There's a guy in town, name is Larry Bird. Throughout the 1980s, he was one half of sport's greatest team and individual rivalry -- the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, Bird and Magic Johnson. He, too, has heard all the talk from the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots, how tonight's nationally televised game is . . . here it comes . . just another game.

"Just another game," deadpanned Bird, the Indiana Pacers president. "Yeah, right. I don't buy any of it."