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'Hard Knocks' hype is a team effort

Anyone who has seen the second season of HBO's Hard Knocks can attest to the candor and frankness of the behind-the-scenes look at life in the NFL.

Halfway into the show's six-episode run through the preseason, we know the Dallas Cowboys swear more than last year's subjects, the Baltimore Ravens, and almost as much as the Osbournes. And all parties involved in this year's series, which is produced by NFL Films, are making sure to promote the show online.

The team's official site, www.dallascowboys.com, not only has a section devoted to the show, but each week's episode is treated with two reviews. Of course, they're glowing: columnist Mickey Spagnola called it "about as up close and personal as anyone will ever witness," and staff writer Nick Eatman led his by saying that "as expected, the third episode of Hard Knocks keeps improving by the week."

It's hard to quote too liberally from the dialogue; Spagnola sanitizes his snippets with help from the term "F-bomb," and Eatman writes that special-teams coach Joe Avezzano is "teaching us all a few more vocabulary words."

The show paints a vivid picture and isn't afraid to focus on negative elements, such as players being cut. But having writers employed by a team reviewing a show produced by the league hardly goes hand and hand with such reality TV. You might as well have Tony Soprano reading over their shoulders, baseball bat in one hand.

Hard Knocks is drawing praise from outside the Cowboys family. Thursday's Dallas Morning News (dallasnews.com) pointed to the final minutes of this week's episode, which showed receiver Anthony Lucas suffering a season-ending knee injury, then crying on owner Jerry Jones' shoulder, then calling his mother and telling her "it's just not meant for me."

"Such is the magic of the HBO show that has pulled back the curtain at Cowboys training camp," Barry Horn writes. "The cold couple of paragraphs that reported the injury in Monday's papers and the few lines it received on radio and television sports reports could not begin to tell the story."

The NFL has a page for the show at nfl.com/hardknocks, and for fans who don't subscribe to HBO (the show airs Wednesday nights at 11 and Thursdays at 8), there are ample video clips online. The site had eight segments from this week's episode, and the best stuff has nothing to do with X's and O's, like hearing Emmitt Smith talk trash while playing a golf video game in his hotel room.

A thread Thursday morning on the message boards at dallasnews.com was titled "Props to HBO," and with the show's buzz growing with three episodes remaining, there's intrigue as to where HBO will stop next summer. With a charismatic coach and a handful of colorful personalities, a trip to Buccaneers camp seems a real possibility.

JUST SPLENDID: John-Henry Williams, son of late baseball legend Ted Williams, is rapidly moving up the standings at jerkoftheweek.com. Williams leapt into the top 10 on the "Jerk Points" list but still has a way to go before catching Bud Selig, Jayson Williams and points leader Mike Tyson. Locals honored this week include budding writer Jose Canseco and Bobby "Let's Roll" Bowden.

TID-BYTES: An AOL survey this week showed 64 percent of more than 15,000 respondents believe baseball players will strike. Asked if they would follow baseball after a strike, 53 percent said they would not. ... This week's sign the Jon Gruden-Chucky doll thing is getting out of hand: A Brandon man has registered the domain name "Chuckaneer.com." ... ESPN.com Page 2 columnist Ralph Wiley hit on a popular target, listing Warren Sapp among his "10 biggest frauds in sports." "(He) feuds with everybody but guys playing on the offensive line opposite of him," Wiley writes. "Pray this guy is never holding the rope you need to pull you up out of a well or a mine shaft."

-- If you have a question or comment about the Internet or a site to suggest, e-mail staff writer Greg Auman at auman@sptimes.com.

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