Marshall Plan Might Work for the Eagles

Andy Reid, whose roots are in Los Angeles, attended Marshall High, which is named after Supreme Court Justice John Marshall.

L.A. City Councilman and Marshall alum Tom LaBonge points out that it is fitting that Reid now coaches the Philadelphia Eagles because the Liberty Bell cracked at the funeral of Marshall on July 8, 1835.

As for today’s Super Bowl, Reid will be trying to crack the New England Patriots’ defense.

Trivia time: What is Patriot kicker Adam Vinatieri’s connection to Gen. George Armstrong Custer?

Tough kid: When Reid was a sixth grader at Franklin Avenue School in 1970, his older brother was on the Marshall football team and young Andy was the water boy. The Marshall quarterback was Mike Haynes, a future Hall of Fame cornerback for the Patriots and the Raiders, and LaBonge was the center.

LaBonge relayed a story from Marshall’s football coach, Dick Kiwan, who recalled the time an opposing runner was on his way down the sideline to score an easy touchdown when Andy jumped out from the sidelines and tackled him.

Sometimes too tough: Reid later played football, basketball and baseball at Marshall, when Kiwan was the basketball coach.

“In his first year playing for me,” Kiwan told LaBonge, “I put Andy in for the first time against Hollywood High. In just one minute, he committed three fouls.”

Name that tune: An online sports book is taking bets on what songs Paul McCartney will sing, and when, during the Super Bowl halftime show. A $10 bet on “Can’t Buy Me Love” being the opening song could pay $150.

Extra careful: The impact of Janet Jackson’s mishap at last year’s Super Bowl is still being felt. Actor Jerry O’Connell, emcee of the Eclipse awards, which were televised live by horse racing network TVG, said: “We are going to have a 10-second delay in case D. Wayne Lukas has a wardrobe malfunction.”

Sounds fishy: Fox Sports chairman David Hill is a native of Australia who worked in London before coming to the U.S. to head up Fox Sports at the end of 1993. While talking with reporters on a conference call, he was asked if the Super Bowl was the biggest event he has overseen. He said it was.

Fox Sports president Ed Goren, also on the call, said, “David is being modest. People are still talking about that fishing show he did for Sky London.”

Said Hill: “We went at it hook, line and sinker, we didn’t flounder around, and we all had a whale of a time doing it.”

Trivia answer: Vinatieri is the great-, great-grandson of Felix Vinatieri, who was Custer’s band master before the massacre at Little Big Horn. Vinatieri is also a cousin of Evel Knievel.

And finally: There is a lot of talk about how much scalpers get for Super Bowl tickets. But, under the right circumstances, an unused Super Bowl ticket can also be valuable. David Kohler, the owner of SportsCards Plus, reports he sold a set of full-form Super Bowl tickets (no stubs) to all 38 games for $56,504.

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@ latimes.com.