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45 minutes ago, Noeller said:

legendary rinks....a shame there's not enough interest in the sport to keep them all going and upgrade them. Everyone wants to curl out of the Ft Rouge, because it has the best ice in the city, I'm told....

I started out at the Fort Rouge in 1971 when I was in Grade 10 at Churchill High. We had our high school curling league. We sure had a lot of kids who wanted to curl. Some went on to be damned fine curlers in the Men's league & competed for the provincials to go to the Brier. I played Men's League for many years at Fort Rouge. I don't curl anymore but I still consider it my curling home. It's always had the best ice in the city & I can tell you it sure had the best pizza. Yes!!

I got into curling because of Don Duguid & his total dominance of not only Canadian curling but Manitoba as well. that 2 year run he put together from 1970 & 71 was amazing. He skipped the best rink on the planet at that time during those 2 years. Rod Hunter wasthe best third in the world. He wasn't nicknamed The Arrow for nothing. And his front end could sweep with those corn & artificial brooms all day long.

Don had a 15 minute curling segment called "Duguid's House after late sports on the CBC on Sundays. He'd go over such things a grip, stategy, fundamentals & usually show how to read ice & throw a few shots. I watched that show every Sunday night before going to bed as I had school the next day.

When I was curling in our little CHS league, the men would start coming in at about 6:45 pm  as we were finishing up from our 4:30 pm ice time. Their draw was at 7 pm. So, this is 1972 in October. Orest Meleschuk from Fort Rouge was the world champ. He had beaten Bob LaBonte from North Dakota to win the Air Canada Silver Broom. If you guys know about the burnt rock... Anyway, I come off the ice & there he is. As big as life. Orest meleschuk & his entire rink standing there right in front of me. At first, I just ignored him as I sat down to take off my curling shoes but my heart was pounding & my stomach turning over. I had to talk to him. I jst had to.  Although I was scared & just 16 years old, I worked up the courage to do do so. 

I went up to them, tapped Meleschuk on the shoulder, opened my mouth & something like "Uhh, ahhhh.... Errr... Mr Meleschuk, all you guys are great!!!" I remember how dry my mouth was & how nervous I was. He said, "Thanks kid" & then turned & ignored me as he kept talking to his teammates. I was totally crushed. I had made a fool of myself. I read later that Meleschuk was a moody kinda guy & wasn't the most friendly person to chat with so I don't feel bad. As I got older, I also know I would have handled things a lot differently than I did when I was an awkward, shy teenager. It was still good though to have a brush with greatness. 

In the lounge upstairs, the 1972 Air Canada Silver Broom is encased in a glass display. It's awesome to look at still. 

Edited by SpeedFlex27
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I grew up curling at the Pinawa Curling Club and Seven Sisters Falls CC (when it still existed), and then curled a bit in Brandon at the Wheat City CC inside the Keystone Centre. When I moved up to Dauphin, I worked with another fella who was actually a very competitive junior curler, so we hooked up with some others (and @17to85) and started curling in any/every bonspiel we could find. Great times had at the Dauphin Mens Bonspiel and Farmers/Mixed/Open spiel, Ste Rose Mens and Mixed, Winnipegosis, Ethelbert, Makinak......but undoubtedly, and Dave will testify to this, the most fun any one of us ever had at a bonspiel, is the annual Eddystone Mixed over a weekend around Valentine's Day. Man oh man oh man......the fun (that I can remember anyhow....) we had those weekends for a few years....

3 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I started out at the Fort Rouge in 1971 when I was in Grade 10 at Churchill High. We had our high school curling league. We sure had a lot of kids who wanted to curl. Some went on to be damned fine curlers in the Men's league & competed for the provincials to go to the Brier. I played Men's League for many years at Fort Rouge. I don't curl anymore but I still call it my home. It may have the best ice in the city & as I've been gone from Winnipeg for 33 years I really can't say but I can tell you they sure had the best pizza. Yes!!

