Bench Him, Danno

Patrick Aloysius Ewing sits on the bench for the Orlando Magic as an assistant coach. From the like-father-like-son file comes the news that for a while anyway, Patrick Ewing Jr., a journeyman collegian and likely pro, will get to sit on the bench for the New York Knicks. Huzzah and buzz!

Not coincidentally, father Ewing holds all sorts of Knickerbocker scoring records and is a team icon. As fans and tv ratings for the current team are down by droves the team is looking for anything that recalls "glory days." Forgotten in the HOOPla is that Ewing Sr.'s preference was to shoot a lovely fadeaway jumper that mostly went in rather than do the hard work of forcing himself to the rim for dunks and the extra fouls shots that come to those who drive — which, some say, may have been why his teams always came up just a few points short of a championship. Go Jr.

G, B and very, very U

Today's good, bad, ugly files include stars, a superstar and a startler.

Starting with the good takes us to the Tour de France, where father (who happened to be the final rider in 1987 to wear the yellow jersey of the leader) Stephen Roche is commenting for the telly on son Nicolas, a rider who has at least a couple stage wins in his sights. Their mutual admiration is, well, admirable.

Moving to the bad, brings to the fore the apparent get-rich-quick scheme of of Leicester Bryce Stovel who is suing LeBron "unmarried father of two" James and mom Gloria for millions because they won't accept him as the DNA provider of the Cleveland superstar (at the time of this typing as he is making an over the top to-do over an announcement of where he'll bounce and dunk beginning in fall 2010).

And now the ugly. A 43-year-old Florida gent, Christopher Hugh Woodward, decided to spend a few days away from the son he lived with. So he stole his car and ran up his credit card balance, which he stole as well.

Probably should have closed the file drawer after just pulling out the good one ...

Growing Out of the Shadows

It doesn't matter the shadow a father casts, his kids are challenged to emerge from it.

Part of the entertainment of life is seeing how they do it. So what will the son of the world's tallest* man do to own his life. (The asterisk is because the world's "other tallest man" won't get measured.) His father says he should play basketball.

But that seems too easy an answer and one that will carry undue pressures. Not necessarily the pressures carried by Patrick Ewing Jr., who didn't start for the college his father attended and is unlikely to do so on the professional team for which his dad "starred." (In a reverse lay-up that "star" comes with an asterisk as he never won a championship on the team, preferring the fade away jump shots that often went in to the going-to-the-hoop drives and dunks that inspire a team.)

No doubt it is easier if people can't see you physically and make the connection between the ran son. Although that doesn't mean there isn't nearly inexplicable pressures when Giles Martin takes on the adapting the music of the Beatles, a group that made famous his music producer father, George — who would only be highly esteemed and accomplished without them.

And it certainly shouldn't be taken to imply that it is most easy to escape your father's shadow when he can't be found. The life of Randy Tran, an Amerasian denied citizenship but given residency in America as recognition that his serviceman father did more during the Vietnam war than just fight.

Each shadow is cast slightly differently; each emergence is unique. But it always has to happen so the best advice is dads be aware and everyone else, enjoy the entertainment.

Competition

Fathers can give, but kids still have to take the wisdom and fit into the puzzle they use to beat dad.

Former football great and current Allstate Insurance shill (among other activities) John Elway sounds sincere in expressing his hope that his son will succeed as a quarterback. He brags of the physical attributes, but there seems a little more hope than belief when he refers to him as a "late bloomer." The high school senior threw seven interceptions in one game and either he is a real diamond in the rough that only dad can see or the Arizona State football scholarship was a two-for-one deal.

And Erika Ford learned a great deal from playing under her basketball father coach Larry. But either not quite enough, or not enough to do more with her players as her Davison (Mich.) Cardinals fell to dad's Flushing (Mich.) Raiders 49-46. Of course, to be fair, the younger is the coach of a team that was 2-19 last season and taking on a team that earned a 19-2 record and second straight league championship.

"I tried to get into his head a little bit," said the losing coach. But like most kids, she only succeeded a bit and, for at least another game, dad is still more successful.

** The tension of dad son/daughter competition. You want them to win, just not to beat you. **