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Movies like Necessary Roughness

Key Features:
Underdog story, Sports comedy, Football, Sports competition, Misfits, Comeback story, Charismatic protagonist, Teamwork, Redemption, Training montage, Physical comedy, Romantic subplot, Nudity-mild
Tone:
humorous, earnest, witty
Target Audience:
Sports fans, Comedy lovers, Fans of underdog stories, College students
Emotional Arc:
Disappointment → Hope → Triumph

Necessary Roughness

1991-09-27
Necessary Roughness Poster - Find Similar Movies

When the Texas State University Fightin' Armadillos football team is disqualified for cheating and poor grades, the University is forced to pick from a team that actually goes to school. Will they even win a single game?

Genres
Comedy
Cast
Scott Bakula, Robert Loggia, Harley Jane Kozak, Larry Miller, Héctor Elizondo, Sinbad, Fred Thompson, Rob Schneider, Jason Bateman, Andrew Bryniarski
Crew
Stan Dragoti, David Fuller, Rick Natkin
Rating
5.492(130 votes)
Necessary RoughnessNecessary Roughness
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The Comebacks
4.82

Out-of-luck coach Lambeau Fields takes a rag-tag bunch of college misfits and drives them towards the football championships. In the process, this life-long loser discovers that he is a winner after all by redeeming himself, saving his relationship with his family and friends, and finding that there is indeed, no "I" in "team"!



Rebound
Rebound(2005)
5.594

An acclaimed college hoops coach is demoted to a junior varsity team after a public meltdown.



Revenge of the Nerds

At Adams College, the jocks rule the school from their house on high, the Alpha Beta fraternity. So when a group of socially-challenged misfits try to go Greek, they're instantly rejected by every house on campus. Deciding to start their own fraternity to protect their outcast brothers, the campus nerds soon find themselves in a battle royale as the Alpha Betas try to crush their new rivals.



Greater
Greater(2016)
7.182

The incredible true story of the greatest walk-on in the history of college football.



Rudy
Rudy(1993)
7.347

Rudy grew up in a steel mill town where most people ended up working, but wanted to play football at Notre Dame instead. There were only a couple of problems. His grades were a little low, his athletic skills were poor, and he was only half the size of the other players. But he had the drive and the spirit of 5 people and has set his sights upon joining the team.



Gridiron Gang
7

Under the leadership of their counselor, teenagers at a juvenile detention center gain self-esteem by playing football together. Based on a true story.



Dirt
Dirt(2018)
6

In search of a lifeline for his struggling off road racing team, a man takes on a young car thief looking for a second chance, but as their worlds collide, they must struggle to forge a successful alliance.



The Underdoggs
7

Jaycen 'Two Js' Jennings is a washed-up former pro football star who has hit rock bottom. When sentenced to community service coaching the Underdoggs, an unruly pee-wee football team in his hometown, he sees it mostly as an opportunity to rebuild his public image. But in the process, he may just turn his life around and rediscover his love of the game.



Little Giants
6.467

When Danny O'Shea's daughter is cut from the Peewee football team just for being a girl, he decides to form his own team, composed of other ragtag players who were also cut. Can his team really learn enough to beat the elite team, coached by his brother, a former pro player?



Old School
6.6

Three friends attempt to recapture their glory days by opening up a fraternity near their alma mater.



DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story

When megalomaniacal White Goodman, the owner of a trendy, high-end fitness center, makes a move to take over the struggling local gym run by happy-go-lucky Pete La Fleur, there's only one way for La Fleur to fight back: dodgeball. Aided by a dodgeball guru and Goodman's attorney, La Fleur and his rag-tag team of underdogs launch a knock-down, drag-out battle in which the winner takes all.



The Benchwarmers
5.84

A trio of guys try and make up for missed opportunities in childhood by forming a three-player baseball team to compete against standard little league squads.



Wildcats
Wildcats(1986)
6.3

High school track coach Molly McGrath knows just as much about football as anyone else on the planet. When a football coach's position becomes vacant, she applies for the job, despite snickers from fellow staff members and her former husband.



