Pretty sad that after a kid misses ONE shot in a Pop-A-Shot game where you normally get a bunch of shots and try to make as many as possible in 30 seconds or so, Gil has to step in and instruct him on proper form. Hey Gil, your 2 feet taller at least, so your perspective on the rim is quite different. Its kinda like me teaching a little kid how to dunk a basketball on a 4 foot rim. Im 6’3. Dont even have to jump for that. And little kids cant hold a ball like that – they need to push the ball with 2 hands or else it wont make it to the basket. Doh.
Then we have P2 where the ball is suddenly smaller then the beach ball drawn yesterday. Great Gil you made ONE shot. The object is to grab the ball again and make MORE shots. One is shit in that game. A line drive style works best in Pop A Shot, as the ball come back faster after it goes through. Gil wants him to shoot moonballs. The way Gildo is shooting, the ball will hit the fuckin ceiling before the net.
P3 – Little Luke thanks Gil the way a kid addresses an adult, but ol Gil wants him to pretend he’s an adult already. As a kid I only called adults by their first name when they were my relatives (Aunt Murial, Uncle Ben). What happened to “Coach Thorp”? You mean to tell me all the kids Thorp coaches call him Coach Thorp and this tike already is on a freakin first name basis with him??
Nobody reading this will argue with P3. Generations come and go, but familiarity rules are timeless.
Luke’s Gil obsession has already started to wear thin on Coach Kim. Now it’s starting to wear thin closer to home, figuratively if not literally. Where are the Martinezes eating, exactly? It’s a place where they can drink out of stemware but apparently also a place they have to bus their own table. Doctors’ table at Milford Medical Center, perhaps.
One thing (among many) that has yet be established in this arc is why Milford High is facing budget cuts while Valley Tech apparently isn’t. They’re in the same conference and neither school is private (that’s St. Fabian’s, remember?); heck, they may be even in the same town now. Are they in the same school district? Do they draw funds from the same tax base? Has there been a shift in funding toward vo-tech schools and away from the rest?
None of that matters in the here and now. All that matters is that Milford is having to scrape for money and Luke is loving it. I don’t know where it was stated that the Milford Lift-a-Thon was a competitive event, but Luke’s gonna make it one. You’d think he’d avoid it completely, seeing how the proceeds benefit Gil’s programs. Everything is a competition to him, though. His wife performs open heart surgery; he gives himself a tracheotomy with a fork at the dinner table.
Today’s translation of P3 comes from Google Translate son of teenchy, who holds a conversational level of Spanish.
Frannie: “Shut your mouth! You’re sleeping on the couch tonight!”
Luke:” I’m sorry, lover!”
Today’s post title also comes from son of teenchy. I’ll leave it to you gentle readers to translate.
I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to post today’s strip but I can’t stop laughing at it. Will update directly. >snort<
Phew! That took longer than I thought.
Of all Milford’s rivals Valley Tech is always the chippiest, and the girl with the blue ponytail does her best to keep up that tradition. First with the reach-in, which begs the question: If someone fouls Hollis, does that make her a Talley whacker? Then, having heard all the on-court talk about Hollis being a selfish, bossy snitch, VT girl fires off a sarcastic fascist salute. Heil Hollis!
All that pales in comparison to the chef’s kiss that is the last panel. Acquiescing to a player’s request to change positions and, well, letting her succeed there is considered “coaching”? Pretty low bar to clear in Milford to be sure, but that’s no bar at all. Maybe Gil agrees and he’s the one being sarcastic.
Oh, and when was the last time you saw anyone play racquetball? For me, I think it was during Poppy Bush’s administration. Even then, everybody’s racquets had strings.
Baby, I’m amazed at the way libraries gettin’ all the time
Maybe I’m amazed that way is permanent
Baby, I’m amazed how they pull us out of time
Hang us on a line
Baby, I’m amazed how much we don’t need this
Oh sure, let’s go get another pot of coffee and waste some more time talking about who’s running for library board. We wouldn’t want the Maxwell House to get stale while we’re mulling over something that is common knowledge by now. If you don’t know who’s running in this stupid run-off in Rockville, then DEFINITELY don’t go back to Rockville. You’re missing a good game.
