Gil’s reference to “here” and “here” makes me guess they’re all supposed to be looking at something like a clipboard or tablet. There’s none to be seen and all eyes are on Gil’s face. Meanwhile he’s talking about a player who’s not even in the huddle. Where, then is Inma? Wrong answers only, and keep it clean.
But the way he’s talking? This is actually legit chalk talk. A hard hedge happens when a defender who is being screened steps forward to try and stop the ball handler’s momentum. Here are some examples, which might illustrate it better than I can describe it.
I am so impressed by this that I will overlook Merrill’s cut/paste of the last two panels.
Less sloppy artwork the past couple of days (well, Mimi excepted) and some actual sports lingo that’s appropriate to the situation. Do you reckon B&M had a come to Jesus meeting with the syndicate? Do they anticipate Death to Pachuco: The Paperback not being a big seller? And whatever happened to Gil Thorp: The Graphic Novel? Talk amongst yourselves. teenchy out.
Will you look at this. Three panels of sports action. The players are actually posed in a realistic fashion. There’s a crowd and it’s positioned in a reasonable location from the action. (Why can’t it be this way all the time?) The dialogue is not inappropriate to the action. It can’t be when it doesn’t exist.
Some days you just have to count your blessings. This is one of them. Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all.
Had a nice weekend in Angola at our annual winter getaway a bit later then normal due to scheduling issues, but Im back and ready to analyze all this manure. Thanks again Teenchy for filling in Friday.
Saturday Panel 1: Is the game so far along that Mimi already thinks Milford thinks they have the game won already? Why is she sitting down? We dont even have a score in the lower section. Her players are wearing dark tops with orange stripes.** Remember that detail.
Saturday Panel 2: Mimi says what I said above. Is she a mindreader? More nonsensical phrases instead of actual coaching.
Saturday Panel 3: Mimi sends them (one player) back on the court with yet another tripe phrase that has nothing to do with ACTUAL STRATEGY. Love the hands together like a rah rah cheerleader! Every dead coach is turning over in their grave reading this. On to Monday!
Monday Panel 1: Hey its Gil and Marty Moon? Talking before the game? I thought they were playing already. Why does Gil have his own microphone? Why would it be an adjustment with all his BETTER players back? And he wasnt even there when they were gone so how would he know what it was like before?? Way to do your homework Mister Radio Guy. And whats with the fuckin coat? Youre on the radio, not CBS.
Monday Panel 2: Uh, so Jackie interviews Mimi,… before the game again? Didnt we start the game Friday? So each announcer talks with his/her gender equal? Mimi is ‘back here’ again? So the game is at Milford? When is the big game gonna be at VT? Mimi has a mic and headphones as well. Its mindboggling how little both the artist and writer know about sports. Repeat what I said above about why all this is needed for a radio interview. Nice lab coat Mimi. Are you a doctor as well, like Doc Pearl? Yeah we’re gonna make a memory all right. But we cant decide when the game starts. Wednesday we saw Milford in the locker room being advised to attack the boards. Perhaps this is halftime but NOBODY in high school interviews coaches at halftime of a regular season game like this.
Monday Panel 3: Finally some action. **VT has white tops. What happened to the dark tops? Plus nice block lettering. I wish the artist could remember details like Mimi remembers her Milford days. So Mimi put her white coat on at halftime and wears it with her arms crossed, and nobody else near her. No players, fans behind her, etc. Like shes a mom watching her kid perform in a recital. Her team is down by 12. Some memory theyre making. But theyre showing Milford what theyre made of. And finally, I wouldnt wear earrings during a game like the Milford player is. Just a bit unsafe.
teenchy here, doing a Friday/Saturday switcheroo with Rob. Looks like we’re not the only ones pulling a switcheroo here, and looks like I was wrong about how I sized up the situation.
When I last posted on Wednesday, Inma was writing on the back of Keri’s jersey. How’d the writing get moved around to the front of the jersey? Ochoa was doing the coaching (such as it was) in the locker room. Now Gil’s back on the saddle and Ochoa, having given up on her job, has donned a lab coat. Both of them are being pursued by an angry mob of fist-pumping shadow figures.
Neither of these laissez-faire coaches acted to stop their players’ protests, and their players’ protests did not draw any disciplinary action from the officiating crew. Whether we agree with it or not, Gil’s approach is at least being consistent with how he approached Inma’s response to Marty Moon a couple of years ago. Why Doc (Pearl, not Rivers, hence the pronouns) should care if the conference and its officials don’t is open to speculation. Suffice it to say that she’ll come up with some reason to punish Keri and Inma, some kind of “higher standards/higher authority” rationale that makes Milford the Hebrew National of Valley Conference high schools.
