You either sweat or you don't

Yesterday the old Blues Traveler song “Hook” came on Pandora. I think this is one of the best songs ever, and John Popper sounds amazing, the singing, the harmonica. I don’t understand why Blues Traveler never got bigger, but never mind that. Popper was pre gastric-bypass surgery when that song came out, and to be honest, he’s kind of lost a step since the fake weight-loss. I actually like fat Popper better, same way I prefer fat Al Roker. Of course I endorse a healthier lifestyle for anyone, but this kind of cheating surgery takes more than the weight. It takes a bite out of the person. Why? Because there’s no shortcuts.

A guy I know recently had the lap-band surgery at 30 years old. First off: Are you kidding me? 30 years old? You want to lose weight, eat better, get on a treadmill. “But, Brian, that doesn’t work for everyone.” Really? Nutrition plus activity doesn't ALWAYS equal a healthier body? That’s simply untrue. Incorporate an ounce of self-control and accountability. Stop looking for the Jenny Craig answer to every problem in life. Now this same guy: Tons of medical problems.

You can’t permanently fix any problem in life by stapling it shut and/or bypassing the workload. Physical fitness, like everything else, can only be achieved by doing the hard work, going the distance. Name one great thing in life that you can shortcut and reach the top on? There’s nothing worth having in this world that can be obtained without earning it the long, hard way. Nothing.

Look at AMERICAN IDOL. This past season’s ratings were the lowest in the show’s decade-plus run. Of course if you want to ruin any money-making franchise hand it to Nicki Minaj, watch it crash in burn. But the bigger reason for the franchise’s new failure is the fact that nobody cares about seeing someone shortcut it to success. There’s nothing at stake for the winner of this artificialized contest in its tenth, eleventh carnation. They can’t have a post-IDOL career, because major music success doesn’t happen like that. Read about the band FUN, sleeping on floors, six guys sharing a van, playing gigs for no money. That’s how success happens. Starting at the bottom, clawing and fighting to the top. Now FUN wins Grammys.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced that he was undergoing lap-band surgery so that he could achieve a lower body weight and live a healthier lifestyle. I applaud his intentions, hate his fast-food (no pun intended) approach to it. Is this for his family? To run for President? I don’t know. But I have no faith in fat guy who can’t demonstrate a level of accountability. If you can’t set limits for yourself, lose the weight through hard work and discipline, I’m sorry, you can’t be my Governor or my President. You either sweat or you don't.

Lap Band is the Rex Ryan answer.
What's the Tom Coughlin answer?

Christie’s PR camp will try to put a positive, family-themed spin on this surgery, but the truth is NJ’s first man is taking the easy way out instead of putting down the ice cream and climbing on the elliptical. It’s a dangerous message that will be heard by people from all walks and generations. Our leaders should not be sending a message that endorses the path of least resistance. In the end I think this surgery hurts Christie more than it helps, causes more problems than it eliminates. There’s no free pass from any challenge in life. You either sweat or you don't.

Read More: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/rex-ryan-advised-n-j-governor-chris-christie-182146668.html

Brian Huba
5.19.13

We Saw This Coming

Originally run on August 17, 2012:

It’s time for longstanding Albany Mayor Gerry Jennings to step aside. Yes, this needs to be Jennings’s last term in office. He’s been mayor since 1994. It’s been a great run, a historic run, second only to the unconquerable Erastus Corning who ruled for 42 years. And I’ve always been a HUGE fan of Jennings. He's part of the city’s homegrown fabric, the good old boy who went from bartender’s kid to CEO. But everything has to end.

Before I get to the base of my argument, let’s take a snapshot of the city’s landscape. The schools are a disaster. The taxes are through the roof. The city is losing population. The number of boarded-up business fronts is rising like rapid fire. The crime is out of control. And don’t believe that APD report about city crime being down. Like Mark Twain said about lies, “there are three types: lies, damn lies, and statistics.” Albany is a terrifying place, and I’m not just talking Arbor Hill, which is worse than Bedford Stuyvesant, I’m talking the entire city. It’s scary, big-city scary. But let’s forget all that, if such forgetting is possible, and talk about the latest issue at hand: Jennings vs. the Bar Scene.