The Winning Season
6.354

A comedy centered on a has-been coach who is given a shot at redemption when he's asked to run his local high school's girls basketball team



Mean Machine
6.246

Disgraced ex-England football captain, Danny 'Mean Machine' Meehan, is thrown in jail for assaulting two police officers. He keeps his head down and has the opportunity to forget everything and change the lives of the prisoners. When these prisoners have the chance to put one over the evil guards during a prison football match, Danny takes the lead.



Blue Mountain State: The Rise of Thadland

With Blue Mountain State football star Thad Castle recently signing a multi-million dollar NFL contract, his teammates and college life seem like a distant memory. However, when a new school dean threatens to clean up the BMS image by auctioning off the infamous Goat House, Alex, Sammy and the boys must find a way to convince him to get involved. Despite his new fortune and fame, there is one small favor that Thad needs done before he saves the day: the biggest booze-and-sloot fest in BMS history. Welcome to Thadland!



Beer League
5.1

An unemployed slacker inspires his softball teammates to improve their game to avoid getting kicked out of the local league.



Goon
Goon(2012)
6.408

Doug Glatt, a slacker who discovers he has a talent for brawling, is approached by a minor league hockey coach and invited to join the team as the "muscle." Despite the fact that Glatt can't skate, his best friend, Pat, convinces him to give it a shot, and Glatt becomes a hero to the team and their fans, until the league's reigning goon becomes threatened by Glatt's success and decides to even the score.



Animal House
7

At a 1962 College, Dean Vernon Wormer is determined to expel the entire Delta Tau Chi Fraternity, but those troublemakers have other plans for him.



My All American
7

Freddie Steinmark, an underdog on the gridiron, faces the toughest challenge of his life after leading his team to a championship season.



The Replacements
6.69

Maverick old-guard coach Jimmy McGinty is hired in the wake of a players' strike to help the Washington Sentinels advance to the playoffs. But that impossible dream hinges on whether his replacements can hunker down and do the job. So, McGinty dusts off his secret dossier of ex-players who never got a chance (or screwed up the one they were given) and knits together a bad-dream team of guys who just may give the Sentinels their title shot.



Accepted
Accepted(2006)
6.426

A high school slacker who's rejected by every school he applies to opts to create his own institution of higher learning, the South Harmon Institute of Technology, on a rundown piece of property near his hometown.



The Ringer
5.7

Pressured by a greedy uncle and a pile of debt, lovable loser Steve Barker resorts to an unthinkable, contemptible, just-crazy-enough-to-work scheme. He pretends to be mentally challenged to rig the upcoming Special Olympics and bring home the gold. But when Steve's fellow competitors get wise to the con, they inspire him to rise to the greatest challenge of all: becoming a better person.



Major League
6.9

When Rachel Phelps inherits the Cleveland Indians from her deceased husband, she's determined to move the team to a warmer climate—but only a losing season will make that possible, which should be easy given the misfits she's hired. Rachel is sure her dream will come true, but she underestimates their will to succeed.



The Longest Yard
6.7

A football player-turned-convict organizes a team of inmates to play against a team of prison guards. His dilemma is that the warden asks him to throw the game in return for an early release, but he is also concerned about the inmates' lack of self-esteem.



Semi-Tough
5.5

A three-way friendship between two free-spirited professional football players and the owner's daughter becomes compromised when two of them become romantically involved.



Dirty Work
6.2

Unemployed and recently dumped, Mitch and his buddy Sam start a revenge-for-hire business to raise the $50,000 that Sam's father needs to get a heart transplant.



Lady Ballers
5.3

A once-great basketball coach is on a journey back to victory by reuniting his former high school championship basketball team, but this time, he’s challenging them to play like girls.



The Dirties
6.4

The line between reality and fiction starts to blur when two best friends start making a movie about getting revenge on bullies.



Underdogs
Underdogs(2013)
7

All seems well for Amadeo, a shy but talented foosball player who's in love with the free-spirited Laura. Trouble strikes when Grosso, the world's best soccer player, returns home with plans to destroy the village and turn it into a new sports stadium. When Grosso kidnaps Laura, Amadeo receives the ultimate surprise when the figurines from his foosball table spring to life to help him save his beloved and reclaim the town.



Slackers
Slackers(2002)
5.2

Dave, Sam and Jeff are about to graduate from Holden University with honors in lying, cheating and scheming. The three roommates have proudly scammed their way through the last four years of college and now, during final exams, these big-men-on-campus are about to be busted by the most unlikely dude in school. Self-dubbed Cool Ethan, an ambitious nerd with a bad crush, enters their lives one day and everything begins to unravel.



