HBO Sports VP/Sports Publicity & Media Relations Ray Stallone yesterday said the net would not comment on the status of its "Hard Knocks" series "until the NFL lockout is lifted," according to Michael Hiestand of USA TODAY. The statement comes after SI's Peter King this weekend posted on his Twitter account that the show would not be airing this season (USA TODAY, 7/25). AWFUL ANNOUNCING's Ben Koo wrote it looks like HBO "threw up the white flag as they stared down a litany of issues prohibiting production of another season of the show," including the lockout and the fact that "no team signed on to do the show" (AWFULANNOUNCING.com, 7/24). CBSSPORTS.com's Ryan Wilson wrote there was "no other show like it on television." It was a "guilty pleasure that got us through the tediousness of training camps and offered us a glimpse behind the curtain" (CBSSPORTS.com, 7/23).
KEEPING IT REAL: In Denver, Dusty Saunders writes HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" is "must-see TV for sports fans because of the compelling work of Gumbel, Frank Deford, Mary Carillo and Bernard Goldberg." Gumbel during last week's episode "raised eyebrows with his closing commentary" in which he accused the U.S. media of "'coddling losing female athletes' and pointed to reports and commentary surrounding the U.S. soccer team's stunning loss to Japan" in the FIFA Women's World Cup Finals. Saunders: "Broadcasting networks, with skittish advertisers, would not have allowed Gumbel's controversial commentary" (DENVER POST, 7/25). In St. Petersburg, Tom Jones writes the "debates continues to smolder about the media's treatment of the U.S. women's soccer team," as some believe the criticism "has been light because it was a women's team even though the United States was a heavy favorite and lost to a team it had never lost to in 25 matches after blowing two one-goal leads and making a mess of penalty kicks." Jones: "Maybe the women deserve the pats on the backs they have received. After all, the team really did dominate the World Cup final and was more unlucky than anything. Plus, the Americans showed grit and talent just surviving Brazil in the quarterfinals on its way to the final. In the end, even the criticism of the team is a good thing for women sports because that means the women were judged simply as a soccer team, not a women's or girls' soccer team" (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 7/25).
