SUPER BOWL XXIX : DAILY REPORT : Those California Teams Make It a Laid-Back Week

Is it really Super Bowl week in South Florida?

Maybe it’s because people are expecting a blowout in Super Bowl XXIX Sunday, or maybe it’s because people have experienced too many blowouts in the past. Or maybe it’s merely an off year for off-field highlights and low lights.

Whatever the reason, things have been as calm around here as the waters in Biscayne Bay. No ugly riots, no ugly incidents, no ugly media mob scenes and only a few inane questions.

The closest thing to a headline incident occurred Monday when San Francisco receiver Jerry Rice said he might consider retirement if his team wins, but he quickly backed down on that.

The worst question was voiced by a reporter who asked 49er fullback William Floyd, “Is there a chance you might overlook Sunday’s Super Bowl?”

A female reporter asked players their favorite pickup lines.

There still are 48 hours left for that controversial, attention-grabbing, hype-churning incident to occur. But there’s nothing on the horizon.

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Somebody’s kidding somebody. Bart Oates kidding Jesse Sapolu, maybe?

Both are offensive linemen for the 49ers. Asked about Sapolu’s physical attributes, Oates replied: “I think his shortness really helps him. He’s vertically challenged. He uses his leverage to get under guys.”

Oates is 6 feet 4, 278 pounds. Sapolu is 6-4, 278.

Sapolu is after his fourth championship ring.

“That would put me in an elite group with Joe Montana and some of those guys,” he said.

An 11th-round draft choice now in his 12th season, Sapolu switched from guard to center after the 1988 Super Bowl, then switched back for the 1994 season.

In all seriousness, Oates said of him, “It was a great sacrifice to his own personal ambitions. Jesse had just come into his own as a Pro Bowl starter and knew that moving over would hurt his chances of making the Pro Bowl again. But he was willing to sacrifice.

“It brings great satisfaction to me that he was chosen as a Pro Bowl player this year. Good guys don’t finish last.”

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At least one 49er wasn’t pleased that Montana was quoted as being torn in loyalty between his old team and his new conference, the AFC.

“I’ve heard Joe said he’s rooting for the Chargers because he’s an AFC guy,” tight end Brent Jones said. “If you ask me, that’s a little weak.

“I’ve done nothing but root for Joe and the Chiefs. There are eight guys on this team he played with. . . . A lot of guys on this team, with Kansas City games, we pulled for him because he’s our friend.”

Upon hearing that Montana wasn’t pulling for San Francisco in the Super Bowl, Jones said, “I was a little bummed out.”

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Apparently distraught that her ex-husband was going to the Super Bowl without her, the former wife of San Diego Charger quarterback coach Dwain Painter killed herself hours after the AFC championship game.

Shortly after the Chargers upset the Steelers, 17-13, on Jan. 15, Diane Painter, 52, apparently walked into the garage of her home in Bellevue, a Pittsburgh suburb, started her car and died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

“It’s tough, because so many things you would have liked to have happen now won’t materialize,” Dwain Painter told the Post-Gazette in Miami. “We still don’t have all the details. It’s so tragic.”

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NFL players overwhelmingly prefer grass fields, rating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ field the best and the Philadelphia Eagles’ the worst. Miami’s Joe Robbie Stadium, site of Sunday’s game, is rated second best.

In a survey conducted by the NFL Players Assn., 965 NFL players responded, with 85% saying they prefer a grass surface. Seven percent preferred artificial turf and 8% had no preference.

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Female interest in pro football is rising, surveys suggest.

After last year’s Harris poll found that women are 40% of NFL crowds, a new poll by a Princeton, N.J., firm shows that in male-female households, 50% of the women watch pro games along with their male partners.

During a national survey for Jim Beam Brands, conducted by the Opinion Research Corp. of Princeton, it was discovered that pro football is one of 18 things that attract the attention of female fans during an NFL afternoon.

Their interests:

Reading 12%, cleaning house 9%, other TV 6%, other hobbies 5%, cooking 4%, playing with children 2%, gardening 2%, visiting friends 2%, visiting family 1%, telephoning friends 1%, telephoning others 1%, doing laundry 1%, napping 1%, exercising 1%, complaining 1%, watching football 50%, doing anything else 1%.

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As of Thursday, tickets at Joe Robbie Stadium for Sunday’s game were going for $900, but one for a choice seat was selling for $2,500. . . . Injured defensive end Richard Dent of the 49ers, the most valuable player of Super Bowl XX with the Chicago Bears, did not practice Thursday, and a pool report said “it doesn’t look good” for Dent’s chances of playing.

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Quotation corner:

San Francisco Coach George Seifert, asked if a Super Bowl victory would finally take the monkey off quarterback Steve Young’s back: “In this business, the monkey is never off your back and the tiger is always after your tail, and there are also all those bears and grizzlies.”

Charger kick returner Andre Coleman: “I still can’t believe I’m here at the Super Bowl. I want it to last forever. But at the same time, I can’t wait to play the game.”

San Francisco tackle Steve Wallace on blocking Charger pass rusher Leslie O’Neal: “I never really know what I’m doing out there because he has that Darth Vader mask for a face.”

Charger receiver Tony Martin, on quarterback Stan Humphries’ leadership qualities: “If something bad happens in the game, he tells us, ‘You better not go in the tank.’ ”

Martin on the Chargers’ spirit: “We’re going to fight you tooth and nails.”

Kevin Kaminski, writing in the Football News: “The chances of San Diego somehow defeating the 49ers are about the same as Newt Gingrich being honored as ‘Mr. Sensitivity’ by the National Organization for Women.”

Don Shula, Miami Dolphin coach, same magazine: “This will be a better Super Bowl than most people think.”