Motor City Bowl

The 10th annual Motor City Bowl football game was played last night at Ford Field in Detroit. Since we stayed home for the Holidays instead of going to Florida as we usually do, I decided to hop on over and check out the MCB. Ford Field is about a half-mile from our place.

The Central Michigan University Chippewas beat the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders, 28-14. Both marching bands were very good.

Here's another of my great flics.

Neighborhood Crime Continues to Nag City

The image of Detroit as a dangerous place got another boost this week. First, during a 24-hour period over Monday and Tuesday seven people were shot in three separate incidents resulting in two wounded and five dead. Then on Thursday, a 51-year-old mother and her 22-year-old daughter were killed on the city's east side. That's seven dead and two wounded as we head into the Christmas weekend.

The shooting of the mother and daughter brings the city's total number of homicides to 410 for the year, compared to 359 for the same period in 2005 -- a 14 percent increase.

It appears that in all the cases the victims knew their assailants, although police do not yet know the circumstances of each shooting.

Shootings in Detroit are so common now that people do not even talk about them around the water cooler or over lunch anymore. Some of this silence is out of embarassment, shame or pain. One reason is that Detroiters (city as well as suburban dwellers) are so accustomed to the homicides that they are not really news any more. We have become inured to them.

The vast majority of homicides and non-fatal shootings and stabbings are situations where the assailants know the victims, and often the attacks involve the sale of drugs or other criminal activity. So most Metro Detroiters do not feel threatened by these crimes.

People who actually live in these neighborhoods, however, are being terrorized by these shootings. Because the city is 90 percent African-American, this crime affects low and middle income blacks who live in the city. While most of the victims know their assailant, not all victims are guilty of engaging in criminal behavior. Many -- and many are children and seniors -- might have been living with the wrong person or been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The region's leadership is working on several major projects to improve Metro Detroit's economy and burnish its image as an attractive place to live and work. These shootings aren't helping any.

Boxing Back in the Motor City?

Last Saturday night my wife and I dropped by Bert's in the Marketplace in Detroit's Eastern Market to have a drink and wound up next door at the new Bert's Marketplace Theatre to watch amateur and professional boxing.

A couple of promoters are trying to revive the boxing game in Detroit, and if this night is any indication, I think they might be on to something. Some 1000 folks of all ages -- black, white, Latino, Arabic, whatever -- paid $15-$85 to watch several club boxers duke it out prior to the main event between two professionals.

The dancing group Velocity from the Greektown Casino did a wild and sexy number in the ring to build excitement before the main event, and other entertainers filled in between fights to keep things interesting.

With your hand stamped, you could walk between the boxing arena and the jazz club. After the fights, a VIP party went down, and patrons could drift between one bar where a blues band played, and the jazz club without having to go outside. The jazz players -- I apologize for not having their names -- were outstanding. Bert's, owned by Bert Dearing, is one of the last intimate jazz clubs in the city.

The promoters want to bring back the glory days of Thomas Hitman Hearns (shown here) and the legendary Kronk Gym. The Detroit News' Terry Foster covers the story much better than I.

The next night of boxing at Bert's will be Saturday, Feb. 3, with an all-female card. Hmmmm.

Hastings Street Society Party Draws 400+

The Hastings Street Society is a newly-formed organization of Detroiters whose purpose is to preserve and enjoy the history of the city's renowned Paradise Valley. The group meets every Tuesday at Bert's Marketplace in Eastern Market just east of downtown in Detroit. Members mostly socialize, reminisce and raise money for their scholarship fund. Last Saturday the Society threw its first big event -- a Holiday Cabaret at Bert's new Marketplace Theater and more than 400 folks of all ages turned out to enjoy the music, dancing and meeting with old friends. The photo above shows the last standing establishment on Hastings Street -- the 606 Horse Shoe Lounge which finally gave way to the wrecking ball to build Ford Field.

The Hastings Street Society will meet Tuesday, December 19 at Bert's at 6:30 p.m. Everyone is invited.

Downtown Detroit Continues to Thrive Despite City's Other Problems

Downtown Detroit continues as the one bright spot in the city's efforts to renew itself, in spite of continuing deterioration of most of its outlying residential neighborhoods. As we see in this story, the development of upscale condominium housing continues in the city's core. It appears that the Commerce Building -- across the street from the Book-Cadillac Hotel which is being restored and converted into a hotel-condo complex -- will become a parking garage topped off with $200,000+ condominiums. The Commerce Building is located at 150 Michigan Ave. -- across the street from the two well-known Coney Island restaurants. The Commerce Building used to be headquarters for the Detroit Chamber of Commerce, now known as the Detroit Regional Chamber. Good stuff.

Signs of Life

Downtown Detroit is alive and well, thanks to the recently developed Campus Martius Park on Woodward Avenue in the heart of the central business district. In the winter, the grassy concert area becomes a skating rink and place for families, sweethearts and others to get out on the ice and enjoy the city. Use of the rink is up 25 percent over last year, so far. Thanks to the Detroit News and photographer Brandy Baker for the flics.