2B - Tuesday, September 4, 2007 DAILY SPORTS BREAKS DOWN THE WEEKEND THAT WAS 4 _____________The Michigan Daily 4 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. 4 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." A 4 I - -- T - . M - - - = M M;7 M-7 --Ummum South Universitya 0 4 9 h