This is the episode that was used to secure 30 Rock's Emmy Nomination in the Outstanding Comedy Series category, an award it proudly walked away with. It's not that hard to see why: there are so many classic (and classy) moments in here that chances the audience could die laughing are higher than ever.
As usual, Hard Ball is made up of three different stories: first, we've got Josh's contract being up and the different approaches used by Jack and Liz in the negotiation; then there's Kenneth joining Tracy's entourage, only to cause trouble when it turns out the other members, Grizz and Dot Com, have been letting the comedian win at games and laughed at unfunny jokes to keep him happy; and finally, Jenna is among the "Sexiest Women in Comedy" in a magazine, but ignites a scandal when she is misquoted in an interview and appears to have said she hates American troops.
The Jenna section is the funniest for two reasons: a) Rachel Dratch is ace as always playing one of the people protesting against the poor girl; b) it gives Tina Fey the chance to throw in another Barack Obama gag after mentioning him in the fifth episode, Jack-Tor. Overall, Hard Ball is a clever piece of insanity where everything goes wrong, in true sitcom fashion, and yet another example of why 30 Rock is the smartest post-2000 comedy series next to Arrested Development, The Office and (to slightly lesser degree) Scrubs. Heck, it even manages to throw in a slow-motion scene at the end (accompanied by a character's rendition of a famous love song) without looking corny. Ain't that something!