ESPN hasreported that the University of Michigan Football team, the Wolverines, has been visiting Rome. On Wednesday they presented a MichiganFootball helmet and cleats to Pope Francis. There are no reports on when His Holiness will play his first game withthe team, but there are rumours this apparel has been added to his body armourfor his trip to Egypt. Reportedly thereis a very active American Football scene in Italy, with four or five adult"pro" or "semipro" leagues. An Italian sports daily recently had a photo essay of the Wolverinestadium on a football weekend, but made the fatal mistake of referring to"Michigan State." Theiroffices are safe from retribution, since neither players nor fans can figureout how to read Italian street signs. Saturdayafternoon the Wolverines will play a much anticipated scrimmage game at Rome'sOlympic Stadium. Really, though, only the most committed"Blue" fan, would seek out coverage on the internet.
InRussia, in Formula One: Championshipleader Sebastian Vettel has said Mercedes-GP remain the team to beat at thisweekend’s Russian Grand Prix. TheItalians have great hopes for their Ferrari boys, who were well ahead in allthe practice times this week. Thefour-time world champion and his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen were first andsecond fastest at the end of an uneven day’s action in Sochi, the Finn havingbeen fastest in the morning. Sochi, Russia'stropical paradise, will see some well fought racing, as the Ferraris were morethan six-tenths clear of third-placed Valtteri Bottas in the leading Mercedeswith teammate and three-time champion Lewis Hamilton admitting he struggled towind up a disappointing fourth. In the UnitedStates, National Hockey League Stanley Cup Playoffs have reached their secondround, with eight teams remaining. Eachof this NHL round again features a seven game playoff between teams hoping toadvance to the third round. Today'ssecond games in the second round feature four of the teams. The Pittsburgh Penguins meet the WashingtonCapitols, the Penguins having taken thefirst game of the series. The New YorkRangers travel to the Ottawa Senators for their game Saturday. The Rangers are down 1-0 in their series. Onlya handful of games remain in the English Premier League season. Nothing is set in concrete, though, in thestandings, either for those at the top or those at the bottom. Remember, bottom feeders face relegation tothe secondary league, while top teams there pray for promotion to thePremiers. West Bromwich Albion has hadno goals and gained only one point in the standings in April. Up until then, the season seemed stellar forthem. They face a Leicester team thisweekend which has been frisky of late, and has a good chance to win. An already challenged but admirable Hull Cityteam, facing relegation, foresees a tough game against Southhampton. A very mediocre Arsenal squad hasdisappointed almost all season, and has taken on the mystique among theirfollowers, which the sports world once attributed only to Chicago Cubs andBoston Red Sox fans. A better analogy might be a Yankee fan, whoused to seeing their team on top, screams that their team is fourth, in all ofbaseball. Tottenham Hotspurhave shown in recent weeks how well they can play, and won 1-0 at CrystalPalace on Wednesday. The Gunnerssurprised their fans by also showing moxiewith a late win against Leicester, this coming after coming from behind to beatMan City in the FA Cup semi-finals. Bothsides go into this derby with confidence. In India: In Cricket: The Calcutta (or Kolkata) Knight Riders cementedtheir place at the top of the Indian Premier League table after Gautam Gambhirled his side to a comfortable win over Delhi Daredevils on Friday. "We still have a long way to go, mostboxes ticked but we can’t be complacent," Gambhir said. "Veryprofessional performance today, to restrict them to 160 after the start theygot... At one stage I was tempted to bat first but we have been chasing reallywell so stuck to that. Every player we pick we pick with a lot of trust, and ifyou show trust they repay it." -- Posted By Rex to SR at 4/29/2017 04:16:00 AM -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "omnisport" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/omnisport. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