I got into curling because of Don Duguid & his total dominance of not only Canadian curling but Manitoba as well. that 2 year run he put together from 1970 & 71 was amazing. He skipped the best rink on the planet at that time during those 2 years. Rod Hunter wasthe best third in the world. He wasn't nicknamed The Arrow for nothing. And his front end could sweep with those corn & artificial brooms all day long. Dom had a 15 minute curling segment called "Duguid's House after late sports on the CBC on Sundays. He'd go over such things a grip, stategy, fundamentals & usually show how to read ice & throw a few shots. I watched that show every Sunday night before going to bed as I had school the next day.

When I was curling in our little CHS league, the men would start coming in at about 6:45 pm  as we were finishing up from our 4:30 pm ice time. Their draw was at 7 pm. So, this is 1972 in October. Orest Meleschuk from Fort Rouge was the world champ. He had beaten Bob LaBonte from North Dakota to win the Air Canada Silver Broom. If you guys know about the burnt rock... Anyway, I come off the ice & there he is. As big as life. Orest meleschuk & his entire rink standing there right in front of me. At first, I just ignored him as I sat down to take off my curling shoes but my heart was pounding & my stomach turning over. I had to talk to him. I jst had to.  Although I was scared & just 16 years old, I worked up the courage to do do so. 

I went up to them, tapped Meleschuk on the shoulder, opened my mouth & something like "Uhh, ahhhh.... Errr... Mr Meleschuk, all you guys are great!!!" I remember how dry my mouth was & how nervous I was. He said, "Thanks kid" & then turned & ignored me as he kept talking to his teammates. I was totally crushed. I had made a fool of myself. I read later that Meleschuk was a moody kinda guy & wasn't the most friendly person to chat with so I don't feel bad. As I got older, I also know I would have handled things a lot differently than I did when I was an awkward, shy teenager. It was still good though to have a brush with greatness. 

In the lounge upstairs, the 1972 Air Canada Silver Broom is encased in a glass display. It's awesome to look at still. 

Orest and his rink curled out of Lac Du Bonnet, officially, back in those days (his 3rd, Johnny Usakis, lived there and it was technically their "home club") so I kinda grew up idolizing him, because everyone knew about Orest and Johnny around Pinawa/LDB area. I remember him curling in a Zones playdown in the mid 90s that was held in Pinawa that year and couldn't believe this legendary world champion (thank goodness for Bob Labonte!) was there on the same ice I threw juniors on twice a week..... he'll forever be a legend in my eyes. 

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3 minutes ago, Noeller said:

I grew up curling at the Pinawa Curling Club and Seven Sisters Falls CC (when it still existed), and then curled a bit in Brandon at the Wheat City CC inside the Keystone Centre. When I moved up to Dauphin, I worked with another fella who was actually a very competitive junior curler, so we hooked up with some others (and @17to85) and started curling in any/every bonspiel we could find. Great times had at the Dauphin Mens Bonspiel and Farmers/Mixed/Open spiel, Ste Rose Mens and Mixed, Winnipegosis, Ethelbert, Makinak......but undoubtedly, and Dave will testify to this, the most fun any one of us ever had at a bonspiel, is the annual Eddystone Mixed over a weekend around Valentine's Day. Man oh man oh man......the fun (that I can remember anyhow....) we had those weekends for a few years....

We used to have all night bonspiels in the city. We'd be curling at 4 am on a Saturday morning only to do it again the next night. And the clubs would let us drink as back then the junior age was 21. It was changed to 18 in either 1977 or 78. Those were about as fun as you could have although going out on a sheet of curling ice after 3 hours of pounding back rum & cokes wasn't he smartest thing. In 1975, we got to the semi finals of the main event (Free Press trophy) of the old School boy Bonspiel just to get hammered by Dale Duguid's team. We gave up a 5 & then a 3 ender in 5 ends. They were just too good. What a great team that was. Arrogant as hell but you couldn't deny their talent. 

