I, Wellness Columnist.

http://whatsupatupstate.wordpress.com/2011/10/24/healthy-monday-humorist-jeff-kramer-gets-serious-about-his-health/


Hi All,

Here's the link to my kick-off column in a new magazine published by Upstate Medical University. I'll write monthly as their health/humor guy.

If you've seen me in person lately this first column might seem a little dated. I wrote it during the summer at the start of my slim-down campaign. But check it out anyway as well as the rest of the magazine, which is quite excellent. I'm proud to be part of it. JK

Time For A Trick Play: Obama Uncensored

Maybe the White House has already figured this out and called NFL Films President Steve Sabol. President Obama needs to get miked up pronto, just like New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick was, so Americans can hear it all, unvarnished and unspun: The doubt, the frustration, the anger the joy, the sadness, the humor.

Is it a risky idea? Yep. But sometimes doing nothing is a bigger risk, especially when you're heading into an election cycle on the dawn of a double-dip recession. And lest we forget, it was Obama who promised that the health care debate would be shown behind the scenes and uncensored on C-SPAN. It didn't happen, but it should have.

Like a lot of Americans, I've tired of Obama's mellifluous speech-making, and I hunger for something real. Just as Belichick candidly laments to quarterback Tom Brady on the sideline that he has tried everything but can't get the team to respond, Obama could be revealed sharing his true thoughts on, say, Pakistan.

I bend over backwards for these guys. I send them millions of dollars. I include them in the family of nations when they were hiding bin Laden. I even say "Pawk-ee-stawn" when I know damn well it costs me votes in key swing states. And they attack our embassy in Kabul?? That's bull*&^%, Hillary. Major League bull*&^%.

Then a humanizing transition to a domestic matter:

Michelle! If you're going to Target don't forget that gift card we got from the crown prince of Bahrain. I know it's only 50 bucks, but what the hell ...

The parallels between Obama and Belichick are worth pondering. Belichick has five Super Bowl rings. Obama won the Super Bowl of politics. Both have been described as cerebral and aloof. Both have tasted the sweet fruit of ultimate victory, and the sour swill of unfulfilled expectations. Both shun the media or spoon-feed it cliches.

Only now Belichick has something Obama doesn't: A prime-time NFL Films documentary.

Before "Bill Belichick: A Football Life" aired last month on the NFL Network, the Patriots coach was one of the most reviled figures in sports, except by his players and the vast majority of New England Patriots fans. To most everyone else he was a broodng, bloodless character absorbed in the tactical chess match of football but indifferent to the human element. When he was fined $500,000 and stripped of two No. 1 draft picks because the Patriots were filming rival sidelines in violation of league rules, he was labeled a cheater.

Who knew all it would take to turn Belichick from a pariah to a prince would be a few hours of candid camera on satellite TV?

Friends of mine who have long loathed Belichick are suddenly telling me they like the guy.

Boston-based sports media columnist Bruce Allen wrote: "When people watch this film and see Belichick in a completely different way than they are used to, are they going to wonder why the local media at times is so focused on how he acts in press conferences ...? It seems like a fair question to ask."

The New York Times -- no friend of the Patriots -- lauds the two-part film for showing Belichick as a "fiery, funny, profane, passionate person."

Obama and Belichick are both tactical geniuses at the top of their games, but the coach seems to have grasped something the politician hasn't:

It's harder to hate someone when you know them.

The clock is ticking, Mr. President. Bench the b.s. and put transparency in the game.