Wow, that’s a line I thought I’d never write about the Capital City’s 74th Mayor. Jennings grew up the son of a bartender, and one of the first things he did when coming into office was take up the idea to build Albany’s economy on the back of Pearl Street. He jump started Alive at Five, and he was at the forefront of the bar scene buildup. He was Mayor when the Big House got rolling. Then came Mad River, the Bayou, Jillian’s, just to name a few. I can’t count the number of times I saw GJ at McGeary’s, beer in hand, mixing with the masses. His Alive at Five moves were brilliant. County and State Workers get paid on Thursday, so let’s bring all that new money to the Riverfront and let’s rock. I loved Alive at Five. It was all going great. Talk of a Convention Center and "Destination City” status was in the works. He got the Giants up here. He built up Albany International Airport. The U Albany Science buildings are here. Parking-ticket scandal aside, his legacy is secured. Get out, Gerry, while the getting is good.

Before I say another word about the bar scene battle, I will tell you that Jennings is 100% right on this issue. Most of the Downtown trouble comes after 2AM, and said trouble is a strain on local police and even hospitals. It’s a Warzone on Pearl Street after 2AM. But right doesn't always mean right. The fact remains that Jennings is trying to stifle out the monster he built, he’s turning his back on the partnership he made from Day One. Even though he’s 100% right on this 2AM thing, it feels a bit desperate to me. It feels like the end. The Big House is gone, Mad River is gone. And now Jillian’s is gone. That was a big one. And when the Bayou goes dark (because the Bayou is as Albany as Jennings himself) that to me will feel like a symbolic finish. And don’t get fooled, this Mayor cannot rebuild Downtown by waging this war against the bars. It’s time to start fresh.

Five terms in, Jennings is just too comfortable. He’s not hungry enough. How could he be? The man walks on water. He even made number one on my Famous Capital Region List. I love consistency. And I love Jennings as the face of Albany. But the ship is sinking. Smart people are moving out of Albany, and it looks like the bar scene isn’t far behind. The Convention Center can’t get off the ground. If Jennings is sticking around to outlast Corning as Albany’s longest-running Mayor, I don’t think he’s going to make it anyway. Jennings must be hungry for a new challenge. Senate? Congress? And the City of Albany needs a new voice to get in there and shake some things up. I love Gerry. He has great taste in food (I see him at D’Raymond’s all the time). He’s a homegrown good old boy. But it’s time to change gears. Get out, Gerry, while the getting is good.

Read More about Jennings: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Jennings-won-t-seek-6th-term-4516198.php

Brian Huba
Originally: 8/17/12

The Big Dragon

On Saturday night I dreamed I was at the Great Escape. I was at that dragon ride that swings back and forth. I knew something bad was about to happen. I watched as it filled with people and started. I looked for someone to warn, but there was no one. A few seconds into the action, the seats at the dragon’s tail came loose, and people fell off, towards the concrete below. I woke up.

I’ve always believed in Darwinism. I wanted to steamroll the world, thinking if I could out tough everyone, I’d come out on top. Didn’t happen. Doesn’t happen. My wife believes in karma. Now I believe in karma too. That’s marriage. I pick up garbage on the street, watch what I say, never rob, cheat, or steal. It’s bad karma. I like to think I’m a new person, living a better life than I did before marriage.

Today my whole family was at the house. Happy Mother’s Day. Being around my family somehow makes me go back to the way I once was, the Darwinist. I get filled with this wrong-way energy, and afterward regret something I said or did. They have this power to break me out of this new life I’m supposedly living. That's what I tell myself. They do it. It's their fault.

At some point, conversation of a woman from my childhood came up, a friend of mine’s mother, who treated me like second-class trash when I was growing up. I craved acceptance from the gang of guys I lived near. I’d behave outrageously for attention, and this adult woman disliked me, did not see me as an equal to her kids. When that woman’s name came up, I insulted her without thinking. Insulted the hell out of her. I called her a very bad name, and immediately felt ugly and embarrassed about it, and spent the rest of the evening trying to backtrack. Can’t backtrack. I wasn’t strong enough to rise above my anger. The old me isn’t all the way gone. I did it. I insulted her.

I must remember life is not what happens, it’s how we react. And the truth is I have no one else to blame for the way my life has gone, good and/or bad. It's my hand on the lever. That awful woman from my childhood will never know what I said about her today. Ironically, the insult twists in MY gut. Self-inflicted wound.

I think back to that dream I had of the riders falling off the swinging dragon. I tried to warn someone, but there was no one. When I saw those seats shake loose, and the people plummet, why didn’t I run to save them? Why didn’t I try to fix an accident I had predicted? Why did I just stand there? Then I realized: It was my hand on the lever. I’m the one who turned that big dragon on and let him swing.

