Shocktober continues for Australian Rules Football star Ben Cousins who was arrested in Perth overnight after police stopped him for erratic driving and then found "prohibited substances" in his car. Cousins, who was shirtless and in the company of two women at the time of his arrest, was a pallbearer at the recent funeral of Chris Mainwaring, his West Coast Eagles team mate and friend who died of drug-related heart failure on October 1. Cousins returned from a stint in a Californian drug clinic earlier in the year and had a mixed season on the field, suffering from repeated strains and injuries.
The video footage of Cousins' arrest, which we've posted below, is a lengthy perve-fest that shows him being led to his car where he was detained and questioned for some time. Ben sems to have lost a little of his Olympian's physique since the AFL season wrapped up but then, he'd packed on so much lean muscle through the year he would have come out the other end of an Ice Age still looking pretty buff. We're not sure about his enormous new tattoo, which spells out Such Is Life, the last words of legendary Australian bushranger Ned Kelly, in gigantic medieval script across his six-pack, but were happy to look at it until later in the video when he puts a green tank top on.
The "prohibited substances" found in his car have so far not been identified but the Australian tabloid press haven't wasted any time dragging out anti-drugs editorial screeds that call for Cousins' immediate sacking and removal from the sport. Now, we're not condoning or encouraging his or anyone else's drug use but Cousins is a young, hot and rich guy who is free to dispose of his youth, heat and wealth any way he chooses.
The over-idealised infantalisation of sports heroes in Australia is a strange phenomenon considering most elite athletes - all over the world - are in close contact with drugs of one kind or another for most of their career. Party and/or performance enhancing drugs don't seem to be too hard to come by, and what's a champion sports career without a little indulgence and excess? Even Phar Lap was rumoured to have died of a drug overdose and many an armchair sports fan goes through more beer than they should, when they're watching the game.
Cousins has every right to live his life like a Big Brother contestant, but needs to realise that there is a limited tolerance for blokish tomfoolery, especially hwen the law is involved; the very media that still seems to tolerate his indulgences is poised to end his reign. Without his 'career' and, more significantly, the access to all it allows, his seeming health will be crushed with an unforgiving swiftness - my moneys' on right about now...
Fine if he wants to use drugs- just stay home, dont get in a car and dont fuck up other people's lives. I could stay in bed instead of going to work to tell families their kid is dead. yep leave Ben alone.