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TORONTO -- Madeline Flynn didnt know I was watching her.She was sitting in the rafters of the Air Canada Centre between two children, both blond, a boy and a girl. They were in their seats well ahead of Thursdays opening faceoff between Canada and Team Europe. Madeline was older, 70, I would find out, wearing a Canada T-shirt under her black jacket. The girl was sporting a Canada T-shirt, too. The boy was wearing a Sidney Crosby sweater, of course. A grandmother and her grandkids, I thought. Or hoped. Maybe theyre the ones. Then Madeline took a big gulp of a beer, and I knew I had found my girl.In my pocket, I had four great tickets to that nights game: Section 110, Row 12, Seats 1, 2, 3 and 4. Golds, toward one end of the ice, close enough to see and hear the action as though you were in it. In Toronto, the fans are in the upper reaches. The lower bowl is for the stiffs and the suits. It is a world devoid of children. One tiny socket of it was about to change.Its a strange responsibility, choosing which strangers are going to be the lucky ones. I walked around the little catwalks and concourses at the top of the arena, hemming and hawing. I saw a father and a son, young, glasses, eager on the edge of his seat. I saw another father and son in matching Canada sweaters. I liked the way they were leaning into each other.But then I saw Madeline, and her grandkids, and her beer. I was worried she would think I was a creep when I walked up to her, because I am kind of a creep. I asked her whether the kids were in fact her grandkids.Yes, she said. The girl was Siobhan, 11. The boy was Jack, 9.Was it just the three of them there?Yes, she said.Did they want to come watch the game with me down by the ice?Madelines face lit up like a firework. Yes, yes, yes! she said.The four of us made our way downstairs. I cant believe it, Madeline said. We came out of the concourse into the blinding white light of the ice. Not many seats were down the stairs in front of us. Thousands of them were up. We walked down.Madeline took out her phone and took a picture. I asked if she was going to send it to anyone. Absolutely, she said. She told me she has four sons, each hockey crazy. Im going to make them drool!By one of those miracles of fate, I had found the perfection that is Madeline Flynn. She was a stay-at-home mom. She had her four boys in a span of five years. They were a handful. There was an outdoor rink across the street from their house. We went there every day, she said. I loved every minute of it.Her boys all grew up to play the game; now they are scattered across North America, but three of them still coach. A son who lives in New Brunswick floods a rink in his yard every winter; its surrounded by old fishing nets strung through with lights. Madeline said its filled with kids from the time they get out of school until 10 oclock at night.She has nine grandkids, and they all play sports too. They call her Grammy. Siobhan is a center on her hockey team. I asked why she liked hockey.I like when they fight, she said. Her favorite player is Steven Stamkos.Jack plays defense. What does he love?Bodychecking, he said. His favorite player was obvious from his sweater.Madeline has spent thousands and thousands of hours watching the game. I love the speed, the excitement and the fan participation, she said. I just feel that Im there. Im never bored watching hockey. Her favorite player is Carey Price, through and through, she said.The game started. Its so loud down here, Madeline said. I dont think Ive ever seen people watch hockey as intently as Madeline and her grandkids. Their eyes never left the puck.Madeline was subtle about it, but she used the play to pass on little lessons to Siobhan and Jack. They werent always about the game. Or they were about the game but also about something larger.Siobhan was worried Canada wasnt taking enough shots. Thats OK, Madeline told her. You have to have quality shots.Brent Burns tried to make a rush but lost the puck. You cant do it alone, Madeline said. Thats why its a team game.John Tavares had a wide-open net in front of him and instead hit the post. They dont know how much time they have, she said.Madeline went to the washroom, and I told Siobhan how lucky she was to have such a great grammy. She nodded. She is awesome, Siobhan said.Team Europe carried a 1-0 lead deep into the third. I told Madeline that if she had to leave, that was OK. Oh God, no, she said. Are you kidding? The kids were staying with her that night. I mentioned school the next morning. Theyre going to be late, Madeline said.There was maybe five minutes left. Im still hopeful, Madeline said. She asked the young woman in front of her to turn her hat inside out, which she did. Now we have our rally cap! Madeline said. If we get one, well get two.With 2:53 left, Patrice Bergeron got one.Siobhan said something that I didnt hear above the roaring crowd, Madeline roaring with it. What did she say? Its her positive energy, Siobhan said.A little more than two minutes later, with less than a minute to go, Brad Marchand got Madelines second, maybe 100 feet in front of her eyes. She was screaming on her feet, her grandkids jumping around beside her. She smothered them in hugs. She smothered me in a hug. It was one of the best hugs of my life. I told her I was so glad to have met her. I might have told her I loved her. Our eyes were maybe a little wet.I will never forget this! Madeline cried over the noise of the crowd. Absolutely wonderful!You dont know how much time you have. Air Force 1 Wholesale .