sportsbarBen Cousins - WHERE & WHEN WILL IT END?!?!
October 16th 2007 12:14
I’m sure this will not be the last we hear of it! It will be neck and neck with the election for the next few days as far as coverage goes.
Drugs are a major issue in sport at the moment, and this is the latest incident to rock sport to the core. What are the young ones meant to think?
Cousins on Ice, Johns on Ecstasy, Marion Jones on performance enhancing drugs.
What does this tell us? Why are our high profile sport stars self exploding?
What can be done, what should be done, is there an answer?
Sport is reeling from one setback after another. Today the yellow jersey was officially handed to the 2nd placed Oscar Periero in the 2006 Tour after Floyd Landis failed to prove his innocence.
Oscar was robbed of his glory, although handed the jersey, he will never feel the elation that Landis felt when he ‘won’ the tour.
The problem is we don’t know who is taking and who is not. There must be a solution, but it can not, repeat CAN NOT be to legalize drugs. We do not know the long term effects of these drugs, and on top of that, ITS IMMORAL!!! What does that tell our kids, you don’t need to train hard, because drugs will make you superhuman.
Sport Stars have too much time on their hands and too much money. This is perpetuated by the media, who make money off them. Modern society has made Sport stars what they are today, and this is why these issues are now coming to light. Its easy to point the finger, its harder to find an answer.
This is the last thing sport needed, and it is battling a very tough issue at the moment. These are uncertain times for fans, sponsors and administrators. One thinks it is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.
The majority do the right thing. But it only takes one high profile athlete like Cousins to ruin all the hard work and tarnish the sports reputation. It will be interesting to see what happens from all of this. He was protected last time and allowed back and playing within the year… Will he be hung out to dry this time?
Uneasy times, this issue will not go away and can not be swept under the carpet.
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Comment by DuskDevi
Rucks and Rolls
Rugby World Cup 2007
Oh boy. Cousins is becoming the Britney of AFL.
Thing is...fame breeds insecurity and dependance.
As you say...too much time, too much money, coupled with fragile egos that need constant assurance.
Supposedly drugs create a (false sense) of invincibility.
Unfortunately, you cannot separate talent from the psychological make-up...
It's like actors. I firmly believe in order to be a great actor, you have to be fundamentally insecure. How else can one effotlessly and flawlessly adapt and adopt another persona...completely ridding themselves of their intrinsic self.
....and this is all getting far too deep for me!
Will say this and firmly stand by it. Drug taking is a very very rare thing in Rugby Union. The ones who make headlines and are well known 'secrets' ...well, they're 'crossovers'.
It won't ever end Andy. For the use of drugs to end would mean that certain human nature personality aspects would have to be eradicated.
Ben Cousins, for all his athletic talent, is just an insecure boy trapped in a man's body. Success has brought him confidence in his ability but loss of esteem. Perhaps some sports 'breed' this in their players/athletes...that without their ability to provide the entertainment, they are nothing.
Anywayyyy...I truly hate drug dependancy. And I am not a prig nor prude.
Okay. The diatribe has spoken!
Hope you're well buddy. Keeping fingers (toes, eyes.... roads!) crossed that that 'gig' becomes fulltime. If they know what's good for them, they'll do the right thing.
Dusk
Comment by Mrs M
Mum's Word
He was being grilled as a president of an AFL club. He stressed that no-one at Collingwood was doing drugs....not that he knew of.
Anyway, he did say something interesting about the Eagles. I'm pretty sure I heard this correctly but he implied that the Eagles knew about Cousins and a couple of other players late last year heading into the semi's but they knew that if they pulled Cousins and the others out then that the Eagles could well kiss their chance of a premiership goodbye.
I kinda get a bit peeved at that because I'm a Swans fan and we lost that Grand Final by one point.
So where the Eagles took the moral high ground at the beginning of this year, for me it was a little too late. They put winning ahead of the rules and health of the players.
Though I do find it interesting that Andrew Johns still looks like a hero.
Love & stuff
Mrs M
Comment by Mr Nice Guy
Pop Culturist
Their rationale was that depending on the the athlete's country of origin, sponsors or budget - that each had some form of advantage over another - and that the 'supplements' he was taking merely maximised the untapped potential that he was given by his 'Maker'.
hmmmm . . .
As for Ben Cousins - well I'm afraid it will end in some hotel room I suspect.
MNG
Comment by Anonymous
He was once an icon of the game but in a short while he will be forgotten and the next superstar will step up and make his name.
I feel for his parents who must have wondered where did we go wrong and must now be wondering how long will we have our son for.
Its finally time for Daniel Chick to start getting some heat and lose the Mr Innocent nice guy image he portrays on morning radio. Listen to credible sources and they'll tell you he was the real problem at the Eagles!!!.
Bring on 2008 so we can see more of what Matthew Priddis can really do !
Comment by sportsbar
Sports Bar
Fret X
Also...
Are we asking to much from our youths? Is it inevitable that some of them will slip up? After-all, everybody makes mistakes, the high-profile people in society just pay a greater price.
