Say it ain't so joe.  Rumor has it that HBO is targeting the Cincinnati Bengals for their successful series "Hard Knocks".  The producers are obviously not doing their homework on this one, or maybe they have been turned down by everyone else.

Yes it is true that Marvin Lewis is familiar with the show and it's requirements since he was the defensive coordinator at Baltimore when the series premiered in 2000.  However, it is widely known that the Bengals are one of the largest group of criminal misfits in the NFL today.  Therefore, it makes no sense for HBO to reward this type of recruiting/character development with a very successful primetime series exposure that would come with this show.

Poor choice indeed for HBO but then again it could be genius.  Look at the previous teams and their results = Not so successful.  We could be talking about a "Madden"-type curse here.