On the second to last day of the trip the Bullets showed no sign of slowing down. We took off for a long day in the city of Rome beginning with a tour through the Coliseum, formerly known as the Amphitheater. As we approached the famous Roman venue we passed many ancient ruins from the Roman Empire. Being inside the Coliseum was a surreal experience for all of us. It was amazing to visualize the bloody battles that took place in that same venue in front of thousands of screaming spectators. Naturally, we debated who would stand the best chance in the arena battling fellow gladiators and bloodthirsty lions and tigers. The general consensus was that Wil Rasmussen (aka L) would have the best chance at surviving given the proper weapon.
Our tour continued on through the scenic city of Rome to the Roman Forum, followed by the beautiful Trevi Fountain and finishing up with the historic Basilica- The Pantheon. Each site was breathtaking, but at the end we were all famished and ready to bless our palettes with some more Italian cuisine. Until 4pm we spent our free time roaming the city (no pun intended). Per usual this time consisted of great food, great gelato, amazing sites, avoiding annoying street vendors, and making more great memories.
As we all reconnected in front of the Pantheon we were treated to an unbelievable violin performances by a street performer. He played familiar songs such as Despacito (Justin Bieber), All of Me (John Legend), Someone Like You (Adele), Shape of You (Ed Sheeran). This was a great ending to our day spent in Rome.
We then boarded our bus captained by the legendary Damiano, and headed off to face our final Italian opponent Virtus Velletri. This match was an unbelievable way to end the basketball aspect of our trip. Virtus showed tremendous respect to us by playing the American national anthem and announcing the name of each of our players as we exchanged shirts with their players. It was a successful day for us on the court as we held on to win 71-65 and even our record in Italy to 2-2. We had great contributions from numerous players. Alec “Rod” Warren led the way once again capping off his outstanding play in Italy with 15 points including dagger threes down the stretch. In spite of Rod’s great performance it was the high flying dunks of Churon Lanier-Martin that made him the crowd favorite. Following the game Chu could be seen signing autographs and taking pictures with young Virtus fans. Many other bullets were asked to sign autographs which was a very cool and humbling experience for us.
We capped our night off with an amazing dinner at a local pizza restaurant. And finally headed back to the hotel to gear up for what is sure to be an amazing final day.
-Danny Duffey, Class of 2020
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