Like we’re going to drag this out until we’re sure Bozo the Clown and Kramer from Seinfeld and Bazooka Joe are throwing their hats in the ring too. In fact, why don’t we invite the whole damn group from The New Christy Minstrels or Fairport Convention to run. I’m sure they can find time in their schedule to play nostalgic Classic Rock or Folk and still be abreast of what’s in the Science and Math section of the library. They’ll veto Coke machines in the Children’s Library just as soon as they are finished touring.
Gang, you are way too kind to me. As usual, I had to run another trip for my dad so blogging was out of the question most of the day. I DID try to prime the pump and get my adrenalin flowing EVENTUALLY. At any rate, I can only pass this along but I will. In the interim, time to get back to work for the best supporters in the business. God bless you, Gang.
And Zane trying to be a bulldog reminds me of an interesting story involving Steve Garvey, the great 1st baseman for the Los Angeles who was part of an infield that included Ron Cey, “The Penguin” at 3rd base (and yes, he ran like a penguin around the bases, hence the moniker) , Bill Russell at shortstop, and Davey Lopes at 2nd base, this infield intact from ’74 to ’81. Garvey had pop on the bat with those Popeye arms and was also an excellent fielder and a fan favorite.
He later played for the San Diego Padres where he was part of a controversy essentially not of his own doing. Charley Williams, an excellent umpire but highly controversial (a plane once flew around Jack Murphy Stadium that displayed a banner saying “Impeach Ump Williams”-To think, I thought Butthead had all the idle time he could handle) and flat out blew a call at home plate in the middle of the game and Garvey was naturally upset. So he yells to Williams “Bear down!!!!!!!!!!!” to which Ump Williams promptly tossed him.
Fans raised a hue and cry over this one. Yes, you run the risk of getting thrown out if you do want to harbor a bulldog image but let’s face it, Garvey rarely got into it with umpires and “Bear down” really is not the same as “You’re F—ing ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Lee Weyer, a highly respected NL umpire once said that he’d let the player or manager jaw for a while but if they brought Lee’s mother into the equation, they hit the showers. AND THEN, Steve Boros, Garvey’s manager for the Padres, a mild-mannered personality by trade, was so livid with the call and Garvey’s ejection that the next day when the managers were handing lineup cards to the umps, Boros hands Ump Williams a video of the call he blew. Not surprisingly, Boros also got tossed.
But at the rate this story is going, I doubt that Zane is going to bear down. We had our hopes when he got chastised by Peppermint Patty but when he was incognito on his phone in the library, he was more likely to get tossed by Ms. Whopper than Ump Williams.
Today’s headline in the Milford Enquirer
“O.J. Ejected At Milford Parks & Recreation Adult Flag Football League Game!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
sub headline
“Ump Williams can’t even call a football game. I was in the end zone well before anybody grabbed my flag. If Ump Williams don’t know the meaning of shake and bake, Heaven help him.”
Then there’s those items to the direct left of the Mr. Coffee which will make its entrance into the Pantheon of Mysterious Objects. They could be coffee mugs (doubt it) . They could be cans of spinach (really doubt it) . Or they could be big cans of coffee since there’s a ‘C’ on the container (probably the winner) . But why 2 (or possibly more) coffee tubs? Does Marjie have a coffee addiction? Or is that the symbol of where this plot is going? Yup, have plenty of Snaka while you’re watching Butthead and Zane duke it out for library supremacy. I wouldn’t mind of surfeit of Hills Brothers if Zane would stop being Doug Guthrie and actually follow through with Peppermint Patty’ advice and be a bulldog, tiger, king of the jungle, giraffe in heat, whatever generic animal with sharp teeth and razor claws ON THE PITCHER’S MOUND. I’ll drink to that.