The Waterboy
6.1

Bobby Boucher is a water boy for a struggling college football team. The coach discovers Boucher's hidden rage makes him a tackling machine whose bone-crushing power might vault his team into the playoffs.



BASEketball
6.1

Two losers from Milwaukee, Coop and Remer, invent a new game combining basketball with the rules of baseball. When the game becomes a huge success, they, along with a billionaire's help, form the Professional Baseketball League where everyone gets the same pay and no team can change cities. When a rival owner wants to institute major rule changes, Coop and Remer's team is the only one standing in the way.



Juwanna Mann
5

A basketball star is booted out of the NBA when his on-court antics go too far, so he poses as a woman and joins the WUBA.



Champions
Champions(2023)
6.72

A stubborn and hotheaded minor league basketball coach is forced to train a Special Olympics team when he is sentenced to community service.



Champions
Champions(2018)
7.5

A disgraced basketball coach is given the chance to coach Los Amigos, a team of players who are intellectually disabled, and soon realizes they just might have what it takes to make it to the national championships.



Queens of The Field

After its football team is disqualified for insulting a referee during a major game, a small country town risks losing its funding along with its field. To avoid this disaster, there is only one solution: creating a new team made up exclusively of women to defend the city’s colors! But in a community where football has always been an activity reserved for men, these women’s new status will be sure to shake up the daily lives of the town’s residents…



Underdog
Underdog(2007)
5.553

A lab accident gives a beagle named Shoeshine some serious superpowers -- a secret that the dog eventually shares with the young boy who becomes his owner and friend.



Knucklehead
5.6

A fight promoter deeply in debt to his crooked rival and desperate for a new fighter catches a break when a 450 pound church handyman who has spent his entire life in an orphanage agrees to wrestle on behalf of his fellow orphans.



The Main Event
5.254

A bankrupt entrepreneur attempts to recoup some of her losses by getting a washed-out boxer she picked up as a tax loss back into the ring — an idea her protégé isn't fond of.



Leatherheads
5.859

A light hearted comedy about the beginnings of Professional American Football. When a decorated war hero and college all star is tempted into playing professional football. Everyone see the chance to make some big money, but when a reporter digs up some dirt on the war hero... everyone could lose out.



PCU
PCU(1994)
6

Nervous high school senior Tom Lawrence visits Port Chester University, where he gets a taste of politically correct college life when he's guided by fraternity wild man Droz and his housemates at The Pit. But Droz and his pals have rivals in nasty preppy Rand McPherson and the school's steely president. With their house threatened with expulsion, Droz and company decide to throw a raging party where the various factions will collide.



Best of the Best
6.5

A team from the United States is going to compete against Korea in a Tae Kwon Do tournament. The team consists of fighters from all over the country--can they overcome their rivalry and work together to win?



Shaolin Soccer
7.149

A young Shaolin follower reunites with his discouraged brothers to form a soccer team using their martial art skills to their advantage.



Sydney White
6.476

College freshman Sydney White arrives at Southern Atlantic University, determined to pledge her late mother's sorority. Unfortunately, she finds that the sisterhood has changed since her parent's day. Banished to a condemned house, Sydney joins forces with seven outcasts to take over the student government and win equal rights for nerd and noted alike.



Championext
6.47

Los Amigos wins the Spanish basketball championship for the first time but are disqualified due to Sergio’s fault, leading to their dramatic breakup. Two years later, Cecilia, an inexperienced but optimistic coach, commits to fulfilling Julio’s dream of reuniting the team. Despite a string of misfortunes associated with Cecilia’s arrival, labeled as a “jinx”, Los Amigos’ enthusiasm remains unwavering. Against all odds, they find themselves participating in a thrilling and unexpected international eSports tournament watched by millions worldwide.



Home Team
Home Team(2022)
6.6

Two years after a Super Bowl win when NFL head coach Sean Payton is suspended, he goes back to his hometown and finds himself reconnecting with his 12-year-old son by coaching his Pop Warner football team.



