Charles
September 14, 2014 at 11:52 pm
So a struggling sports department in a school with a constantly shrinking budget somehow manages to find the money to equip its entire team with Riddell Revolution helmets. For a team that is a yearly laughingstock…And that’s probably not their most egregious waste of money, since they apparently hired a head coach who doesn’t actually coach…Just watch as Batiuk runs the “Westview cuts the school budget” storyline yet again…
Charles’ quote came to mind when I saw today’s strip. The Fighting Scapegoats are indeed a laughingstock (though we’re not laughing). Clearly neither the coach nor the players could care less about football, winning, or even showing up for the team picture. In interviews, Batiuk is fond of talking about how he still visits his former high school for inspiration. But the Midview Middies of Grafton, OH are off to a 3-0 start (and even allowing for Batiuk’s famous year-in-advance schedule, last year they were on their way to a 7-3 record). But even back when TB, and you, and I were in high school, I never heard of a sports team that would accept losing as the status quo. Perhaps the team exists solely to give Les, Cayla, Linda, and the rest of Westview someplace to go on Friday nights in autumn.
Son of Stuck Funky 
The team exists solely for Battic to publically abuse and ridicule. Truly the Scapegoats, this team bears the sins of men’s athletics everywhere, as seen through Bat-goggles.
He’s not even trying to write a joke now. It’s just a declarative sentence.
Again, I think this all fits within a framework of “Only Les Moore is a success.”
Imagine if Bull won a game. Then this conversation might take place in Montoni’s–
“Bull! Great game–38 to 24!”
“Thanks, Funky!”
“So, it looked like you were using some new plays–”
[Les Moore clears his throat] “Say, guys? I wrote a book about how I felt sad when my wife died of cancer.” [Long pause]
“Uh…yeah. So, Bull, were those new plays?”
“Actually, Funky–
[Funky and Bull’s conversation tunes out, as Les sulks into his diet giraffe urine.]
A scene like the above would never, ever do. So, yeah, Bull will always be a lousy couch and his teams will never win a game. Far too risky.
I’m with sgtsaunders–I can’t help but think this is all some sort of extended, petty revenge against the jocks in Batiuk’s high school past. Many of whom would probably say “Who?” if you asked them what they thought of that Tommy kid.
Am I the only one who sees the grown man in the team uniform in the last panel?
Whenever he tries to invoke his satirical cynical pre-Lisa Act I humor, it fails miserably. Why he decided that the football team had to remain a perpetual laughingstock instead of having to face “reality” like the rest of his troops & tropes is beyond me, although I do believe the “anti-jock” thing is probably part of the reason. You’d figure that a “the Scapegoats finally win a title” arc would be a natural prestige arc but nope, it’s still 1979 for the Goats.
In a weird way you could almost say that TB is bullying the football team. And as we know, bullying is wrong. For shame, Tombat, for shame.
Let’s be accurate: TB directs his serial-art vengeance towards bully jocks, beady-eyed nitpickers, and hidebound literalists.
Let’s not forget that most of the women are mushheads because cheerleaders who can’t remember him either didn’t give him the time of day forty-five years ago.
It’s as if TB liked Bill Cosby’s “Hofstra” routine enough to borrow the concept, but not enough to borrow a single joke.
–Am I the only one who sees the grown man in the team uniform in the last panel?—
Baldy, McFuMa back there? Yes, but you have to consider that he lives in Westview. It ages you eventually. Poor guy. That and he also must be on the same education track as Cody and Owen. Being a ten years senior is rough. On the plus side he and the Goth Alex should make a cute middle age couple.