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1 minute ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

We used to have all night bonspiels in the city. We'd be curling at 4 am on a Saturday morning only to do it again the next night. And the clubs would let us drink as back then the junior age was 21. It was changed to 18 in either 1977 or 78. Those were about as fun as you could have although going out on a sheet of curling ice after 3 hours of pounding back rum & cokes wasn't he smartest thing. In 1975, we got to the semi finals of the main event (Free Press trophy) of the old School boy Bonspiel just to get hammered by Dale Duguid's team. We gave up a 5 & then a 3 ender in 5 ends. They were just too good. What a great team that was. Arrogant as hell but you couldn't deny their talent. 

I did an overnighter in Didsbury (called a "Red Eye Bonspiel") with Dave and a couple other friends about 15 years or so ago.....that was a lot of fun, but very difficult. I don't do well on a lack of sleep. When I was up at Dauphin, a couple places used to do "Summer Bonspiels" at the end of August and it was insane. You could barely keep the ice frozen. It was just puddling everywhere, so you have to whip it as hard as you can just to get it to the other end. And the FOG in the lobby....it's 30 above outside and they're trying to keep it cold on the ice....well Christ. What a mess, and everyone just so drunk....... I think that was Rorketon, MB that we did an August bonspiel. So many good times...

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13 minutes ago, Noeller said:

I grew up curling at the Pinawa Curling Club and Seven Sisters Falls CC (when it still existed), and then curled a bit in Brandon at the Wheat City CC inside the Keystone Centre. When I moved up to Dauphin, I worked with another fella who was actually a very competitive junior curler, so we hooked up with some others (and @17to85) and started curling in any/every bonspiel we could find. Great times had at the Dauphin Mens Bonspiel and Farmers/Mixed/Open spiel, Ste Rose Mens and Mixed, Winnipegosis, Ethelbert, Makinak......but undoubtedly, and Dave will testify to this, the most fun any one of us ever had at a bonspiel, is the annual Eddystone Mixed over a weekend around Valentine's Day. Man oh man oh man......the fun (that I can remember anyhow....) we had those weekends for a few years....

Orest and his rink curled out of Lac Du Bonnet, officially, back in those days (his 3rd, Johnny Usakis, lived there and it was technically their "home club") so I kinda grew up idolizing him, because everyone knew about Orest and Johnny around Pinawa/LDB area. I remember him curling in a Zones playdown in the mid 90s that was held in Pinawa that year and couldn't believe this legendary world champion (thank goodness for Bob Labonte!) was there on the same ice I threw juniors on twice a week..... he'll forever be a legend in my eyes. 

You're probably a little too young to have had the chance to curl in Fork River.  Two sheeter, natural ice and snow blowing through the walls.

1 minute ago, Noeller said:

I did an overnighter in Didsbury (called a "Red Eye Bonspiel") with Dave and a couple other friends about 15 years or so ago.....that was a lot of fun, but very difficult. I don't do well on a lack of sleep. When I was up at Dauphin, a couple places used to do "Summer Bonspiels" at the end of August and it was insane. You could barely keep the ice frozen. It was just puddling everywhere, so you have to whip it as hard as you can just to get it to the other end. And the FOG in the lobby....it's 30 above outside and they're trying to keep it cold on the ice....well Christ. What a mess, and everyone just so drunk....... I think that was Rorketon, MB that we did an August bonspiel. So many good times...

The bonspiel in Rorketon was the first time I ever experienced +40 C without humidex.  They made 10K a day in the beer tent in a town of under 200 people, but it wasn't enough to replace the ice plant that they killed in the heat. 

We won 2nd in the 2nd.  That's where I learned to curl.

You weren't the guys playing Seven Nation Army 24 hours a day, by chance?

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1 minute ago, Noeller said:

I did an overnighter in Didsbury (called a "Red Eye Bonspiel") with Dave and a couple other friends about 15 years or so ago.....that was a lot of fun, but very difficult. I don't do well on a lack of sleep. When I was up at Dauphin, a couple places used to do "Summer Bonspiels" at the end of August and it was insane. You could barely keep the ice frozen. It was just puddling everywhere, so you have to whip it as hard as you can just to get it to the other end. And the FOG in the lobby....it's 30 above outside and they're trying to keep it cold on the ice....well Christ. What a mess, and everyone just so drunk....... I think that was Rorketon, MB that we did an August bonspiel. So many good times...