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have recalled forward Kevin Porter and defenceman Chad Ruhwedel from the minors as part of a five-player roster shuffle made by the NHLs worst team. Air Force 270 Outlet . -- Devin Hester is done returning kicks in Chicago. https://www.cheapairforce1outlet.com/ . -- Team after team passed on Andre Ellington in the draft. Air Force 1 White Outlet . Blackwood, 28, has played the last three seasons in the San Diego Padres system, including the past two summers with Class AA San Antonio of the Texas League. Air Force 1 Cheap . Kiriasis and brakeman Franziska Fritz finished two runs in one minute 55.41 seconds -- a mere 0.01 seconds ahead of Meyers and Lolo Jones, who likely bolstered her Olympic hopes by helping give USA-1 a huge push in the second heat. Western Michigan will be rowing from Kalamazoo to the Cotton Bowl.The 12th-ranked Broncos (13-0, No. 15 CFP), the Mid-American Conference champions and the only FBS team other than top-ranked Alabama still undefeated, will play Big Ten runner-up and eighth-ranked Wisconsin (10-3, No. 8 CFP) on Jan. 2 in the Dallas Cowboys home stadium.Coach P.J. Fleck said Sunday that it really is surreal right now. Surreal to know Western Michigan University, a team that I coach, is going to play in one of the historic New Years games that he used to watch with his dad when he was growing up.The 36-year-old Fleck, who has infused the Broncos with that Row The Boat mantra, revealed that he had a large piece of cotton in his pocket during the MAC championship game on Friday night. He showed that cotton to the WMU players and fans gathered for the bowl announcement inside while it was snowing outside.Well, theres a lot of cotton falling from the sky here in Kalamazoo today, a lot accumulating on the ground, Fleck said during the ESPN selection show. How ironic.During a team meeting last January, just weeks after the Broncos first-ever bowl victory, Fleck displayed to his team a logo of the Cotton Bowl, the destination this season for the highest-ranked champion from the Group of Five.Wisconsin is also going to its first Cotton Bowl. The Badgers lost the Big Ten championship game and a chance to get back to the Rose Bowl for the first time since going to Pasadena at the end of three consecutive seasons (2010-12).Badgers coach Paul Chryst said while his team was disappointed with their Big Ten finish, the Cotton Bowl and the opponent will be make it easier for them to get re-focused.One of the stories of the year, and that will grab our kids attentions, Chryst said of WMU. It will be a challenge for us.While the West Division champion Badgers are officially the Big Ten runner-ups, they are behind three of the conferences East Division teams in the final College Football Playoff rankings and AP Top 25 -- trailing Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan.The Badgers 15 consecutive bowl games is the longest streak in the Big Ten.Some other things to know about Westeern Michigan and Wisconsin going to the Cotton Bowl:SMALL SUCCESSES: This is the third season of the College Football Playoff, which offers a spot for the highest-ranked Group of Five champion in one of the New Years Six games.dddddddddddd The first two have won their games. Boise State beat Arizona 38-30 in the Fiesta Bowl two years ago, and Houston beat Florida State 38-24 in the Peach Bowl last season.BEATING THE BIG TEN: Western Michigan has played -- and beaten -- two Big Ten teams this season. The Broncos opened their season with a 22-21 win at Northwestern, and two weeks later won 34-10 at Illinois. Western Michigan has played Wisconsin four times before -- all of those early-season games in Madison, Wisconsin. The Badgers won the last meeting 19-7 in 2000, two years after Western Michigan got its only win in the series.THIS WAS THE GOAL: Wide receiver Corey Davis had already had three standout seasons for Western Michigan, and could have possibly been a high NFL draft pick had he left after his junior year. But Fleck said Davis returned to finish the job he started with his teammates, to become a MAC champion. Davis has 91 catches for 1,427 yards and 18 TDs this season, and 325 receptions for 5,205 yards and 51 TDs overall.NOT FIRST VISIT: Wisconsin previously played at AT&T Stadium, the home of the NFLs Dallas Cowboys, in losing its 2015 season opener 35-17 to Alabama. While this will be Western Michigans first game at the stadium that started hosting the Cotton Bowl seven years ago, Fleck coached there as a receivers coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2012, and attended the first CFP championship game there two seasons ago.BIG TEN IN COTTON: Before Michigan State played in the Cotton Bowl the last two years, including the national semifinal game loss to Alabama last season, the only Big Ten team that had ever played in the Cotton Bowl had been Ohio State. The Buckeyes beat Texas A&M in the 1987 Cotton Bowl.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 . ' ' '