I was scanning the weekend crossword for my mother-in-law yesterday when I accidentally saw  the weekend “Family Circus” cartoon.

I didn’t want to look – the “funnies” haven’t been good since “Bloom County” left.

But it was on the opposite page from what I had to scan, so there it was. It was sure nice to see nothing had changed. Now, I didn’t find this strip entertaining when I was a kid, and especially once I learned about all the moralistic subtext the Keane’s jam into their strip. That’s what makes “Dysfunctional Family Circus” so much fun.

[Fun fact: According to Mental Floss, “Dysfunctional Family Circus” began online in 1995. Readers could submit their own (often morbid) captions to substitute Keane’s own. After 500 submissions, webmaster Greg Galcik got a cease-and-desist letter from King Features Syndicate, which co-owns and distributes the strip, and discontinued the parody in 1999.]

But something about this strip irked me. I think it was the last panel. Billy’s “journey” was nothing more than a drunken stumble, and every place he stopped along the way offered him nothing. He took his father’s advice, and it will lead to nothing more than empty stops along the way to death. From that perspective, it doesn’t take much to read into Billy’s actual future.

Tonight’s sports:

• MLB:
  • Atlanta Braves at New York Mets – 7:00PM | ESPN / TSN3
  • San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers – 10:00PM | ESPN / TSN3
• MLS is Back Tournament:
  • Toronto FC vs. NYCFC – 8:30PM | FS1 / TSN
  • Sporting KC vs. Vancouver – 11:00PM | FS1 / TSN

Don’t forget – we get hockey back this week. And NFL training camps open on Tuesday.