2B - Tuesday, September 4, 2007
DAILY SPORTS BREAKS DOWN THE WEEKEND THAT WAS
4
_____________The Michigan Daily
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SAID AND HEARD
"We were very confident. We
studied a lot of film, and what
we saw was a lot of holes."
- Appalachian State quarterback Armanti
Edwards, after completing 17 of 23 passes
for 227 yards and three touchdowns.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
MADISON GATES
The junior goalkeeper shutout No. 2 Notre
Dame with a career-high 10 saves to snap the
Irish's 32-game home win streak. She became
the fourth goalie in program history to be
named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.
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Time for the blame game
Dance team could
be cut from- court
Pinch yourself - just not too
hard. As bad as you may feel
right now, suicide isn't the
answer. This
past weekend
really hap-
pened, and I
think some
people still
haven't let it
sink in yet. ButA
the first step to
moving on is SCOTT
acceptance. BELL
So what's the
easiest way to move on? Find some-
one else to blame, of course. It's the
American way.
Nobody wants to accept the fact
that, gasp, this team might not be as
good as most preseason prognosti-
cators predicted. So whose fault is
it? Let's examine some of the favor-
ite scapegoats ina version of the
Michigan football blame game:
Lloyd Carr: Who else is there
to start with? Within a day of
Saturday's fiasco, more than 10 new
fire Lloyd Carr groups were started
on facebook.com. National sports-
casters were saying Carr's job is in
serious jeopardy (it's not, and never
will be, by the way) and everyone's
favorite coach to hate was back in
most fans' doghouses. And much
of it is warranted. As much as the
players claim they were totally pre-
pared, it's obvious after watching
the game that they weren't.
"I felt that we were not a well
prepared football team," Carr
said. "That is my job and I take full
responsibility for that."
Whether you think it's overcon-
fidence or just a lack of effort, part
of that has to fall on the coach's
shoulders.
Is Carr the main reason Michigan
lost? Probably not. Carr didn't miss
tackles, Carr didn't overthrow
receivers and Carr didn't have a
Mountaineer defender run by him
to block apotential game-winning
field goal.
Chad Henne: A fourth-year quar-
terback starting his 38th straight
game is a great asset to have. One
who keeps overthrowing Mario
Manningham on deep balls and
throwing behind other receivers
on crossing routes? Not so much.
Henne was one of the best reasons
for optimism heading into the sea-
son, and quite frankly, he played
poorly on Saturday. His fourth-
quarter interception and fumbled
snap cost Michigan the points it
needed to prevent the upset.
Is Henne the main reason Michi-
gan lost? Probably not. Dropped
passes and some occasional poor
protection didn't help matters.
Ron English: If you're still stuck
on coaching, you might be better off
tossing some blame Ron English's
way. I know, even thinking about
attaching a negative comment to
English's name would be a punish-
able crime about 10 months ago,
but let's be honest: In the last three
games, Michigan's defense has been
more exploitable than a freshman
at a frat party.
Is English the main reason Michi-
gan lost? Probably not. Even though
the defense came out flat, English
made solid adjustments at halftime
that worked.
Jason Gingell: Gingell had a pair
of kicks blocked in the final two
minutes of the game. Had he made
See BELL, Page 7B
By DAN FELDMAN
Daily Sports Writer
The members of the Michi-
gan dance team aren't cheerlead-
ers. Although the two squads are
often grouped by outsiders, the
dance team doesn't receive athletic
department funding like the cheer
team. At many other schools, the
dance team is part of a spirit depart-
ment with the cheer team.
But there could be a more notice-
able difference this year. There's
a chance the dance team won't be
on the sidelines at men's basketball
games this year.
Junior co-captain Nicole Bartz
said team members have been in
contact with Michael Stevenson,
executive associate athletic direc-
tor, and Associate Athletic Director
Bitsy Ritt about the situation. Bartz
said the athletic department is try-
ing to equalize productions of men's
and women's basketball. The team
will likely be asked to dance at both
sports or neither. In the past, it has
just danced at men's games.
Stevenson and Ritt couldn't
immediately be reached to explain
the dance team's role.
The athletic department also
seems to be appraising the dance
team's role at any game.
"The athletic department is
really big on us being performance-
based," senior team member Caitlin
Gadel said. "We are really trying to
sell that we are not performance-
based. We're here to support the
team.
"They have a hard time realiz-
ing we can be spirited and pump up
the crowd without yelling 'Let's go
team."'
An answer should come soon.
Coach ValerieStead-Potsosawaiting
a Thursday meeting with members
of the athletic department to hear
which, if any, basketball games the
team will be dancing at on the side-
lines. The team begins its tryouts
that day and if it's doing women's
games, it will take more newcomers.
So in the earlier meetings, the dance
team stressed its need for an answer
by Thursday.
"If they didn't put us on the side-
lines, our fans would back us up 100
percent, including the Maize Rage,
who we have a great rapport with,"
Stead-Potsos said. "We want to
bring unity. We believe in working
with the cheerleaders. We believe
in working with the band. I would
hope the athletic department sees
that. I don't know if they do, but we
really hope they do."
The team is still dancing at foot-
ball games this year and enjoying
the traditions it includes. Before
each game the marching band,
cheerleaders and dance team sing
the alma mater and then the first
verse of "Eye of the Tiger."
"You just get chills every time
you run through that tunnel," Gadel
said. "It never gets old."
The team has also branched out
and danced at other sports, such as
soccer, tennis and wrestling.
"We still love doing what we do,"
Bartz said. "We don't take it for
granted. So we're just tryingto talk
to the athletic department and do
anything they ask us to do."
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