In the past few years, there's been an interesting rise in the number of TV shows that take you behind the scenes of a bunch of men practicing football. Call it the "Hard Knocks Era" of sports television. And yet, while so many of these shows are cliche, they also make for compelling television. I don't know why. I guess there's something about watching a bunch of grown men prepare to hit each other over and over again that sets off the primal instinct in our brains.
↵This is a really long-winded way of saying that Terrapins Rising returned for its fourth season on Comcast SportsNet last night. The eight-episode show takes you behind the scenes as the Maryland football team prepares for its season. It's not a perfect show - SB Nation's Terps blog Testudo Times goes over some of its flaws - but it's compelling TV and it does a nice job of showing the kind of preparation that's required to play Division I college football, even if that preparation results in a 2-10 season.
↵If you're like me and you missed the first episode, don't fret, because they're re-airing it several times this week. You can check the show out today at 4:30 p.m., as well as Thursday at 9:30 p.m. and Friday at 9 p.m. If you don't have a television or don't get CSN, you can even watch it online on TerpsTV one day after each show airs. For a complete schedule, and a pretty kickass trailer, click here.