A Different Homecoming

My wife, Heidi, and I are Penn State alums. Both of her parents were Penn Staters. All three of our children are Penn Staters. We have nieces and nephews and cousins and good friends and their kids who are Penn Staters. I played on the hockey team as a student, and worked at the university for 27 years as a coach, fundraiser and athletic administrator. I have served on volunteer committees and as president of an Alumni Interest Group. I even had the thrill of a lifetime and led over 20,000 Penn State fans in the “We Are” cheer at the 2009 Rose Bowl Pep Rally. I have been going to Penn State Homecoming events since 1978 and guarded the Nittany Lion shrine as an active Lion Ambassador and as a L’Amb alumnus.

But until this past weekend I had never experienced a Penn State Homecoming quite like the 2022 version. What was different? I am no longer a resident of Pennsylvania, no longer have a home in Happy Valley and no longer have any “official” duties with the university. This was our first trip back to Happy Valley for a Homecoming weekend where we don’t have a home of our own here and I didn’t have to be anywhere with any duties. For the first since I can remember, I was able to go to the hockey and football games unencumbered by the duties of working the games, having to talk to a prospective donor or sponsor or attend a committee meeting. I was able to just be a fan and it was…well, different.

The best part of the weekend? That’s easy: having all three of our kids together with us visiting our friends’ tailgates coming and going as we pleased. We don’t get to see our kids as often as we had become accustomed, especially since we were so spoiled during COVID to have them all “home” with us for 18 months. It was one of the few blessings that came from the pandemic along with the realization of what was really important to us as time slowed down during “The Great Pause.”

We arrived in town on Friday afternoon, and for the record, I am taking credit for bringing our beautiful South Carolina weather with us! We have experienced all kinds of weather over the years for Homecoming and this past weekend may have been as picture perfect as we have ever seen. We arrived at our long-time friends and hosts Steve and Eileen Smith’s home on Tradition Cove Lane in The Village section of Toftrees where we met our two oldest to exchange tickets and parking passes. Next stop, College Avenue to see our senior supply chain student, Ryan, and his roommates at his apartment. They are a hoot!

It was then that Murphy’s Law managed to rear its ugly head (see my column from September 13, 2022) in the form of car trouble once again. Yes, you can’t make this stuff up. So, we had to make a pit stop at Roan’s Autobody on Corl Street to see if old friend Kevin Roan could work his magic once again.  From there it was back to our old Stonebridge neighborhood for a special visit for our dog, Barkley. He could barely hide his excitement to see his State College family, the Frittons, and his best friend Penny as we pulled onto our old street, Williamsburg Drive. It was a fun visit with good friends.

Next stop, the Homecoming parade. We had suite tickets for the hockey game and had the opportunity to park in the Shields Lot next to Pegula Arena where the parade officially begins. As soon as we got out of our car, I ran smack into a former Icer teammate of mine, Dave Foran from Camp Hill, who I hadn’t seen in years. We had a chance to catch up and share a few memories while our wives rolled their eyes.

I have had the honor to walk in the parade, ride on floats in the parade, drive the car with Honorary Grand Marshals Terry and Kim Pegula, even sit on the Zamboni while it was towed on a flatbed truck in the early 2000’s. A youngster excitedly yelled to his mom, “Look do you know who that is?!” Thinking, yeah, I’m kind of a big deal, my chest pumped up waiting to hear him say, “that’s Coach Battista!” Instead, he screamed with delight, “That’s The Zam Man!” I have also been a judge for the parade on numerous occasions.

Once again, this time was different. Heidi and I found ourselves, quite by accident, at the exact spot where the parade starts on Curtin Road across from Wagner Building. I mean the EXACT spot where the Overall Homecoming Committee chair was using a bullhorn to officially announce the start of the parade and where the ceremonial ribbon cutting took place. We took photos of our friends Andy and Leann Reisinger driving PSAA President Kelley Lynch, got a hug from former Nittany Lion mascot Pete Garland, shouted to our friend Pam McDonough on the State College Women’s Welcome Club float, exchanged texts and waves with Arizona friend Rob Dwyer, who spotted us from across the street, and ran into friends old and new who were there to enjoy the parade with their families. We even saw our old Stonebridge neighbors the Frittons and the Hoffheins as their daughters prepared to march in the parade with the Nittany Dreamers.

Eventually it was time to head over to the hockey game and host a suite full of our friends and our kids and their friends. It was an exciting game and ended in a 3-2 win with an incredible individual effort from senior Connor McMenamin with just 20 seconds left in overtime. After the game we ran into old Pittsburgh friends Ken and Ann Urish and their daughter Susan in the suite area. But the best part of the game for me was running into my former player Jerry Moore in the concourse between periods. Jerry played on our 1989 ICHL Championship Icers team as well as our 1990 ACHA national championship team. He was one of my all-time favorite players to have coached and we both got a bit emotional as we stood in front of the history wall with a photo of his teammates hoisting the ICHL championship trophy.

The next day turned out to be a postcard perfect sunny fall day ideal for tailgating prior to the annual White Out game. We met our kids at Jeff and Katie Shoemaker’s tailgate in the shadow of the north endzone of Beaver Stadium, made our way over to the Malizia family tailgate near Medlar Field, and finally to our great friends Dan and Michelle Delligatti’s tailgate. It’s always fun to see our friends the Delligatti’s (Jim, Danielle, Nick and the rest of the family), Greg and Maura Pilewicz, Shane and Caroline Conlan, Bob and Sandy Poole, Ed and Kathy Sobota, Jack Ham and the many friends who frequent the always energized location. We were introduced to Buffalo Bills assistant coach Jim Salgado, his wife, Carolyn, and their kids and had an engaging conversation about the life of college and professional athletes and coaches.

Then it was time to head into Beaver Stadium, something I have been doing since 1978. But this time it was different. Again, no sense of having to be anywhere or doing anything other than watching a football game with my wife as a couple of alumni fans. We saw old friends who we have been sitting near for many years, but we also saw many new faces. The weather continued to be more than ideal; it was essentially perfect. After a bit of a slow start the team found its stride and rolled to a convincing victory.  The White Out crowd of almost 110,000 did its job in creating a nearly impossible environment for Minnesota’s offense to function. 

The Greatest Show in Sports was once again all that we have come to expect. Well, there were a few glitches with the videoboard and audio but overall, it was an exceptional gameday experience.  Our first “true” homecoming experience was outstanding. So much so that I think we’ll just have to come back and do it again and again!