Spend Saturday Night With Joe Willie Namath

A preview of what a Super Bowl in Miami looks like

It's Thursday, which means we are still more than 72 agonizing hours away from kickoff in Indianapolis. Work, family and crying about Conan are just some of the ways that we'll try to ignore the momentous event directly ahead of us, but, as it turns out, we just need to make it to Saturday night.

That's when the NFL Network will be whetting everyone's whistles with a rebroadcast of Super Bowl III at 8:30 P.M. The game will be shown with the original NBC broadcasting team of Curt Gowdy, Al DeRogatis and Kyle Rote and will feature the original graphics used on the game. Better yet, Joe Namath will be wearing his original sideburns and Johnny Unitas will be wearing the black high tops. And, best of all, the Jets will still win a game that no one thought they could win against a team wearing horseshoes on their helmets.

If you squint hard enough and hold your head just so, you could even fool yourself into thinking that the dark-haired, scruffy fellow managing a running game was Mark Sanchez. Namath didn't throw a single pass in the fourth quarter of the game, and if that happens again on Sunday you'll see a similar result. You'll see a Jets defense forcing five turnovers and shutting down a powerful offense. 

A pretty good way to close out Championship Game Eve, don't you think?

Alas, the game also serves as a reminder that Time Warner and NFL Network, in their eternal wisdom, haven't figured out a way to get the channel to a good chunk of the New York City area. If you're one of the affected, use it as an excuse to drop in on an old friend or that aunt you never see and watch the game with them. That way they won't bug you during the main event on Sunday.  

Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com.

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