Entries from December 2005 ↓

It was a game we had to have.

With both teams coming in tied atop the NFC East, but the Dallas Cowboys holding a lead in the tie-breaker category by virtue of their Week 6 victory, the New York Giants were playing in their first meaningful game in the month of December in almost five years and needed this win at home.

They got it, defeating the Dallas 17-10, but not without allowing the game to get unnecessarily close.

The Giants (8-4) had four sacks, forced two fumbles — including one that was returned for a touchdown by linebacker Antonio Pierce– and intercepted Drew Bledsoe twice. The second interception, by Brent Alexander (pictured), came with 1:47 left in the game. Dallas (7-5) got the ball back one more time at its own 4-yard line, but lost the ball on downs after moving to the Giants 44.

New York won despite a shaky performance from quarterback Eli Manning, who was 12-for-31 for 152 yards and was intercepted twice by Dallas cornerback Aaron Glenn. Tiki Barber gained 115 yards on 30 carries for the Giants.

The G-men got on the board first, when rookie Brandon Jacobs capped a 12-play, 73-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Kicker Jay Feely, who missed three potentially game-winning field goals in last week’s loss to Seattle, received a huge cheer from the Giants Stadium crowd after his extra point and after a 27-yard field goal just before the half.

New York led 17-0 one play into the second half after Pierce scooped up a fumble by Bledsoe and returned it 12 yards for a score. But after that, the Giants’ offense went cold, while Dallas got hot and almost tied it up.

The Cowboys moved the ball to the Giants 16 before settling for a 34-yard field goal. They closed within a touchdown later in the third quarter when Glenn stepped in front of Plaxico Burress at the Giants 14 for his second interception of the game and returned it to the 7.

On the next play, Terry Glenn beat cornerback Curtis Deloatch on a fade pattern to make it 17-10.

Manning was intercepted later in the quarter by Keith Davis, but this time Glenn was the goat as his interference call on Burress nullified the penalty.

Feely clanged a 33-yard attempt off the goal post with 5:18 left in the game that would have given the Giants a 10-point lead, but the defense held on for the win and now, with four games remaining, the Giants have sole possession of first place in the NFC East.

The holidays are upon us and now is the time when we think about those we love. We express our love by giving from the heart.

This year, show your love for the one who means the most. Give, until it feels good.

I want to thank everyone who sent me links to include in the listing of bloggers who commented on World AIDS Day yesterday. The wide range of stories, remembrances and information presented was inspiring and quite moving. That this was a completely voluntary effort by such a diverse group of bloggers, undertaken with little coordination but a great deal of genuine compassion, is most commendable.

If you haven’t done so already, take some time to click on the links in the entry three below this one and read some of them. As perfectly illustrated in Karsh’s blog, by the absolutely idiotic and senseless comments made by his co-workers, there is still much work to be done educating people about the seriousness of this issue. Some folks just don’t get it until they are personally affected.

Moving on to other matters, I find myself faced with other life and death issues this morning. An email from home informs me my father will be entering a nursing home today. This move has been long resisted by my mother who has been determined to care for him despite the rapidly debilitating affects the Alzheimer’s disease has taken on my father. Over Thanksgiving, this once very active, intelligent and outgoing man was a mere shell of a human being, unable to communicate, barely capable of walking any more, unable to feed himself and surprisingly disinterested in eating as well. To see him in this very helpless state brings me to the verge of tears, and I fear today’s move is just the beginning of the end. Having trained myself to think of our remaining time together in months and weeks, I must now think in hours and days. I fear an unhappy holiday ahead.

The number of HIV diagnoses in the U.S. reached a plateau from 2001-2004, yet gay and bisexual men continue to account for the largest number of new HIV cases, making up 44 percent of new infections reported in 33 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Click here.

In that same CDC report, New York State accounted for 20 percent of all new infections, with Black men showing the largest increases. Click here.