I curled in the Stonewall Bonspiel back in my early 20's. The bonspiel was the first weekend in April. They didn't have an ice plant. Anyway, the temp shot up from minus 2 to plus 15 during the game & like you said the ice turned to slush & water. Ifa team got a rock somehow in the house they'd get a point as it was impossible to remove. We had corn brooms back then & I was playing second. My friend playing lead & I were getting sprayed with water & were soaked on our legs. It was ******* awful. We were eliminated in the playoffs. No idea how they finished that bonspiel. I never swept so hard in my life. Myarms were dead & sore for 2 days after.

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8 minutes ago, Wideleft said:

You're probably a little too young to have had the chance to curl in Fork River.  Two sheeter, natural ice and snow blowing through the walls.

The bonspiel in Rorketon was the first time I ever experienced +40 C without humidex.  They made 10K a day in the beer tent in a town of under 200 people, but it wasn't enough to replace the ice plant that they killed in the heat. 

We won 2nd in the 2nd.  That's where I learned to curl.

You weren't the guys playing Seven Nation Army 24 hours a day, by chance?

Definitely wouldn't be playing 7 Nation Army.....ha ha ha ha. Yes, that Rorketon Summer Spiel was something else. My buddy Kyle Forsyth was dating a girl from that area, so we curled in it...... a mutual friend of ours, Kevin somethingorother..... ( we just called him "Chewy" 'cause he was a very hairy dude) curled with us, I think, and I can't remember who else. It was just absolutely bonkers. 40 above outside and couldn't keep the ice going inside...what a time. That woulda been somewhere around 2003/04, if I remember right...

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My brother in law travelled with his regular team from Assiniboine Memorial to Green Bay Wisconsin in July for a summer bonspiel back in the 80's. I think threy might have won the thing but I can't remember. My bro in law was a helluva curler. He could make all the shots. He curled with his buddies. They curled together for years. He could have left them & played on a better team & challenge for the provincial crown but he wasn't like that. He loved curling with his team. They were all high school friends & very close.

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1 minute ago, Noeller said:

Definitely wouldn't be playing 7 Nation Army.....ha ha ha ha. Yes, that Rorketon Summer Spiel was something else. My buddy Kyle Forsyth was dating a girl from that area, so we curled in it...... a mutual friend of ours, Kevin somethingorother..... ( we just called him "Chewy" 'cause he was a very hairy dude) curled with us, I think, and I can't remember who else. It was just absolutely bonkers. 40 above outside and couldn't keep the ice going inside...what a time. That woulda been somewhere around 2003/04, if I remember right...

It's all a blur, but still remains one of the most fun weekends I ever had.  Was so proud of my town for putting that on.  It's funny because they thought they'd need to attract higher level curlers looking for practice time from the city to fill out the 48 spots, but it was almost all "locals".  We were all scared that the ATM at the Credit Union was going to run out of money, but we needed those icy drinks to keep us cool.

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51 minutes ago, Noeller said:

I grew up curling at the Pinawa Curling Club and Seven Sisters Falls CC (when it still existed), and then curled a bit in Brandon at the Wheat City CC inside the Keystone Centre. When I moved up to Dauphin, I worked with another fella who was actually a very competitive junior curler, so we hooked up with some others (and @17to85) and started curling in any/every bonspiel we could find. Great times had at the Dauphin Mens Bonspiel and Farmers/Mixed/Open spiel, Ste Rose Mens and Mixed, Winnipegosis, Ethelbert, Makinak......but undoubtedly, and Dave will testify to this, the most fun any one of us ever had at a bonspiel, is the annual Eddystone Mixed over a weekend around Valentine's Day. Man oh man oh man......the fun (that I can remember anyhow....) we had those weekends for a few years....

