It Might Be Toughest on Elway III’s Mother

John Albert Elway III, son of the legendary Denver Broncos quarterback, is dueling for the starting varsity position at Cherry Creek High in Denver.

At 6 feet 2 1/2 and 185 pounds, he’s bigger than his father was at 17. He can throw the ball 65 yards and has a vertical leap of 30-plus inches.

He goes by Jack -- like his grandfather -- but wears No. 7. Young Jack is excited, and John is proud. As for Jack’s mother ...

“I didn’t realize it until last year how nervous I am,” Janet Elway told the Denver Post. “I’m an absolute mess.”

Trivia time: Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers, who has 14 victories, is trying to become the first rookie to lead the majors in victories since what player?

Run for your lives: A ritual for first-year football players at the University of Hawaii involves jumping into a pool from a 10-meter diving board, and it’s a sight to behold when linemen make the plunge. This year, the 6-foot-6, 360-pound Kavan Bannigan stole the show with a cannonball that left teammates fleeing the ensuing tsunami.

“That,” Coach June Jones told the Honolulu Advertiser, “was something you don’t see every day.”

Squash the weasel: Tony Kornheiser dishes out criticism as a columnist for the Washington Post, but he doesn’t appear comfortable on the receiving end as the new commentator on “Monday Night Football.”

Said Kornheiser to Dan Patrick on ESPN radio: “I apparently got ripped in my own newspaper, by a two-bit weasel slug named Paul Farhi, who I would gladly run over with a Mack truck, given the opportunity.”

What’s that rumbling? It could be Babe Ruth stirring in his grave. Chalk it up to coincidence -- or was it planned? -- that Wednesday, the day they broke ground for a new Yankee Stadium, also marked the 58th anniversary of Ruth’s death.

A no-steal sign: Like a child contemplating the brushing of branches against his bedroom window, Ron Kantowski of the Las Vegas Sun cautions potential intruders that he’ll be swinging for the fences.

“Instead of a gun, I keep an Adirondack Big Stick under my bed, in case of emergency,” he writes. “I wish I had the Jackie Robinson model Louisville Slugger I used in high school instead. You could permanently put a burglar on the 21-day disabled list with one of those.”

Salts of the earth: The end of NFL training camp brings a merciful end to players’ pranks.

“The big one is at meals. When someone goes to get something, we dump the salt shaker in his drink,” the Buffalo Bills’ Takeo Spikes tells ESPN the Magazine. “If we don’t have time, we just unscrew the top. All the salt comes out when he shakes it. Man, that’s so funny!”

Trivia answer: Grover Cleveland Alexander of the Philadelphia Phillies, who had 28 wins in 1911.

And finally: Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Tribune, on the pairing of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson early in the PGA Championship:

“As for the other member of the threesome, Geoff Ogilvy, he might as well have been a parking lot attendant for all anybody cared.”