Grey Cup coaches Scott Milanovich, John Hufnagel respond to traditional sex question

TORONTO—Every year at the Grey Cup coaches' press conference, the same question is posed in some form; what's each coach's policy on their players having sex before the game? The question generally gets some interesting responses, and that was the case again this year when Edmonton Sun sportswriter Terry Jones posed it to Calgary Stampeders' head coach/general manager John Hufnagel and Toronto Argonauts' head coach Scott Milanovich at Tuesday's press conference. Here's what they had to say:

A transcript, if you can't watch the video: Jones: "What is your policy on players having sex before the game?"

Milanovich: "Terry, I have two young daughters at home right now, they're probably watching this press conference, so my policy's going to be 'I believe in abstinence.'" (The room erupted in laughter at that point)."

[Photos: Grey Cup media day]

Hufnagel: "How many nights of curfew do you guys have? (More laughter). About a quarter of the way through our season when our lineup was a revolving door, we had the motto, 'No excuses, just results.' When the new season started, that being the playoffs, our motto became, 'Don't do your best, do whatever it takes.' Hopefully that answers your question."

The question has a long and storied history, as famed Toronto sportswriter Jim "Shaky" Hunt used to ask it annually at this venue. Following Hunt's death in March 2006, other CFL media members have taken up the torch, and the coaches have delivered some great responses, including Ken Miller's 2010 line, "I'm going to tell them to go with whatever is working for them" and Paul LaPolice's 2011 "I think it's kind of too much information from some of my guys, I really don't want to be included in their Friday and Saturday plans."

Jones posed this question last year as well, but became the story himself thanks to phrasing it "What is your position on sex before the game with your players?" cracking up coaches LaPolice and Wally Buono. In fact, that got Buono to say, "Well, I thought your question was quite weird, you said Paul had sex with (his) players. So just think about what you said, you weren't saying Paul was having sex?" Fortunately, the phrasing was a little better this year, putting the focus on the coaches instead of the media. And so, another CFL tradition carries on...