The bigger conversation – and one we’ll never see – is the one Pearl should be having with Gil about his elder child’s behavior. Easy to imagine the doctor throwing daggers about “lack of institutional control” and “discipline” and “children of divorce.” Easy too to imagine Gil deflecting them with more pap about “support,” which he apparently defines as “letting them express themselves any way they see fit.” How does that follow from his bullshit, Mary Worthlike observation about being “cursed with all the information in the world”? At least with Inma he had the First Amendment as fallback.
Oh look, Ledania and Banksy are back in the Lady Mudlark lineup and have played at least one half of basketball. Why do I say “have played”? Because we’re in the Milford locker room and Ochoa is attempting to coach them based on something they’ve already done. Why do I say “attempting”? Because Ochoa seems to have forgotten that there are two boards on a basketball court that can be attacked. Which board does Ochoa want her players to attack and which one can they conveniently neglect?
What’s important today is not the sportsball talk (as if it ever is under the Bajaras regime) but – and stop me if you’ve heard this one before – the actions of one Keri Thorp, Social Justice Warrior.
Okay gentle readers, just for S&Gs let’s revisit what happened the last time a Milford High sports team was involved in a protest or was protest-adjacent. The protest at the time was about the conflict in Gaza. Inma Rimsha didn’t pick sides but wished for an end to the conflict and said as much on the air to Marty Moon*. She answered Marty’s question about a protest but wasn’t actually involved in one. Gil supported her and her First Amendment rights after some people complained about what she said. Tays (remember him?), OTOH, was not exactly of the same mind as Gil. Rodney Barnes (remember him?) kinda felt the same way as Tays.
Compare and contrast Tays’ and Gil’s approach to high schoolers speaking their mind about current events. Tays felt there was a time and place for everything, while Gil stuck to the old “kids will be kids” spiel. Guess which apple didn’t fall far from the tree? If Keri wanted to make her little public anti-ICE statement, it could have been made before the start of the game, on a t-shirt over her uniform (like Larry Nance Jr.) that she pulled off during warmups. Or maybe Keri’s visible-from-space earrings could’ve spelled ICE OUT, even if that would’ve detracted from that head of a ten penny nail sticking out of Keri’s nose.
But nooOOoo! Keri decides to scribble some slogan on her jersey after the game has already started. This after giving Ochoa a dead-eyed stare the likes of which we have never seen. Maybe a brain worm made Keri do it, or made Inma follow suit. Does Inma not remember what happened the last time Keri sucked her into doing something? Apparently not.
Along those lines, one would think that Ochoa (and by extension Gil) would know that scholastic sports leagues and their officials generally do not look favorably on political messages worn on uniforms or equipment. This is going to result in, at best, a technical foul on Keri followed by a required uni change or ejection and, at worst, a forfeit for Milford. Lesson learned? Freedom of expression does not mean freedom from consequences.
meta: I will be traveling on Saturday and would be grateful if one of my colleagues could cover for me.
*This was back when Inma was a rasslin’ powerhouse, a plot element that has since fallen by the wayside.
Gang, another one that I’m cutting short. I really wouldn’t know where to begin. Or End.
The issue of ICE personnel is controversial. They’re in a no-win situation. Personally, I think if we were to ferret out every illegal, you run the risk of snuffing out another Fernando Mendoza. Even if I found no evidence of his ancestry being illegals, I presume the lineage was attempting to flee the repressive Castro regime. My policy is, fine, then please make yourself useful once you’re over here. Fernando did, taught by his ancestry and parents not to be a deadbeat. I just hope no ICE agent doesn’t appear on another Fernando’s door with more questions than answers.
But again, ICE agents are damned if you do, damned if you don’t. I salute them as they try to do their work the best way they know how.
Therefore, I am not about to comment on a situation very complex in scope. To do so would induce me to discuss issues that I’m not qualified to talk about. Also, darn it, this is a comedy blog. I’ve said that for eight years. I’ll continue to say that. I will not make this Crossfire.
Looks like we found something else our esteemed artist cant draw – a card game. I know you hold 2 cards in Texas Hold-Em. But this aint it. You need several players to play that, and the dealer doesnt even play. He just deals the cards. It also looks like Keri is in some kind of facility where her brother is visiting her and looking through a clear screen, like a jail. Isnt she through with her punishment by now? Maybe theyre in their house, but she cant go outside, even though Jami implies she can?
Whats this shower thing? Did Gil prohibit her from bathing? Why does Keri say a shower would kill her? Then we have Jamis suggestion of parol, which is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parol a lantern displayed during Christmas. Hmmmm. Another head scratcher in a strip filled with them. How does one try parol? This is another strip that does absolutely nothing to advance the plot. What happened to the big wedding plans? Whats the purpose of this set of panels today? I have no clue.
Only thing I do know is Jami has pocket Aces. If this strip were a card hand, it would fold immediately.
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This Week in Milford 