Brian Huba
5.12.13

Is bigger EVER better?

Is bigger EVER better?

Is there anything in life that’s better when it’s exposed, celebrated, increased, or commercialized? I was wondering this as I watched SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, hosted by formerly-funny manchild, Zach Galifianakis. The episode was unwatchable. There wasn’t a second of genuine, original funny taking place. The cast did what they could as Zach G delivered another round of the same weird routine recycled for the ten thousandth time. HANGOVER co-stars Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms made cameos as Jennifer Aniston lookalikes. Trifecta unfunny.

Commercial breaks meant HANGOVER 3 previews. I think this edition has the possibility of being the worst movie of the year. HANGOVER 2 stunk (still WAY better than BRIDES MAIDS), but this third installment is going to hit a whole new rock bottom. And this is coming from a guy who calls the original HANGOVER the greatest comedy ever made, one of the greatest—of any genre—ever.

The HANGOVER trailers look awful. Why? Nothing stays good stretched out this far. This movie has about as much of a chance as LITTLE FOCKERS. There was a time when this group of Vegas-going guys was the most original thing in H'wood. But that was 500 million dollars ago, and three celebrity girlfriends on Bradley Cooper’s arm ago, and a few seasons of THE OFFICE with Ed Helms at the helm ago. Translation: That movie made these guys stars, but we’ve seen the routine. I get it, HANGOVER 3 will make its 200 million, and you can’t argue math, but the quality has been replaced by the quantity. Say what you want about Jim Carrey. He took one look at the DUMB & DUMBER sequel script last year, said no thanks, left twenty mil on the table. Why?

I was thinking this same thing some more as we joined friends for lunch at a sandwich shop in Halfmoon. We’ve lived in CP for five years, and have sworn by this little place. No Saturday was complete without a sandwich run. It was a hole in the wall, with hardly any dining-in accommodations, but the portions were absurd and the prices were more than reasonable. Was it cheap? No. You want cheap, go to Mickey D’s. It was great food at a fair price. They knew your name. They knew how you liked your wheat bread toasted, never forgot the pickle on side. Big things from a little shop.

Then it changed.

The old place was shuttered and the operation moved to a bigger, better building on the other side of the lot. The flat screen TVs and microphone to call out order numbers came. Now it’s fetching lunch on an assembly line. Portions smaller, prices higher. Mess ups. We're out of that. He doesn't work here anymore. The pickle? Extra charge. Granted, the place looks fantastic, tables everywhere, cool celeb pics on the wall, but the product is nowhere near what it used to be. Ask Genoa in Latham about changing. You can't fit more than two people in that place. New building? Expansion? Nah. They just make the best sandwich going.

It’s time to go back to the beginning.

I’m looking for the next sandwich shop, a hole in the wall that makes great food at great prices. And I’m looking for the next group of guys to crawl out of the woodpile like the HANGOVER gang once did. I’m looking to find them before someone else does and destroys the whole deal with exploitation. When something gets bigger it never gets better.

Read More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/11/hangover-3-trailer_n_3062525.html

Brian Huba
5.4.13

Ten Summer Reads

We’re less than a month from the Unofficial Start of Summer. Time to get the Summer Reads together. Here’s ten to get you through the dog days.

10. Admissions by Jean Hanff Korelitz

While you’re on a Tina Fey kick, how about . . .
9. Bossy Pants by Tina Fey

8. Twenty-Thirty by Albert Brooks

7. Sharp Objects or Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

It’s baseball season, so why not . . .
6. Calico Joe by John Grisham

With the Leo remake out this summer, there's never been a better time to re-read . . .
5. The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald

4. New York: The Novel by Edward Rutherford

If you’re planning on spending the summer doing some serious training . . .
3. Once a Runner by John L. Parker

On 5/21/13, one of the best is coming out with his new book . . .
2. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

As summer comes to a close, you’ll need something to get you ready for football . . .
1. Earn the Right to Win by Tom Coughlin

Read More: http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/summer-2013

Brian Huba
4.28.13

What's Really Happening Here?

Can we take off the American-flag t-shirts and turn down the Toby Keith for a second, and ask: What's really happening here?

Two guys living in Boston and going to college there (one of them on full scholarship) suddenly decide to blow up the Marathon then seemingly have no exit strategy when the crapola hits the fan. Then some grainy video clips come out of said guys carrying backpacks during the marathon, and suddenly they’re the guys, and then one of them is killed in a made-for-Hollywood firefight and the other is caught in a boat parked in some Bostonite’s yard. Oh yeah, we were also told that these two boys killed a young security guard/cop for no reason at all, and everyone is screaming in their Southie accents for forty-seven-cent justice.

