Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for December 15, 2024

Not being a big sports fan, I had no idea what was happening until the last panel; I kept waiting for a pun.

He was a Warrior of music.

Some readers may feel pi**ed on (piston) first reading this strip—others may feel rapt or something.

Reading this on my phone, I saw only one panel at a time. But I was sure they would end up at Stephen’s desk!!

Boring.

And no, I don’t want to listen to Celtic music. Bring on the Jazz.

Reread this twice and only caught 24 references (before the final panel gave the game away).

(Reads again): Oh, Rat had the first reference. That’s what threw me.

For those who didn’t quite get the clues (Ignore if you want to puzzle through yourself):

Sun (Phoenix Suns)Heat (Miami Heat)Pelicans (New Orleans Pelicans)Clipper (Los Angeles Clippers)Maverick (Dallas Mavericks)Jazz (Utah Jazz)Wizard (Washington Wizards)Bull (Chicago Bulls)Buck (Milwaukee Bucks)Nuggets (Denver Nuggets)King (Sacramento Kings)Trailblazer (Portland Trailblazers)Pace (Indiana Pacers)Magic (Orlando Magic)Rocketed (Houston Rockets)76 (Philadelphia 76ers)Grizzly (Memphis Grizzlies)Lake (Los Angeles Lakers)Hawks (Atlanta Hawks)Timberwolves (Minnesota Timberwolves)Net (Brooklyn Nets)Spur (San Antonio Spurs)Thunder (Oklahoma City Thunder)Hornet (Charlotte Hornets)Knickers (New York Knicks)Cavalier (Cleveland Cavaliers)Celtic (Boston Celtics)

Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Gag: Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors, Toronto Raptors

Ok, I thought Pig had his answers written by ChatGPT.

I though Pig was a little chatty until I read the last panel! Had to dribble through it !

I just like that Mr. Pastis knew who John Coltrane was.

“Do dead teams count, son?”

“Ick!”

John Coltrane. The greatest musician who ever lived. IMHO.

“Demonstrate that you’re American and don’t understand that you have an international audience, without saying you’re American.”

Got ‘em all, but I don’t watch the NBA

Wow, no love for the Pistons?

pace—-is not Pacers

I’ll take Pigs word for there being 27….I couldn’t be bothered trying to figure out any teams.

God Bless America!

I thought I was the only non sports fan on the planet

Lotta (basket) balls.

I never noticed what was going on, as I don’t give a hoot about basketball.

Ah, but is that "S"eltic or "K"eltic music?

Pure genius!

I’m not into sports, especially basketball, but by the third panel of dense, odd conversation, I’d figured out this wasn’t an extended pun but hidden basketball team names. Wait… no Pistons?

not one of your best Stephen. Not even 27th.

Stephan must live really close to his Level I trauma hospital to be poking Rat that much.

In the early 70s an issue of Sports Illustrated printed a Jr. High student’s history report in which he included the names of every baseball, football, basketball, and hockey team in existence at the time. It was really clever but his teacher, having no sense of humor, gave him an F on the report.

Since I detest basketball (and soccer) I had no idea until the end.

Oh, my. You are the King Mr Pastis! My brother, the sports trivia King, would have loved this. I didn’t get it until the final cell, but I’m not into sports that much, and I must give honor where it is due. I often think you did well in giving up your first career for that of an underpaid, over maligned Comic Artiste. Of course, what do we know, you might have entertained the court with your very long convoluted summaries that won over the juries amidst groans and various other responses…

No Hawks, Raptors, or Warriors.

…so clever…

Don’t think I would have noticed until Rat mentioned it.

Not a big NBA fan, but Coltrane – now you’re talking…

The odds of seeing a clipper ship are higher than winning the lottery.

Celtics, as in Boston, is pronounced with a soft “c.” Celtic as in music is pronounced “Keltic.” So, I think it remains 26

wondered how he was going to get the celtics in there!

I knew what was happening after that first panel.

