Officials at Oxford Town Hall are having a little fun with sports rivalries just before the Super Bowl - and apparently they are being good sports about it, too.

It started this past week when the women in the Town Clerk's Office began some light-hearted "trash talking" about this weekend's game. Assistant Town Clerk Rosemary Harner is a self-proclaimed New England Patriots fanatic, while her office mates are New York Giants fans. They discussed topics such as whether Tom Brady of the Patriots was a better leader than Eli Manning of the Giants and whether Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski would be much of a factor in the big game. (Even I got involved in that light-hearted banter, representing, of course, the Giants.)

The feuds continued until Thursday, when First Selectman George Temple did the unthinkable: he brought a roughly eight-foot tall inflatable Giants player and put him on the front lawn of the Stephen B. Church Memorial Town Hall. The figurine is carrying a Patriots lunch bag - perhaps a friendly gesture? Or could it be a symbol that Temple thought the Giants would eat the Patriots lunch?

In any case, Joanne Pelton, Temple's administrative aide, thought the joke was quite funny and said workers and residents at Town Hall Thursday got a kick out of it. That's surprising, considering Pelton, who grew up in Quincy, Mass., is a big Patriots fan.

"Rosemary (Harner) and I took it in stride because we are going to win," Pelton proclaimed.

Well, despite the work "harassment," at least Rosemary has a place to find solace: she can go home and surround herself with fellow Pats fans. Once Pelton walks in her front door, she's behind enemy lines once again. Her husband, Connecticut Post sports editor Gino Moretti, is a "huge Giants fan," she said. Pelton can't win, whether at home or at work. 

But, she is trying to make the best out of it. In fact, she has a friendly wager pending with Temple: If the Pats win, he has to make her New York strip steaks. And if the Giants win, she must make lobster for her boss. Or, as she says, "Lobstah' in my neck of the woods."