In Clinton, it's pretty much a 50-50 shot on Super Bowl Sunday

Brothers Dave and Rick Rice, who live in Clinton, say that when they were growing up they were always aware that the Clinton/Madison area was a sort of Mason-Dixon line of scalding sports allegiances between Boston and New York.

"Yeah, I've always known that," said Dave, who explained that the schism actually is represented in his own fandom. "It's kind of funny. I'm a Giants fan, but I'm also a Boston Red Sox fan."

Rick Rice has an even more conflicted team situation: "I'm a Giants fan and a Patriots fan."

Wait - how does that work?

"Well, in the AFC I root for the Patriots, and in the NFC I root for the Giants," Rick said. As for Sunday, when the two teams meet in the Super Bowl, it's hard to say which side he'll pull for, although there is a precedent.

In 2008, when the Giants upset the Patriots and derailed New England's perfect season, Rick said it all became clear to him at a crucial juncture.

"When (David) Tyree made that catch, I was happy," Rick said, referring to an iconic reception of an Eli Manning pass on New York's critical final drive.

As the crow flies - or as the Honda CRV cruises on Interstate 95 - Clinton is exactly halfway between MetLife Stadium, where the New York Giants play, and Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots.

Unlike the Rice brothers, not all football fans here are aware that Clinton is a sort of cartographic ground zero in the great divide.

"I did not know we were halfway, but it's very interesting. I'm excited about the fact," said Karen Clifford, a waitress at Chips III Pub, a restaurant and watering hole of great popularity with the sports-minded.

When asked whether she thought there was any geographic or magnetic advantage to one team or another, she said, "I think it's going to be good luck for the Pats. Go Pats!"

Tom and Sarah Hollinger, who've owned the Clinton Sport Shop - a retail space featuring all sorts of athletic equipment and college and pro team merchandise - for almost 22 years, also were unaware of their town's epicenter status between the two stadiums.

"I'd have never guessed that, although I know we're always the dividing line between Boston and New York," Tom said. "We live in the middle of the Red Sox and Yankees, and we see that all the time in the spring and fall. You think it's the Connecticut River, but I think the dividing line is right here."

Does this have any significance in terms of who the Hollingers root for, or whether there's a discernible advantage for either the Giants or the Patriots?

"You gotta understand," Tom said, smiling. "Both my wife and I are from Philly, and as much as people don't want to hear it, we're Phillies and Eagles fans."

Located in the center of town is the Clinton Historical Society. Drive a couple of miles one way and you're on the Patriots side of the equation; two miles in the other direction means you're in Giants territory.

Would someone in the Historical Society perhaps have an allegiance? Knowledge of some arcane local history that indicates former Patriot Gino Cappelletti had once practiced kicking field goals on the Clinton Town Green? Or ex-Giants quarterback Y.A. Tittle showed up at every Clinton Memorial Day Parade?

As it turned out, no one was working at the Historical Society. The only logical conclusion? The whole staff - equally divided, no doubt, between Patriots and Giants fans - was en route to Indianapolis to watch the game.

r.koster@theday.com