South African health officials report that an estimated 5.2 million people, or 11 percent of the nation’s population, are HIV-infected. The estimate is lower than the health department’s most recent number (6.3 million) and higher than the estimate put out by Statistics South Africa (4.5 million), but in any case the researchers said it describes an epidemic that is “massive” and growing. Click here.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has fallen short of its goal of providing life-saving medication to 3 million people living with HIV in poor countries by the end of 2005 and has issued an official apology. WHO did acknowledge that 1 million people are now on medication but exact figures will not be known until next year. Click here.

The Chinese government has introduced a new condom specifically for gay men. Beyond targeting men who have sex with men as a particular at-risk population, it is not known just how this condom differs from any other. However the effort does signify the government’s awareness of a growing problem within an identifiable subsection of the community. Click here.

A substantial number of HIV-positive individuals with proven resistance to antiretroviral drugs had unprotected sex with a partner to whom they could have transmitted drug-resistant HIV, according, the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. Click here.

Think you know all there is to know about HIV and AIDS? Are you an expert on reproduction and pregnancy? Do you know enough about condoms and contraception? Is there anything you don’t know about sex? Take these quizzes on HIV/AIDS. Click here.

A list of things you can do to educate yourself and others about HIV/AIDS. Click here.

The facts from around the world, as highlighted above, are cold and grim. They chronicle a world-wide HIV/AIDS epidemic that 20-plus years after the first cases appeared, shows no signs of abating.

Here in the U.S., despite recent media hysteria over the “DL phenomenon,” statistics show that the population most seriously affected by the virus continues to be Black men who have sex with men. Despite this fact, resources targeted to understand and address the problem remain inadequate and many in the Black gay community question whether whole new prevention strategies are needed.

The question of why people would still put themselves at risk in an age when there is so much informaton available about HIV transmission and how to keep one’s self safe, remains a dilemma for which there are no simple answers. The reasons can be complex and deeply personal and as far as prevention efforts are concerned, difficult to tackle with one-size-fits-all approaches.

To illustrate, I share my own situation.

I am 45 years old, HIV negative, single, yet haven’t been in a steady relationship in years. In a youth-obsessed culture, despite a college degree, a good job and my own perceptions, I am in that sub-population often deemed over the hill and undesirable as a potential mate. Not into clubs and bars, I have found few outlets where my interests and suitable companionship intersect.

By day, I work in organizational development in the HIV/AIDS field, with a housing and technical assistance provider in NYC, and years ago once worked in street outreach. I know the facts, the risks and the consequences of unsafe behavior.

But because of my present relationship status, there are days when I am just plain lonely and horny. I can only be honest. Believe me when I tell you, that’s a lethal combination. It has the power to cloud otherwise clear thinking and make one act on impulse instead of rational thought.

I confess to you now that on more than one occasion, I have fooled around in the steam room at my gym, along with the other lonely, horny men who congregate there. It’s a fairly regular, yet diverse gathering of men, any where from 18-65, all walks of life, and I’m sure with varying degrees of acceptance of their sexual identity. Regardless of their circumstances, regardless of whether I participate or not, you can find the regulars there, trying to get their needs met.

I’ve never engaged in any major activity there, certainly nothing I’m ashamed of, but I do realize I’m dealing with total strangers who could possibly have any number of STDs beyond HIV. It’s just that for all of us, the desire to be touched by another man is all-consuming. There is a profound sense of need present in that room that is absolutely palpable.

I share all this to say that I believe the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, is often a result of an innate need for intimacy and a corresponding shortage of healthier ways to achieve that. We can do HIV education, hand out condoms, create pamphlets and smart commercials, but until we are able to effectively address individual and collective feelings of isolation, low self-esteem, emotional and physical neediness, people will always do things that make no sense, despite all the information that is out there.

It is not so much about not wanting to do the right thing as much as taking advantage of a spontaneous opportunity to fill a gapping void in one’s life. The consequences however can be life-altering.