All-or-Nothing Spirit Makes America Great

Jim Armstrong in the Denver Post, before the Super Bowl: “Talk about loyalty. Some guy went to Las Vegas during the summer and bought a $1,000 ticket on the Giants to win the Super Bowl. He got 100-1 odds, meaning he’ll pocket $100,000 if they win.

“Now for the interesting part: He refuses to bet $50,000 on the Ravens [on the money line], which would have guaranteed him 50 grand regardless of the outcome. It’s the Giants or bust.”

Busted.

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Trivia time: Who holds the Super Bowl record for most interceptions in a game?

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The bright side: Jonathan Clements of the Wall Street Journal, citing at least three of the good things about a bad stock market:

* “Your 11-year-old has gone back to trading baseball cards.

* “At cocktail parties, you can go back to talking about football.

* “When you get the local paper, it’s OK to read the sports section first.”

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Leisurely walk: Tom FitzGerald in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Attorneys for the PGA Tour argue in the Casey Martin case that walking is an essential part of golf.

“That’s debatable, but walking is certainly a key part of baseball. There’s the base on balls, of course. And how else would Barry Bonds approach first base after popping up?”

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More Martin: Steve Hummer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution sees the case this way: “Look out, Duval is really walking well today.”

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Come again? Ed Bouchette in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “Bill Cowher should write a book, a collection of his comments, philosophies, mixed metaphors and thought-provoking utterances since he became Steelers coach in 1992. Among his most recent:

“ ‘Perception is reality but it may not be actuality, and you have got to be able to keep the difference between that.’ ”

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Grrr! Herman Edwards, the former California player, who is now coach of the New York Jets, was so inspirational in his first news conference that receiver Wayne Chrebet, listening on the radio, said:

“He made me want to stop the car, strap on my helmet, stop by the side of the road and start hitting things.”

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See-food diet: He was once called the “Round Mound of Rebound.” But who thought Charles Barkley would get this round?

The former NBA star says he ballooned to 337 pounds by the end of last year. And, he tells Time magazine, there was no great mystery to packing 70 additional on his 6-foot-5 frame.

He ate whatever he wanted and drank vodka with cranberry juice every night. And not even daily rounds of golf helped much.

“I’m 37,” Barkley told the magazine. “I’ve worked out every day since I was 9. So I gave myself six months off from being in shape.”

And now?

“Well, I drink only two days a week,” he said. “And I restrict myself to a six-pack.”

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Pay back: Boston Bruin center Joe Thornton says: “Some nights I show up, some nights I don’t.”

Says Will McDonough of the Boston Globe: “Owner Jerry Jacobs should write Joe a note: ‘Don’t think I can send your check after every game.’ ”

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Looking back: On this day in 1995, the San Francisco 49ers beat the San Diego Chargers, 49-26, in Super Bowl XXIX in Miami.

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Trivia answer: Rod Martin of the Oakland Raiders, three against the Philadelphia Eagles in 1981.

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And finally: Former Dallas Cowboy Cliff Harris once said: “The two worst things in football are: 1) They think a 30-year-old professional athlete has to be locked up in a hotel room, with a curfew, the night before a game; and 2) They’re right.”