Special edition to the Milford Enquirer
“Man handed a Cease and Desist order by Valley Conference Athletic Association after latest incident!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
sub headline
“Conference spokesperson: :’The Committee felt it an inappropriate example to our high school youth for a man to be flying in a plane around the Milford Football Stadium with a banner that read Impeach Coach Thorp’.”
Maybe there’s no plan
Maybe didn’t plan to put us in middle of something that we really didn’t understand
Maybe there’s no plan
Maybe this is out of hand and couldn’t ever help us through the muck
Baby, don’t you see this plot is panned
Ooohhhhh, ooooohhhhh
And the gossip wagon just keeps rolling right along in P2. Gee, is this Gil Thorp or Soap Opera Digest? It’s never a good sign when Marjie Ducey is downing a legion of coffee cups to talk about something that really isn’t gossip material. Ah, but in Thorpiverse, why let truth get in the way of sewage in the headlines. I remember when I was a route driver and I was in Jasper, Indiana at one of my accounts. I was about to leave when I saw a headline in one the tabloids that made me howl with laughter. It was quoted from O.J. Simpson concerning his trial: “Somebody Ought to Cut That Bitch’s Throat!!!!!!” Like that’s a quote you’d read from a politician. Yup, Ronald Reagan and Joseph Biden have violent tempers and occasionally beat their wives and trip old ladies when they’re crossing the streets and are subsequently at the mercy of the National Toilet.
And so let’s ride this for a while and see where it takes us. Marjie, with slight pressure from presumably her editor, will probe this one and turn this into a mudslinging affair. Zane will say that a person with a wife who serves burned fried cottage cheese plus vegetables and ground round that are likely to appear on a plate of the Jolly Green Giant is not fit to lecture us on how to spend tax dollars on library materials. Oh, that cuts to the bone marrow. Butthead will retort that Zane’s been out in the sun too long throwing baseballs through a Goodrich tire and couldn’t possibly fathom the needs of library patrons. Zane will respond that Butthead can’t read and is only faking it when he’s looking at the computer screen. Anybody who is really spending hours playing Donkey Kong has no business telling the library to dump the back issues of The Wall Street Journal. Oh, keep slinging that cow manure, Zane. Butthead will come back with Zane only wants my daughter because he has weird fantasies about women in softball uniforms and therefore is not stable enough to decide on who the Head Librarian should be. Zane will say that Marjie will crawl through the vents every year to get a story from Gil. Whoopsy daisy, that’s true but if we’re going to be dumping cow manure on people’s plate beside the fried cottage cheese, we need to stay on topic. May the best sleazeball win.
“Bear down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“YOU’RE OUTTA HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“Zane, you’re at a debate with Mr. Abel Brito.”
“Oops, my bad, Mr. Moderator.”
And Garvey got some good-natured banter after the incident. When he was taking BP and he’d whiff, a coach or teammate would say “C’mon, Steve, bear down”. Same in the field if he muffed a ball in fielding practice. This incident didn’t die a quiet death. And unfortunately, this gossipmongering is enjoying the same fate, IF it dies at all. Oh, it’s being a bulldog all right. I bet we’d like to send this bulldog to the Milford Dog Pound. Yeah, I’m amazed all right. Zane really does need to bear down but not likely to do so in the near future as long as Crawl Space Ducey and Ms. Whopper Earring is discussing his fate.
Late edition to the Milford Enquirer
“Milford Public Library Withholds Comment Concerning Unusual Occurence Last Tuesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
sub headline
“Library spokesperson: ‘We are at a loss for why a plane was flying a banner that read Impeach Miss Whopper around the skies of Milford but we will investigate the matter and report back’.”
