Courtesy Montreal Gazette:

It’s a wonderful time to be a football fan in Montreal. The Alouettes have surprised most people by starting 2-0; the offence is firing on all cylinders; quarterback Anthony Calvillo looks young and rejuvenated; and that stuff about Marc Trestman’s lack of experience … who cares?

This column is now interrupted to bring you this important bulletin: We’ve seen this movie before.

Beginning in 2000, the Als launched a five-year run that saw them start their seasons by going 5-0, 4-0, 8-0, 3-0 and 6-0.

They captured one Grey Cup over that span. In 2005, Montreal started 2-3 before winning two straight and then losing two straight - and still made it to the championship game, as the team did the following season, following a 7-0 start, albeit with a different head coach come October.

The Als lost the title game both years.

What’s the point of all this? Simply to remind everyone the season’s a marathon, not a sprint. And what a goofy season so far. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats looked putrid one week and magnificent the next. Some were suggesting this Friday’s game, between Winnipeg and British Columbia, was a Cup preview. And it might still work out that way. But for now, the only certainty is the loser will be winless in three games.

But haven’t the Als simply tickled our fancy so far in recording victories against the Ticats and Blue Bombers? The one-handed touchdown catch Jamel Richardson made the other night in the first quarter while being double-covered will be one for the ages, along with Calvillo’s 29-yard open-field run in the fourth quarter that set up Avon Cobourne’s insurance touchdown, giving Montreal a 14-point lead. Four plays earlier, faced with a second-and-15 scenario, Calvillo scampered for a first down.

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