Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Bettis holds up the Key to the City of Detroit along side Mayor-elect Kwame Kilpatrick Tuesday. Click photo for larger image.

DETROIT -- The mayor's people were not happy.

The Jerome Bettis Super Bowl-ing Extravaganza was supposed to start at 6:30 last night and Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, dressed to the hilt in a brown pin-striped suit and brown fedora, was right on time to roll out the first ball. The star of the show, though, was running a little late.

Would you believe about 45 minutes late?

It's not everybody who can stiff the mayor of the host Super Bowl city three nights before the big game, but you might have heard Bettis is pretty large in this town. The mayor didn't just delay his many other duties (parties) to stick around, he greeted Bettis with a big bear hug when he finally arrived at the Garden Bowl and climbed out of his white stretch limo with Steelers teammate Hines Ward and a few pals.

"The pressure is on you, my man," Kilpatrick told Bettis. "I threw a strike."

Those in the lanes before Bettis arrived refused to refute Kilpatrick's story -- the mayor is one very large, intimidating individual -- although a few whispered that he actually slipped and fell when he released his ball.

That's easy to believe.

They probably didn't have any shoes in his size.

"Size 15s on those puppies," Bettis had said a few days earlier, rolling his eyes, after the mayor had handed him the key to the city.

Let's hope Bettis responds to the pressure a little better against the Seattle Seahawks Sunday. He officially opened his bowling tournament -- better late than never -- by leaving the 10-pin standing.

"I wouldn't have expected anything less than the mayor beating me," Bettis said, looking into the television cameras with Kilpatrick. "This is his week. He's done an incredible job getting this city ready for the Super Bowl. Everything has been perfect. God is smiling on Detroit."

You know what?

The mayor and his people didn't look so unhappy anymore and left convinced their wasted time really wasn't so wasted on this night.

The bowling continued. Teams of four paid for the right to bowl with Bettis and teammates Ward, Max Starks, Larry Foote and Willie Williams, the proceeds going to Bettis' "The Bus Stops Here" foundation.

You haven't seen anything until you see the massive Starks -- dressed in a white Washington Redskins No. 68 Grimm jersey, as a tribute to his Steelers offensive line coach, Russ Grimm -- palming a 16-pound ball in his enormous left hand and firing it down the lane.

"J.B. thinks he's the only one here who can bowl," Starks said. "But I bowl in a league. I probably average 160 or 170."

It was hard to tell after Starks scored 7, 8 and 7 in his first three frames.

"It's a right-handed ball," Starks said. "I'm a lefty. Jerome says there don't have any left-handed balls here."

You might call that an excuse.

You just probably wouldn't want to do it to Starks' face.

Ward got a kick out of beating Starks in the early going. He actually danced after picking up the 5-9 combination to get a spare in his first frame. And his smile was as big as any he flashed after his touchdowns.

"Tell me again ... who is that guy?" asked Beth Smith, one of the alley regulars, who was on Ward's team.

Do you think it's been a while since someone asked that question about Ward?

"I'm just glad I can help Jerome," Ward said.

The two have been virtually inseparable here.

"They're like brothers. They should have been born together," Steelers guard Kendall Simmons said earlier in the week.

Ward said he knew Bettis was big in his hometown, but even he was amazed at the ovation Bettis received when they walked to their front row, mid-court seats at the Detroit Pistons' game Wednesday night.

"Even the players were looking to see who was coming in," Ward said, wide-eyed.

The party heated up once the bowling stopped. For a $75 ticket, star-watchers were expected to be able to see some of Bettis' close friends, including current or former NFL stars Barry Sanders, Eddie George, Gilbert Brown and Braylon Edwards.

Unfortunately, they couldn't see much of Bettis, Ward and the other Steelers.

"Midnight curfew," Bettis said, shrugging.

It's all business from here on out.

The entertainment portion of the greatest week of Bettis' life is all but over now.

"But the greatest part," he said, grinning, "is still to come."

Just between us ...

He was talking about Super Bowl Sunday.