Now wait just a cotton-pickin’ second, Miss Crawl Space. Are we talking about the same person who came in through the bathroom window to interview Gil who is now getting on her high horse and lecturing us on appropriate items to print in journalism? Like we can’t see how dunderheaded and inane this whole situation between Butthead and Zane truly is. Like you’re an authority on appropriate articles to print, ol’ Eats Sloppy Joes in the Noonday Sun to Get a Story That Anyone Would Care to Read. When you’re not hibernating the rest of the season, of course. You need to wash those glasses and get ones with windshield wipers. Like we used to shout at the ump, Open your eyes, you’re missing a good game. Sheesh, you can’t hardly see ANY game when you’re facing 180 degrees the other way. You might want to check on the pulse of the TWIM faithful next time, Marjie. It’s awful hard to do when the air-conditioning ducts you climb through have dust on the them and all over your clothes.
“And we’ll return to decide who won the Butthead/Zane Debate at Milford High School Gym Annex after these messages. You’re watching WDIG-TV.”
“Having to experience the transition from bathtub to shower can be a highly stressful incident. I know my wife, Dr. Pearl, encountered a plethora of trauma when she was faced with the possibility of life with out her rubber ducky.
Greetings, this is Mr. Dr. Pearl and the wonderful people at Milford Bath Magic were able to set my wife in the Elysian Fields especially after she took her medication. They presented her with a floor plan that included a pedastal that could be mounted on the wall so that my wife could take a shower and view her rubber ducky on the stage and thusly perform her process of hygiene with a minimum of problems. My wife now sprays Estee Lauder in pure harmony and bliss.
Now I’ve read the letters and some complain that their bathtub was once inhabited by President Taft. Lord help him if he converted from a tub to a shower. How he applied Head & Shoulders in a shower the size of a phone booth is a mystery they are trying to solve at Machu Picchu. This is of trivial concern to Milford Bath Magic. They run the gamut of sizes from petite to extra-extra-extra large. There is absolutely no need to utilize a crowbar when Babar the elephant steps into the shower stall. He can wash his hair and clean his anatomy and if HE has a rubber ducky, he has room to place it in the soap dish.
Still others beef that their pipes are connected to the tub and the toilet. If somebody is afflicted with diarrhea, they may run into obstacles when they may have to shower at a later date. Again, Milford Bath Magic is way ahead of the game. With state-of-the-art plumbing technology, MBM can solve these problems, enabling those constipated or suffering swelling hemorrhoidal tissues to still douse their hair and flash the victory sign. A 97% rating by the Milford Engineering Society and an A+ from Milford Better Business Bureau displays the finer points of this technology. It might have a couple of roaches but they are sometimes behind the file cabinet in my wife’s office.
There are other concerns such as cost. Now honestly, do you think the grand people at Milford Bath Magic fell off the Titanic last week? They have set up a program through Milford Teachers Federal Credit Union so that the payments will not pose a strain on your budget. Believe me, MBM does not cherish the idea of repossessing someone’s shower. The incident last year involving tear gas was a complete misunderstanding as the culprit not only had been 3 years behind on his house payment, but that he fired first. Milford Bath Magic has to protect its investments.
What more proof do you need? With affordable plans and showers that feel like Niagara is draping over you, isn’t it time you deposited your Rust Belt of a tub into perdition? Come see what Milford Bath Magic has to offer. You’ll definitely be singing “Jessica” by The Allman Brothers when you do.”
I’ll say it again. Y’all are too good to me. You make me want to do my best. And I do the very thing I love because of you. God bless you, Gang.
Maybe we’re amazed that this slop is with us all the time
Maybe we’re afraid it’ll never leave town
Maybe we’re amazed at the way Gil sings this bleeping song
Even though he’s bleeping wrong
Maybe we’re amazed at the way Gil won’t seek a new job
“Bear down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“Mimi, that’s no way to talk to the kids.”
“LOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! UP IN THE SKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT’S A BIRD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT’S A PLANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And the banner says…Impeach Dr. Pearl???”