1. Suns 2. Heat 3. Pelicans 4. Clippers 5. Mavericks 6. Jazz 7. Wizard 8. Bulls 9. Bucks 10. Nuggets 11. Kings 12. Trailblazers 13. Pacers 14. Magic 15. Rockets 16. Grizzlies 17. Lakers 18. Hawks 19. Timberwolves 20. Nets 21. Spurs 22. Thunder 23. Hornets 24. Knicks 25. 76ers 26. Caviliers 27. Celtics

I overlooked the 76ers first read.

I am so lost on this one.

Creative…..

It took me to Hawks and Timberwolves before I caught on.

Those first two panels are my idea of the afterlife.

I’m not a fan of the NBA, but I love Coltrane. He is the embodiment of modern jazz. Check out the albums, Giant Steps, My Favorite Things, Blue Train, and Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue.

Not bad. You missed three however.

Never get the sports references. Same happens when I play ‘Connections" . I always fail when it’s sports related.

When he does a strip like this I have to discipline myself to read one square at a time to not ruin the punch line…no Warriors?

It was almost like a piston was driving him. It spurred him on to greatness.

Well, he was certainly right about Coltrane. And son Ravi ain’t bad, either!

Well, happily, there are fewer and fewer coal trains. But the concept is difficult to get through most anthracite skulls.

not being a sports fan I am nonetheless in awe of this achievement, and don’t mind at all I had no idea what was going on until the last panel, too!

Yeah, John was a real warrior at pumping those sax pistons. I was ‘enraptored.’

“Trailblazers” are usually just called “Blazers” these days.

Hummm… left out the Warriors? Very interesting!

I’m not into the NBA – and now that it’s been said the teams are listed – I might find 4 or 5 I recognize – maybe.

Pacers, 76ers omitted.

That’s one more off his bucket list. NFL teams next

The minute I read “Coltrane” I forgot this was a comic strip until the last panel. Thank you for the tribute to John William Coltrane, and his magnificent genius. I love when Pearls Before Swine goes meta.

Well done.

I kept thinking this was going to be a masterpiece of a pun setup.

Well done, Stephan. When it comes to wordplay, you’re a real Warrior!

There’s an Aussie cartoonist who does this sort of thing a lot, sometimes with music, movies, etc. Kind of fun, I think, but definitely not boring, as at least one of us commenters thinks.

This particular strip required that your attention be rapt or not at all. Pastis needed to be a warrior to put this one together even though it left Rat in his usual state of feeling pissedon. There, got the rest of them….

My suspicion was starting by panel 3, and I caught on by 4. But it’s Knickerbockers, not Knickers.

Well done.

Aren’t there 30 NBA teams? Couldn’t find a way to fit pistons or warriors into this comic? Rat should have come back and said “Somebody must have piston your cheerios this morning” in the last panel

And me looking for a pun that never arrived. I don’t know the first thing about NBA teams.

Didn’t know there was an NBA team — the Coltranes!

Stephen did this all by himself, but it really was a “team” effort! He’s totally in a unique “league”!

Rat is right. I’m glad I skipped directly to the last panel.

As a non-american I completed missed the punch line.

And here I was thinking it was another set up for a cheesy pun…

John Coltrane. The name says it all. Nuff said.

was waiting for my Cavs to get mentioned. so glad they came up in the last panel

I bet New Orleans was piston off when the Jazz moved to Utah. There’s only a very little actual jazz music in Salt Lake City.

Missing Pistons, Warriors, and Raptors. Took a few reads to catch 76ers.

Using Coltrane to camouflage the word trickery was doubly clever.

I, too, was gearing up for the pun in this one, only to come across the N.B.A. team reference. Well done, Mr. Pastis. Well done, indeed.

Looks like he “Piston” on the Detroit fans …

My poor grandson watched the Portland Trailblazers blow a 17 point lead to lose by 2 free throws [questionable fowl called by the refs] in the last seconds; at least he got a night out with his dad and a ‘Blazer Burger’….. Our coach stinks..

Sorry, I got tired of reading all those team names and haven’t finished the strip. Does it have a funny ending?

Hey, what about the Warriors??

Definitely difficult to fit the Pistons into this joke.

I’m sort of a sports fan and I was so expecting a pun that I also had no clue about the names. I thought that Stephan was just making a profound statement on Coltrane.