TheDailyBlitz.com: Bengals officially next team featured on HBO's Hard Knocks

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Bengals officially next team featured on HBO's Hard Knocks

It's official.

Per the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Cincinnati Bengals will be the featured team on the 2009 version of HBO's "Hard Knocks: Training Camp" show.

In April, it was widely-reported that HBO had selected the Bengals for the next season of the show. The first episode will air on August 12th at 10 p.m.

This will be the fifth season in the series of the HBO show. The Baltimore Ravens were the first (2001) followed by the Dallas Cowboys (2002), Kansas City Chiefs (2007) and Dallas Cowboys again (2008).

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis was defensive coordinator for the Ravens in 2001 so he should know what to expect.

“One of the major reasons we did it was people thought of us a certain way. People felt like we had a bunch of characters but I wanted to show that we were a team of character,” said [former Ravens coach Brian] Billick.

If you're expecting the Bengals to show that they're a "team of character," don't hold your breath.