Sports page

One of the things in the last 35 years that has remained a constant has been that the sports section of the newspaper is mine. My wife, Laurie really doesn't care much about sports and practically never even touches the section. My 2 daughters were almost the same, Heather only glancing occasionally at one page during High School looking for her own or a friends name or to get upset that the local paper didn't (again) cover her School's sporting event at all.

My son I expected a bit more from, but he enjoyed playing - not reading. He was content to allow me to read the pages and tell him if anything important (to him) was in there, like his goal the day before. Other than that, it was my section to read, mostly about something involving the Ducks.

These family principles have taken a hit recently. During a recent visit in our home, my 6 year old Grandson has totally violated this tradition. He has been introduced to the NFL and scores/stats as a means of making the learning of math more fun. He had the audacity to actually remove the section completely from the unread paper and dive into the pages. How am I to react to these actions???

I have to admit that watching him become so excited in this activity and then spend hours telling me the details just made me smile. His knowledge of the NFL supersedes my own vastly. His excitement in telling his Papa on the phone was a beautiful exchange. I must conclude by saying, "Solomon, you can take my sports page any time you like."