Gil Thorp by Henry Barajas and Rachel Merrill for June 16, 2023

Twenty years from now, he’s going to be alone and forgotten in a nursing home, wondering why he’s never met his grandchildren and muttering “Thorp” to himself all day.

Shouldn’t he be watching his team? Or are they not competing. I’m confused. As usual.

I never heard of a JV team in any sport going to “the finals”. Anyone else?

Does Luke have that same Gil poster in the coaches shower?

Today’s strip is deeply disturbing on several levels:

P1 Who the h*ll is in charge at Valley Tech? What school administration would allow such open hatred and intolerance (especially in this age of tolerance and inclusion) of an opponent with Gil’s face being used as a dartboard in the weight room where every VT student athlete spends time? Would any school tolerate the example this buffoon sets for its students? Has BHHLHM infected the entire VT community to win at all costs and, oh, kill Gil in the process?

P2 The whole JV playoff thing, the radio broadcast and game being characterized as “one for the ages” is confounding. Experience with my kids playing JV’s has been a conference tournament at season’s end with media coverage consisting of game outcomes and individual performance mentions in the next morning’s homeroom PA announcements.

P3 Lukey’s eternal rage and anger, over what, other than Gil being Gil is so troubling that his face is melting? Add the EES, excessive hair and now Gil’s picture sprouting hair like Lukey and it all shapes up to be some surreal bad dream. Equally as bad as the story line and today’s dialogue.

In Milford, the news actually reports on the high school’s JV Girls Softball Team. I love that.

All that photo needs is a little remark bubble from Gil’s mouth that reads “ you s**k Luke”

I hope you’re ready for a fight on your hands???? Better than on your face.

After years of “will they or won’t they?” followed by “they probably won’t, but they learned lessons along the way!”, Gil Thorp has now apparently become “Milford and Valley Tech are the only two schools in the state, and Milford will win state championships in every sport because the writer can’t think of any other way to resolve plotlines.”

So that’s great.

P2- Who taught this chucklehead how to dead lift, Coach Drool? Dude is gonna drop a test!cle.

I wonder if Mopman can sue Whigham for copywrite infringement? That wild hair in P3 is all Mop.

Where did Luke get those circa 1960 8×10 glossies of Gil?

Are there two Gil dartboards in that weight room? Or is that picture of Gil one of those trick pictures that changes when you move? Because Gil turned his head slightly to his right between P1 and P3 and one of the darts moved off his hair and onto his forehead. And speaking of breaks from reality (but not Mr Reality), today’s Mopped Up Thorp has someone starting to go off the deep end.

https://moppedupthorp.wordpress.com/2023/06/16/loco-luke/

For a great athlete with exceptional hand-eye coordination, Luke is pretty bad at darts.

Everyone has a Gil dartboard, right?

Somewhere Between P1 and P3 a lot of holes got punched in the picture even though the darts are in the same position.

Just another example of HB’s apparent lack of elementary knowledge about school sports; their dynamics and the students and coaches who engage in them.

And now for something completely different: please note, the Boys’ team is also the JV. This means Luke flew to Korea to recruit a 16-year-old to not play Varsity; the parents enthusiastically bought in; Valley Tech Administration enthusiastically bought in because a 16-year-old had a cool nickname; and Gil was worried because this kid might hurt his JV’s chances. Yep, makes sense to me!

In Michigan, the Milford Mavericks did not have nearly as good a season as the Milford Mudlarks/Jaybirds, finishing with an overall record of 6-12-1 and a conference record of 4-8, good for 6th place. In the State Tournament, Milford lost their opener 9-1 so it was an early trip to the patio for summer lemonade with the wife for the Mavericks’ coach.

Well… it all depends. In the early 1970’s my high school’s football games were, in fact, on the radio. Mainstream radio. And my high school was good enough in basketball (and a couple of other sports) that they fielded two basketball teams in the primary league. A Blue and a Buff team. But Hawaii in the early 1970’s was a bit unique. We also played our games first in a 25,000 seat stadium and later moved to a 50,000 seat stadium when the 25,000 seat stadium was torn down.