9 Mid-Atlantic Regional Emmy Award nominations; WGAL Hall of Fame (2024)
Pat Principe is a retired sportscaster. He was known for his 41 years at WGAL as the station's sports director, covering sports around the Susquehanna Valley until his retirement in 2024.[citation needed]
Principe was born in Mount Vernon, New York. After graduating from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School in New Jersey in 1972, He attended Ithaca College. It was there that he began his career in sports at his college's radio station as its sports director. He then graduated cum laude from Ithaca College with a bachelor's degree in communications in 1976.
Career
Principe's talents would eventually land him at WOWK, a CBS affiliate in Huntington, West Virginia, where he would serve as a producer of its sports casts, particularly as a sports anchor.
He would then move to the Lancaster/Lebanon area of Pennsylvania in 1982 to work at WLYH as a sportscaster there before moving to WGAL a year later in 1983, starting as a weekend sports anchor and reporter.[1] In 1990, following the departure of his mentor, sports director and anchor Jim Stone, Principe got his big break when the station promoted him to sports director.[2] It was there that Pat co-created, produced, and hosted WGAL's Football Friday, the show that still airs every Friday night during high school football season.
Principe would cover numerous highlights in sports on WGAL, particularly Penn State Nittany Lions football, interviewing the likes of late Penn State head coach Joe Paterno and current Penn State head state coach James Franklin, covered 8 Super Bowls and 4 World Series, showcasing his proficiency in major league sports, reported on 24 Penn State bowl games since 1990, including 4 Rose Bowls, covered women's golf events in the Susquehanna Valley, including the Lady Keystone Open, the 2015 U.S. Women's Open, and the Eagles' football team's first Super Bowl win during Super Bowl LII in 2018 which received worldwide praise around the country. He would also be dubbed "Prince" around WGAL, the king of sports knowledge in the Susquehanna Valley and beyond.[3]
On January 4, 2024, after covering his last Penn State Peach Bowl in Florida, PennLive published that Principe would retire from WGAL in April 2024, after 40+ years covering sports.[4] He would announce his retirement on WGAL in February 2024, which would take effect in April. He cited his decision to step away and spend more time with family and also cited the retirements of his dear friends and colleagues, Kim Lemon, Ron Martin, Joe Calhoun, and Mike Hostetler.[5]
In Principe's last week at WGAL, after well-wishes from friends, fans, and colleagues alike congratulating him on his retirement and looking back on his memorable, notable stories covering WGAL sports, he retired on April 12, 2024.[6]
Awards and recognition
At his college, where he started his first broadcast job, he was named Sportscaster of the Year in his Senior Year. At WGAL, he was nominated 9 times for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Emmy Awards. Principe also earned several Associated Press awards for sports coverage, sportscasts, and Football Friday. Principe worked in the community participating in community projects like the American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, MS Walk, and the Second Mile. He was honored in Florida by the Penn State Peach Bowl for covering Penn State for 33 seasons.[7] Principe was inducted into the WGAL Hall of Fame for his 41 years at WGAL covering sports.[citation needed]
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