Quick thoughts for a busy day:
Panel 1: The Milford Athletic Department has now upgraded to its very own mausoleum. (They bought it with all the money they saved by doing just one group physical…by back alley hernia-checking enthusiast Wally Lamb.)
Panel 2: THE EARRING IS BACK! Yay! But where the hell is this conversation taking place? Inside the mausoleum airport lounge?
Panel 3: So at the same time some students go to Central City to see a doctor to get cleared to play football, a student at Central High is told to go see a doctor to get cleared to play football. Yep, that’s not confusing in the least.
Yes! The Earring! Today is a proud day in the Rubin/Whigham era. If I were in the same bar with you guys, I’d totally buy you two a drink.
Extra kudos to the sensibly named “GYM.”
Comment by El Santo — September 2, 2008 @ 10:37 am
Panel 1: Yikes! Group physical! No homoerotic overtones here, folks; move along.
Panel 2: Definitely the airport lounge mausoleum, complete with dark looming zombie in the background. For a terrified moment I thought Gil was gesturing to Wally Lamb’s upright mummified remains.
Panel 3: Why am I convinced that the unnamed player has a testicle problem? Oh, because I hang out on this blog WAY too much.
Comment by julienne — September 2, 2008 @ 10:53 am
I puzzled over panel 2 most of the morning, but it finally dawned on me. I think those are blocking sleds and Gil is gesturing toward them as he remembers Wally Lamb, former Mudlark lineman, board certified high sports physical M.D. and author of bestselling Oprah bookclub selection She’s Come Undone.
The blocking sleds have been equiped with plush headrests (and perhaps convenient cup holders and the Onstar System).
Are they in EQUIPMENT SHED? What’s with the shadowy figure back there? Is EQUIPMENT SHED haunted?
Comment by Ned Ryerson — September 2, 2008 @ 10:57 am
Panel 2 is full of win today. What are those things behind Gil and Kaz? Who is that looming shadow? A referee? A deep sea diver? Some kind of misshapen bear? And in Panel 3 Central City is sliding nicely downhill.
Comment by laura — September 2, 2008 @ 11:12 am
Earrings! Heck yeah!
That’s really all I’ve got today.
Comment by Emptyeye — September 2, 2008 @ 11:28 am
Panel 3…..”So, do you think a heavy doze of penicillin from my Dcotor will clear this up so I can play?”
Comment by JJ — September 2, 2008 @ 12:01 pm
Love the zombie in Panel Two! Hope those guys can find a cricket bat and a pool cue.
All hail the Earring!
Comment by jules — September 2, 2008 @ 12:34 pm
Panel 3 has me absolutely lost. It’s good to know Gil Thorp is back to normal!
Comment by Aesop — September 2, 2008 @ 12:50 pm
panel 2. I think that’s Gil’s shadow – note the upraised hand.
It did take a while to realize those are blocking sleds and not airline seats.
Sending the Milford guys to Central City makes no sense unless Gil and Doc Wally have some kind of illicit arrangement – kickback / pass anyone with heartbeat.
panel 3. It might make sense for a coach to get a doctor to come to GYM for group processing. That doctor might then tell some kid to see his own doctor. Am I doing too much thinking for Rubin?
Comment by dale — September 2, 2008 @ 1:06 pm
It’s truly a momentous day here in the Milfordverse! The Earring has returned! I’ll admit, after seeing The Earring, I had a bit of a Thorpgasm and didn’t read the rest of the strip. I’m sure nothing happened worth noting anyway…
Comment by Mooch — September 2, 2008 @ 1:14 pm
The doctor is talking to one of the guys we met on Monday, not a student from Central High.
For the life of me, I dont know what the hell that thing is in Panel 2. I know its not a person – Gil is unlocking the door in Panel 1 – look at his right hand – it has a key. So nobody’s in there but Gil and Kaz. Help.
Comment by Rob — September 2, 2008 @ 1:26 pm
Does Colorado not observe Daylight Savings Time? Ny post is 2 hours
behind – it only should be 1.
Comment by Rob — September 2, 2008 @ 1:27 pm
Watch out! The story of the fall has just been sprung upon us at GYM in Central City, where Gil’s connections have put Wally Lamb on the job. Some Mudlark has a dire medical problem (Julienne may be on target: given the recurring focus on crotches over the past months’ drawings it seems reasonable that some kid’s balls are at the center of things) but we need to think. Let’s see… what health problem among high school boys is in the headlines today (or in the case of Milford, five years ago?) Herpes zoster? MRSA? But rejoice, Mudlarks fans! We can look forward to weeks and weeks of panels showing unidentifiable medical equipment, bearded internists with concave mirrors on their foreheads, and kindly pharmacists filling prescriptions at DRUG STORE.
Comment by vaganova — September 2, 2008 @ 2:00 pm
Damn, Julienne, you beat me to the testicle post! It’s either that or Handy or Dick have to see their doctor about that “burning when I pee” problem.
I was all psyched when I saw Kaz’ earring, I didn’t even notice the airline seats and that strange apparition floating by. Why are Gil and Kaz meeting in the storage shed/mausoleum? Maybe for some of their own homoerotic adventures.
Comment by Regina — September 2, 2008 @ 3:11 pm
My interpretation of panel 2: Due to cutbacks at Milford High, Gil now has to use his Cessna as his office.
Comment by Scott de B. — September 2, 2008 @ 4:25 pm
Central City? Seriously? Central City? Has there always been a Central City in this strip? Cuz that’s like, drastically weak.
Comment by sourbelly — September 2, 2008 @ 4:38 pm
Only the Shadow (panel 2) knows what is wrong with the kid from/at Central City (panel 3)?
Comment by bevo — September 2, 2008 @ 8:31 pm
Also, no one has mentioned it, but not only are Kaz’ earrings back, so is the talking window!
Comment by Scott de B. — September 3, 2008 @ 3:21 am
i’m sorry to disappoint you all, but that is not an earring in panel 2. that’s kaz’s new eye, which he’s been growing with topical applications of steroids on his earlobe.
Comment by lester — September 3, 2008 @ 7:57 am
@ #12: Rob, we observe Daylight Savings here in Denver…but the WordPress Settings don’t automatically adjust, and I don’t feel like switching it manually. So just pretend the blog is in California during the summer months. (Hopefully those restless nights wondering about this mystery will now be over!)
Comment by jasbeattie — September 3, 2008 @ 11:07 am
Yay, Kaz has his earring! Thank you to all who made it possible! :p
Comment by Kim — September 3, 2008 @ 1:54 pm
[...] of Dr. Wally Lamb, yes that is the famous Dr. Wally Lamb who gives the “group physicals” over in Central City. He was a darned good lineman for Milford, but my sources tell me that he was a nerdy math whiz who [...]
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[...] identified Sacko as the kid who shouldn’t be playing football. So what happened back there at Central High? Was there an intentional identity swap? Was Dr. Wally huffing ether? Whatever the answer is, [...]
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