Gil Thorp by Henry Barajas and Rachel Merrill for December 22, 2022

I wish I had welcomed failure when I played on a basketball team that was something like 5-21.

“I Welcome Failure!” Can Sign Man put that on a banner to hang in Gil’s office?

Well, he’s had plenty of practice.

You sure told him, loser.

… aaaaand yet another VT uniform change. (Side stripes lost.)

And, yet, Gil demands that his players maintain grade eligibility in order to play. Seems like his best teams would be F students.

P4: Coach A-hole goes berserk and punches Gil, who welcomes it.

In all reality , Gil’s got to be a Detroit Lions fan said the Chicago Bears fan .

Played on a industrial softball league once upon a time. We were 0-15 in league play, 15-0 in beer games. We did love our beer. roflmao

“I am so much better at failing than you are!”

A guy who’s nursed a grudge and been driven by revenge for 35 years since he felt slighted because of a high school football game won’t learn a d*mn thing from a hackneyed platitude. Next arc, we learn he also played on his HS basketball team (despite his short stature – which he also blames on Gil).

This means sooo much to a man who scrubs garbage cans.

State Champion Zen Gil is so above the pettiness, as he readies the dismissive wave on his walk to sign autographs.

The last flag football team I played for was 0 – 14. You can’t fail better than that. It still sucked to not win.

P4: Mimi walks off hand-in-hand with Luke. “You can welcome failure, Gil, but I’m going home with a winner!”

Did the stripes on the Valley Tech coaches jackets change from a ^ to a v after they won? Is it magical satin?

P2: Tobias and Luke Jr. make plans for their postgame menu – a Keri Thorp sandwich.

All this won’t matter much anyway since Milford just got nuked in P2.

P 3, Luke thought bubble: “….Welcomes failure?….I should just go ahead and kick his a$$ right now…”

Is Gil’s P3 comment a harbinger for the upcoming basketball season? Yet another quest for 2nd in the Valley.

P 4: “….because I know my job is safe, either way…”

I suppose one way to guarantee embracing failure is to send a 14 (or possibly 15) year-old female freshman soccer player, with minimal exposure to the running back position, into the heart of the Valley Tech defense in an ill-conceived 2-point conversion attempt with the state title on the line. Maybe Gil felt it was more important to teach El Tigre a lesson than it was for his charges to have an opportunity to experience the ultimate outcome of their commitment and teamwork.

Nobody goes through life undefeated. You’re lying to yourself if you think you are Luke.

Not such a great motto for a coach. Accept and learn from failure? Sure. Welcome it? I don’t think so.

P-1: Coach Kim thanks Kaz for signaling Gil’s play call.

P-2: Star Yeck, the Next Generation

P-3: Some stupid remark about both teams’ players getting P.E. credit for playing, followed by more babble, as Gil hurries off to watch Shower films.

It’s nice to see less complaining and the usual happy, snarky comments

NGL this week’s strips are as good as any Gil Thorp strips ever. Except maybe the ones where Kaz spent the summer doing detective work for Gail “Tarzana Nights” Martin

Finally. The old Gil Thorp is back! Sports and life lessons.

“Don’t fear failure. — Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail.”

I can’t wait until next summer when Luke channels his inner Kanye and climbs on the stage to interrupt Gil’s Coach of the Year victory speech.

I think BHHL should have been flagged for wearing those purple pants with an orange jacket. And speaking of flagged, you are about to be flagged for poor taste if you don’t want to read today’s Mopped Up Thorp.

https://moppedupthorp.wordpress.com/

America loves a winner, and will not tolerate a loser, this is why America has never, and will never, lose a war.—George S. Patton

henryjbarajas-“Don’t fear failure. — Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail.” Bruce Lee

“Leave Your Message to Western Union” Jack Berrill