HBO's 'Hard Knocks' returns to cover the Rams and Chargers.
1. Obviously, these are not normal times, but I can't remember a season of Hard Knocks getting less buzz and attention.
We're all dealing with this little pandemic that's going on, and the NFL has been out of sight, out of mind for a while. Plus, we now have the other three major sports back after a long layoff, and college football is dominating the headlines. But here is Hard Knocks.
The newest season of the HBO show debuts Tuesday night and, for the first time ever, will feature two teams: the Chargers and Rams.
The NFL and HBO should've done everything in their power to get the Bucs to do it. Even if they would've had to promise to turn parts of each episode into a TB12 infomercial, it would've been worth it. But we're stuck with the Chargers and Rams.
Hard Knocks had a stellar season in 2018 with the Cleveland Browns during Baker Mayfield's rookie campaign, but flopped big time last year with the Raiders.
Maybe the low expectations for the 2020 edition will help the long-standing franchise, which has no doubt been hurt by social media over the last several years.
Everyone thought the Raiders would bring a lot to the table, thanks to Jon Gruden and the Antonio Brown drama, but they ended up bringing nothing to the table.
The Browns drama played out each day on Twitter and Instagram, and the show wasn't able to provide anything new. You also didn't see one of the show's trademarks—players getting cut—during the Raiders season.
Who knows how the show will be different in the age of coronavirus? And maybe there will be some breakout stars, even though you don't think of the Rams and Chargers as teams that have many dynamic personalities.
But ready or not, Hard Knocks is here.
2. LeBron went for the open-shirt look when he showed up to Monday night's game against the Nuggets.
LeBron's friend Dwyane Wade was quick to mock the King on Inside the NBA.
After beating the Nuggets and putting up 29 points and 12 assists, LeBron got wind of Wade's move and summed up TNT's studio shows perfectly, saying, "Y'all crazy in that studio."
3. After Tampa Bay center fielder Kevin Kiermaier made a nice catch to rob Boston's Jonathan Araúz of a hit Monday night, Araúz's teammate, Michael Chavis, had a must-see reaction.
4. Nice job here by the Pirates, who are mailing out baseballs that land in season-ticket holders' seats to the seat owners.
5. New York Post media reporter Andrew Marchand reports that ESPN will still go with Steve Levy, Louis Riddick and Brian Griese on Monday Night Football as opposed to Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit, even if the college football season is canceled (which it won't).
6. Leonard Fournette is the latest athlete to give us a great coronavirus quote.
7. The latest Sports Illustrated Media Podcast features an interview with Sports Business Journal reporter John Ourand, who joined me to discuss the latest sports media news, including the NFL's television future and which packages may be on the move, the Rock buying the XFL, WWE's newest big hire, the state of podcasts, why the gambling explosion hasn't happened and much more.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher and Google Play.
8. SPORTS VIDEO OF THE DAY: Nobody brought more to the table during a Hard Knocks season than Browns offensive line coach Bob Wylie.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Stitcher. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.