IT'S THE WEEKEND

HOSPITALITY CORNER

As I am not long for this town, I decided to go Downtown and jog 'round for a bit. I first stopped at 'Good Girls Go To Paris', the creperie off Woodward on a piece of John R. I was hoping to see if not the owner, her #2 girl Wednesday to say good by. There was a new young woman, in her late 20's I guess at the window. That cheered me because if the owner is able to hire more staff, then revenues must be growing.

She asked me what kind of crepe would I like. I looked at the menu and ordered a crepe filled with nutella and banana slices. "I'd like a 'Good Girl' ," then added slyly, "but not really!" She laughed.

I mentioned that I had hoped to see the other girls, not that she wasn't nice enough, but to say good bye. I made it down there the 2nd day that the place was opened last year. That she has been able to cut out a spot in such an out of the way spot is quite admirable.

The lady asked me where I was going, and I gave her 'the full Monty' about me and the SFC. It really is such an 'Aww' story. She gave me my crepe and I rode off.

Because I was feeling a little ireie, instead of going 'this way' to the Astoria Bakery, I decided to go 'that way', and was turned around. I found myself behind the hotel that I spent two minutes in the employ of. As I crossed the street, a couple in the cross walk, slightly older in their 50's were talking about finding a place to eat. In my theory of travel, non-touristy towns are not places you just 'walk out' to find a spot to eat. Orlando, yes. Baltimore, no. There is a reason in one you will fing Mickey Mouse and the other you would find why there was no set constructed for shows like 'Homicide: Life on the Street' and 'The Wire'.

Detroit is one of those towns you don't 'wander'. You get directions from the desk clerk and you follow them implicitly. That is just me. Hearing them debate where to go, I got off my bike and asked if they were looking for somewhere to eat. They said yes, and since the places that I knew were on my direct route, I decided instead of pointing and directing, that I would walk with them to a place to find somewhere to eat.

The ten-minute walk was light, conversation about dining options and my truest opinions of the spots. There was some boxing conversation, about Tommy and lil' Floyd (and I will talk about him soon enough!). Ended up parting at the Astoria as the couple went across the street to the Greektown Casino to get at the buffet and more than likely try some slots.

IN THE BAKERY

It was just before the dinner rush when I locked up my Trixie, to a tree in front of the bakery. There was a group of folks in front of one of the cats who do caricatures on the spot. There were a couple of sisters in the group who caught my eye, but trust me, it is SO not what you think!!

The bakery emptied out after I got my danish and coffee, to sit down with my crepe. I got up and caught the young man's attention that had waited on me. "See that?" I said point at the ladies in front of the storefront window as they dickered with the artist. "Why hasn't that stereotype gone away? I mean Brent Barry won the dunk contest, so we know 'white men can jump', but not all sisters have curves like Beyonce and Lisa Raye!!

The two women with their backs to us and continued with my riff. "Not every black woman have 'back'. Case in point ..." I pointed out of the window. The two women so 'not' endowed with even a hint of a curve. The workers at the counter laughed, including a black lady who worked at Astoria. It prolly would make you giggle too if you were there ...

FIGHT NIGHT

...but make no mistake. State is going to beat ND. I don't think the players want to play for Coach Weis. But this is about a big fight tonight, Floyd Mayweather Jr's return after a nearly two year 'retirement'. The cat he is fighting, Juan Manuel Marquez, is a very good fighter. Prior to the weigh-in yesterday, I thought that Floyd would win a clear but competitive decision. But when I heard that he came in two pounds over the catchweight of 144, I was like, 'oh, that sounds like trouble'.

Teddy Atlas who does commentary on 'Friday Night Fights' on ESPN 2, voiced the reasons why the weight signified trouble. It wasn't only that Floyd Mayweather chose to pay $600,000 dollars for a penalty, but from what weight did he come down from? Because getting 'fight ready' is a lot like a hair cut. If you get a regular trim, it doesn't take a lot out of the beautician or barber. But if you were Teddy Kaczynski it is going to take a lot more work.

Was lil' Floyd so out of rounds that it took all he could do to get down to 146? Why was he so out of shape?

My theory is that he actually did want to stay retired. He has been boxing for nearly all his life. Loving it or not, it is a hard hustle and he would not be remiss for wanting to stay out of boxing. But he is back, and like many ex-champs, he may have had money reasons for coming back against such a tough opponent. If he was coming back to 'box', to restart his career, maybe he doesn't come back against someone so tough for his first fight. But he may need money and they aren't going to pay him to fight some tomato can the same $9 million they are paying him tonight.

Not only is it possible that he was far out of rounds and the strain to get to 146 took more out of him than he thought it would, it also is a sign that there may have been some chaos in training. It was plain that there was some in his life. But as Teddy pointed out, EVERYONE have things happening to them and prior to this fight, Floyd had seemingly been able to keep the 'chocolate' out of his 'peanut butter'.

Could it be that all the distraction's have caught up with 'Money Mayweather', as he is called in the AT&T internet commercials? We will wake up with that answer. I have down graded my fight prediction from 'I think' to 'I expect'. What ever I think is usually what I know. If I expect something to happen, I won't be surprised that despite 'expecting' it to occur, it doesn't.

If Floyd loses, I won't catch me off guard.

This is a interruption of my current 'thought sequence. But it is related to it in many ways at the same time ...