WWWWF:Suns of All Fears
NBA game proves fear of HIV still rooted in ignorance of the disease
Geez, you'd think there's nothing else to Wichita Falls aside from Ice Harvest and Pat Methany. My original blog idea focused on finding neat stuff related to the Falls on the Web.
It crashed faster than Paris could hire the schmuck who got her locked up .
I looked and looked and came up with a lot of bumpkiss. So, I'm heading in a different direction (the name of the blog is set to change, too, in coming days). As I come across interesting tidbits, I'll let you know. But now I'm focusing on the medical community, as spun through the media. Just stuff that makes me giggle and think.
First up, b-ball.
Tonight's the big Game 2 of the 2007 NBA Western Conference semifinals between the San Antonio Spurs and the Phoenix Suns. I've been a San Antonio Spurs fan since my first internship made me a Missouri resident and the Spurs were the only Texas connection that helped sooth my homesickness.
And speaking of connection, there was quite a big one toward the end of the first game Spurs point guard Tony Parker and Suns guard Steve Nash.
Geez, that's nasty.
Nash's nose was a vampire's dream, which meant he couldn't get back into the game because of the NBA's rule against allowing bleeding players into games. Later that night, after the Spurs pulled out the 111-106 victory (Go Spurs Go!), many fans wondered about the need for the rule and how it really spoke volumes about the latent public ignorance regarding HIV.
DeWayne Robertson, HIV program manager with the Wichita Falls-Wichita County Public Health District, tends to agree.
He stressed that he could only give his personal opinion on the matter, but that opinion leans against the chance of contracting the disease.
"Is it a possibility? Yes. Is it likely? Not really," he said. "I don't think the rule is there so much for protection as a fear rule ... It still shows our own fear and ignorance."
I'd honestly never given the rule a second thought, but when I did, it did seem a bit silly.
At least one nation boasts blood-safety, but the pathogens it aims at have little chance at infection.
"The chances are real slim," Robertson said. "Under those conditions, the diseases aren't going to last too long outside the body."
No other US sport features this kind of rule, as far as I know, despite the loads of contact that goes on in rugby, soccer and football.
There's no denying the dangers of HIV, but it's precisely this kind of antiquated reaction that makes the stigma so much worse.