Game Really Went Down to the Wire

Bookmakers did a record business on this year’s Super Bowl, but bettors were the winners.

Nevada’s 105 legal sports books took a record $69.6 million in bets on the game between the San Francisco 49ers and the San Diego Chargers, with the books losing a total of $396,674.

Oddsmakers said bettors, undaunted by a point spread that reached as high as 20 1/2 points, beat the books by wagering parlays of the 49ers and an over-under line that ranged between 52 and 54 points.

The 49ers won, 49-26.

On the other hand: Michael Roxborough, whose Las Vegas Sports Consultants sets the line for most books, said they would have won big if San Diego had scored on its last possession. A score would have put the Chargers within the point spread, blowing most of the favored parlay bets.

“The win would have been in the millions if they had scored on that last drive,” Roxborough said. “Nobody had San Diego and the over.”

Trivia time: Who is the only woman to have been married to a most valuable player in the American and National leagues?

Abbreviation, or not: When Louie Brewster, Ontario Daily Bulletin sports editor, applied for a National Hot Rod Assn. credential, it came back reading: DAILY BULL.

Mutual admiration: Soccer legend Pele, after watching Magic Johnson in action at a Brazilian basketball tournament:

“God made a Beethoven, a Michelangelo, and a Magic Johnson.”

A true sleeper hold: A wrestling fan was jailed for five years in Zimbabwe after he attacked and killed a neighbor using moves he saw on a World Wrestling Federation television show.

Esrom Hove, 47, used his knees to squeeze Winnie Ndlovu’s head, hurled Ndlovu to the floor by his head and repeatedly stomped on him, just as he’d seen wrestlers do on the popular U.S. show, authorities said.

Sounds logical: Former world long distance record-holder Said Aouita of Morocco, who will be making a comeback at age 35 in Saturday night’s Sunkist Invitational at the Sports Arena, was asked if he felt he was a bit old to regain his former glory.

“George Foreman is 11 years older than I am,” he said. “Besides, none of my rivals is trying to punch me out.”

Trivia answer: Mrs. Frank Robinson.

Quotebook: Drag racer Eddie Hill, 58, on winning the Winternationals top fuel championship last Sunday at Pomona: “It made me feel like 55 again.”