Watching the National Football League playoffs, I wondered what Major League Baseball could do to come up with gimmicks for extra innings that would be as inane as the N.F.L.’s new overtime format.

In my ignorance, I was not familiar with the new rules, and I wasn’t listening closely enough when the television announcers and the referee in the Pittsburgh-Denver game explained them before those teams began overtime recently.

As a result, I went into overtime thinking each team would get a chance on offense before the game could end. So when the Broncos, after taking the kickoff, scored a touchdown on an 80-yard pass play, I expected that now the Steelers would have their chance to match the Broncos’ touchdown.

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As unlikely as it seems, the Super Bowl comes to Indianapolis next Sunday. As unlikely, too, as it may seem, there is a baseball connection to that development.

Twenty years ago, Jeff Smulyan was the principal owner of the Seattle Mariners. One of his major partners was Michael Browning. Smulyan and Browning were Indianapolis residents and businessmen then and still are now.

By now, their baseball endeavor is ancient history, maybe best left there. But Smulyan and Browning are enjoying the fruits of their Super Bowl efforts this week, Browning as chairman of the game’s host committee, Smulyan as one of the committee’s co-chairmen.

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A believer in giving credit where and when credit is due, I have to defend an agent I’ve never been particularly fond of. And, to be candid, Scott Boras has never been fond of me.

When word emerged Tuesday that a Boras client, Prince Fielder, had agreed to a 9-year, $214 million contract with the Detroit Tigers, the development came as a surprise because the Tigers had not previously been mentioned as one of the teams interested in Fielder.

Reports of the signing immediately branded the Tigers a mystery team, as in this CBSSports.com report:

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