Like father, like son.

Former Denver Broncos and QB John Elway has accepted a coaching position at a HIGH SCHOOL.

To be specific, Cherry Creek High School in Denver, Colorado .

What makes an NFL legend choose to coach at such a level? A senior QB who just happens to be his son, Jack.

“I had the time and wanted to coach,” Elway said. “I figured this would be the last chance I’d get to do it.”

Cherry Creek Head Coach Greg Critchett has the task of dealing with the attention Elway's presence will create. According to the coach, Elways doesn't want the media attention -- he prefers to remain in the background. Good luck with that.

And what about Jack? Will the pressure of having a two-time Superbowl QB and his dad be too much for him?

What do you think? Do you think parents should coach their children, especially when they're this famous? Comment and let us know!

Ty & Jess

At 8:51 last night, Barry Bonds sent a 3-and-2 fastball from Washington's Mike Bacsik over the right-centerfield wall to get his 756th home run, surpassing Hank Aaron for the title of homerun king.

Even though I'm a firm believer in acknowledging Aaron as the greatest homerun hitter (well, he and Ruth), and that Bonds cheated his way to this day through steroid use, it still has happened, and there's nothing I can do about it, except comment on the event at hand. (Though one blogger pointed out that it was fitting that this occurred when two-thirds of the country was asleep, and with the fateful game being pre-empted by a WNBA game in some markets, considering the controversy surrounding it, and the lukewarm feelings most people have regarding it.)

So, in addition to thanking Giants' fan, Bonds ended his speech by thanking his father, Bobby Bonds, by saying, "My dad ..." -- then he looked upward, saluted his late father and cried. Bobby Bonds died in 2003, after having an excellent career himself.

-Tyler

The National Night Out (NNO) is scheduled for tonight, Aug. 7, 2007.

NNO is a crime/drug prevention event that involves more than 10,000 communities across the country.

Police departments and other community organizations sponsor the respective events, held in community spaces (such as a mall parking lot) for a few hours in the evening. The event promotes neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships.

Many events include activities for children, giveaways, safety demonstrations and safety checks.

Check with your local police department or news station to see if an event is being held in your area.

Stay safe!

~Jess

Sigh.

Dateline NBC is spending its valuable resources on pinning down instances of iPod theft, much in the same style that they do their popular child-predator bait-and-book 'em investigations.

I read that the program, which was broadcast last night, was spurred on by a senior Dateline producer's experience of seeing his child's iPod stolen.

And while that all-too-important information was being dispersed, the news of the bridge collapse in Minnesota was given only brief updates sprinkled throughout the iPod theft expose. I mean, sure every other station was covering the bridge story, but is that a reason to rationalize continuing normal programming when there's a breaking story where actual lives are at stake?

Let's get our priorities in order, NBC! Guess what? Valuable items get stolen all the time. And there's nothing that can be done except to keep your stuff in your sight at all times, just like the MTA voiceover guy tells us everyday. Let's not baby each other and guilt Apple into replacing iPods because of our own negligence. Teach your children how to take care of things. How to protect them, and themselves. There's no need to waste all this time and money on needless exposes. Yes, it sucks when it happens, but that is life, and no governmental or corporate safety program is going to be initiated because your kid left their music machine for a minute while they grabbed their cappuccino at the Starbucks counter.

Let's see some real news, people.

-Tyler

Enjoy some mountain lore ...

-Tyler

So, word on the street is that many words on the street are being copped. For comedy sake.

Earlier this year at the Comedy Store on the Sunset Strip, Carlos Mencia, host of Comedy Central's "Mind of Mencia," and "Fear Factor" host Joe Rogan shared the bill. Mencia let it be known he was upset Rogan had been mercilessly bashing him as a "joke thief" and derisively referring to him as Carlos "Menstealia." When Mencia then asserted that Rogan must be secretly in love with him to keep bringing him up as a topic, it was enough to start the next hot viral video.

What then erupted was a debate over joke thievery. An earlier generation of comics was careful about giving credit, often adhering to an unwritten code: Any comic who stole another's material faced being shunned by his peers. Now, though, the competition is so much greater that old taboos about joke theft seem to be breaking down into finger-pointing central.

Bill Cosby, who has had his own material ripped off over the years, said he empathizes with comedians who are being victimized by joke thievery. "You're watching a guy do your material and people are laughing, but they're laughing because they think this performer has a brilliant mind and he's a funny person," Cosby said. "The person doing the stealing is accepting this under false pretenses."

Bobby Kelton, a veteran of stand-up who appeared nearly two dozen times on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," said that when he started out in the business, fellow comics such as Jay Leno, Billy Crystal, Jerry Seinfeld and Richard Lewis all knew the rules.

"No one dared use another's material," Kelton said. "If they did, the word would get out, and you'd be ostracized. ... Then, as the comedy boom hit and tens of thousands of people got into comedy, that all kind of went out the window."

Today, Web sites such as YouTube post videos comparing the routines of various comedians, inviting the public to judge for themselves. Some are rabidly against thievery, and some believe that jokes don't belong to anyone – they are just rehashed over time and stamped with their own take.

What about you? Have you heard many versions of the same joke over the years? Do you think there’s only a handful of original jokes out there that serve as templates for endless copying? And if someone does cop another’s joke, do you think credit should be given where credit is due?

Portions of this post from “Joke thievery is no laughing matter to comics”

 

By ROBERT W. WELKOS, Los Angeles Times