I know the Jamestown-Scotland Neck ferry is a prime target for terrorist attack, and that the security forces at the ferry entrance by now have foiled hundreds of bomb attacks ...

... at least I hope that's true. Because, otherwise, I would really be irritated over the fact that they made me miss the 8:00 AM ferry this morning. Because the ever-vigiant security guard made me stop -- and then he didn't even look into my car!! -- the stop sign gate at the ferry was lowering right as I got to it. Only seconds would have made a difference.

I was on my way to a bike ride beginning in Waverly, VA. As it turns out, the 8:30 ferry and the drive to Waverly got me there before the 9:30 start. Once I was there, and on my bike with the other riders, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Thirty-nine years ago today, Joe Namath led the New York Jets to the greatest upset in pro football history, over the Baltimore Colts, in what is now called Super Bowl III. Back then it was called the National Football League - American Football League Championship Game. Another trivia fact: It was the first of those games that was a sellout! Of course, that's back when there was an American Football League. On Sunday afternoons, while my Dad would be sitting in the family room watching the boring NFL on the big color TV, I would be back in a bedroom, watching the AFL on the little black and white set. The NFL in those days emphasized the running game. But the AFL! Ah -- those guys put the ball in the air nearly every play! NFL games would finish with 13 - 10 scores. The AFL games would end up 42 - 38. Much more fun!

So I became an AFL fan. Joe Namath, of course, was a counter-cutural hero, slightly naughty, a thrilling player. I'm still a Jets fan because of him, all these years later. And when the Jets won the championship game in 1969, it was the first time "my team" had won a championship. In the 39 years since, "my team" has won a championship exactly one other time: the Phillies in 1980.

The Jets, since then, have been the most inept team in all of pro football, year-in and year-out. The Colts? Their owner moved them out of Baltimore in the middle of the night (I am not making this up), in a snow storm. He was afraid a judge would issue an injunction the next morning that would have prevented him from moving them to Indianapolis. When Robert Irsay moved the Colts out of Baltimore, it was similar to Walter O'Malley moving the Dodgers out of Brooklyn: both moves tore the sporting heart out of those cities. Ever since the Colts left Baltimore, I've called them the Clots. I'm pleased every time they lose.

Ok. Enough. I'm going to go put on a tape I have of that 1969 championship game. It's an annual observance.