Hi, Yoong Liat.
I think I was thinking about those names of long articles that are longer than a word or two. As to the first question, I am seeing more and more cases where short contents are quoted without having a comma in front of it like this:
When asked about our favorite sports, I said "Basketball" and he said "Baseball." (See no commas.)
When asked about what we do during our spare time, I said "I play basketball," and he said "I play baseball."
(See still no commas but I think commas are preferred. What is the guideline?)
When asked about what we do during the afternoon, I said, "I go shopping and then do some house chores but it varies day to day," and he said, "Unlike my friend, I usually runs and read books."
(Here, commas seem to be almost mandatory.)