I am set to be interviewed in ESPN's "Outside the Lines," which airs 10:40 PM Pacific time Monday (ugh!), 1:40 AM Tuesday EST. You may want to see your VCRs.

I am to speak on the changes in the way HIV is viewed in sports 14 years after Magic disclosed he had the disease. Would love your thoughts on this and I might incorporate it into what I say.

Thanks!

Outside of CFL player Trevis Smith, are there many pro sports athletes who are HIV+? And/or what has prompted ESPN to bring up this topic at this time? And will the issue of possible HIV+ athletes from foreign countries entering the U.S. for the Gay Games be discussed?

None that I know of PUBLICLY. The show is about the climate 14 years after Magic Johnson came out as HIV+.

I'm not sure if the disease specifically is viewed differently than it was back then. I do know that the rookies in the NBA are sent through a training like session that warn them, among other things, about the risks of sleeping with women on the road. It leaves one to wonder what kind of impact HIV had on this program.

Edit: Here's a link to the orientation week page on NBA.com

[ November 12, 2005, 01:02 AM: Message edited by: Illini_fan ]

Don't forget the show tonight. (If you're recording it, be sure to leave some extra time; depending on how long Sportscenter is on after Monday Night Football the show might start late.)

Good Luck Jim! Do us proud!

My segment is about 3 minutes near the end. ESPN re-airs it at 12:40 PM Tuesday East Coast time if you miss the first airing (1:40 a.m. EST).

I would be interested to know about what level of training is provided to athletes about the reality of contracting HIV. Are there specific education programs and in which sports? Ignorance breeds prejudice.

Do they know, for example, that it is extremely difficult to contract HIV unless blood is exchanged? You know the rest.

Good luck!

Jim, you are confusing me with those times. Do you mean 12:40 west coast time? And if it's 12:40 PM that is afternoon, not after midnight. So it would be 3:40 on the east coast?
Please clarify, I don't know when to watch!

12:40 PM East Coast also means 11:40 AM Central, 10:40 AM Mountain and 9:40 AM Pacific since ESPN is a national network. You missed it.

I saw it after midnight last night...You did great....

...and such a handsome man, too..... wink

Great job Jim! I taped it last night and just watched it. I hated that they kept bringing up the potential danger of these guys possibly sharing the same women. These female stalkers and the other players are ultimately responsible for protecting themselves. And also, the palyer in question got it from somewhere, meaning that the HIV virus was already in that town as well as most every other town.

On a side note, I did snicker a bit when I heard the team's nickname is Roughriders.

The odd part was that the CFL part was not in my pre-interview questions, so it caught me off guard, but overall OTL does a good job.

I saw this! Great job Jim! I find Bob Ley to be a bit deep with how he poses his questions and you handled him with such ease, poise and confidence. You're very well spoken and you looked terrific in the split screen!

[ November 22, 2005, 09:26 PM: Message edited by: amazin12 ]

Yeah, I was impressed with both Jim *and* Bob Ley. Ley sure seems out of place in the ESPN of Stuart Scott, that's for sure.

I thought Jim came across as very, very professional, calm and fact-based, no hysteria, no finger pointing. His point about AIDS sort of falling off the map of the public conciousness as A Major Thing was well stated as well. Great tie, too!

Hope that appearance bumped the site traffic and membership on the board/clubhouse.