Market Bar-B-Que owner Steve Polski believes it's the latter. Polski and his girlfriend, Heidi Johnson, personally delivered ribs and chicken to Leno between "The Tonight Show" host's recent Mystic Lake Casino shows.

"We were waiting in the greenroom. The elevator opens up right in front of the door to the green room," said Polski. "Jay says, Steve, how are you?"

Polski did his impersonation of Leno's voice, which is not quite ready for prime time.

Seeing the plastic foam box emblazoned with the restaurant's logo, Leno thanked them, opened it up, pulled out a piece of chicken "and just mashed on it," said Polski. Remarking on how tasty the food was, Leno excused himself to change clothes.

"He changes into his jeans shirt and jeans between shows 'cause he hates being in a suit," said Polski.

Polski and Johnson weren't planning to stay for Leno's later show until the comedian invited them and arranged for tickets.

The boys' momIt was dark inside Urban Eatery the night I met Nancy B. Polski, who's long been divorced from Steve Polski, but I recall a resemblance between her and Steve's significant other, Heidi Johnson. Interesting.

Nancy B. came up to me to let it be known that, as she said repeatedly, "Those boys have a mother." That was her way of complaining that when I have written about Steve's sons, I've neglected to mention their mom.

While Steve can oversee the preparation of tasty ribs, I never thought he had baby-birthing hips or the other related anatomy to push out a newborn. No slight was ever intended.

Berry woos AliHalle Berry made a playful play for Muhammad Ali at his "Celebrity Fight Night" fund-raiser Saturday. And he appeared to like it.

My correspondent and buddy Steve Schussler, of Schussler Creative, was in Phoenix for the event, which USA Today said raised $6.6 million for Parkinson's disease research. Schussler enlivened a boring Saturday I was spending organizing my (wait for it, Heather) taxes by calling me so I could interview another celebrity about whom I'll write soon.

"In front of the world, Halle said how she's had a crush on Muhammad Ali and how she wishes she had married him," said Schussler. "This was unplanned. Muhammad's wife, Lonnie, flipped out onstage and said, What? What? You've got a crush on my husband? In spite of Muhammad's illness, you saw the reaction right away from his eyes and his hand movements. He was just thrilled. Halle was talking about what a handsome man he is. She bent over to talk to him and kiss him."

Revered as Ali has become since being stricken with Parkinson's, he wasn't exactly the greatest saint during his marriages until wedding Lonnie, his fourth wife.

Berry is breathtakingly gorgeous along the lines of Ali's third wife, Veronica Porche, mother of boxer Laila. I vividly remember NBC news footage of Belinda, wife No. 2, boarding an overseas-bound plane after news reports that Ali was traveling with a very young woman who was the personification of a beautiful fast car. According to Wikipedia, Porche told the media her last name was pronounced "like the sports car." That, of course, led some to spell it like the sports car, and Veronica liked the linkage.

Schussler said Berry was "one of the funniest people to speak" at the star-studded event. "She was hilarious," said the irrepressible Schussler, who took no photo with Berry because he was uncharacteristically repressed by the scene, which was crawling with security.

Shiancoe's weekend woesFrom Twitter we have Viking Visanthe Shiancoe complaining early Sunday morning about a woman problem:

"This female is following all over the club. if she spits on me 1 more time while talking to me imma flip out."

Maybe she was recalling Shiancoe's December 2008 nationwide towel-dropping media "exposure." Whatever her motivation, she must not have been very attractive, as surely a little stray spittle wouldn't discourage Shank from huddling with a gorgeous groupie.

C.J. is at 612.332.TIPS or cj@startribune.com. More of her attitude can be seen on Fox 9 Thursday mornings.