Stay classy Ben

So, I just don’t understand the furore over Ben Cousins giving the finger to the change room camera before the Fremantle v Richmond game on the weekend. OK, so it was a bit childish. It was a bit rude. But how could anyone really take offense at this? Letters to the Editor in the paper seem to show more than disappointment. Some people are crushed to their very souls, it seems. What I don’t understand is why the vision was even aired in the first place. It’s not like it was live to air. It was recorded, and at that point only the guys in the editing room had seen it. That’s probably where it should have stopped. I agree with Cousins when he says “In no way did I think the footage was going to air. If nothing else, I thought someone on the end of the camera in a van outside the ground might have got a chuckle out of it.” Ha ha, funny joke, lets move on. But it has somehow turned into an issue of Cousins showing his disregard and arrogance to the entire nation in general and West Coast fans in particular.

But, this kind of vilification is to be expected from WA sports fans. I’ve seen it time and time again when any successful WA pro sports athlete leaves WA and moves interstate. At the very least they’re booed when they play, at worst media beatups and innuendo fan the flames of hatred. WA sports fans need to grow up and realise that athletes leaving WA isn’t about them.

This story is just so trivial.