Gil Thorp by Henry Barajas and Rachel Merrill for July 26, 2023

“Your tax dollars at waste!”

suddenly I hear…Glenn Campbell singing, “Like a Rhinestone Cowboy!”…

An indoor sports arena? For a Juvie? What fantasy world is Milford in, anyway?

Sports IS Milford!

P3-Tell me about it. Marty’s about to do play-by-play for his first Rollerball contest.

So… Budget slashed at the high school. Coaches laid off. Kids hustling to get money to keep the school programs going… And a state-of-the-art indoor sports arena at the juvenile detention center?

Pity, all that money spent and they still have ants.

I’m contacting HVB and having her institute a suit against Henry for plagiarizing my “state-of-the-art” comment from yesterday. We may be calling Gregggg Hammmm’s father as an expert witness.

Marty. Ants. Alien probing space craft. Finger pointing. At least some things stand the test of time.

Of course this strains credibility, but as far as the indoor football facility, this simply could be a local sports complex that they are renting or borrowing. Although usually when I suggest some explanation like this, the next day’s strip will have some detail to prove me wrong. And speaking of proving, prove to me you care by reading today’s edition of Mopped Up Thorp.

https://moppedupthorp.wordpress.com/2023/07/26/disputing-the-obvious/

Looks like Mr. Harwood is welcoming the rodeo to town.

Never heard of a juvenile detention center with a football team much less an indoor facility.Once again Barajas strains credulity.

Don’t worry – the state-of-the-art indoor sports arena was solely financed and built by Luke, who finally gets to be the new sheriff in town.

I’ll just wear a plain orange shirt in support of the Milford Juvenile Detention Center team.

So they are going to broadcast a game played by juvenile offenders? It should be interesting since, at least in my state, you’re not allowed to identify anyone under 18 in the police blotter or any other media. Usually reads something like “John Jones, 18, Joe Smith, 18, and a 16 year-old juvenile, were arrested for assault”. I can hear it now. Number 12 drops back to pass and hits number 87 over the middle where he’s brought down by number 55. Oh, but it’s coming back because number 68 was holding number 96.

Must be an even slower news day in Milford than usual

Can someone post the livestream link?

From today’s Comics Curmudgeon:

Oh, wow, when I called for a wacky summer storyline, I didn’t expect a dystopian plot where an flaboyantly dressed warden named “Reno Harwood” forces criminal-teens to battle it out in his JailDome, with quadrocopter drone cameras streaming the whole thing out for the entertainment of bloodthirsty Twitch viewers everywhere. Marty Moon will enthusiastically do the play by play, and the stakes are high: the winners will earn their freedom, while the losers are condemned to death. Unfortunately, Gil’s decision to prepare his team for an indoor game by making them practice in the pouring rain may prove counterproductive.

No, Reno, what we’re about to witness is a sudden change of scene that has nothing at all to do with this story in tomorrow’s strip…

I imagine there is a large potential audience for this type of competition. A lot of major league baseball teams already out of it. Sponsored by a vape stick company.

P2: They brought in Lou Gehrig to remind me “I am the luckiest man on the face of this earth” to be reading about young thugs playing ball on LIVE streaming in a first-of-it’s illegal-kind event. Vito from Goshen hasn’t had this stupefying kind of betting since Gil vs. Herk, and he even brought in his enforcer Abe Brito to look for library scofflaws.

Looks like they’re going to reenact the whatever-ball game it was in “Starship Troopers!”

P1- That’s right! I’m doing analysis for my buddy Marty. And don’t forget, your coverage can never be cancelled for any reason.

P3: We’ve been witnessing a disappearing act (readers, sanity, sense of humor) for a year.

Betting windows are open. BHHL’s squad is a 1 point favorite. Odds of BHHL being a total a-hole towards Gil after the win: even money due to his potential softening after getting hired by Gil. Odds Gil will accept and embrace failure: off the board.