The Wolverine

June-July 2019

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1123063

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 27 of 51

28 THE WOLVERINE JUNE/JULY 2019 "It was 900 times better than the zoo." "We're walking up, and all of a sud- den, there are thousands of penguins, just laying out there on the beach," Dudek recalled. "Some were nesting. They said likely the dad was nesting with the babies, because the mom was out in the water, maybe up to 48 hours, fishing, to come back and regurgitate for the babies." Lunch at Buffels Bay produced yet another first for a U-M player. "Ronnie Bell rips off his shirt and runs straight into the ocean," Dudek noted. "It's cold. He's jumping up, he's taking pictures, he's kayaking. And I hear him say, 'This is the first time I've ever seen an ocean.'" Others kayaked and swam, while the local ostriches created memories for many. "Sherrone Moore's wife, Kelly, she turned and ran, and the ostrich is coming after her," Nicole Eisenberg recalled. "One of the team says to me, 'Don't go up and touch them. He's go- ing to kick you, and that's going to be the end of it.'" Harbaugh didn't know how bad the birds can be, when he and daughter Addie approached some. "We walk around this bluff and there they are — six, seven ostriches and one big, huge ostrich," Harbaugh said. "We're walking right up, and I'm with my phone, taking pictures and video, maybe two or three meters from the ostriches. "I've got my 10-year-old daughter there and myself, then later find out that you shouldn't get close to the os- triches, because they can kill you with their beaks. They can run way faster than you can, and don't provoke them in any way. So we dodged a bullet on that one." Those taking powerboat rides re- mained safely within them, rather than diving into Falls Bay, where Shark Week frequently gets filmed. "That's where all the sharks come out of the water and eat the seals," Dudek pondered. "How many seals were there, 1,000?" The following day, the team flew to Johannesburg and an emotional visit to the Apartheid Museum. "It's hard to put into words," Dudek said. "You know Nelson Mandela, you know about apartheid, and you know about the struggle they had when we had Albie Sachs speak to us. It re- minded me, personally, of when I went to a civil rights museum in Birming- ham, Ala., that had Rosa Parks' bus in it, things like that … "They had a room with probably 100 nooses, hanging from the ceiling. They explained the situation, and the Some Wolverines like sophomore wideout Ronnie Bell admitted they had never even seen the ocean before, while others like early enrollee freshman Erick All had never been on a plane. It was a trip of many firsts for the players and coaches alike. PHOTO BY CHAD SHEPARD/COURTESY MICHIGAN The Wolverines took part in a football/rugby clinic at the University of Cape Town, and senior offen- sive lineman Ben Bredeson was the one selected to exchange jerseys with the local squad. PHOTO BY CHAD SHEPARD/COURTESY MICHIGAN Senior viper Khaleke Hudson poses for a picture in Africa. PHOTO BY CHAD SHEPARD/COURTESY MICHIGAN

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of The Wolverine - June-July 2019