Corey Chamblin starts Grey Cup Week well with hilarious answer to the traditional sex question

REGINA—Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Corey Chamblin may be at his first Grey Cup, but he passed his introduction to one of its odder traditions with flying colours—and outdid Hamilton counterpart Kent Austin, a Grey Cup sophomore, in the process. As has been covered here before, it's traditional (in honour of famed late sportswriter Jim Hunt) for a reporter to ask the coaches at their first press conference if they have a policy about their players having sex. That's led to controversies over the framing of the question, funny responses and more over the years, but Chamblin delivered one of the best replies yet. Edmonton Sun sportswriter Terry Jones asked the question again this year, and did so right at the conclusion of the coaches' introductory press conference Wednesday morning.

"This is the Jim "Shaky" Hunt Memorial Question," Jones said. "Jim came to 50 editions of this thing and I swear he asked this question every time I was here. I'd ask Corey to answer this first because you're the rookie. What is your philosophy on players having sex prior to the game?"

"What is my philosophy on them having sex prior to the game? That's a question you've heard a lot," Chamblin said. "Some guys may do it, some guys may not. The biggest thing is I want our guys to be focused, and if that's what it takes for them to win a championship then go right ahead."

That produced some solid laughter, but Chamblin wasn't done yet.

"You didn't expect that answer, did you?" he asked. "They'll be focused. They'll be ready to go. It's all about football. It's championship week. The guys are focused on football. If they win the championship, they'll have a lot."

That caused the room to erupt in laughter, including Hamilton head coach Kent Austin. Between laughs, he said he couldn't beat that answer.

"How do you follow that? Yeah, I got nothing."

Chamblin may be the head coach at the Grey Cup for the first time, and he's going to have to face plenty of comparisons to Austin (who won the Grey Cup in 2007 with Saskatchewan as a rookie head coach). He got off to a winning start, though.