Indianapolis resident Don Welsh boasts that while growing up in Baltimore, he played high school football with the son of legendary Colts quarterback John Unitas. He was a rabid Colts fan when the team played here, and even though he left the Baltimore area before the Colts departed for Indianapolis, he took to the Ravens when they filled the Colts' void.

Now that the Ravens are playing the Colts in an AFC divisional playoff game tonight, you would think that Welsh would be mulling over which team to cheer for.

Not a chance.

"I'll be cheering for my hometown team - the Indianapolis Colts," said Welsh, CEO of the Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association. "Somebody reminded me, 'You may be from Baltimore, and your family may be from Baltimore, but don't forget who signs your checks.' "

Welsh's sentiments mirror those of a few former Baltimore-area residents in Indianapolis who have switched allegiances - but point out that their passion for the Colts has more to do with the team's indelible mark on Indianapolis than its ties to Baltimore.

They might be surprised to know that there's a contingent of Ravens fans in the Hoosier State area as well, including some who have never set foot in Baltimore.

Both fan bases add another twist to the playoff matchup between Baltimore's current and former teams.

"I know how Baltimore fans feel about the Colts from living in Baltimore," said Ronnie Burt, a former resident who now lives in Indianapolis. "But the Indianapolis people look at it and say: 'You know what? This is our team.' "

In fact, many Indiana residents say few locals ever mention the Colts' pre-Indianapolis history.

"None of my friends that are Colts fans even really know about the old Colts," said Derek Warren of Sellersburg, Ind. "They know they were from Baltimore, but aside from ESPN showing [the team's 1984 move from Baltimore in] Mayflower trucks, they wouldn't even know how important that really was for some people."

It's scarcely important to Warren - in part because he is a die-hard Ravens fan. He has never been to Baltimore but said his mother once lived in Maryland and added, "all I know about Baltimore is that the seafood is supposed to be the best."

The 20-year-old wasn't born when the Colts energized Indiana with their move to the state capital, and he never took to them. In fact, Warren bemoaned living in Indianapolis briefly last year, when from his residence he could see the team's Lucas Oil Stadium.

"I became a Ravens fan because I don't feel like someone has to show their state pride by picking their home-state team as their favorite," Warren said. "Ray Lewis turned me on to the Ravens more than anything else. Their whole team plays with his personality, so that's my team."

Those who have lived in both places say Indianapolis - though once a quaint Midwestern town - now has as much pulse and character as Baltimore.

"I remember when I first moved to Indy ... the first night in town I went driving looking for the happening part of town, and drove from the north side to downtown and never found it," said Colts executive vice president Pete Ward, who moved with the team from Baltimore. "It has transformed incredibly since I moved here in 1984."

No doubt both cities are enthusiastic about their respective teams, and sometimes that enthusiasm can get ugly.

Just ask Mike Augustinos, a Ravens fan from Bowie who now lives in Indianapolis and is general manager of the Howl At The Moon entertainment venue there.

This week, Augustinos submitted a post on the Ravens fan club Web site Ravens Roost inviting visiting Ravens fans to the venue to watch tonight's game, and he bemoaned being a Ravens fan in Colts country. He added, "For anyone that has never been to Indianapolis, their tailgating is horrible."

The posting got back to Colts Web forums, prompting outrage from local fans. One created a Facebook site calling for the boycott of Howl At The Moon; it currently has more than 4,000 members.

Augustinos said he has received threats and has added extra security to the establishment.

"It's unbelievable how [upset] they are at me," said Augustinos, who once managed the Howl At The Moon location here. "Some of the threats have definitely been ugly. I've had eight hours of sleep in four days."

Bradd O'Brien, president of Chicago-based Howl At The Moon, said the company issued a statement saying that it did not support Augustinos' comments but did support him.

"We felt the need to issue the statement because of the reaction," O'Brien said. "Mike went and apologized for a couple of words he used. I've never seen anything like it. We really didn't know what to do. We're certainly on the map, to say the least."

Welsh, who moved to Indianapolis from Seattle just over a year ago, says the city's passion for the team is infectious. He says he will attend tonight's game and has even invited guests from Baltimore to accompany him.

Don Miller, president of the Baltimore Council of Ravens Roosts, said that the only club branches outside of Maryland are in Delaware and Pennsylvania but the inquiries about launching fan clubs come from as far as California.

When asked about former Baltimoreans in Indianapolis who now root for the Colts, Miller said he would likely do the same if he moved to another NFL city, as long as it didn't hamper the Ravens' fortunes.

But he added, "What I'd like to ask those Indy fans is: Would they jump over to us if the Colts were 1-15? Are they really fans of the home team, or are they fair-weather fans?"