Orest and his rink curled out of Lac Du Bonnet, officially, back in those days (his 3rd, Johnny Usakis, lived there and it was technically their "home club") so I kinda grew up idolizing him, because everyone knew about Orest and Johnny around Pinawa/LDB area. I remember him curling in a Zones playdown in the mid 90s that was held in Pinawa that year and couldn't believe this legendary world champion (thank goodness for Bob Labonte!) was there on the same ice I threw juniors on twice a week..... he'll forever be a legend in my eyes. 

I remember that exhibition game Meleschuk played against Vera Pezer the 1972 Canadian Women's champ. She dominated women's curling at that time like Duguid had done for the men. She challenged Meleschuk to a Battle Of The Sexes match. The media jumped all over it. And CBC set it up on their saturday afternoon show called CBC's Wonderful World of Curling".

I read that Meleschuk wanted no part of this game but gave in because of the pressure to play. So, in November 1973, they played the game on the CBC network.. If any of you remember Meleschuk's delivery it was a high backswing out of the hack & then a flat foot slide down the ice while holding the broom in his left arm at shoulder level. 

Nobody knew how pissed off Meleschuk was & how he had spent awhile in the lounge at the St james Civic Centre drinking his anger away to go play. I think he felt trapped by the hype & was forced to play aganst his will. There was nothing for him to gain by playing this game. He was the reigning Men's world champion. Orest was half cut by game time. So, his first shot, with a cigarette in his mouth, he came flying out of the hack & nearly fell over. Only his natural strength kept him upright. I remember Don Wittman calling the game exclaiming, "Ohhhh, the ship's a little unsteady!" I think Pezer beat him that day but in typical Meleschuk style he just shrugged it off as in "Who cares?"

Edited by SpeedFlex27
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7 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I remember that exhibition game Meleschuk played against Vera Pezer the 1972 Canadian Women's champ. She dominated women's curling at that time like Duguid had done for the men. She challenged him to a Battle Of The Sexes match. The media jumped all over it. And CBC set it up on their saturday afternoon show called CBC's Wonderul World of Curling". I read that Meleschuk wanted no part of this game but gave in because of the pressure to play. So, in November 1973they played the game on the CBC network.. If any of you remember Meleschuk's delivery it was a high backswing out of the hack & then a flat foot slide down the ice while holding the broom  in his left arm at shoulder level. 

Nobody knew how pissed off Meleschuk was & how he had spent awhile in the lounge drinking his anger away to go play. I think he felt trapped by the hype & was forced to play aganst his will. There was nothing for him to gain by playing this game. Orest was half cut by game time. So, his first shot, with a cigarette in his mouth, he  comes flying out of the hack & nearly falls over. just his natural strength kept him upright. I remember Don Wittman calling the game exclaiming, "Ohhhh & the ship's a little unsteady!" I think Pezer beat him that day but in typical Meleschuk style he just shrugged it off as in "Who cares?"

They re-did this event with Randy Ferbey vs Jennifer Jones sometime around 2007 or so.......?? Jones was the first ladies team to play a men's style of game, fully aggressive and could play all the big weight shots. It was a fun match. 

My favourite Melechuk story is one I read in a book while I was going to BU (my Can History prof was a curling historian and wrote a book about it)... one of the earliest televised curling matches with microphones on the curlers was at a cash spiel in Thunder Bay in the late 70s or early 80s. The curlers were not used to being mic-ed and often forgot all about it. So at one point, there was an absolute mess in the house and O and Johnny U were in the house trying to figure out a plan, and O just let's it fly: "Well, Johnny....what the f*ck are we gonna do?? What in the F*CK are we gonna do??!!"  Amazing. Legend.

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1 hour ago, Noeller said:

They re-did this event with Randy Ferbey vs Jennifer Jones sometime around 2007 or so.......?? Jones was the first ladies team to play a men's style of game, fully aggressive and could play all the big weight shots. It was a fun match. 

My favourite Melechuk story is one I read in a book while I was going to BU (my Can History prof was a curling historian and wrote a book about it)... one of the earliest televised curling matches with microphones on the curlers was at a cash spiel in Thunder Bay in the late 70s or early 80s. The curlers were not used to being mic-ed and often forgot all about it. So at one point, there was an absolute mess in the house and O and Johnny U were in the house trying to figure out a plan, and O just let's it fly: "Well, Johnny....what the f*ck are we gonna do?? What in the F*CK are we gonna do??!!"  Amazing. Legend.

