Tank McNamara
Encyclopedia
Tank McNamara is a daily syndicated comic strip
written by Jeff Millar and illustrated by Bill Hinds
. The strip debuted in 1974.
The title character is a local sports television reporter who used to be a defensive lineman in the National Football League
, hence his name (whether nickname or given name is unclear). The strip focuses primarily on contemporary American athletics, which allows it to remain topical and also to dabble in related subjects such as politics and social issues.
's "Bashers"; football
's "Smashers"; ice hockey
's "Igloos"; basketball
's "Stuffers"). The strip also portrays fictional sponsors, including "Heavy Beer", spoofing the light beer ads that are so common in American sports broadcasts. It also features caricatures of many real figures from sports.
In earlier years, Tank was portrayed as a buffoon ex-professional athlete (an NFL defensive linebacker
, jersey number 55) unqualified to do his journalistic job. Recurring gags focused on Tank's "fumble-mouth" mistakes (such as presenting the "Norts Spews"), and on his tendency to jump on anything loose on the floor as if it were a fumble
d football. An annual feature was a Christmas
tale of Tank's last minute quest to obtain that year's "must have" toy for his nephew.
Tank has matured with the strip, which has gone on to highlight his loyalty, inherently gentle nature, and good heart. Recent years have seen several sequences dealing with Tank's youthful indiscretions. His behavior is never as damning as he believes it to have been, and he is always deeply sorry for his actions. While these sequences flesh out the background of Tank's character, they show the reader that he has always been a decent human being.
Tank, who is a bachelor portrayed as being vulnerable to romantic injury, began seriously dating a woman named Angela in 2005. Angela works at his TV station, and the two met after she beat him in the station's 2005 NCAA tournament
pool, despite choosing teams based on their uniform colors. Angela is the single mother of an athletically gifted son to whom Tank serves as a father figure, and she has eschewed competing in sports since a youthful tennis talent took over her life. She accompanies Tank to many work assignments, often assisting him in undercover reporting.
Tank's neighbors Nick and Kate had their own comic strip, Second Chances, from 1996 to 2000.
addiction, steroids
, the arrests of pro athletes, and athlete salaries. Sometimes these issues are portrayed fictionally, as when Tank's 'Little Brother
' battles an online gambling problem, but sometimes the strip treats specific controversies by naming names. One popular example is its "Sports Jerk of the Year" award, which allows readers to nominate the figure they have found most objectionable and then vote on who is the worst. Previous 'winners' include Terrell Owens
(2x), Bud Selig
(2x), Daniel Snyder
, John Rocker
, Lleyton Hewitt
, Latrell Sprewell
, Ronald Curry
, and Roberto Alomar
.
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
written by Jeff Millar and illustrated by Bill Hinds
Bill Hinds
Bill Hinds is a sports cartoonist whose work includes the sports comic strips Buzz Beamer, Cleats, and Tank McNamara. He received the National Cartoonist Society Sports Cartoon Award for 1986 and their New Media Award for 2000...
. The strip debuted in 1974.
The title character is a local sports television reporter who used to be a defensive lineman in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
, hence his name (whether nickname or given name is unclear). The strip focuses primarily on contemporary American athletics, which allows it to remain topical and also to dabble in related subjects such as politics and social issues.
Plot and characters
Before becoming a multi-sport broadcaster and reporter, Tank McNamara played college football for "Enormous State University" (team name: the Sandcrabs), which serves the role of a generic NCAA Division I university with problem-plagued athletic programs. The local professional teams are fictional American major-league franchises (baseballBaseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
's "Bashers"; football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
's "Smashers"; ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
's "Igloos"; basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
's "Stuffers"). The strip also portrays fictional sponsors, including "Heavy Beer", spoofing the light beer ads that are so common in American sports broadcasts. It also features caricatures of many real figures from sports.
In earlier years, Tank was portrayed as a buffoon ex-professional athlete (an NFL defensive linebacker
Linebacker
A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
, jersey number 55) unqualified to do his journalistic job. Recurring gags focused on Tank's "fumble-mouth" mistakes (such as presenting the "Norts Spews"), and on his tendency to jump on anything loose on the floor as if it were a fumble
Fumble
A fumble in American and Canadian football occurs when a player, who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed or scoring. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking or successful handing that results in loss of player possession...
d football. An annual feature was a Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
tale of Tank's last minute quest to obtain that year's "must have" toy for his nephew.
Tank has matured with the strip, which has gone on to highlight his loyalty, inherently gentle nature, and good heart. Recent years have seen several sequences dealing with Tank's youthful indiscretions. His behavior is never as damning as he believes it to have been, and he is always deeply sorry for his actions. While these sequences flesh out the background of Tank's character, they show the reader that he has always been a decent human being.
