Another handicap: Aikido is too stylized for a real showdown.

The real showdown came when the Administration joined House Democrats to beat back furious lobbying for a weaker bill.

Even so, both sides in the debate say the real showdown should come on Saturday.

The real showdown was in the making.

The real showdown would not come until the next pay day, on July 15, when highway workers and other state employees might go payless, as happened last year.

He himself had demanded speed, hoping to catch Wells and Yacoubian unprepared for a real showdown.

This might be a real showdown.

"Looks like they're fixing for a real showdown."

"If the going gets tough," he said, "we can flash my credentials and, if it comes to a real showdown, we can use this."

Yet, twist his information as he might, Andretti could only come up with one plausible answer: Mitsuyama intended a real showdown.