No Subject

["Robertson, Kevin, CON, OASD(HA)/TMA" <Kevin.Robertson@tma.osd.mil>]

Thought you guys and gals might want to see this -- ESPN Sportzone -- Oh,
and I'm not going to see this the next time I'm in Boston... Oh and I'm
Not!!!!!!

Kevin

The Boston Garden has been reduced to rubble and Larry Bird -- who made so
many miraculous plays there -- has long since left town. 

But on Tuesday, Boston fans had a chance to cheer again for the basketball
star, now coach of the Indiana Pacers, at the unveiling of a bronze plaque
in his honor.

                 "Even though I'm in Indiana, I still respect
                 the Celtics and wish them well -- just not on
                 the nights when we play them," Bird told
                 about 200 people gathered under rainy skies
                 at Faneuil Hall Marketplace.

                 The plaque, which features a pair of bronzed
                 Converse sneakers, was the latest in a
                 career filled with accolades.

                 Bird, an All-American at Indiana State, was
                 the college player of the year in 1979 and
                 the NBA rookie of the year in 1980, the first
                 of his 13 seasons with the Celtics. By the
                 time he retired with a bad back in 1992, he
                 was a three-time NBA most valuable player
                 and twice an NBA Finals MVP.

                 Bird was inducted into the Basketball Hall of
                 Fame in June.

                 "What a great day for basketball, what a great day for
Boston and what a great
                 day for all of us when the Celtics signed you," Boston
Mayor Thomas Menino
                 told Bird at Tuesday's ceremony.

                 The crowd that gathered around a small tent above the
plaque included many
                 die-hard fans.

                 Mike Willadsen, 41, of South Windsor, Conn., brought his
8-year-old son,
                 Chris. He said he often pulls out old videotapes of Larry
Bird games, including
                 championships he played against the Los Angeles Lakers.

                 "He still turns out a crowd, doesn't he," Willadsen said.

                 Irene Verdie, visiting from Cordoba, Spain, squeezed
through the crowd to snap
                 a picture of Bird. Verdie, 19, said she grew up rooting for
Bird. Her school
                 basketball coach often invoked his name.

                 "He said, 'Pass the ball like you're Larry Bird,' so I
did," Verdie said.

                 John Abbis, 21 of Malden, wore Bird's Celtics No. 33.

                 "He was the greatest player of all time," he said.

                 Bird seemed happy with the plaque, provided by his longtime
sponsor, the
                 Converse sneaker company of North Reading.

                 But he noted it seemed a little small compared to a
life-size statue of Celtics
                 president Red Auerbach and a traffic tunnel named after
Boston Red Sox
                 slugger Ted Williams.

                 "Red gets the statue, Ted Williams gets the tunnel," he
said, pausing. "I get a pair
                 of shoes."