The Hot Corner

A consumer’s guide to the best and worst of sports media and merchandise. Ground rules: If it can be read, played, heard, observed, worn, viewed, dialed or downloaded, it’s in play here.

What: “What Makes Winners Win.”

Author: Charlie Jones.

Publisher: Broadway Books.

Price: $10.

This is your text for Attitude 1A, or how coaches and athletes think and talk about winning.

Principal thinkers and talkers are Jones’ broadcast partner, Todd Christensen, and Bruce Jenner, Johnny Miller, Arnold Palmer, Pat Riley, Johnny Rutherford, Frank Shorter, Lee Trevino and Bill Walton.

Our favorite: former major league manager Dave Bristol, addressing his team after a losing game:

“There’ll be two buses leaving the hotel for the ballpark tomorrow.

“The 2 p.m. bus will be for those of you who need a little extra work. The empty bus will leave at 5 p.m.”

And Christensen, talking about the competitive fire of former Seahawk, now Congressman, Steve Largent, in a Pro Bowl game in Honolulu:

“We had the ball for the first time . . . and Largent comes running into the huddle all excited.

“He said: ‘ . . . the grains of the AstroTurf are running east and west, which means that in the first quarter we’ll be fast but not quick, and in the second quarter quick but not fast. So in the first quarter we should run the deep patterns, and in the second quarter short routes when we’ll be able to cut better.’

Christensen: “The grains of AstroTurf running east and west? Are you kidding? This is the Pro Bowl, for God’s sake. . . . The huddle is filled with the breath of Mai Tais and here’s a guy, a 12-year veteran . . . talking about the grains of AstroTurf running east to west.”