Rome Travel Log: Tuesday, April 25
4/25/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 25, 2017
The Michigan football program is on a one-week special educational and football experience for its student-athletes with a week of learning and practice in Rome, Italy. Follow the Wolverines on social media (#HailRoma) and with a daily travel log on MGoBlue.com.
Tuesday, April 25
7 a.m. -- The morning wakeup calls rang in everyone's room to begin the process for day three in Rome, a competition at Speedball Roma Club filled time in the morning and a trip to the Ninfe Beach on Lake Albano.
Day Three in Rome began with a morning Speedball Tournament.
Things got messy. 👍#GoBlue #HAILROMA » https://t.co/l7z6NMOLG9-- Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) April 25, 2017
8:15 a.m. -- After breakfast, the team loaded buses for the ride to the speedball center.
9:09 a.m. -- The Wolverines arrive at the Roma Speedball Center for a fun day of competition and team bonding.
9:18 a.m. -- Silva Palazzi talks with the team and provides instructions on how to shoot a gun, the rules of the competition and what to do when you are hit.
9:25 a.m. -- Players and staff exit the competition surface, where the instructions were conveyed and proceed to get masks for the elimination tournament.
9:30 a.m. -- Coach Harbaugh announces the members for each of the 16 teams, including a team that included ESPN's Marty Smith as a competitor with Team 5.
9:43 a.m. -- The tournament commences with teams 1 vs 4 on the field; team 4 wins the first competition for the day with opposing competitor Tyree Kinnel calling it quits midway through the action after taking a shot to the forehead above the mask.
9:57 a.m. -- Team 2 led by Harbaugh and quarterback Wilton Speight talks strategy for their match against team 6, which included Zach Gentry and team photographer David Turnley; both Gentry and Turnley admitted to getting hit "way too many times" by Harbaugh and team with Gentry jokingly mentioning that Coach probably had developed a strategy for weeks prior to the competition.
10:08 a.m. -- Harbaugh's team claims two victories to earn the head-to-head win and advance to the next round of the tournament.
10:11 a.m. -- The action continues with all of the teams getting into the competition, with more than a few players leaving with welts, battle scars and a lot of paint on their gear. Good thing the paint was Maize.
11:52 a.m. -- Action begin immediately with a match-up of Harbaugh's team against a team that included players Garrett Moores, Lawrence Marshall and Keith Washington with Queen's "We Are The Champions" playing on the audio system in the pavilion structure.
12:50 p.m. -- Teams 2, 3, 13 and 8 reached the semifinals.
1 p.m. -- The semifinals started with a matchup of Coach Harbaugh's team against Coach Hamilton's squad, in a best-of-three competition that ended with Hamilton's team rallying for the victory.
1:42 p.m. -- The championship was decided as Hamilton's team defeated the team led by Don Brown for the first paintball title.
1:48 p.m. -- The competition ended with a team photo, recognition of the organizers and the awarding of championship team medals for team 3: Rashan Gary, Carlo Kemp, Tarik Black, Khaleke Hudson, Coach Hamilton, Scott Goldschmidt, Jacob Kostner and Jackson Hamilton.
2:03 p.m. -- The group departed the Roma Paintball Center for a 25-minute ride to Lake Albona for lunch at Ristorante La Perla.
2:31 p.m. -- Michigan proceeded to the second floor for a group meal of Italian meats and cheeses, pork, rigatoni and veal; the chef rolled out a pig and proceeded to slice it for the team to enjoy.
3:52 p.m. -- Coach Harbaugh excused the players from lunch so they could go and enjoy two hours at the beach, including volleyball, paddle boarding, canoeing and some rest and relaxation at Ninfe Beach.
5:05 p.m. -- Wilton Speight, Zach Gentry, Brandon Peters and Benjamin St-Juste played four games of volleyball against an Italian group of men, splitting the competition with two wins and two losses.
5:50 p.m. -- Many members of the team returned to the restaurant to enjoy some more rigatoni and a few scoops of gelato before traveling back to the hotel.
8:35 p.m. -- Jean Carlo spoke to the Wolverines about the history of the city of Rome, discussing how you can trace many of the founding principles of America back to the city of Rome.
8:51 p.m. -- Coach Harbaugh calls players by position group to begin the buffet dinner that included pizza and pasta.
9:35 p.m. -- Player began leaving to get some rest for the next day, an optional trip to the Vatican for a Papal Address and tour of the museum.
