Gil Thorp by Henry Barajas and Rachel Merrill for March 27, 2023

P3: Inspiration for Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Ball.

Okay as someone who doesn’t play or watch basketball can someone explain why the coaches are all in suits just for the finals….and why THATS my question and not why was KAD here for two strips

5 out of 7 for 16 points – must have had a few and ones. Less likely – all 3 pointers plus one free throw.

What’s the 1st QTR score? 16-15 today or 18-8 as noted last week. Henry is a joke not worthy of what he does for the strip.

At least he has the jersey colors right … I think.

P1 Gil practices his church pose and look in anticipation of Meemaw’s impending funeral. Meanwhile, Greggg Hammmm has improbably wandered to Jefferson and stumbled into the gym after hearing the noise and mistaking it for being the baseball diamond.

P2 The brilliant Jefferson HS administration stages an active shooter drill during the first quarter.

P3 The ants swarm and mass on the ball in an effort to keep Mr. Vito’s game line favorable. With the scorekeeper stepping away to deal with ants in the pants, they swarm the control board and alter the score from 18-8 Milford, to 16-15 Milford at the end of the first quarter as an oblivious crowd looks on.

Milford fades in 4th Quarter due to too much Apache Basketball running in practice the days before the game and loses to VT and Gil’s Arch-Nemesis.

At least they are playing the same team.

Just when you think it can’t get worse…The continuity errors that have bedeviled this strip between games have now infected individual games. What’s the score? Obviously, the author doesn’t know, or care.

But that’s ‘Gil Thorp’ in 2023. Who are the characters? Author doesn’t know, or care. What are their hopes, dreams, motivations? Author doesn’t know, or care. How are football and basketball actually played in the real world? Author doesn’t know, or care. Why the hell are people like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Lachlan McLean doing cameos? Why do major characters disappear for weeks, even months at a time? Why was a legacy comic strip about a high school coach given to someone who doesn’t know anything about sports?

You know the answer.

P2- They’re four out of six FROM the field. Lucky Hank.

With Mopman’s floors it should be 4 out of 6 from the ice. P3: The ball turned state’s evidence and is having its identity protected.

Four out of six in the ‘field’? What field?

I’m so close to stop reading this strip. No continuity whatsoever.

Are those flashes of camera lights shown in P-2? Can’t figure out what else they could be. Which is kinda funny because NCAA and NBA rules on photography prohibit the use of flash attachments because they distract and obscure vision of the players. All basketball courts… even high school ones… are lit well enough that flashes aren’t required. Just one more thing HB doesn’t know.

Man, Gil is sure in a foul mood. I think he’s mad because Tays took up the role of “coach who doesn’t bother to show up to many games” that used to be his job. And speaking of jobs, your job is to read today’s Mopped Up Thorp.

https://moppedupthorp.wordpress.com/

I’m lost. Uniforms change, clearly there was a redo of the first quarter given the score…

Maybe he’ll write a retraction tomorrow

P-1: The Milford Coaches try to figure out what this strip is about?

P-2: GT enters the world of SCi-FI as our star player’s Left and Right arm both appear to be coming out of his Left side.

P-3: Mr. G., from Central City, is the scorekeeper. Any Questions?

For those of you confused by the waist high lights in panel 2, they are there for the Radio Broadcast.

Well, the score isn’t the only thing to have changed, we have black/white with the other being red/black on Friday and today we have black/red, red/black and a teal color trying to crash the playoffs.

OK, I’m typically not in for the cancel culture but someone needs to be fired. I can accept flaws such as Keri being 9 years old when Tabi/Toby was born but somehow now is younger. Things like that would happen in the soap operas all the time. But when you can’t even keep the score straight on two consecutive days? Where in the rules of basketball does it state that points can be taken away? Also, is this soccer where extra time is added? It was clearly stated on Saturday that the score was 18-8 at the END of the first quarter yet today, they are still in the first quarter and Milford somehow lost 5 points with 3 being made up at the buzzer. Where is the editor? How can such an obvious error go unchecked? Everyone involved in this should be embarrassed.

lol…Henry’s just having fun playing with us with the score….

Don’t worry it will all make sense in the yearlong novel.

Wow

Marty has scrambled “in field goals” with “from the floor” & a bottle of Old Tennis Shoes he missed when he quit drinking.

emmet tays must be getting down with one of the cheerleaders in the locker room

P 1 (Cami thought bubble): “…how can I get out of this strip?…”

P 1 (Gil thought bubble): “…Mimi is ghosting me again…”

I think this is the first time I’ve seen two crowd shots during a game with absolutely nobody pumping a fist, raising both arms, or holding a sign.

Meanwhile on the Glenwood Cruise Across The Alps

Mud Mountain Murphy’s show has been moved to the Cruise Ship B Gym after serious deliberation. Cruise officials felt “Them Muddy Boots” echoed better and would get people dancing in the aisles a la The Chiffons’ “He’s So Fine”.

Playing songs like this in the bigger concert hall would make gettin’ happy the equivalent of John Travolta disco-ing at a formal wedding reception. The Queen of England would be uncomfortable tap-dancing to The Trammps’ “Disco Inferno”. Under a disco ball, Heaven forbid.

And ol’ Mud will NOT necessarily be playing his old material. Always a musician to think outside the box, Mr. Murphy is rumored to be performing tonight Emerson Lake & Palmer’s “Love Beach” and Def Leppard’s “Photograph”.

Just a rumor, mind you, but also Coach Shaw might join him in his Jazz guitar and play a couple of Django Reinhardt numbers. Gil gave Coach Shaw the night off from his absenteeism.