Joe Battista

Thank you for answering the call. Those of you who stepped up and donated time, money and resources for the victims of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton have made all the difference in helping the storm ravaged areas begin the long road to recovery. In my Oct. 7 column, I asked for your help in…

I’m going to cut right to the chase, folks. We need your help. I’m asking all of you to please take a moment and read this column, and then I pray you will take intentional and immediate action.  To quote North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, “The damage from Hurricane Helene is beyond comprehension.” South Carolina…

For over 40 years “SC” was synonymous with State College in my life. If you sent a text or an email or posted “SC” on social media, everyone knew we meant State College, Pennsylvania. The one located in the fair land of Happy Valley in Centre County, home to Penn State University and signature landmarks…

It was a beautiful fall weekend in Happy Valley for the first home Penn State football game of the 2024 season. It was a highly anticipated weekend for the Battista family’s plan to get all five of us (six including Barkley) together for a fun time back “home” with family and friends (and to do…

Why must you be such an angry young man when your future looks quite bright to me?— “Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man),” Styx, 1977 Do you ever find yourself getting angry over things that just really don’t matter or things you have no control over? What do you do when you feel your inner volcano…

How about some great news from the youth sports world for a change? We certainly have had our share of negatives in this era where parents aren’t content to just be fans. They’ve become their kid’s agents. Too often, they choose to promote their own children’s “brand” and emphasize the “me” over the “we” these…

Talk about a hat trick for sport watching. Monday, June 24, was an absolutely fantastic night of sports for me. Three — count’em, three — championship games on the same evening. I settled in to watch on my television, laptop and iPhone so I could simultaneously follow all 3 contests. When the evening ended the American Hockey…

My father was a Russian. My mother was a Russian. Me, I’m justa takin’ my time. – Dad Jokes Time, like the weather, is a life variable that we all fret over but seem to have little control over. As you get older time takes on an entirely different meaning as those of us in the…

Would you describe yourself as a nostalgic person? Do you find yourself longing for the happy times in your past? I guess I have always been a bit of a sentimental person. OK, in full disclosure, I am a sucker for nostalgia. As my former players will attest, I cried like a baby at every…