Joe Somebody
5.7

When underappreciated video specialist Joe Scheffer is brutally humiliated by office bully Mark McKinney in front of his daughter, Joe begins a quest for personal redemption. He proceeds by enduring a personal makeover and takes martial arts lessons from a B-action star. As news spreads of his rematch with Mark, Joe suddenly finds himself the center of attention, ascending the corporate ladder and growing in popularity.



Whatever It Takes
5.8

A nerdy teen, Ryan Woodman is smitten with the popular and gorgeous Ashley Grant, who apparently has no interest in him. Meanwhile, dim star athlete Chris Campbell has his eye on Ryan's brainy and beautiful friend, Maggie Carter. The two agree to help each other in their romantic quests, but, as they come closer to their goals, both Ryan and Chris suspect that they might be pursuing the wrong girls.



Bandslam
Bandslam(2009)
5.8

A new kid in town assembles a fledgling rock band — together, they achieve their dreams and compete against the best in the biggest event of the year, a battle of the bands.



The Outcasts
6.14

After falling victim to a humiliating prank by the high school Queen Bee, best friends and world-class geeks, Mindy and Jodi, decide to get their revenge by uniting the outcasts of the school against her and her circle of friends.



Battle of the Year
6.8

A down-on-his-luck coach is hired to prepare a team of the best American dancers for an international tournament that attracts all the best crews from around the world, but the Americans haven't won in fifteen years.



Varsity Blues
6.1

In small-town Texas, high school football is a religion, 17-year-old schoolboys carry the hopes of an entire community onto the gridiron every Friday night. When star quarterback Lance Harbor suffers an injury, the Coyotes are forced to regroup under the questionable leadership of John Moxon, a second-string quarterback with a slightly irreverent approach to the game.



Touchback
Touchback(2011)
6.45

A former high-school football star loses his shot at a college scholarship due to a devastating gridiron injury, but gets a second chance at living his dream.



7th & Union
7.431

Ex-fighter Raymundo forms an unlikely bond with a disgruntled man whose life and relationship with his daughter are unraveling. The men join forces to win a fight that could very well save Raymundo, his wife and their child.



Unstoppable
5.122

With the unwavering love and support of his devoted mother Judy and the encouragement of his coaches, Anthony Robles fights through adversity to earn a spot on the Arizona State Wrestling team. But it will demand everything he has, physically and mentally, to achieve his ultimate quest to become an NCAA Champion.



Fist Fight
6.052

When one school teacher gets the other fired, he is challenged to an after-school fight.



Buddy Games
5.3

After six lifelong friends have a five-year falling out, “The Bobfather”, reunites his pals for the Buddy Games, an insane competition of absurd physical and mental challenges with the chance to win a $150,000 pot. Now all bets are off, as the determined dudes' fight, claw, and party for the big bucks.



Bleed for This
6.8

The inspirational story of World Champion Boxer Vinny Pazienza, who after a near fatal car crash, which left him not knowing if he'd ever walk again, made one of sports most incredible comebacks.



12 Mighty Orphans
7.2

Haunted by his mysterious past, a devoted high school football coach leads a scrawny team of orphans to the state championship during the Great Depression and inspires a broken nation along the way.



Major League II
5.7

After losing in the ALCS the year before, the Cleveland Indians are determined to make it into the World Series this time! However, they first have to contend with Rachel Phelps again when she buys back the team.



Balls Out: Gary the Tennis Coach

An overenthusiastic high-school maintenance man attempts to lead an unlikely group of misfits to the Nebraska state tennis championship in Balls Out: The Gary Houseman Story? director Danny Leiner's underdog sports comedy. American Pie star Seann William Scott stars as the ambitious janitor who believes he has what it takes to coach the winning team.



Napoleon Dynamite
6.8

A listless and alienated teenager decides to help his new friend win the class presidency in their small western high school, while he must deal with his bizarre family life back home.



Up the Creek
5.685

Bob McGraw is in his 12th year of college, goofing his way through life. Bob, Irwing, Gonzer and Max are the four losers forced and bribed to represent their university in an intercollegiate raft race. Forced and bribed into this role, they make some friends, the lovely Heather Merriweather, but mostly enemies, among others a whole team of marines, and preppy IVY-leaguers determined to win.



