I'm disappointed too, Tommy

No more worries about nothing firing up my sports blogging synapses today. I just read something that almost had me spitting tuna salad on my computer monitor.

In today's Detroit News, Michigan men's basketball coach Tommy Amaker is crying "¡Que lastima!" about the crap he and his team have been taking for their phony 16-6 record.

"I think everybody needs wins," he said. "I'm a little disappointed that we're the only team people talk about that needs wins. We're 16-6, which is almost a 73 percent winning percentage; we're 4-3 in the conference, tied for fourth...

"I think everybody, to be honest, needs wins, and I think every game down the stretch is important. It seems like we have that arrow pointing at us in that regard."

Coach, I'm disappointed too. I'm disappointed that your team has lost to every good team it's played this season. And none of those games were even close.

North Carolina State? Loss. UCLA? Loss. Georgetown? Loss. Purdue? Loss. Wisconsin? Loss. Indiana? Loss.

Okay, five of those six games were on the road. But for a team that "needs wins," shouldn't scoring one away from Crisler Arena be something of a priority? And it's not like each of those losses has been to a powerhouse. NC State is 1-5 in the ACC. Purdue is 3-4 in the Big Ten.

I'm disappointed that the majority of Michigan's wins this season have been achieved against such schools as Central Connecticut State, University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Wofford, and Delaware State.

I'm disappointed that Michigan no longer plays compelling non-conference games against the likes of Duke, Syracuse, Boston College, or Arizona. And then the athletic department wonders why no one - student or otherwise - treks out to Crisler Arena to watch the basketball team play.

Amaker argues that such criticisms are unfair, that every other school in the Big Ten and beyond does the same thing. That may be the case, Coach, but those other schools don't have as much to prove right now, either. Did those programs have as big a clean-up project as yours did? No. But they haven't had a six-year span to work with, either.

You know, I don't think it's going to take too long for Gary Walters to explain why his selection committee left Michigan out of the NCAA Tournament field on Selection Sunday. One or two sentences, tops.

With recruits like Alex Legion and Manny Harris coming in next season, Amaker may well have earned himself another year tacked onto Bill Martin's grace period. At the Detroit News' Big Ten Blog, Eric Lacy thinks Michigan's coach should officially be on notice if his team loses to Iowa at home tomorrow night. I'm inclined to agree, because the schedule sure as hell isn't getting any easier after that.

(Meanwhile, Maize n Brew has taken the time to draw up a list of potential replacements.)