Are they working for something larger? Maybe. But who? So they came to America, earned naturalization, went to college, all in an effort to get a foothold on a major US City to blow up a marathon then instantly be killed or incarcerated? Why not just get a degree, get an awesome job, and in the meantime chase the thousands of Boston coeds? Why not just live the American Dream, the best dream on Earth?

First question: Why would two guys living the life in Boston and going to college in one of the coolest cities in the world suddenly decide to blow up the Marathon on Patriots Day? Are you suggesting that some kid half-planned this from his dorm room at Dartmouth Mass? Then we put out this tape and execute him and that’s the end. His brother is pulled out of a parked boat the next day, and is taken past the media throng in an ambulance so nobody can actually see him. Why didn’t they carry him out on a stretcher? Why didn’t they lug him out Lee Harvey Oswald style?

The family of these two boys are SCREAMING frame job from the other side of the world. Everyone from the aunt to the father vow that these boys did not do this. Vow that they're pawns. And I ask you: What’s the evidence against them? The tape? That’s it? “But, Brian, the FBI knows a lot more than they’re telling the media.” Hiding info from the media? Hogwash. I think the Government and the Media are working together. The Govt is using the Media to be portrayed exactly how they want to be viewed by the world on the heels of this incident. They are using the TV and Internet forums to deliver a scripted, calculated response to an apparent act of war.

Did you see that outrageous display on the Boston street when they yanked suspect #2 out of that parked boat? It looked like the last scene in a bad Bruce Willis movie. Did there really need to be 98 police vehicles in that caravan behind the ambulance? It was like we were putting on a show for the rest of the world, sending a message: Don’t mess with us. Then everyone from the police chief to the mayor to the governor go podium. One after the other stepped to the mic and delivered Oscar-acceptance speeches. They were completely hamming it up for the cameras. It was like an SNL skit. But we never SAW the suspect. Why didn’t we see bin Laden either?

Three people were killed at the Boston Marathon and about a 150 were hospitalized. BUT Obama looked like a world beater announcing just hours after the bombing that we WOULD capture those responsible. Then we had them both before the weekend. The whole world is watching CNN and MSNBC again, so the media makes out like bandits. Maybe in the throes of all this Americana, Obama can get his version of Immigration Reform passed. Is that what this is about? After all, look how tough and organized he was when it came to this “horrific incident.” I can’t quite figure out what’s happening here. But we know that in the past people in power have done a lot more than kill three innocent to get their agenda executed.

Am I saying that’s what's happening here? No. I have no idea what's happening here. Now that people are singing the National Anthem again, and screaming for the brutal death of these two foreign-looking guys who blew up our beloved parade and assassinated a cop, swell from the mountaintops, I wonder who and what is about to profit from all this energy. The moments of silence will fill sports arenas and the charity concerts will come and the Boston merchandise will move like hot cakes. The GOP and the Dems will play nice for a while because “We’re all Americans at a time like this,” and politicians will ride this wave of higher office. Hell man, this bombing's making somebody a Senator or VP nominee. The FBI and Boston Police and the American Defense Personnel come off looking like rock stars on the world’s stage. CNN and MSNBC were there every step of the way, so tune in, Middle America. And Bradley Cooper is already visiting victims.

Instead of asking who stands to profit from all this energy, I guess the better question is who DOESN’T stand to profit?

Read More: http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/seeking-a-motive-behind-the-boston-bombings

Brian Huba
4.20.13

Snake Bitten

Last night was a sad moment. To see Kobe Bryant, on the ground, rubbing his ruined Achilles after another "gangsta game" was heartbreaking. But what happened to Kobe last night's been coming since November.

Sometimes the writing’s on the wall. This year’s Lakers team was snake bitten from the jump. Kobe and Dwight HATE each other. Total dysfunctional mess with a weakling in the head coach's office, a non-confrontational Euro. You need to be confrontational as hell when you got that job. Phil Jackson: He's confrontational. He made Kobe and Shaq work. They DESPISED each other.

The marquee trades that prompted talk of a championship parade this June crumbled instantly when the season started. Dwight Howard? Get real. LA's the land of Jabbar and Chamberlain and Shaq-Diesel. Steve Nash is ten years past his prime. The guy looks like that weird-haired dude at the YMCA now. LeBron would shatter Nash on a breakaway. I think he would actually kill him. I'm not being figurative. Then Jerry Buss dies. Dr. B was a great owner and knowledgeable basketball mind. His son Jim isn't yet. Sometimes a team is just doomed. Kobe’s injury? How else would this train wreck end?