Now, I don't condone it in any way, shape or form. I am just trying to find the cause, and a way, if any there is of winning the battle.
But as Dusk says, sadly drugs will always be around. The same as we will always hate the Poms and Jonny (Kiddies don't read this word) Wilkinson. Society has always been plagued by these nuicances and there always seems to be something small that you wish you could obliterate from our world...
Comment by David
He's achieved everything he set out to achieve. That's a problem for a young guy. He probably had no other ambitions other than an AFL premiership. And didn't know what to do afterwards.
Some guys can handle it. Some guys can't. Not every sports player can be Mr Ideal Role Model.
I enjoyed his comeback match. But I got the feeling he was only trying to prove it to others. There was nothing in it for him. This latest news doesn't surprise me.
I like the bad boys of sport. It would be boring without them. I like watching them display their sheer talent, and Ben Cousins had it in spades.
If you go back to 1992? When the Eagles won their first premiership? How come they all looked like they were on steroids compared to the rest of the competition?
There's a lot more to this story than just Ben Cousins being on drugs. The journos will sniff it all out ... Big deal. Bring on the 2008 season. And let's watch the football.
I just look at Ben Cousins and go. Man, you've got everything going for you ... (in life beyond football) ... just give the game away and do something else. You've already achieved all there is to achieve ... Find a new goal ...
etc etc etc ...
I just like sport ... and watching the best players ... I'd like to see him stay in AFL but it seems like it's not going to happen ... but players come and go ... AFL will go on without him ...
I'd rather the AFL with it's Abletts (Gary Snr) and it's Mark Jacksons etc than a sanitised sport where no-one was ever forgiven for making a mistake or letting a few hundred thousand dollars a year going to your head ... Cousins is still alive ... He can resurrect his life ...
I might go over and have a chat to him I think. Smack some sense into him. First thing I'll be saying is 'Ease up on the first tattoo man. That was a bit over the top.' etc ...
blah blah blah ...
Bring on the 2008 season (I'm a Carlton Supporter). Now that we have Judd (whose a perfect role model because he has a model girlfriend ?
etc
Comment by PMac
Comment by Ben Cousins lover
Comment by Andreas Berg
Comment by Anonymous
Ben Cousins is a FOOTBALLER. Thats all. Other than that he is an ordinary bloke. He is an ordinary bloke who has problems in life, love, family & friends. Like about 90% of ordinary blokes in this country he lets of steam in his OWN time through drugs- whether its alcohol or whether its a tablet doesnt make much difference. Just coz he plays footy for a JOB- he gets bagged for what he does in his own time with his own life. The funniest / saddest part is who bags him- the people on tv and / or in sport who (i can GUARANTEE) are doing EXACTLY what he is doing (if not worse). Just look into the eyes / at the conduct of the panel on the Footy Show.
Ben Cousins and any other footballer is not paid to NOT take drugs, he is not paid to be your child's role model or to educate you on being a good citizen or to inspire your otherwise dull life. Just coz he gets paid by West Coast does not mean that the supporters and the football community OWN HIS SOUL. He is paid to be a good football player. I realise that there are indirect consequences when one becomes an AFL footy player (ie, little kids look up to you) but this does not mean that you are prepared to deal and cope with all the consequences. Nor does every football player have the ambitions or forsight of Chris Judd who is ever so carefully protecting and nurturing his "squeaky clean good boy mr nice guy" image in the hopes of being the next Mr Eddie McGuire.
While I dont respect what Cousins has done what I do respect is that he does not play to the tune of any body elses fiddle- especially to the tune of the MEDIA fiddle which (after all) is really his GREATEST SIN. He doesnt feel he needs to explain anything to anyone, to cry when we ask him to, to look pitiful and broken so we can feel better about ourselves. This is exactly what is making us and the media increasingly ANGRY with his conduct.
Comment by Ben Cousins lover
Comment by sportsbar
Sports Bar
Fret X
To defend the article... It was written the same day as it happened, and further, 'prohibited drugs' was highlited but never claimed to be a fact. That's why it was in inverted commas.
The focus of article was actually an overview of drugs in sport, not BEN COUSINS!!... As i said he is the latest of a series to rock sport...
As a sidenote, Yes, the drugs were taken in his private time, and the issue of person/privacy comes to the fore...
Its a misguided arguement in a way... When Any footballer signs a contract with a team, a sponsor or what have you, there is strict protocol and behaviour expectations laced in the deal. The players represent the game, they represent their sponsor and have signed contracts saying they will not bring game into disrepute. Yes they are just footballers... and they are real people, and I understand the arguement what they do in their own time is their own business.
The other side of the arguement is from the sponsors, the club, the competition and the media... They know what is expected of them. Yes, their job is to play sport, but their contract also demands they act responsibly... That is why any sport star will get dragged through the mud if he misbehaves. In the past it could be swept under the rug, but in modern society, no chance.
Comment by Ben Cousins lover