The Winnipeg Sun from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada • 52

52 i THEW1NNIPEG MCA accused of having funnel vision Starts by JIM MORDEN Hi O' blaf the Manttaba Curing AsaocMan Tankard ssadkig eommittaa yartatday the two of us we seeded where we should have been" asserted Orest Meleschuk nodding towards Mel Logan of Souris whom he had just defeated in his opening match at the Morden Curling Club guys in the MCA give all the credit to the guys coming out of the (MCA) Bonspiel and a bit of an insult to the rest of accused the 1972 world champ Three id the top-rated rinks in the Tankard had been fenced to earn provincial berths through the MCA including No 1 seed Kerry Burtnyk of Assiniboine-Memorial UflR RIMIGnUR floed StohwacfcloW and Doug Lyon members of Harold Petemen's rink carefcfly falow Bio UiB Ossed qfl guys do well in the MCA and then they come out as the top lamented Meleschuk wonder who the guys on the seeding committee are and where they come from They have tunnel vision They just look at last week and seed the rinks from there" That seeding committee which included a representative from The Sun as well as other media reps first polled 15 of the competitive curlers before deciding on the final formula Meleschuk who was seeded 17th was not one of those polled consider what the teams did before the Bonspiel The ultimate is gaining a sone spot Once you do that naturally the guys who go into the Bonspiel are just coasting said Meleschuk the guys who are forced to earn a spot through the MCA are so desperate that like about to fall off a cliff or something I mean their last Logan was seeded 16th and Meleschuk figures his own rink should have been about 10th or 11th not going to say who they are but 1 could name you seven teams that are in front of us that be there In fact I even think they should have been 8eededs the Lac du Bonnet skip readily suggested going to get hurt by predicted the 25-year veteran of curling wars mean been around long enough to know that getting the top seed help you unless you make your shots But it can help you where you're positioned in the draw I looked and saw that we had to play Kerry (Burtnyk) next Iiust about rolled over Aside from Burtnyk Brandon's Brian Fowler (No 2) Pembina's Mike Riley (No 5) Clare DeBlonde of West St Paul (No 8) Shoal Dave Gill and Rossmere's Howard Restall (No 12) earned provincial berths through the 100th annual MCA Bonspiel last week All but Burtnyk and Riley dropped their opening games yesterday added Sean who got his start in curling through his dad about 10 years ago remember watching him play when I was quietly submitted the 22-year-old had been curling together in Selkirk so he (Orest) knows how I play" Poppa Meleschuk agreed Know the way be throws so it works out well that way he said get along son Sean said "We do have our arguments though just like any other father and Meanwhile Sean said Orest will still be around a few more years before advancing to the senior competition Orest is listed at in the biographies available to the media MORDEN Whle Jkn and Bobby Urosl are unable to ploy together at this year's Tankard at least one fatharoon comfaina-lion hw Mead togothar for tha cunvnl compatMoiti Orwt MolMchuk hn acfldad ton Soon to his Lae du Bonnot rink Me year Kind of ca flonla Hows playing hockey with Ms aons? that is a laughed the appreciatively curling and hockey or no son if he make the shots I curt with him Fortunately been making the At least for the first game Orest and Sean combined with Johnny Usackis and Dave Boehmer to overcome former provincial champ Mel Logan of Souris 7-5 in their first game yesterday morning I guess it is kind iff like conceded the Son of Big who is playing lead for his famous father for the first time in Tankard play had bugged him about it for a couple of years butt guess I making my shots But worked out well for us assessed the Little Big 0 was looking for a couple of guys to play on his front end and decided on Dave (Boehmer) and me more special for me to play with him here because my dad than the fact that a former world top-ranked rinks Joining Fowler and DeBlonde on the sidelines is Howard Restall No 12 seed after he lost his second straight game Russell's Grant Steski edged Restall 6-4 Aside from Fowler and DeBlonde several of the top seeds in the Tankard were upset in the opening day of the competition yesterday Suffering losses but still alive include Mike Riley the No 5 seed John Bubbs the sixth seed DeBlonde knocked out of Tankard for each Harold Peterson iff the Grain Exchange had surprised Restall 10-5 then usurped Riley 6-3 Wawanesa's Al Fleming eked by Brown 5-4 and Quinn edged Carey 5-4 Eight rinks who emerged with 2-0 records after draw included: St Vital's Ron Gauthier Barry Fry (Bob Ursel) of Deer Lodge Tipping Vic Peters Assimboine-Memorial's Kerry Burtnyk Wildewood's Jeff Stoughton Quinn and Peterson In all 16 teams are on one leg heading into draw which continues here today with draws at 8 and 11 am 2 5 and 8 pm The A-side final will be played at 9 am tomorrow with B-side draws at 2 and 8 pm MORDEN Clara DeBfcmdo became Hie second tepmledHnfc to be vteBmfaad In only the first day of the Labatt Tankard bare yeatarday The West St Paul foursome dropped its second straight game on the late draw here late last night St Mike Enns registered threes in both the fourth and fifth ends and scored a 9-1 victory to knock off the eighth-seeded rink at the Morden Recreation Complex DeBlonde who had been upended 7-5 by Flin unseeded A1 Quinn in his first game had been sold in the Calcutta for $1150 With the $1600 spent on the No 2 seed Brian Fowler of Brandon who was also eliminated yesterday it means at least $2750 was spent there fruitlessly on Bill Carey No 9 and Scott rain Exchange Brown of the Grain seed Jeff Tipping of the Ft Rouge the 11th seed edged Bubbs 7-6 in the second game.