HNIC mic'd up the penalty box during a Leafs home game at the Gardens vs the Flyers in the mid 70's. Bobby Clarke got a penalty he didn't like & all of Canada watching that game heard the swear filled tirade that Clarke directed at the referee. Thousands of complaints came into the CBC by phone & they never did that again. However, I don't think Clarke forgot the penalty box was mic'd up. I think he did that delibderately. Maybe he felt mic'ng up the penalty box went too far. Or maybe he just wanted to be a big **** head that night. Lol. 

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2 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

My brother in law travelled with his regular team from Assiniboine Memorial to Green Bay Wisconsin in July for a summer bonspiel back in the 80's. I think threy might have won the thing but I can't remember. My bro in law was a helluva curler. He could make all the shots. He curled with his buddies. They curled together for years. He could have left them & played on a better team & challenge for the provincial crown but he wasn't like that. He loved curling with his team. They were all high school friends & very close.

I just want to add my brother in law passed away suddenly in 2011. He left behind 2 kids who are now grown. His oldest daughter has 3 kids of her own with a fourth on the way so he missed out being a grandfather. His curling team also played summer baseball on the same team together for years & they frequently golfed together so as you can see they were truly close. He loved sports & even found time to coach little league. He had no kids on the teams he coached. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
11 hours ago, Jpan85 said:

Amazing last two shots by Dunstone

I've been banging the drum for awhile, but he's the best men's curler "we've" produced in decades. Mike is/was very talented, but.....with all due respect to him....Matt is mentally stronger. When KMart broke the story that Matt was getting back together with his World Jr champ teammate Colton Lott, and picking up one of the best 3rd's in the history of Manitoba curling, BJ Neufeld, I was ecstatic. I don't love bringing in a Harnden from out province, but it is what it is. He's helped calm/steady Colton on the front end. Overall, it's one of the best Manitoba men's teams in a very very very long time. Mike's team from 2010ish was, arguably, the best in the world. They won virtually everything on tour......but when it came time for playdowns, they (Mike?) just broke down completely. They lost to everyone in the big game....even Rob "F*** Around" Fowler, one year.....it was totally psychological. I think if there had been Wild Card teams at the Brier in those years, there's a chance they would have won a Brier, but they just couldn't get over the mental hurdle of winning a Buffalo. 

Anyhow, short story long, this Dunstone team is something special and as someone who is insanely passionate about the state of Manitoba "pro" curling, I am beyond ecstatic. We currently own the Women's game (at this point, we're sending glorified club curlers to the Scotties to help round out the field) and if we can get the Manitoba Men's division "powered up" again, we're going to be in really good shape. We've got Mike and Fry, curling out of Toronto because they couldn't put a team together in MB (source: Cathy Gauthier) and in the Final 4 at the Brier, Jocko Gauthier curling out of BC (he's going to be outstanding with experience).... our crop of Juniors over the last several years has been really really good, which bodes well for the Men's and Ladies divisions going forward. 

 

THANK GOODNESS!! 

(....and Go, Dunny, Go!) 

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The most stressed I've been since Grey Cup. That shot of Dunstone unable to watch Bottcher final stone... That is me. The only team I hate more than Bottcher is Douchue. Let's ******* finish this thing... 

15 minutes ago, JCon said:

Dunstone was fortunate. 

Both skips made some incredible shots. Great game. 

Bring on Canada! 

Bull ******* ****. 

The only reason that game was even close was because Kennedy made the biggest fluke of his life. He MISSED the double he was trying to make and rolled over perfectly frozen to prevent what would have been a 3 or 4 ender for Dunstone in 6. And he actually had the courtesy to apologize to Matt as he walked by him after.

Dunstone team fought through numerous horseshoe moments and still came out on top because they're the better team. Here's hoping they can do the same tonight. 

 

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