In the
immediate aftermath of these revelations, Johnsons’s in particular, the press,
elected officials, and the public engaged in an emotionally driven dialogue and
campaign surrounding the matter of HIV/AIDS. Schools across the country
enhanced or incepted Sex Education programs to address the situation head on. Programs
included the famous Magic Johnson and Arsenio Hall video, plays, lectures and
the controversial distribution of condoms to school children. An entire industry blossomed around HIV/AIDS.
Oscar winning films such as “Philadelphia,” hit songs and music videos were in
heavy rotation, the musical “Rent” ruled Broadway and HIV/AIDS charities came
out of every corner. And with breakthroughs in medical treatment and management
of the virus, extending the life span of HIV/AIDS sufferers, the very stigma that
once shadowed so many, like Lightweight Champion Esteban de Jesus, the first to
best the legendary Roberto Duran, was virtually stalled. This was now the Post
Magic Johnson era of HIV/AIDS when we discovered compassion.
But, alas, like Seasons, such moments always pass and their lessons go
unheeded. Lifestyles of the reckless and famous, the infamous, and even the not
so famous and reckless continues, as we gleefully applaud an obvious crisis, as
if we’ve entered a disease free Utopia. Not so, according to the Centers For Disease Control & Prevention
well over 20 million new cases of STD’s (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) are
reported annually. Their studies show that there is an estimated 110 million known
cases of STD’s in the United States, which is an estimated burden of $16 billion in medical
cost. It’s 2013 and the band still plays on.
Even with the accessibility of contraception, numerous individuals
including many of our most revered athletic stars mistake the adage “it takes a
village…” to mean, “let’s make a
village.” Fathering multitudes of children with multiple women is not only an
ill regard for the children bred, but, the very sanctity of ones own health. Unfortunately, far too many lives, enveloped
by excess and abandoned by self-control reflect the sentiment of the Proverbs: “And you
mourn at last, when your flesh and your body are consumed, and say: ‘How I
hated instruction and my heart despised correction!1’”
“Listen, it’s quiet isn’t it? The tragedy
of the recent passing of Tommy Morrison, at the young age of 44, wasn’t his
death or the complete obscurity he fell into following that dreaded diagnosis
for which he himself did not want to acknowledge. It’s the quiet, the
apathy that has become far too common. It’s the quiet that has no place in the sports community at this hour. The
story of Tommy Morrison and other athletes, who have paid and are paying the
steep price of excess, ought not be quiet
but echo through out every locker room and gym. The lives of Morrison and
others should become standard points among every scout, coach, manager, agent, and
parent. For it is well known that our champions have long been ill equipped to
handle the allure and trappings of a high profile existence and therefore, are
in need of a community whose concern for them exceeds their ability to post
great stats, garner ratings or throw concussive left hooks, but nurture and
protect them, especially from themselves.
© 2013
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