The “Guarantee”

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(Posted 1/28/26)

Greetings from an icy Booth!

As the area continues to dig out of an epic snow and ice event, we look toward much-warmer Santa Clara, California, and Super Bowl 60. (Sidebar: Can we please dispense with the Roman numerals? As far as I know, no Super Bowl has been played in Rome, and Marcus Aurelius isn’t going to be doing the coin toss anytime soon. Too many X’s, L’s, and V’s for me! Although a Ben-Hur-type chariot race at halftime would be preferable to some of the more recent performers.) The Big Game will feature a 2015 rematch between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks. But today, a look backward.

I get asked all the time about the first Super Bowl I remember. That one is easy. Super Bowl 3 is the first one I can recall, and it is memorable for many reasons. The first two Super Bowls were one-sided, as the NFL’s representative, the Green Bay Packers, dominated Kansas City and Oakland, respectively. The third edition was expected to be more of the same, as the powerful Baltimore Colts of the NFL took on the upstart New York Jets, who carried the banner of the equally upstart American Football League into Miami’s Orange Bowl. No one gave the Jets a chance, and the Colts went into the game as 16-point favorites on that January day in 1969.

Earlier that week, surrounded by the media as he held court from a lounge chair, Jets quarterback Joe Namath made national headlines by guaranteeing victory. (Looking back, what would you expect him to say? “I think the Colts are going to smear us?”). With his brash prediction, Namath became the face of the Super Bowl and the target of the Colts’ defense. Surely, “Broadway Joe” would eat his words. Instead, he raised his index finger high as he left the field with a 16-7 win, one of the great upsets in football history.

Super Bowl 3 was not just a football game, however. It was a microcosm of what was happening in the USA at the time. The mighty Colts represented the “establishment”, in some ways, the military-industrial complex. The Jets represented a youthful, vibrant, “hip” America, personified by Namath. The country was divided by the Vietnam War, and we were a nation of Hawks and Doves, as the anti-war movement was gaining momentum. The Colts and Jets were perceived as being on opposite sides of that fence. The game was also a contrast of cities. The Colts were very much an extension of blue-collar Baltimore, while the Jets certainly mirrored the Big Apple: Broadway, Madison Avenue, Manhattan.

As a 9-year-old, I felt that divisiveness watching the game. It poured out of the TV into my living room as a young Namath picked apart the Colts, and an old, battered Johnny Unitas failed to bring Baltimore back.  Super Bowl 3 divided Fathers and Sons, young and old, even men and women. It was a game that was perfect for its time, and one I’ll always remember.

Enjoy the Big Game, and stay warm this week!

RW

A Guarantee From Joe Willie

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Winchester Printers

Greetings from The Booth!

Sometimes, it’s as simple as doing the eye test.

Last night, Randolph-Macon invaded the Wilkins Center as the number-one ranked NCAA D-3 men’s basketball team in the nation. You didn’t have to scratch your head and ask “why?” The Jackets quickly pulled away amidst a hailstorm of 3-pointers and the game was over almost as soon as it started. It didn’t help that the Shenandoah Hornets shot 25 percent in the first half, but it wouldn’t have mattered.

What I saw from RMC was a talented, disciplined, well-coached team. Every pass had a purpose, and the Jackets were loaded with dead-eye shooters.

While it’s not fun to be on the short end of a 102-51, I’ll bet most players want to test their skills against the very best. Number One is what you should aspire to be, and Macon provided the measuring stick last night. Sometimes it hurts , though, to get whacked with it.

Changing gears, I’m going to make you feel old. This Sunday is the playing of the 55th Super Bowl, the conclusion of a season like no other. Someone asked me this week what the first Super Bowl was that I remember. That answer is easy: It is Super Bowl III, featuring the upstart New York Jets from the AFL against the heavily-favored NFL Champion Baltimore Colts.

The Colts were a juggernaut and were heavily favored by somewhere in the 18-point range. The game is memorable for the bold “guarantee” made by Jets’ QB “Broadway Joe” Namath in the week leading up to the game. From a chaise lounge in Miami, donning shades and swim trunks, drink-in-hand, Joe Willie guaranteed a win against the mighty Colts, and then delivered with a 16-7 triumph.

But the game is burned into my memory, because Super Bowl 3 was a microcosm of what was going on in the country at the time. 1968 was one of the most divisive years in US history. The Vietnam War, Summer riots, and the assassinations of MLK and RFK threatened to tear the country apart. In addition, the lines were drawn demographically. A youthful, more liberal America was seen as a threat to an older, more conservative USA.

The Jets, with the long-haired Namath as it’s frontman, represented that new, vibrant America. The Colts, represented by the flat topped, high-topped Johnny Unitas, were the face of the “establishment.” And the game itself was seen not just as the AFL against the NFL, but as a matchup of young versus old, liberal versus conservative.

I’m sure that many households were like mine on that January day in 1969, as fathers and sons were glued to their Magnavox console TVs, the dads cheering for Earl Morall and Johnny U, and the sons rooting for Broadway Joe and the underdog Jets.

Super Bowl III was more than a football game, and it will always remain so for me.

Until the next visit from The Booth, enjoy the Big Game, and GO HORNETS!

RW