Today it became official that the Cowboys will be featured on HBO's Hard Knocks this summer. I am still not sure how I really feel about this thing. I love the fact that I am going to get some inside info and footage from training camp, but I really hope this isn't too much of a distraction to the team. I have gone back and forth on whether it's a good or bad idea for the last two days and I have a feeling it's going to be that way for a while.
 
The Star Telegram breaks down the logistics of how the show will be done, read here.

NFL Films will deploy 50 people over 50 days to “Big Brother” every move of the Dallas Cowboys this summer.

Seven robotic cameras with zoom capabilities will be stuck here and there, around the facilities at Oxnard, Calif. At least four film crews will shoot each day.

A total of 30 producers and editors are assigned to the project. (Roughly 200 hours of film result in one hour of on-air production of Hard Knocks. Hollywood’s ratio for making a movie is normally 12-1.)

Here's Jerry and Steve Sabol talking about the show on Total Access..



You have to love Jerry, you just have to. He drives us all crazy, but the man loves this team so much and he wants to always show everyone how proud he is to be the owner of the Dallas Cowboys.

Will it be too much of a distraction though? It's going to be a distraction, but probably not too much of a distraction. This team is in the headlines every day as it is and these players should be used to being the 'talk of the country' by now.

The only way this really becomes a huge problem is if HBO's crew winds up filming some players being knuckleheads. The DMN asked Ross Greenburg the President of HBO Sports about just such a scenario, read here.

Say Pacman Jones enters an Oxnard strip club. Say an HBO cameraman is there on the street. Say said cameraman flips the switch and records the whole thing. Does that make it to air? Do the Cowboys have a say? Do the producers check with the Cowboys first? Or do they just go ahead and break the news?

"I would say this, first of all the chances of us being in a spot where our cameras are going to capture a player doing something illegal or to get himself into trouble would be rare, because we're not going to be everywhere, anyway, 24 hours a day," Greenburg said. "We only have a certain amount of cameras to follow these guys with. Secondly, if there is some kind of a controversy surrounding one of the Cowboy players off the field, we will have cameras here recording the reaction within the Cowboy organization, as to how they're going to handle that situation.

"So we're going to deal with it and Jerry will have no problem with it, I can guarantee of that, because it's going to be plaster on every Web site and blog and TMZ, across America. That's the world we live in, and you know what? We're just gonna be part of the furniture, dealing with it amongst all the other media, maybe even looking at how the media is dealing with it."

If such a situation arises I think Steve Sabol goes right to Jerry and says 'What do we want to do here?'. I really don't think Sabol wants to be in the NFL's doghouse on this one and he would much rather have a local news outlet break something of this nature. The idea behind that thinking is that if Sabol ever wants to do another 'Hard Knocks' he will play ball the way the Cowboys and the NFL want to play ball.

What does Wade think about this whole thing? Of course he loves it because he has no say anyway so he might as well be in love with the idea..


 
What about Tony Romo? He didn't sound all that Rah-Rah about the idea and who could blame him, read here.

"I don't know yet. I'm trying to keep some stuff private but it doesn't look like it's going to happen this year ... It's part of it. It'll be fun. I know the Cowboys are a big draw for everyone nationally. It'll be a good thing for the fans in general but the rest of the NFC East fans won't like it."

C'mon Tony, there is no way that you will be able to keep some stuff private as long as you are the QB of America's Team and you're dating a hottie like Jessica Simpson.

Lastly, here's a little tid bit from Matt Mosley over at Hashmarks, read here.

But back to Jerry's explanation for why he thinks "Hard Knocks" is a good thing for the Cowboys:

"One of reasons that our players have this opportunity is because of the interest in this franchise," he said. "Basically it's taking advantage of promoting why it's so special to be a Dallas Cowboy."

Jerry then indicated that his players and coaches are all on board with the show, which was news to the players and coaches. One high-ranking member of the organization told me Wednesday that the coaches weren't thrilled with the arrangement, saying all the cameras might change their approach.

I believe it. There is no way these coaches and players want to be under more scrutiny this summer. But they should know by now what they are in for by being a member of the Cowboys.

This is going to be one crazy summer folks!