Stefan Fatsis examines HBO's Hard Knocks and (of course) manages to tie his book into the essay: "For many men, NFL Films is the soundtrack of their childhood. When I hear one of its familiar orchestral scores, I am a 10-year-old boy eating a Swanson's TV dinner while watching last weekend's highlights narrated by John Facenda's Oz-like baritone. More than 30 years later, in 2006, I would be the subject of an NFL Films segment myself, about my summer as a training-camp placekicker with the Denver Broncos." [ Slate]