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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, January 31, 2013 · 6 The Oakville Beaver The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5566 Classified Advertising: 905-632-4440 Circulation: 905-631-6095 Our View Exit day for one Packers fan 've got the wrong T-shirt on," he said, tugging frantically at his new green tee that sports a stylized `G' familiar to all NFL fans living in Wisconsin and one particular ardent follower of the Packers who calls Burlington, Ont. home. "They don't win if I am wearing this," he said to no one in particular as he grabbed another similar Green Bay Jill Davis shirt to go with his hoodie. The Aaron Rodgers official jersey would remain in the closet -- for now. Even our dog has become accustomed to Game Day and the ensuing and amusing quirky antics adopted by my husband. John has been a Packers fan since he was a toddler. He grew up in a household of Minnesota Viking diehards and because of this has made our home a virtual shrine to anything green and yellow. From a Packer clock (given to him by someone who found it in a flea market and where I wished it had remained) to a family of Packer snowmen (synthetic, of course, so they can be part of our décor year-round), to Cheeseheads to a replica of Lambeau Field, there is enough Packer memorabilia to open our own NFL store. When everyone's favourite quarterback Brett Favre was Green Bay's media darling, my husband had everything "Favre". But as soon as he retired (not sure how many times he did that) and then decided to shuffle off to the Jets and then, heaven forbid, to the Vikings, `everything Favre' was either eliminated or hastily stashed away to collect dust in the basement. I work in a predominantly male newsroom, so I am quite used to all things sports. It is a relief, actually, to learn that my husband's passion for the Pack is quite `normal'. Burlington Post Sports Editor Kevin Nagel is a San Fran fan and last week, prior to the Packers and 49ers matchup, he was checking to see how my husband was faring under the pre-game pressure. I think he should have asked how I was faring. Our living room was literally coated in green and yellow but, except for the banner hanging in the window, at least our neighbours didn't have a clue as to what was going on inside the house. The same can't always be said for another Packers fan who happens to reside in the neighbourhood. In addition to the banner blowing outside, there is often a giant (and I mean giant) inflatable Packer player adorning the front lawn. I know my husband is eager to get his hands on one as well. However, that will have to wait until next year when the season starts again. Most of the paraphernalia is now dutifully put away as his beloved Pack fell to the 49ers, much to the delight of Kevin -- San Fran faces off Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens at Super Bowl XLVII. Jill Davis can be reached at jdavis@metroland.com or followed on Twitter @ jdavis_Halton. Neil Oliver Vice-President and Group Publisher, Metroland West David harvey Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief, Halton Region Daniel Baird Advertising Director ANGELA BLACKBURN Managing Editor Riziero Vertolli Photography Director Sandy Pare Business Manager RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association MARK DILLS Director of Production Manuel garcia Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager Website www.oakvillebeaver.com The OakvilleBeaver is a division of "I Jill Davis, Editor in Chief, Halton Region Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: United Way of Oakville ATHENA Award SUBMITTED PHOTO Sun Life Financial Centre office (centre), presented Sylvia Rogers, vice-president of Nursing, and Dr. Hanif Jamal (left), of the Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, with a $100,000 donation for the Oakville Hospital Foundation on Thursday, Jan. 24. The donation is part of Sun Life's commitment to diabetes research, education, and care; and goes toward the Kailo Pathways to Change program, which helps participants implement drastic lifestyle changes to help manage and improve chronic conditions, such as diabetes. A $100K BOOST FOR THE OAKVILLE HOSPITAL: Perry Badham, manager of the Oakville Being outwitted, outplayed and (yikes) out-read by our kids ecently our eldest son and his fiancé returned from an ambitious four-week excursion across Asia, arriving at our doorstep armed with interesting anecdotes, myriad memories, and hundreds of postcard-perfect photographs that they magically beamed up onto our television (don't even ask how they worked that technological trickery because I have no idea). At the end of this enjoyable visit my wife and I turned to each other and acknowledged that the inevitable had occurred. The inevitable? You see, when you have kids, they typically look up to you for a decade or two. They see you as an insider, an expert -- you've read more books, watched more movies, listened to more music, and you've seen way more of the world. Furthermore, they naturally lag behind you in most endeavors -- you're faster, stronger, and you can throw a football farther and with more accuracy and zing. To put this in Kung Fu (a 1970s TV show) terms, you are Master and they are Grasshopper, the greenhorn protégé. Alas, one day the tide turns. Grasshopper becomes Master. In my wife's matter-of-fact words on this inevitable turn: "Eventually, your kids pass you. That trip -- four-weeks in Asia -- is a trip we will R never take. They've now experienced things we'll never experience, they've seen things we'll never see." Ian Brown, the wonderful feature writer for The Globe and Mail, recently wrote on this very topic under the headline: "As She Races Past Me." He insightfully wrote of the psychology of the empty nest -- "of Andy Juniper time racing by so fast it leaves me panting and terrified that my cramped fingers are slipping off the cliff of life" -- and of how his position as his family's undisputed champion of reading was being, well, disputed. "I had spent the first 19 years of my daughter's life being the well-read one... Now, suddenly, in her second year of university, she was speeding by me, reading wider and deeper than I had, and faster than I ever could. She was needling me to keep up. But I knew it was hopeless. She was now educating me, and I was the rookie." Join the club, Ian, join the club. Years ago, I read author John Irving, a wrestling fanatic, was not merely hopeful of giving his eldest son a decent match on the mats on his 40th birthday, he was determined to actually beat the young man. I never heard how this anticipated bout turned out, but I can only imagine that regardless of Irving's vaunted fitness prowess and mastery of the mats, he ended up being hamstrung and humbled by his son. A sprinter in my youth, I figured I'd be able to outrun my offspring pretty much forever. Until one day, in an impromptu race on a beach in South Carolina, they casually breezed by me, like I was standing still. I blamed slippery sand. And a bum knee that was acting up. And the wind. And the bacon I'd had for breakfast. And.... I guess it's not a bad thing. Being usurped. Pounded by our progeny into the mats. Being outwitted, outplayed, and (heaven help us) out-read. It's inevitable. We bring them into the world, teach them how to fly on their own, and then one day they take-off for four weeks in Asia, leaving us behind on so many different levels. Andy Juniper can be contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com, found on Facebook http://www.facebook.com, or followed at www.twitter. com/thesportjesters.