The only thing I dislike more than reality television is the NFL preseason*, so the notion of combining the two in the form of HBO’s vaunted “Hard Knocks” series sounds about as appealing as, I dunno, being Lance Armstrong’s gopher. If the Miami Dolphins hoped to enhance their brand identity by participating in the 2012 edition of “Hard Knocks”, the Palm Beach Post’s Joe Capozzi scolds, “there was precious little to gain.”

The worst thing that could have happened did when players groused that a double-standard seemed to have been established. The players were asked to keep complaints in-house, but the very presence of HBO cameras – sometimes accompanied by a coach’s mocking criticism of a player – invited a sense of hypocrisy.

Chad Johnson’s domestic issues became a flashpoint, and led veterans Reggie Bush, Karlos Dansby and Jake Long to request a meeting with Philbin in the wake of Johnson’s departure. Vontae Davis was teased about a lack of bladder control.

Roberto Wallace, who was waived Friday, was tagged with the nickname “Ankle Weights” during a staff evaluation in reference to his lack of speed.

There’s a cutthroat and cruel environment wrapped around all things professional football, of course, and players are well aware of how harshly they can be judged and how quickly they can be jettisoned. Long, though, was wrong Friday when he said, “Everybody was portrayed in a good manner.”

They most certainly were not. Davis’ immaturity was on full display when he immediately said he wanted to “call my grandma” after Ireland gave him news of the trade. Neither did it serve any purpose to learn that rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill doesn’t know which teams play in which division.

* – OK, genocide is pretty bad, too.