Bruised
Bruised(2021)
6.8

Jackie Justice is a mixed martial arts fighter who leaves the sport in disgrace. Down on her luck and simmering with rage and regret years after the fight, she's coaxed into a brutal underground fight by her manager and boyfriend Desi and grabs the attention of a fight league promoter who promises Jackie a life back in the Octagon. But the road to redemption becomes unexpectedly personal when Manny - the son she gave up as an infant - shows up at her doorstep. A triumphant story of a fighter who reclaims her power, in and out of the ring, when everyone has counted her out



Ready to Rumble
5.2

Two slacker wrestling fans are devastated by the ousting of their favorite character by an unscrupulous promoter.



No Retreat, No Surrender

The mob is trying to strongarm local martial arts schools, forcing young Jason Stillwell and his family to move after his father is injured defending their dojo. With his father now rejecting violence, Jason is forced to train on his own to protect himself and his best friend from the members of a rival karate school.



Ladybugs
Ladybugs(1992)
5.6

To climb the corporate ladder to success, a businessman agrees to coach his company's all-girl soccer team with the help of his secret weapon: his fiancee's son.



The Bad News Bears
6.9

An aging, down-on-his-luck ex-minor leaguer coaches a team of misfits in an ultra-competitive California little league.



Chalk It Up
5.044

When a super girly-girl is dumped by her boyfriend, she decides to do everything she can to get him back by building a college gymnastics team, quickly learning that she is capable of a lot more than just getting an MRS degree.



Just Friends
6.218

While visiting his hometown during Christmas, a man comes face-to-face with his old high school crush whom he was best friends with – a woman whose rejection of him turned him into a ferocious womanizer.



Major League: Back to the Minors

At the behest of Roger Dorn -- the Minnesota Twins' silver-tongued new owner -- washed-up minor league hurler Gus Cantrell steps up to the plate to take over as skipper of the club's hapless farm team. But little does he know that Dorn has an ulterior motive to generate publicity with a grudge match between the big leaguers and their ragtag Triple A affiliate.



Malibu Rescue
6.182

When a long list of shenanigans lands Tyler in hot water, he’s forced to suit up and spend his summer training for an elite junior lifeguard program.



They Called Him Bulldozer

The "Bulldozer", a former football star, is now working as a fisherman. As a group of street-people arranges a football match against the local Armybase, he is asked to be their trainer. His boat was damaged by a submarine and he currently has no work, so he agrees.



D3: The Mighty Ducks
5.951

The Ducks are offered scholarships at Eden Hall Academy but struggle with their new coach's methods and come under pressure from the board to retain their scholarships before their big game against the Varsity team.



Bomber
Bomber(1982)
6.405

Bomber is an unemployed boat captain. One day he meets Jerry, a manager of boxers who are struck by the force of his fists. That is when they see the chance to win big money.



Van Wilder: Freshman Year

It is freshman year at Coolidge College and Van Wilder is ready to party. To his dismay, all the girls have taken a vow of chastity and the dean rules the school. Van embarks on a crusade to land the campus hottie, Kaitlin, and liberate his school from sexual oppression and party dysfunction.



Hot Dog... The Movie

When a hopeful young American hot-dogger goes pole-to-pole with an arrogant Austrian pro, the snow really starts to fly! But as hot as it is on the mountain, it gets even hotter off when the pro's ex-girlfriend sets her eyes on the new blood. Who'll win the competition and the girl? Only a race to end all races can determine which skier can really cut the mustard!



Remember the Titans

After leading his football team to 15 winning seasons, coach Bill Yoast is demoted and replaced by Herman Boone – tough, opinionated and as different from the beloved Yoast as he could be. The two men learn to overcome their differences and turn a group of hostile young men into champions.



We Are Marshall
6.9

When a plane crash claims the lives of members of the Marshall University football team and some of its fans, the team's new coach and his surviving players try to keep the football program alive.



Fired Up!
Fired Up!(2009)
6.1

Popular high schoolers and best friends Shawn and Nick decide to ditch football camp for cheerleader camp. For the girls and for the glory.



Stomp the Yard 2: Homecoming

Chance Harris looks to find a balance between his school, work, relationships and opportunity to perform at the nationally televised step competition during homecoming weekend at Truth University.



