The lockout in the National Football League appears to have complicated the aim of the producers of HBO's "Hard Knocks" to get a team on the show for the 2011 pre-season.
According to reports, Tampa Bay, Denver, Detroit and Atlanta have turned down offers to do the show this year, and the New York Jets, who were featured last year, have declined an invitation to do it again in 2011.
Even under the best of circumstances, teams view "Hard Knocks" as an intrusion, complicating training camp focus. And the lockout represents anything but the best of circumstances for training camp and the regular season.
Packers management has not been eager to give the team over for a "Hard Knocks" experience. Some years ago the show's representatives asked if the Packers were interested and they were not. Coach Mike McCarthy said he thought players who were on the youngest team in the NFL might show their age in the wrong sort of way when talking with cameras present.
"No disrespect to ‘ Hard Knocks,’ but it’s not on my radar screen," McCarthy said in 2009.
General manager Ted Thompson is not a "Hard Knocks" kind of general manager - he's allergic to that kind of attention. McCarthy isn't built the same way as Jets coach Rex Ryan, who has the kind of personality that any reality show loves.
Nevertheless, Sporting News Today listed the Packers among four teams it thinks are interesting and entertaining enough to capture and keep the attention of viewers.
The publication did not consider Baltimore, Dallas, Kansas City and Cincinnati, teams that have been on the show in recent years.
The Oakland Raiders, Washington Redskins, Packers and New England Patriots are the teams Sporting News thinks would give good knocks.
"It's time for HBO to go back to the Cheese League, and the timing couldn't be better with the Pack ruling the NFL as Super Bowl champions," Sporting News argued. "Aaron Rodgers would obviously be the star, but the defense offers plenty in personalities such as B.J. Raji, Clay Matthews and Charles Woodson."
The tradition of Packers' camp, which includes players riding the kids' bikes, is another kind of charm that would appeal to viewers, the digital sports publication said.
Bob Wolfley wrote: