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1-1 Final.

ND draws a crowd no matter where they play. It being in Chicago gives us a chance of having more people there than we would if it were out west. And who knew we could take a little revenge out on Notre Dame for the Buffalo/Akron football matchup at the Rubber Bow?!: Irish coach Mike Brey also didn't have a lot to say about Friday's opponent, but he is familiar with Akron, especially the Zips coach Keith Dambrot "Keith is certainly LeBron's high school coach and just a well thought of guy," Brey said. "This is a great story. It's funny how small this world is. 2008, and my son was playing at Buffalo. I go over and I sit in the press box in the last game in the Rubber Bowl, Buffalo at Akron with Gerry Faust and Keith Dambrot to watch the game. Well, my guys know that – well, they knew what days Kyle played because we practiced in the morning and then I'd drive. They were pissed. They were like, oh, Kyle must play tonight, Thursday night MAC game, we're practicing at 7 a.m. They win in four overtimes. It was that magical year they ended up winning the MAC title. "I remember sitting with Keith the whole time, great guy, talking about his program, talking about our program. He says to me, you know, we just got this big kid from Pittsburgh. It's the Marshall kid. And he said, I think we stole one. I saw him block a shot the other night, and I happened to watch the game, and I thought, that's the guy he's talking about. "Keith is very well respected in our profession, paid his dues, and I think it's five or six straight 20-win seasons he's had at Akron. But he's just a coach, good old teacher coach, and he's done a great job with the Zips." Article

Sooooo the next time I take the trip down I-69, I will snap quite a different photo!

Through a very tough bracket as well. Simply amazing! Way to go, guys.

Fool me ten times - shame on me. More time of my life I will never get back.

I look forward to hearing about it from those that were there. ZZ live stats showed a lot of cards.

My wife and I will be there. My tailgating and seating arrangements were made by my IU-grad friend, which means, in her words, "I will be sitting in a sea of [whatever their actual colors are - Crimson and White, I think]." I have been to Bloomington a few times so if you need some bar/food/hotel recommendations, let me know. Otherwise, I look forward to not being the only Zips fan in the place and hope for a non-embarassing showing by our team. See you there!

I've been watching on ESPN360 but I know not everyone can get that. ESPN 2 and ESPNU are missing out on some great games. I only get FSI and FSMW. FSMW is always showing PAC-10 games - go figure.

The announcers apologized for it at the end of the broadcast. Way to go, coach.

"I'm partial to Superfund Cleanup Site High. Environmental engineering perspective." First (and only?) CERCLA reference on Zipsnation! Love it!

When it becomes a game of attrition, I always like our chances.

I was in Indy last week and came across this at the NCAA Hall of Fame. Let's get ours up there next year.

Nice win. Feel free to stop by on your way to Michigan, guys!

I don't know if you have the same announcers on FSO, but on FSI, the announcer agreed it was a foul - if not a 3 second violation.

I don't know anything about Wisconsin but they looked to be a respectable opponent - looked like a quality win to me. And Anthony's goal was oh-so pretty! Go Zips!

Zips play this Saturday in Fort Wayne. Hope some Zips fans can make it! If you need accommodation or restaurant/bar info, just let me know.Local Coverage

Virginia Tech has a very cool intro of the football team to Enter Sandman by Metallica. The long intro in the song gets the fans hopping in unison and when the song opens up, the team takes the field. I'm not saying use Enter Sandman, but I like the idea of one particular song that introduces the team everytime.

Don't despair, there's spring soccer! http://zipsnation.org/forums//index.php?showtopic=12978

Not much coverage in Indiana - just highlights during breaks. I watched all of it online, though. I agree that a broadcaster with more channels would be nice - like how NBC airs the olympics on MSNBC, NBC, CNBC, etc. But whatever...I'll take what I can get out here in Purdue/IU/Notre Dame country.

I was behind the Akron bench and couldn't see the foul very well. Does anyone have a link to a video of it?

Link isn't working for me. Either I don't have Real Player or my computer is incompatible with Canadian technology.

What a disappointing game. And one we should not have lost. The only consolation is that it was a rather meaningless game for us. I'll share some images from the game once I figure out how to do it!

btw - Is anyone going? Feel free to pm if you are looking for a watering hole pre-game .

the mac doesn't have any kind of equivalent to that, do they?No. Much to the dismay of many out-of-towners on this board, myself included. I keep dreaming we'll have something like that . . . someday . . . someday . . .

This matchup is really interesting to me being an Akron alum AND a Valpo alum (Law '08). I'm going to the game for sure, being only a few hours away. If you're going let me know if there's anything I can do to help your trip. It's about a 5.5 hour drive, turnpike almost the whole way. You'll need approx $20 round trip for tolls. Valpo plays in the ARC, a 5,100 seat facility located on Chapel Drive. MapLodging - here are the places I'd recommend. There are more but these are the closest and nicest.Country Inn and Suites - 2020 LaPorte Avenue Valparaiso, IN 46383 - New hotel. It would be a good walk to the ARC but it's certainly do-able. Located in a newer area of town close to some chain restaurants, starbucks, etc.Holiday Inn Express - 1251 Silhavy Road - Also brand new. Short drive to campus.Courtyard - 2301 East Morthland DriveBest Western - 760 Morthland DriveFairfield Inn - 2101 East Morthland DriveThe "main drag" is Lincolnway Map of the TownThere are a lot of smaller restaurants and bars on Lincolnway in downtown Valpo but also some scattered throughout town that might be worth checking out. I'd recommend:BW3 - the oh so familiar B Dubs is located at 215 East Lincolnway. If the students are somewhere before the game, this is a very likely place.Pastimes - my favorite bar in Valpo at 175 Lincolnway. Has probably 60 or more beers from around the world. Pretty good food, too.Northside Tap - total dive bar with cheap beer and rather unremarkable bar food. Usually pretty crowded on weekends for some reason I never understood. 712 Calumet Ave.Brewski's - 1084 Linwood Ave. Perhaps I should now mention, for any smokers in the crowd, that Valpo has a pretty stringent smoking ban. Brewski's is still a smoking facility, at least in the bar area. Decent BW3-type food. Wings Etc. - Wings and beer. Family friendly but still a fun sports atmosphere. 501 Silhavy Road.Pikk's Tavern - great food, nice bar, carries some local microbrews and has a decent wine list. Great place for dinner. A little more upscale and not really much of a student hang out. . . which could be a good thing. 62 W Lincolnway.Maria Elena's - 454 Grenwich Street. Nice little restaurant that serves Italian, American, and Mexican food. Slow service so be patient. Easy walk from Maria Elena's to the ARC. Might be the only place that is truly well within walking distance. It's a restaurant, not a bar, though it does serve beer and wine.Chili's, Red Robin, Panera, and TGI Fridays - all located at or near the intersection of LaPorte and Silhavy. Wagner's BBQ - 2310 LaPorte Ave. Near the Country Inn and Suites. IMO the best Burgers in Valpo. Also known for its Ribs.See you at the Game! Go Zips!