HATS OFF TO O’HARA

Rare criticism of former mates is refreshing

THERE IS every reason to believe Shaun O’Hara didn’t think he was making an unconscious decision in a conscious state of mind when he used Twitter on Aug. 6 to chide members of the Giants offensive line for sitting out practice. “So much for toughness,” O’Hara wrote. O’Hara’s intent was to give the players, who work for the team he once played for, a verbal kick in the tuchis. By all accounts, his attempt to motivate succeeded. In case anyone forgot, O’Hara is not a coach. He works as an analyst for the NFL Network. He does a very solid job and is an engaging voice.

The suits who employ O’Hara, like their peers at other networks who pay former NFL players to yak, claim these analysts are objective, that their only allegiance is to the viewer.

We know better. For many players, it takes years to separate from their former teams and cross over into the media. There are plenty of players currently working on TV who fit that description. Still, they pay lip service to being objective. Picking against their team during some lame predictions segment is their idea of building credibility.

But when it comes to dishing the inside stuff they hear about their former squad, info they have access to, well, that ain’t happening.

Nor are they eager to provide a comprehensive critique of their former coaches. During his regular appearances last season on NFLN’s “Game-Day First” Sunday pregame show, O’Hara didn’t exactly level any significant criticism in Tom Coughlin’s direction as the Giants were stumble-bumming to a 6-10 record.

Nonetheless, O’Hara, who through his tweet might as well have anointed himself the Giants’ de facto offensive line coach, is just following in this long line of analysts whose allegiance is still to team first. Breaking up is hard to do. The Giants fan base digs O’Hara because he is working in their best interests.

Unfortunately, NFLN’s audience is not totally comprised of Giants fans. It is made up of a wide variety of viewers who now have every right to wonder if O’Hara is working in their best interests. This is of little consequence to the execs running NFLN, who were likely thrilled about the publicity the network got from O’Hara’s tweet and subsequent interviews during which he didn’t back down.

For the suits, O’Hara did a swell job.

HALL OF SHAME

Talk about actions speaking louder than words. Or life imitating art. Man are we confused. On Tuesday night at 8 p.m., Washington DB DeAngelo Hall was profiled on ESPN’s E:60. He revealed his sensitive side, sharing his life struggles. He confirmed his enigma status to Lisa Salters and said he is trying to shed his troublemaker image.

“I engage in some occasional banter and back-and-forth with guys on the field, but who doesn’t?” Hall asked.

Occasional? Two hours later we flipped over to the premiere of HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” and there was Hall, in a X-rated war of words with Texans (“HK’s” featured team) wideout DeAndre Hopkins during a joint practice with the team from D.C.

Later, Hopkins juked Hall, who fell. “I just finished it, I don’t start nothing,” Hopkins said. Since the diss-down, they have taken their beef to Twitter, where Hall’s “occasional banter” continues.

GET YOUR SCHEIN BOX

Hope it dawned on CBS Sports brainiacs to have Adam Schein’s vocal chords insured. They will be tested. Schein debuts his highly anticipated, hour-long “Time To Schein” show Monday night on CBSSN (GPS is a must to find it) at 6 p.m. Along with this daily extravaganza, the Nabob already has his three-hour SXM “Mad Dog Sports Radio” gabfest, hosts the Sunday morning “That Other Pregame Show” and “Monday QB,” during which he is subjected to a few minutes of physical abuse from Norman Julius Esiason.

That’s quite a media itinerary. Has this former SNY LoudMouth bit off more than he can chew? Stay tuned.

GRAND ILLUSION

Now that the Mets are hitting more home runs, SNY needs to tinker with its HR icon. It’s confusing. When a Met hits a dinger, all three bases on the graphic diamond (an element of the score box) light up. Viewers don’t get an exact count, graphically, of how many men were on base when the homer was hit. And if you were away for awhile and return to see three bases lit and flashing, you’re thinking grand slam.

There must be a way to fix this. How about this: flip the diamond logo to reveal a digital apple rising out of top hat, just like the one at Citi. That could eliminate some confusion.

So, there.

PAPA DON’T PREACH

Was FS1’s Petros Papadakis speaking from experience?

On “Fox Sports Live: Countdown,” he indicated he’s not a fan of “Hard Knocks.” Papadakis says teams only do the show “as a favor” to the league. He claimed “HK” is a “dealing chip” the league uses on franchises who don’t want to play in Europe.

“OK, you guys don’t want to got to Europe this year? All right, but we’ve got to have you guys on ‘Hard Knocks,’” Papadakis said. Don’t know if this is true. Do know Papadakis is schooled in the politics of sports-reality shows. For three seasons he hosted what might have been the worst sports-reality show ever made, Spike TV’s “Pros vs Joes,” featuring a combination of ridiculous competitions, stunts and alleged dialogue.

“As a favor,” Spike suits finally did the right thing.

They canceled this dreck.

CAST AWAY

Just wondering if Robert Kraft green-lighted “Do Your Job: Bill Belichick and the 2014 Patriots” — the one hour NFL Network special — before DeflateGate got really nasty?

The show, which debuts Sept. 9, features Kraft, his son Jonathan, and all the Pats coaches. Unfortunately Tom Brady, Jim McNally and John Jastremski are not found on the cast list. On Sept. 8, NFLN will look at the Pats’ Super Bowl win through the eyes of Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman and Devin McCourty. If Brady wasn’t going at it with Roger Goodell, you think he would be appearing on that show?