Today marks the day that the Vic Doucette Show starts to go off the rails as Vic ignores Gil’s directive that “the basketball comes first.” As much as we might’ve expected it with the ham-handed frankfurter references, Vic will not be singing “Sweet Transvestite” between quarters. Instead he’s launched his own unauthorized contest and a tentative foray into identity theft. Gonna be tough to make out all those vitals on those illegible Michigan Adlertinium driver’s licenses*, though.
How much thought did Vic put into this? Is it his hot dog that he’s giving away? Will he announce the winner’s name over the PA or will this lead to an onslaught of Milfordians with triple-sevens at the refreshment stand? If Vic’s stunt leads to more concession sales, what will he be asked to hawk next? Finally, what’s the over/under on the number of strips before Marty Moon starts to view Vic as a threat to his on-air dominance?
Marty won’t hesitate to let Vic know that Milford is his town. Then young Mr. Doucette may find himself hawking hot dogs in the river, not unlike a vendor local to yhs.
*Today only, the first TWIMer who can show us a driver’s license with three 7s in the number wins a free comment. (For the record, yhs has only one 7 in his driver’s license number.)
As Cub fans are well aware, nobody had bigger glasses then Harry.
But ol Vic is giving it a try, and looking in the mirror only doubles his pleasure as he sees his huge frames staring back at him. Which team needs help, Dougs racing team, or Gils basketball team? Is he filling in for Leonard while he recovers from his ankle injury, or is he Dougs tire changer in the pits? And why does he say “But…” if he’s starting a conversation with himself?
All action – well, almost all action – today as Milford dominates Tilden. Tom “Don’t Call Me Butt” Muench is all over the field, stripping oversized footballs and causing Theismannesque leg injuries.* Chance Macy, perhaps the most realistically drawn player we’ve seen in some time**, racks up the yardage and probably scores some points. Quick cut to the sidelines where a lineman who appears to be part flounder makes an aside to a young Sylvester Stallone that maybe the Mudlarks should have run up the score.
The Chekhov’s guns left strewn about over the past few strips are leading us to a logical conclusion that the Valley title will boil down to point differential. Either out of a sense of sportsmanship or of continued punishment, Gil will keep Stallone Rappson on the bench when his free-wheeling style of play would be more likely to help Milford obtain those margins of victory necessary to win the Valley. Someone will have learned a lesson, though I’m not sure who will learn it or how valuable that lesson will be.
In any event, it’s more entertaining than watching Corinna be a bitch to everyone she meets.
*Thirty-five years ago today. What a coincidence.
**Sticking with the NFC East theme, whenever I see a running back wearing #31 and an OPO-DW style face mask my mind goes immediately to Wilbert Montgomery.
First thanks to teenchy for filling in for me during my vacation – this time to Portland Maine. Very scenic; anytime you can go near an ocean it adds to the views tenfold. Even had a shark out there; (well, 80 miles north but whats that to a shark?) I think he was looking for me in Myrtle Beach and heard I was coming back to the ocean, so he swam north. Hey- maybe he can make a cameo in this strip and swallow these characters. He’s way smarter then any of them.
I dont play frisbee very often but I normally try to catch it with one hand, or at least hold my hands CLOSER TOGETHER then this dude. He looks like he’s describing the mouth of the shark he saw in these waters.
No idea how Alexa knows Corrina so well she can describe all her qualities already..
and we’re back to when CK was 9 again. For perspective, that was only about 7 or 8 years ago. I think a summer storyline should be more cheery then this morose tale that is dragging us down like the muck on their feet slowly sinking them into the lake, until all we see is Corinna’s hat floating on the water.
Even the shark is above this dreck.
**METAPOST** Im apparently still on vacation because I copied the strip from Wednesday instead of today. I just replaced it with the correct strip but my commentary is from the Wednesday strip. Today its Maureen getting her nose in everything but the gravy boat at the buffet table. CK visits True for another practice session and True invites her to follow him to his moms house. Too hard to just call her on a cell phone huh? Hey- call Maureen and order a cheeseburger– the carrier pigeon can deliver it.
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This Week in Milford 
