Wednesday night marks the first episode of this year's Hard Knocks: Training Camp With the New York Jets (airs at 10 PM EDT on HBO). By now, you likely know the drill (get it?) of a season premiere: players show up to camp, complain about their room assignment and/or the food and then begin the first week of two-a-day practices. But still, it's access rarely allowed in the tightly-sealed in NFL, and it surely has Jets fans pretty excited.
And why shouldn't they be? Not only is their team featured for an hour a week over the next five weeks, but New York is also a popular pick for the Super Bowl this year, after signing veterans LaDainian Tomlinson, Laveranues Coles and Jason Taylor, and trading for both Antonio Cromartie and Santonio Holmes. Heck, head coach Rex Ryan even lost over 40 pounds after weight loss surgery.
Exciting times in New Jersey, indeed ... except, well, there's one thing that might deflate some of the Jets fans' excitement over the 2010 season and Hard Knocks: since the show began in 2001, teams have combined for just one playoff win in the season in which they were featured.
- 2001 Ravens: 10-6, second in AFC Central, beat Dolphins in Wild Card game before losing to the Steelers in the Divisional round.
- 2002 Cowboys: 5-11, fourth in NFC East
- 2007 Chiefs: 5-11, tied for third in AFC West
- 2008 Cowboys: 9-7, third in NFC East
- 2009 Bengals: 10-6, first in AFC North, lost to Jets on Wild Card Weekend in playoffs
If you extend it to include the 2004 Jaguars, who were featured on the NFL Network's version of the show, "Inside Training Camp: Jaguars Summer," teams that appear on the show finish with an average record of 8-8 (48-48 total), and are just 1-2 in the playoffs.
Of course, this does not mean that the Jets will be 8-8 this year, or that they won't have postseason success. This isn't the next SI or Madden curse (at least, not yet).
But maybe, for a team already situated in center of media coverage and hyperbole, inviting even more cameras and press to film and air the beginning weeks of one of the franchise's most important seasons could end up being not such a good idea.
(via Dave Lozo)