
Green Bay, WI - Sitting on his front porch just before an October sunset, 63 year old Gabe Kranville looks like any other Wisconsin homeowner. That is, of course, until you get to know him. Gabe Kranville suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder, a psychiatric anxiety disorder. Every day about an hour before the sun goes down, Mr. Kranville steps out onto his porch, lights up his pipe and watches the last of the Sun's rays. This is just one of the daily rituals that he observes. In fact, he's got a list of over thirty tasks that he completes at specific times of the day in order to maintain a calm mind. And what if he misses a task? "I start to freak out," he says. "If I miss just one task, I get a bit anxious. That usually leads to a panic attack. And before you know I'm a headcase. I've been doing the same things for the past 50 years, so you can imagine what a change in routine would do to me."
Interestingly enough, Kranville's obsessiveness is directly tied to his support of the NFL's Green Bay Packers. Starting in 1957, Gabe began following the Packers. One Sunday, while getting dressed, he put on his left shoe first and that same day the Packers won. So he decided to always put his left shoe on before his right shoe. This then led to an entire protocol for dressing himself and in 1966, when the Packers won the Super Bowl, he decided to live every year like he did in 1966.
As a result, Gabe Kranville does not use computers, touch tone phones or credit cards. He refuses to watch the Packers play on anything other than his 1964 black and white TV. His life is very simple, a throwback to days gone by.
"Gabe is really something else. I can't even begin to know what its like to live everyday like its 1966. The guy has never even tried Zima. Can you imagine?" Says neighbor Dorothy Bollinsky.
In all these years, Kranville has allowed himself just one luxury. "I wear a Tundra Gear winter hat to all the games now. I never thought I'd take off my beanie, but last winter got so cold, and I'm getting older. I saw an ad in the newspaper for these really warm looking hats, and I figured why not. To be honest, it wasn't easy at first to come dressed a little differently to the games, but it seems to be paying off. We are 4 and 1 now, and if this keeps up, you never know. We may have our 4th Super Bowl title."
Kranville may have even started a trend. "I believe hes the first person I saw walking through the gates wearing that thing, but now they're all over the place. Everybody is wearing these winter Green Bay Packers hats. They're really perfect for up here." Says ticket taker Jillian Mund.
As for Kranville, he's just happy to stay warm and watch the Packers make a run at another Super Bowl. "Its kinda funny. Looking at this hat for the first time, I thought, "No way, not a chance." But now I love it. The hat is doing a much better job than I thought it would. And my Packers this season are the same way. At first, everybody thought, "No way! Not a chance! They'll be lucky if they win one game". But 5 games into the season, people are calling these guys Super Bowl contentders!"
Follow the trend that Kranville started and get your winter hat at TundraGear!