players. "The most important thing I can do is never allow our players to accept mediocrity. And I said that once before (in Baltimore), and it led to a world championship," he said, while NFL Films ran vintage footage of the Ravens sacking Bengals QB Akili Smith. (Nice move!)

During the segment on Andre Smiths' holdout (before he signed), Marvin was seen talking on the phone to someone about the Bengals firm stance on negotiations. "I know Mike. He's not going to change. He's not going to cave."

Later he was shown at a team meeting, lecturing players to be cautious on what they say on Twitter mjessages. "Don't say things that you wouldn't say in an interview." In a private moment,

he tells the cameras that sometimes he feels like he's dealing with little kids, not professional athletes. "I tell people all the time: They think we're here in professional football, and I tell them it's just like coaching 8th grade."

NFL Films and HBO squeezed a lot into the hour. They did nice profiles on Katie Blackburn, longtime clubhouse assistant James JB Brown (who leads the team onto the field every game), and Jordan Palmer.

The ah-hah moment in the Palmer piece was how he's treated by autograph-seeking fans, young and old, who think he's older brother Carson. While signing stuff after practice, you hear an adult tell his kid: "That's the brother, not the star. That ain't #9." Suddenly I have new respect for what he's going through to try to make it in the pros, literally in the shadow of his big brother. (Wouldn't it be easier on any other team?)

And if Jordan doesn't make it in the NFL, he already has another career. "Hard Knocks" gave a great plug to his [url="http://www.runpee.com/#app=845b&e1bd-RunPeeID=0.0.0&225a-selectedIndex=0"][color="#9c070c"]RunPee [/color][/url]website, which tells you the best time for a bathroom break during movies. It buzzes your iPhone to tell you when you gotta go, and lets your read what you're missing while you're in the can. (Nice move!)

Comic relief was provided by Chad, Tom Nelson and Tank Johnson:

–On the bubble rookie safety Tom Nelson was shown taking a carriage ride through downtown with girlfriend Jenny Hill. When the driver asked if he was here on vacation, Nelson replied: "Job searching, actually." (The driver didn't wonder why a camera crew was seated opposite the couple in the carriage??)

–Defensive tackle Tank Johnson, on his third team in three years, had no clue that offensive genius Bill Walsh once coached for the Bengals. In fact, he had no clue about Walsh's name. He told a puzzled Jay Hayes, his defensive line coach: "I just learned who Donnie Walsh was, and why he's so important to the NFL. That dude was a genius." Hayes then explained that he must mean Bill Walsh….

–And then there was Chad at home with his girlfriend Maya. She explained how they met in New Orleans: "You chased me! Didn't you get in a wheelchair and pretended you were crippled, so you could sit next to me at the airport?" When she accused him of using trickery to get her phone number, Chad turned to the camera and explained:

"For the men — This is a new way to get phone numbers, so you don't have to deal with rejection. You take the woman's phone — you tell her your phone is dead — and you dial your number with her phone, and you just call her later, or text her." (Nice move!)

"Hard Knocks" ended with the Bengals signing Andre Smith, who would break a bone in his left foot in his third practice. We all knew that was coming, but the show set it up well for NFL fans elsewhere not following the Bengals closely.

Mike Brown told him at their first meeting: "You've got some work to do to get in shape. You're not in good shape from what I hear." And Katie says after the signing: "We'll get him out there on the field and hope that it works out for everybody."

Instead, another bad break for the Bengals. Another good insightful and entertaining episode for "Hard Knocks." Boy, I wish they could keep doing more shows after the season starts. Wouldn't that be fun?





[url="http://cincinnati.com/blogs/tv/2009/09/03/marvin-lewis-delivers-some-hard-knocks/"]http://cincinnati.com/blogs/tv/2009/09/03/marvin-lewis-delivers-some-hard-knocks/[/url]

[Phatcat]

I haven't watched this episode yet, but I am curious what others think. From the various accounts, specifically when it comes to Mike Brown and Katie, that Andre may have been a coaches pick at #6 overall. Obviously, I am reading between the lines and have no reference for comparison, but it feels like from the accounts above they were less than excited about getting this guy signed and into practice. And had some serious reservations about Andre.

I know, I know probably reading way too much into something that is edited for tv so keep the bashing to a minimal...... THANKS