Today I bleed Blue and White

Today, I bleed Blue and White – and so should you.

No, I haven’t lost my mind and become a State Penn – uh Penn State – fan. Today, I am an Indianapolis Colts fan, and there is no reason why the entire Borough of Old Forge shouldn’t be rooting for the Colts as well.

As I am sure you know already (Page 45), Old Forge will be represented for the first time in today’s Super Bowl when borough native and OFHS Class of ’75 grad Ray “RJ” Rychleski coaches the special teams for the AFC champions.

If you don’t know RJ’s story by now, you haven’t been reading the Dispatch closely enough.

Rychleski – a former Blue Devils quarterback – started his coaching career as a volunteer for the Old Forge frosh team in 1975 before moving on to various stops along the way including Temple, Penn State, Northeastern, Wake Forest, Maryland and South Carolina.

At all of his stops, RJ built a resume as a work-a-holic coach and a student of the game. His special teams units at Maryland and South Carolina – along with his relationship with current Colts boss Jim Caldwell – gave him the opportunity to land the gig as Special Teams Coordinator with Indianapolis. And in his first season, here he is, coaching in the biggest game of his life.

There is no finer representative of Old Forge to have coaching in the Super Bowl – the pinnacle of football success – than RJ.

And there is no reason when the game starts tonight that the fine people of Old Forge should not be rooting for their hometown boy to bring a Lombardi Trophy and a Super Bowl ring back to NEPA.

Super Bowl celebrities

RJ Rychleski isn’t the only Old Forger in South Beach this weekend for the Super Bowl.

Old Forge residents Mike Lettieri Sr., Bob Semenza and Mike Lettieri Jr., along with OFHS Class of 1974 grad Nick Holgash are all down in Miami to root on RJ and the Colts.

Mike Sr., co-owner of Salerno’s Caf�, is a serious Colts fan and was at the Colts-New England game earlier this year in Indianapolis to see his favorite team win with a last gasp comeback. Mike Jr. is a Steelers fan whom I traveled with last year to see Super Bowl XLIII. He decided to take his dad this year to support the Colts.

Semenza and Holgash are lifelong friends of Rychleski and took the opportunity to support the Colts with a trip to Miami.

My prediction

Obviously I am picking the Colts. The score will be 45-44 in a shootout that has never been seen before in the NFL’s biggest game.

The Saints will score with less than 20 seconds remaining on a Drew Brees to Jeremy Shockey 44-yard touchdown strike to take a 44-38 lead. I am picking Shockey because he is a former New York Giants tight end, and Bob Semenza is a Giants fan rooting for the Colts.

The Saints kick deep to Colts return man Chad Simpson – who we met last year at a Super Bowl after party at the Hard Rock Caf� in Tampa. Simpson, coached by RJ Rychleski, weaves in-and-out of traffic before crossing the 50 and juking the NO kicker on his way to the game-tying touchdown.

Matt Stover boots the extra-point with no time showing on the clock, and the Colts – and RJ – win the Super Bowl.