You know what’s crazy? I’ll tell you what’s crazy™
Hard Knocks 2015.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Hooray!
THE NFL IS BACK!
The HBO show is a 24/7 look at America’s favorite sport.
This year, it’s set in the home of the Houston Texans.
I don’t care about Houston, but I do care about the NFL.
And HBO HARD KNOCKS means the NFL is staring up.
It’s downright exciting.
It’s like a Ferrari idling in the driveway.
When an Italian Sports car is idling in the driveway, that’s like a smiley face balloon floating over an orgy of candy land exuberance.
That’s good.
When football is on the horizon, It’s even better, like being in the front row as the Rockettes do their can can dance with neon colored thongs.
HBO Hard Knocks is an in-depth look at the gruel that is NFL training camp.
It is a wonderfully produced show that follows a number of stories over a 4 week period.
It’s expertly shot and magnificently edited.
It will concentrate on superstar JJ Watt.
But it will also chronicle the coaches and the walk on player just trying to make the team.
HBO Hard Knocks represents rebirth.
Last season there was one champ, the New England Patriots.
Everyone else was a loser.
The Titans were 2-14. LOSERS.
The Seahawks lost in the Super Bowl.
In a weird way, they were losers too.
That’s why this is such an exciting time of year.
Every team has a chance to take the ring.
The Hall of Fame induction ceremony kicks off the beginning of grid iron hope.
There is the Steelers and the Vikings on NBC.
Half these guys will be out of the league waiting tables in a month, but for now, its pure adrenaline.
It’s an eppy pen to the heart.
To the NFL fanatic, this is a rebirth, a rekindled excitement, an enthusiasm that permeates a sportsman’s soul.
It feels good like a liquored up leprechaun fanning the flames of ecstasy under a fluffy man kilt.
I don’t know what that means, but it is liberating and cathartic and better than a whizinator in a stadium with one bathroom.
So the show begins and I immediately see babies walking with #99 jerseys.
#99 is JJ Watt.
Watt is simply a force of nature. He is a mastodon in a stable of lambs. He is a tremendous physical specimen.
He is the rare player with heart and mind and physical superiority.
He could be one of the best to ever lace them up.
HBO shows him lifting a 1,000 pound tractor tire over and over and over.
He is a monster. He is a superstar. JJ Watt is a fan favorite.
The show needs stars, but it also needs story lines and HARD KNOCKS is about the grit and determination that it takes to be a pro football player.
The story lines are there for the taking
On day 1, a young linebacker blows out his ACL.
He is in tears on the training table.
There is anguish in his eyes.
He is out for the season, perhaps forever.
His dream, temporarily is dashed.
This is the harsh reality of the new world order, the NFL, HARDKNOCKS.
The NFL is a bottle rocket in flight.
It is a short burst of colorized excitement and then 18 weeks later, it’s over.
And when the season ends, a new bottle rocket must be lit to take flight.
This is that expectation, that desire that hope.
Welcome NFL.
I’ve missed you.
Life’s Crazy™