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Kevin Acee of UT San Diego is reporting that the San Diego Chargers are early favorites to be the subject of HBO's documentary show Hard Knocks in 2014. The team's CEO A.G. Spanos seems to be the biggest proponent of doing the show, which they have not yet been invited to do at this point in time. Unsurprisingly, Spanos' enthusiasm is not shared by the football side of the organization.
Team player until the end, Philip Rivers pointed to the fact that he doesn't make these decisions, but offered that if asked his response would be "please, don't." I second that sentiment. As much as it would make our job covering the team easier, I can't help thinking this is simply a horrible, terrible idea.
Eric Weddle responded to the idea of being on Hard Knocks with a simple, "why?" That's actually a fairly simple question to answer. Interest in the team is down from where it once was and where it needs to be. The new regime in the front office and on the sidelines has pulled it up some already, but being on Hard Knocks would go a long, long way toward building interest in the franchise.
It's encouraging that at least one Spanos is on the side of sanity here, though:
"It's a very entertaining show," John said. "I enjoy watching it ... Now, everything we do (in football operations) is working toward what gives us the best chance to win. My brother and I work in very different ends of the building. ('Hard Knocks') merits a discussion, but you can guess what side of the fence I land on."
Maybe that fawning profile Kevin Acee wrote about the young Spanos was fair after all. Also, this almost (okay, not even almost, but bear with me) makes me miss former General Manager A.J. Smith because he never would have even considered letting this ridiculous distraction into his team's facility.
Nothing has happened yet, but it sure sounds like things could get "interesting" around here next season.