Knockout
Knockout(2011)
5.454

Outsider and new kid Matthew desperately wants to join his high school's boxing team, but resident bully and boxing champion Hector stands in his way. Facing constant torment, Matthew finds an unlikely ally in Dan, the school's janitor and one-time amateur boxer. Together, they train for the biggest boxing match of Matthew's life and discover what it truly means to be a winner.



Rumble
Rumble(2021)
6.8

In a world where monster wrestling is a global sport and monsters are superstar athletes, teenage Winnie seeks to follow in her father’s footsteps by coaching a loveable underdog monster into a champion.



School for Scoundrels

In the hope of winning the woman of his dreams, Amanda, lovelorn meter-reader Roger Wadell enrolls in a secret confidence-building class. The course's title takes on much more meaning when he discovers that his egomaniacal professor Dr. P also wants the same woman. They begin a fierce rivalry that quickly spirals out of control, their pranks and insults get uglier as they try to prove who is the ultimate guy's guy.



Road Trip: Beer Pong
5.371

It’s Road Trip - Beer Pong! Three college roommates are on the ride of their lives when they drop everything to join a bus full of sexy, scantily clad models to compete in the ultimate sport competition: the National Beer Pong Tournament.



Forever Strong
7.1

Hotshot rugby player Rick Penning was the star player of his Arizona high school team until a fateful brush with the law forces him to ponder the consequences of his actions in a Salt Lake City juvenile detention center.



Monsters University

A look at the relationship between Mike and Sulley during their days at Monsters University — when they weren't necessarily the best of friends.



Dirty Deeds
5.5

According to a high school's lore, the "Dirty Deeds" are a daunting list of dares almost no student has ever completed. To win the student body's respect and get noticed by his crush, senior Zach is determined to finish the list in the allotted 24-hour time period. As the school's bullying jocks try to thwart him at every turn, Zach embarks on a wild journey, highlighted by beer swilling, grand theft auto and the snagging of an ex-homecoming queen's bra.



Action Point
5.4

A daredevil designs and operates his own theme park with his friends.



Sweethearts
5.7

Two college freshmen who decided to stick with their high school sweethearts have to pull a 'Turkey Dump' and break up with them over 'Drunksgiving' the one chaotic night before Thanksgiving in their hometown that puts their codependent friendship to the test.



High School
5.6

A high school valedictorian who gets baked with the local stoner finds himself the subject of a drug test. The situation causes him to concoct an ambitious plan to get his entire graduating class to face the same fate, and fail.



Goat
Goat(2016)
5.382

Reeling from a terrifying assault, a nineteen year old enrolls into college with his brother and pledges the same fraternity. What happens there, in the name of 'brotherhood,' tests him and his loyalty in brutal ways.



The Hammer
6.106

Approaching forty, Ferro is unsatisfied with his life as a construction worker and part-time boxing instructor in Los Angeles, CA. After a successful bout with a young pro boxer, Ferro decides to don the gloves one last time. The movie recounts his unlikely quest for Olympic gold.



Friday Night Lights

A small, turbulent town in Texas obsesses over their high school football team to an unhealthy degree. When the star tailback, Boobie Miles, is seriously injured during the first game of the season, all hope is lost, and the town's dormant social problems begin to flare up. It is left to the inspiring abilities of new coach Gary Gaines to instill in the other team members -- and, by proxy, the town itself -- a sense of self-respect and honor.



Over the Top
6.447

Lincoln Hawk a hard-luck big-rig trucker takes us under the glaring Las Vegas lights for all the boisterous action of the World Armwrestling Championship. Relying on wits and willpower, Hawk tries to rebuild his life by capturing the first-place prize money, and the love of the son he abandoned years earlier into the keeping of his rich, ruthless father-in-law.



Road House
6.94

Ex-UFC fighter Dalton takes a job as a bouncer at a Florida Keys roadhouse, only to discover that this paradise is not all it seems.



Storytelling
6.5

College and high school serve as the backdrop for two stories about dysfunction and personal turmoil.



Kicking & Screaming

Phil Weston has been unathletic his entire life. In college he failed at every sport that he tried out for. It looks like his 10-year old son, Sam, is following in his footsteps. But when Phil's hyper-competitive dad benches Sam, Phil decides to transfer his son to a new team which needs a coach. Phil steps in to be the temporary coach and immediately begins to butt heads with his dad over this new competition in their lives.

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