Five days into the season, they fire then-coach Mike Brown way too fast. He had two years left on his deal. Miraculously, Phil Jackson, like a prophet sent from God, sweeps in and says he'll rescue this trigger-finger owner, save his rep and his PR backside, and take the Lakers all the way. Every fan in LA wants Phil. Every fan in LA hates Buss Jr. It's like a hand-delivered blessing from the Heavens. Kobe publically politicked for him. It was a no-brainer.

Here's the catch: Not only is Phil the greatest NBA coach ever, he’s also the boyfriend of Jeannie Buss, Jim’s sister. And, by all accounts, Jimmy Boy didn’t like Phil’s star power or his place at the Buss family table. So, to the collective rage of every Laker ticket holder and the astonishment of every NBA expert, Jim Buss disses Phil and hires Mike D’Antonio, even though Mike hasn't recovered from a knee surgery and can't walk. I'm sorry, you don't get a European dude to coach the Lakers. You get Phil Jackson.

Eighty mil in total salary plus luxury tax off the charts, and it was over before Dr. Buss's grave was even dug.

Despite the Lakers working themselves back into the playoff picture (barely), it was clear that D’Antonio was the wrong coach. His demeanor wasn’t right. His style wasn’t right. And on top of it all, Buss Jr. gave Mike D. a four-year deal. He sent the message: "Screw you, Phil, this is my team."

The season was a corpse. The Hollywood Drama was in high gear. And the injuries were piling up. Pau Gasol was out for like two months for a foot injury. Same injury: Eli Manning didn't miss a SINGLE start. Steve Nash got broken in half the sixth game of the year. But thank God for Kobe. 34 years old, and he's the third-leading scorer in the NBA. He's in his 17th season and he's putting up 30 points a game through the all-star break.

He played well enough to somehow reverse what this owner had created. He is having the best year of his epic NBA run. He puts four scrubs on his back every night and manages to lead them to slightly more than fifty percent victory rate. He gets injured every night then just plays the next game on it.

He's your whole franchise, your whole world, and you hire NOT the guy he wanted, even though together they brought the Lakers to the heights? You hire the guy Carmelo Anthony called a joke three months before?

With less than a week left in the season, and the Lakers clinging to their post-season lives, Kobe put together three of the biggest "are-you-kidding-me" games of his career. Against New Orleans, he scores 23 points in the fourth-quarter, after scoring only 3 in the first three. He took the game over. By the way, Kobe has played 17 seasons + another two seasons with the Olympics and all the playoff runs. He practices for three hours BEFORE practice. Do you know how much it would suck to be his wife?

The VERY next night he plays ALL 48 minutes and drops 47 against Portland in a titanic performance. This coach didn't give Kobe a single rest on the back end of a double-nighter. Then, back in LA, Kobe scores 34 against Golden State to keep the Lakers alive for the playoffs. With just a few minutes left in the game, he makes a simple move to the basket, is fouled, and his whole career goes up in smoke. Fully-torn Achilles Tendon. Not kinda torn, fully torn, gone. Out 6-9 months. The same injury that ended Barkley and Shaq. The other injury he suffered this season happened with only seconds left in the game too. Snake bitten.

I don’t know if this is the end of Kobe. I've watched his entire career. Kobe will rip your heart out and eat it right in front of you. He's a killer. Kobe's in his 17th season and is abusing people. Jordan was shot by year 15. And Jordan didn't have to cart around this bag of clowns at 34 years old. It saddens me that Kobe's legacy and the ticking clock of his incredible career was put in the hands of an owner whose daddy made the money. Kobe deserves better than what happened to him last night.

He’ll be 35 in August, dealing with an injury of this magnitude, on the books for $30-million in salary next year. It’s a tricky thing to figure out from all sides.

A good coach manages his team and his star players. He thinks bigger picture. This coach, to save his job and push this sorry team into a certain first-round playoff exit, ran Kobe Bryant's career into the ground.

After blowing out his Achilles, Kobe hobbled on one leg to the free-throw line and sank both shots. A few minutes later, the Lakers won by two points. Legend.

Read More: http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/9167718/kobe-bryant-los-angeles-lakers-6-9-months-achilles-surgery

Brian Huba
4.13.13