2/23/11
Alas, Lini can not survive the board-bangin’ Goshen gang. If Gil had thought to play more than one player at a time, the Mudlarks might have had a chance.
2/24/11
2/25/11
So, do you think the fact that Neal has written a conservative Christian vs. a gay character storyline without ever explicitly stating that Lini is gay is a clever twist? Or is it merely lame that he’s beaten around the bush this entire time?
I’m curious if the editors would not allow him to portray an openly homosexual character, or whether it’s by his own choice…After all, it’s not like there’s a lack of gay characters on the funny pages, so what’s the big deal? After the trail has been blazed by such characters as Peppermint Patty, Marvin, Marmaduke and the entire cast of Doonesbury, there’s little to be shocked and appalled at on the comics page these days. Except that after 40 years, Ziggy still refuses to wear pants.
Gosh , the wholesome black christian guy turns out not to be pre-judas-ed.
Comment by Graham McDonald — February 25, 2011 @ 6:40 am
Jason, you COAST while we COMMENT. You waste your God-given ability. Count it! Bonk!
Comment by Don, the Rebel without a Blog — February 25, 2011 @ 7:09 am
Oh snap! You go, Cortez!
Comment by delvaldawg — February 25, 2011 @ 7:45 am
Is Cortez referring to Lini’s ability to shoot a basketball or his ability to wiggle his ears? Either way he is wasting it.
Comment by DieClambakeDie — February 25, 2011 @ 7:58 am
2/24 – bait
2/25 – switch
Who didn’t see this coming?
You know, I’d be inclined to believe it if someone told me this Cortez-Lini story was largely written back when Jerry B. Jenkins penned the strip and pulled out of a file of unused Gil storylines by Rubin.
The trademark bait-and-switch and the lackadaisical pacing of the story are classic Rubin but the subject matter doesn’t really seem to be, even after he tackled sexting, drug dealing, and viral videos…
Comment by billytheskink — February 25, 2011 @ 8:02 am
I want some more Coke-box bikinis.
Comment by Sgt Saunders — February 25, 2011 @ 8:40 am
Finally, this story’s going nowhere again. Count it! Bonk!
Seriously, how many days until Gil tells beret-rocking-reporter Marjie Ducey his baseball starting lineup?
Comment by Dood — February 25, 2011 @ 8:58 am
Damn, just when we have this strip figured out, it takes a left turn straight into crazytown! Unless tomorrow’s strip continues with Cortez saying “The fact that you’re a limp wristed, piece of Eurotrash is only secondary.”
Gil really needs to use that huge freak hand in strip one to win games and to slap that stupid smirk of Limburger’s face.
I think the ladies of 3G might be doin’ a little carpet munchin’. Just sayin’.
Comment by Regina — February 25, 2011 @ 9:05 am
Gotta love Cortez’ attitude – now if he could only keep lanky Tim and other conference bigs from dominating the Mudlarks in the paint! If he decides to run for Congress however, he’s got my vote!
I wonder how Cortez and Derek Chance will get along during baseball season? Derek is a little quirky too. Maybe Linguini’s father was a famous italian baseball player and taught him how to throw a wicked curve.
I’m thinking Linguini himself is the website creator – likes that personal publicity after all. We will have another week of typical bs, then next Saturday Kelly will tell Kaz to come take a look on her computer screen at what she found, which will make us wait until the following Monday or Tuesday to see that she tracked down the owner of the “I hate Linguini” website.
Then two more months of girl’s basketball, and Gil starts baseball in the middle of May!
Comment by milfordian — February 25, 2011 @ 9:44 am
I knew it! Cortez isn’t behind “LiniIsAHomosexualSlur.com” but instead is behind “LiniVerdeIsALazyTerribleCancerToABasketballTeam.com”. It has decidedly fewer hits, but on the plus side hasn’t been blocked by Dr. Pearl yet.
Also, I forever have the image of Blondie sleeping with her dog Daisy burned into my brain. If we can take lesbian bestiality, we can take a gay character in a soap.
Comment by Drew Funk — February 25, 2011 @ 9:46 am
@Milfordian #9: Lini created it himself: The Tyler Jay Gambit. Good call.
Comment by Drew Funk — February 25, 2011 @ 9:48 am
Come on, Neal, in world where wretched filth like “Love Is” is published openly in mainstream newspapers, having a merely gay character is nothing to be coy about.
Comment by sourbelly — February 25, 2011 @ 10:15 am
@Drew Funk #11
“The Tyler Jay Gambit” That’s wonderful.
Comment by billytheskink — February 25, 2011 @ 10:30 am
“The Tyler Jay Gambit” would be an excellent twist – but we’ll probably get distracted by some other subplot and they’ll blame it on “a professional criminal” sometime in May before starting softball season.
Comment by Steve — February 25, 2011 @ 10:46 am
Wait wait. Lini coasts while his teammates work? Sisyphean as I think Gil’s strategy is I didn’t see his fellow ‘larks help open things up for him to bomb away. ‘Course that may be the Milford way; if you don’t like a teammate, throw him under the bus! Bonk!
Comment by delvaldawg — February 25, 2011 @ 11:37 am
I agree: if LIni is, in fact, supposed to actually be gay, then Rubin is being awfully disingenuous about it.
On the other hand, GT is only carried by “about 50″ newspapers (Rubin’s own estimate), so he doesn’t have a lot of room for controversy or cancellation. And I imagine most of those “about 50″ are in small-market tank towns where they don’t cotton to ho-mo-sex-shulz. Y’know, for the average 72-year-old Republican subscriber to the Sioux Falls Examiner, the merest hint of teh gey could induce a heart attack.
Comment by John S. Walters — February 25, 2011 @ 12:29 pm
You know, and I’m being absolutely honest here, I guess I didn’t realize until now that they hadn’t come out (pun intended) and actually said Lini was gay. It’s almost as if the author is doing a reverse dog whistle like conservative politicians are accused of doing to their evangelical base. Nearly anybody with any sense of the world is going to realize that Lini is supposed to be gay, but those that don’t are probably exactly the kind of homophobic folk they might be worried about offending.
Comment by LogopolisMike — February 25, 2011 @ 2:17 pm
I could care less what these guys are – I want my sports action, and I want it NOW!
Comment by Rob — February 25, 2011 @ 2:53 pm
Is it me or does Cortez, with the glasses on, look like Laurence Fishburne in the Matrix movies?
Comment by J.D. Springer — February 25, 2011 @ 7:51 pm
Also, in 2/23 Panel 3, it almost looks as if the dialog box is shooting out of the giant hand like Spiderman shooting a web at Lini. Are they recycling Spiderman strips now, too?
Comment by J.D. Springer — February 25, 2011 @ 8:26 pm
2/25, panel two: why is Cortez talking to JFK? “Ahhsk nawt whot your team can do for you, ahhsk whot you can do for your team! Ich bin ein Milforder!”
Comment by cody X. Ner — February 27, 2011 @ 11:29 am