So many good things to see, but excited to see Aubrey (un)Pleasant rip into some DBs like he did Okudah on the sideline last year.
This might be must-see TV.
Think how much Jamal is going to teach us about Anime.
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I think this can happen–and definitely would have happened with Matt Patricia. But I dunno, I get the sense that MCDC is going to be pumped to show the world what he and his staff are building here. I also think Lions players, especially younger guys, will be pumped to have the spotlight too, in a way you don’t usually get when you’re on a rebuilding team that’s historically bad.
I guess, upshot, with previous staffs I think this may well have blown up in their faces. But we happen to have a staff that’s very intentionally trying to turn Detroit into a place guys want to come to. They’ll be looking at this as a commercial for free agents and next year’s crop of rookies, and if the culture change we wall want to believe they’re building is legit, it could come off very well.
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The saving grace here is that we have key guys who have been on Hard Knocks before, so they know what to expect and how to avoid some of the pitfalls. MCDC was a mini star when he was TE coach of the Dolphins. Our GM, Asst GM, Goff and Brockers have also been on the show.
Once we get this over with, we won’t be forced to do it again for at least 10 years (that’s the rule). If I were MCDC and staff, I would find ways to “do stuff” at some of the cooler parts of Detroit so that they get captured on camera. Coaches do stuff like bowling as a reward for hard work at camp, and to build team chemistry. I would suggest MCDC switch it up and go to an automobile museum or something like that. You guys know better than I do what is fun to do in Detroit. They have their own facilities, but I would make it a point to do some meetings in a rented space in downtown Detroit in one of the newly renovated buildings in an up and coming area.
I dont currently have HBO but may have to get it for a month should be fun to watch
For those that don’t have HBO and don’t want to get it just for Hard Knocks, I believe there is a way to buy single episodes of shows on Amazon Prime. Has anyone tried this yet?
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I would think so. Inside The Den has full editorial power to frame their image in the best light. I’m sure Hard Knocks will run their episodes by the Lions before they’re released for comment, but the end product probably won’t be as flattering as a Lions-produced work.
For me, this is all guess because I’ve never watched more than a fragment of an episode and that was years ago. It’s must-see TV this year.
Thought experiment: I wonder how KT and his brand will play with the cameras rolling?
If you see it differently then don’t prescribe my perspective to someones who are not me. My view has nothing to do with ‘Quintricia’ who I loathed.
It has to do with social psychology - which I both study and use in my work. The camera primes more performative behaviors because the more public something is, the more social pressures we associate into the moment. I didn’t invent that. It’s the root of ‘mob mentality’ and its why people go to great lengths so that private moments don’t become public shame. That’s harder to do with an HBO camera in your face in those moments.
I’ll agree with you that it doesn’t have to be a culture breaker. It will certainly be a culture test because just like Aubrey Pleasant cussing Jeff Okudah out on national TV last year, other people’s interpretations will create noise around the messages MCDC is sending.
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I could see MCDC saying to the squad, “this is another chance to get our message out about what it means to fight for a city.” Good news for us is that this coaching staff and our leader are highly competent.
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I’d much rather willis and will Anderson.
What would you define as a lousy season? If we go 7-10 or 8-9 would you classify that as lousy?
I know you weren’t asking me but I’m tired of going MONTHS without winning football games. Last year we didn’t win a single game in September, October or November. That’s 3 months of watching football where we couldn’t celebrate a single winning weekend. That shit hurts.
As many as Will Smith from Last Nite at the Oscars???.. 
We’re on the same page.
I imagine some people are more deflected from their core than others by cameras. Is that fair to say? I’d think for MCDC not so much, and fortunately by setting the tone, he may be able to minimize that for the rest of the team. I’d think for KT much, and that will be a concern should we draft him–from my very distant and fallible perspective.
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I hear what you’re saying, and yes, there definitely could be, and probably will be, moments like the Pleasant/Okuda thing last year, and the team will have to navigate them. (Although realistically, even that moment, had it happened during a preseason game on Hard Knocks, would have come with a lot more context, where you understood the larger story of the relationship between these guys.)
In any case, just want to note that at the end of the day, we’re talking about professional entertainers working for one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world. For the most part, these guys have been in the spotlight since they were teenagers, played in front of packed stadiums with tens of thousands of fans, had cameras in their college locker rooms, likely had phone cameras constantly in their faces on campus and plenty of the time now as pros. Even if you’re not on Hard Knocks, there are always cameras everywhere–whether from the team, Lions media, NFL media, local press.
Just noting that the combination of smartphones and modern NFL media coverage have really changed the game for this stuff. Anybody in this business probably assumes they’re being recorded by somebody most of the time they’re in uniform–and plenty of the time when they’re not.
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I WANT ONE MONTAGE TO BE A MIXTAPE OF ALL THE FUCKINGS WE’VE TAKEN FROM THE THE REFS
Thats not a touchdown- Calvin
Thats not DPI-Cowboys
Thats not a safety, a fumble, a recovered TD or a holding in the endzone-Gado
Thats not a touchdown- Marcus Pollard
That IS a facemask- a-Aron
Thats not intentionally batting…and there IS a rule about intents…well just for that play…- Seattle
Thats not down by contact…and yes normally you coukd challenge that…but no.- Gym Shortz/Justin Forsett
Etx.
Viewers would shit themselves…
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You speak facts my friend. I have a lot of confidence in MCDC. He’s entertaining, but he’s not an entertainer. This stuff matters to him beyond the entertainment aspects of it. I know it doesn’t to HBO.
That said, I have every confidence that this coaching staff will make us proud as fans. I’d prefer they not have the distraction even though I’m dying to know what MCDC is like in strategy meetings! As MCDC says “Let’s Go!”
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On “This Just In” on ESPN they were saying that they picked the worst team possible to have on “Hard Knocks”.