Jets/Cowboys don't look like real contenders

Ryan was having fun. He almost always is having fun, as viewers have seen on HBO’s all-access “Hard Knocks” this season.

Somewhere inside the joke, though, was a nod to a difficult (at least for a coach) modern reality. Where training camps once were about building teams amid semi-tranquility and low expectations, they now are full-throttle marketing vehicles with expectations of their own.

Hence the reality show that has featured Ryan delivering monologues, Cromartie counting his children and anonymous rookies battling for roster slots (all set to soaring music and sweeping cinematography, of course).

Everything is big news now. And not just with the Jets.

Almost the entire league is into it, although New York’s competition in conducting the most high-profile summer has been the Dallas Cowboys. They haven’t been on “Hard Knocks” since 2008, but owner Jerry Jones showed up a couple of times on HBO anyway (“Entourage”). To keep up their visibility, the Cowboys held training camp in three different cities in two different states.

Dallas’ theme of the summer is about becoming the first team in NFL history to play a “Home Super Bowl.” Cowboys Stadium is set to host the big game in February. The Jets’ plan is to meet them there – “Our goal is to win the Super Bowl,” Ryan said. “We don’t care if you like it or not.”

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