Pittsburgh Sports Report - Wish You Were Here

Pittsburgh Sports Report
December 2004

Wish You Were Here
The presence of these four would have given Pittsburgh more reasons to cheer in 2004.

Donatas Zavackas

The image most of us remember is Zavackas pouting on the bench during the Panthers' three-point loss to Marquette in the 2002-03 season. But the 6-8 forward's shooting ability was a key to the Panthers' first-ever Big East Tournament Championship team. He averaged 10.1 points per game on the season, and while his teammates were able to make up for the points, they were not able to find anyone to drain threes the way Z did when he was hot. Zavackas was a dangerous three-point weapon as a senior, hitting 44.3% of his treys. Last year, Carl Krauser shot .333 from beyond the arc. No Zavackas meant no outside threat for last season's Panthers - and that ultimately meant no Big East Tourney crown and a third straight Sweet 16 defeat.

Aramis Ramirez

It's true that Rammy will never be confused with Brooks Robinson. But you won't hear his name uttered in the same sentence as Chris Stynes' either. The Pirates' 2004 season was somewhat encouraging, in that they finally had young talent rather than veteran rent-a-players, and much of that talent returns next spring. And it's mostly homegrown talent - you know, the way other teams do it. Except at third base. The Bucs' homegrown talent at that position - the guy they patiently schooled through all the strikeouts, immaturity and inconsistency - was very maturely and consistently bashing 36 homers and driving in 103 runs while hitting .318 for the Cubs. Jason Bay was the National League's Rookie of the Year without Rammy imagine his production with Ramirez's bat behind him.

Fran Ganter

We know Fran's still in Happy Valley. We're aware that Galen Hall is a great offensive mind, and we're aware that the Penn State offensive coordinator doesn't actually coordinate the offense. I guess what we miss most is the idea of Franny actually calling plays. In 1994, Ganter unleashed one of the most awesome displays of offensive fireworks ever seen in college football. Of the 11 times a Penn State quarterback has thrown more than 250 passes in a season, seven occurred in the last decade. And while you might not have always seen explosiveness in the post-Kerry Collins era, you always saw a more-than-competent offense. What you didn't see were 6-4 losses.

Larry Fitzgerald

Yes, Greg Lee is sixth in the nation with 105 receiving yards per game. And yes, Tyler Palko has lived up to his lofty expectations. But take a moment and picture Fitzgerald flanked opposite Lee. Imagine #1 in the huddle next to Palko. Sure, there likely would have been growing pains even with Fitzgerald in the line-up. But he and Palko were roommates, best friends, and on the same page. Many of us thought that even if Fitzgerald had returned for his junior season, his chances at the Heisman Trophy would have been sabotaged by a first-year QB. Now that we've seen what Palko is capable of, maybe he would have helped Fitzgerald win the hardware.