Joe Battista

  • Battista: What To Do Next – Revisited

    in , ,

    —

    by

    Joe Battista

    “Dream Big! Keep it Real. Get it Done!” – Joe Battista, From The Power of Pragmatic Passion It’s graduation season, and you know what that means? It’s time for my periodic “Pragmatic Passion” message to those of you who have kids, relatives or friends still undecided about what to do after high school or college…

  • Battista: The True Golf God 

    in

    —

    by

    Joe Battista

    “What I’m doing here at 7:30 this morning is far more important than what Scottie and I do at 1:50 this afternoon.” – Ted Scott, PGA Caddie If you’ve ever golfed, you know there are times when you make a good swing that gets a bad bounce and ends up in a trap, or a…

  • Battista: Our Last Easter At MeeMaw and PapPap’s

    in

    —

    by

    Joe Battista

    I recently wrote a column titled ”Farewell, Home Sweet Home” about my emotions surrounding my parents putting my childhood home on the market. Well, it got real, real fast last weekend. The house is now under contract and my parents move into their new senior apartment is just around the corner.  Suddenly the realization became…

  • Battista: Hope Springs Eternal

    in

    —

    by

    Joe Battista

    Spring has officially arrived and not too soon for a beleaguered Midwest and Northeast. While my wife and I enjoyed a much milder winter in Bluffton, South Carolina, even we had some below-average temps in January including a couple inches of snow, a rarity here in the Lowcountry. That’s why on March 20, we joyously…

  • Battista: Farewell, Home Sweet Home

    in ,

    —

    by

    Joe Battista

    “A house without love is not a home”— Hank Williams Most of us have heard some musical or literary version of the saying, “a house without love is not a home.” My experiences have taught me that a house is just a dwelling. But a home is a slice of life. A house is a…

  • Happiness Is Fleeting. Joy Is Lasting

    in , ,

    —

    by

    Joe Battista

    “Rejoice in the Lord always; and again, I say, ‘Rejoice!’”- Philippians 4:4 (NIV) I can’t remember when I first heard the saying, “Happiness is fleeting. Joy is lasting.” I don’t remember who said it either, but since then I have heard it in countless seminars, church sermons and Bible studies again and again, and I…

  • Battista: Hockey in Beaver Stadium Another Dream Come True

    in , , ,

    —

    by

    Joe Battista

    “You see things; you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say, ‘Why not?’” – George Bernard Shaw This George Bernard Shaw quote is hanging in my home office. It’s not just a platitude in my life; it’s been a philosophy that I have tried to live by throughout my career,…

  • The (Almost) Greatest Feel-Good Story in Sports History 

    in , ,

    —

    by

    Joe Battista

    The Indiana Hoosiers are the 2026 College Football Playoff national champions. Let that sink in for a moment. I can just hear Michael J. Fox’s voice as Marty McFly from “Back to the Future” sarcastically laughing out loud, “The Hoosiers? National champions in football? Yeah, like that’s ever going to happen.”   It’s a Cinderella story…

  • Battista: Can I Survive The Elimination Diet? 

    in ,

    —

    by

    Joe Battista

    It’s that time of the year when we give all our good intentions to complete our New Year’s resolutions another try. I can probably say I have realistically been setting New Year’s Resolutions since my mid-teens, so consider this my 50th anniversary. Over the years it’s been: getting stronger, getting faster, gaining weight, losing weight,…

  • A Battista Family Christmas Vacation 

    in ,

    —

    by

    Joe Battista

    The holidays really are among the best times of the year for our family. Although, there is a certain amount of stress involved in coordinating our travel plans from South Carolina with our own family and synching it up with our extended families.  I almost cynically called this column “Joe and Heidi’s Excellent Christmas Vacation…