Putting Ear Rings On A Pig - Canadian Football League style

Back in 1977 - 78 I was doing the play by play for the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League.  It was a dismal season.  At one point the Pats went 36 games without a win ending up with a record of just 8 wins, 53 losses and 11 ties.  They were an announcer's nightmare.  Each game we tried to be positive, tried to think of good things to talk about.  I remember a quote from their Coach Bob Turner after a particularly ugly loss the Pats suffered.  Said Bob, "you can put ear rings on a pig, but when it's all said and done, all you have is a pig with ear rings on.

Montreal Alouettes General Manager Jim Popp must have been looking to put ear rings on a pig.
The East Division of the CFL is 3 wins 19 losses against West Division teams.  In fact it is so bad that the first place team in the East could advance to the Grey Cup evening having a worse record then the last team in the West.  But here is what Jim Popp had to say.

“It’s easy to sit there and think the West is so much better. It’s easy, because of the records. But if teams are running at full strength, there’s not a lot of difference between people.”  Jim Popp Montreal Alouettes.

The Alouettes recently put their number on quarterback Troy Smith on the six game injured list.

Some in the media are questioning that.  Is he really injured or has he been sat down because of the team's poor play. 

Tom Higgins on whether Smith will have his number one spot back when he returns.

There’s not an answer to that right now,” Higgins said. “We’re going to allow this week to play out, next week to play out. Within six weeks, I’ll be able to give you a good answer. Tom Higgins on Troy Smith losing his number one spot with an injury

Other quotes from around the CFL this week

Offence wins games … defence wins championships.” “When the defence is on the field and we have an opportunity to win the game, we want to make sure we do that     Keon Raymond   Calgary Stampeders

"I caught the ball, I made a guy miss. I was just trying to get as many yards as I could. Realistically, I should have gone down. But I was pressing, probably trying to do too much. I want to win so f-----g badly.  Matt Carter Ottawa RedBlacks

At the end of the day, as long as we win games, no matter how you win it … “I think our day will come where we will statistically fill up the stats sheet but, at the end of the day, if we win, then I’m happy.’’

Darian Durant on the Riders sputtering offence

"I always tell the guys, 'Don't hang your head. I've thrown interceptions, I've thrown bad passes.' Receivers are going to drop the ball.  Henry Burris on trying to stay positive