Tank, who is a bachelor portrayed as being vulnerable to romantic injury, began seriously dating a woman named Angela in 2005. Angela works at his TV station, and the two met after she beat him in the station's 2005 NCAA tournament
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
pool, despite choosing teams based on their uniform colors. Angela is the single mother of an athletically gifted son to whom Tank serves as a father figure, and she has eschewed competing in sports since a youthful tennis talent took over her life. She accompanies Tank to many work assignments, often assisting him in undercover reporting.
Tank's neighbors Nick and Kate had their own comic strip, Second Chances, from 1996 to 2000.
Social issues
The strip consistently addresses contemporary social problems related to sports, including gamblingGambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
addiction, steroids
Anabolic steroid
Anabolic steroids, technically known as anabolic-androgen steroids or colloquially simply as "steroids", are drugs that mimic the effects of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone in the body. They increase protein synthesis within cells, which results in the buildup of cellular tissue ,...
, the arrests of pro athletes, and athlete salaries. Sometimes these issues are portrayed fictionally, as when Tank's 'Little Brother
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is a 501 non-profit organization whose mission is to help children reach their potential through professionally supported, one-to-one relationships with mentors that try to have a measurable impact on youth....
' battles an online gambling problem, but sometimes the strip treats specific controversies by naming names. One popular example is its "Sports Jerk of the Year" award, which allows readers to nominate the figure they have found most objectionable and then vote on who is the worst. Previous 'winners' include Terrell Owens
Terrell Owens
Terrell Owens is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. A six-time Pro Bowl selection, Owens has been one of the dominant receivers of his era...
(2x), Bud Selig
Bud Selig
Allan Huber "Bud" Selig is the ninth and current Commissioner of Major League Baseball, having served in that capacity since 1992 as the acting commissioner, and as the official commissioner since 1998...
(2x), Daniel Snyder
Daniel Snyder
Daniel M. Snyder is the current owner of the Washington Redskins American football team, owner of the Dick Clark Productions television production company, and primary investor in Red Zebra Broadcasting, which is home to the Redskins Radio Network. Snyder has a net worth of $1.05 billion...
, John Rocker
John Rocker
John Loy Rocker is a retired American Major League Baseball relief pitcher who played for the Atlanta Braves, the Cleveland Indians, the Texas Rangers, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays as well as the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball...
, Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt born 24 February 1981) is an Australian professional tennis player and former world no. 1.In 2000, Hewitt had won ATP titles on all three major surfaces and reached one final on carpet. By 2001, he became the youngest male ever to be ranked no. 1 at the age of 20...
, Latrell Sprewell
Latrell Sprewell
Latrell Fontaine Sprewell is a former American professional basketball player. During his time as a professional, Sprewell was named to the NBA All-Star game during four seasons, and played for the Golden State Warriors, the New York Knicks, and the Minnesota Timberwolves...
, Ronald Curry
Ronald Curry
Ronald Antonio Curry is an American football wide receiver, currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the seventh round of the 2002 NFL Draft after playing college football at North Carolina....
, and Roberto Alomar
Roberto Alomar
Roberto "Robbie" Alomar Velázquez is a former Major League Baseball player , regarded by many as one of the best second basemen in MLB history. During his career he won more Gold Gloves than any other second baseman in history, and also won the second-most Silver Slugger Awards for a second...
.
Tank McNamara in popular culture
- In the NBC TV series Seinfeld episode #142 - "The Chicken RoasterThe Chicken Roaster"The Chicken Roaster" is the 142nd episode of the sitcom Seinfeld. This was the 8th episode for the 8th season. It aired on November 14, 1996.-Kramer:...
", JerryJerry Seinfeld (character)Jerome "Jerry" Seinfeld is the main protagonist of the American television sitcom Seinfeld . The straight man among his group of friends, this semi-fictionalized version of comedian Jerry Seinfeld was named after, co-created by, based on, and played by Seinfeld himself.The series revolves around...
refuses to give up his copy of a newspaper to his college friend Seth because he "hasn't read Tank McNamara yet". - Robert B. ParkerRobert B. ParkerRobert Brown Parker was an American crime writer. His most famous works were the novels about the private detective Spenser. ABC television network developed the television series Spenser: For Hire based on the character in the late 1980s; a series of TV movies based on the character were also...
's detective character Spenser is a fan of Tank, often making comments such as reading it twice to make sure there wasn't a clue hidden in it.