Le Journal

It’s another week here at BCB After Dark: the hippest spot for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. We’re open again for business. We’re so glad you decided to stop by. Come in out of the cold. We can check your coat for you. The hostess will seat you now. Bring your own beverage. BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon. Last week I asked you if, after the trade for Edward Cabrera and the signing of Alex Bregman, the Cubs were now the team to beat in the National League Central. Seventy-two percent of you agreed that the Cubs are now the favorites in the Central. Another 27 percent went with the defending champs, the Brewers. The Reds managed to eke out one percent of the vote, which was more than what the Pirates and Cardinals got. Here’s the part where we listen to music and talk movies. The BCB Winter Science Fiction Classic is well underway, but you’re still free to join in the fun. But you’re also free to skip that. You won’t hurt my feelings. Tonight we’re featuring the Charles Mingus Sextet in Norway in 1964 playing the Billy Strayhorn tune made famous by Duke Ellington, “Take the ‘A’ Train.” Mingus is the bassist, of course, and Eric Dolphy plays bass clarinet. Jake Byard is on piano, Clifford Jordan on tenor sax, Johnny Coles on trumpet and Dannie Richmond is the drummer. You voted in the BCB Winter Science Fiction Classic between Star Wars and Alien and Alien pulled off the upset. A mild upset, to be sure, but an upset nonetheless. I did call it the “Star Wars bracket” afterall. I do wonder if Star Wars’ reputation has suffered because of the uneven quality of all the recent intellectual property spinoffs. I’ve only seen a few of them and I haven’t really considered myself a “Star Wars fan” since I was about 14 years old. But I know that there are millions out there that still revere it. But the same is true of Alien, I guess. Tonight we have the second semifinal of the “Star Wars” bracket between the number-one seed Blade Runner and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Blade Runner (1982). Directed by Ridley Scott. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer and Sean Young. Here’s what I wrote last time about Blade Runner. Blade Runner is the one film that gets mentioned a lot as an alternative to 2001: A Space Odyssey when critics are naming the greatest science fiction film of all time. I guess Stalker and Metropolis might get a few mentions as well, but it’s those two that, it seems to me, get mentioned the most often. It’s not hard to see why. Both of them are science fiction films with ambition. They both are trying to transcend the genre and elevate it at the same time. Here’s the opening scene of Blade Runner. I considered giving you the famous “tears in rain” speech as a clip, but since that’s a spoiler at the end of the film, I thought it best to avoid giving you that one for those of you who still haven’t seen it. But those of you already familiar with it can click on the link above if you want to relive it. 5. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) Directed by Nicholas Meyer. Starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and Ricardo Montalban. Here’s what I wrote last time about The Wrath of Khan. It’s entirely possible that I’ve seen The Wrath of Khan more than any other film. I don’t really keep track so I don’t know, but I’ve seen it a lot. If I just want a film for pure entertainment value, there’s not much better than The Wrath of Khan. There’s a saying that these kinds of films are only as good as their villain, and it doesn’t get much better than Montalban playing Khan here. But the film also takes advantage of our familiarity with the crew of the Enterprise and lets them play into their strengths as well. There’s…

Por Haley Britzky, CNN Un reclutador militar en Minnesota, señalando los temores por las operaciones en curso de ICE en Minneapolis, invitó a estudiantes de bachillerato a unirse a la Guardia Nacional, destacando un programa que ofrece cierta protección contra la deportación a la familia inmediata de los miembros del servicio. El correo electrónico, enviado

Draymond Green is the latest inclusion in the injury report. He is listed as out for tonight against the Miami Heat due to a right ankle sprain, in what will be the first game of a home back-to-back. Draymond Green is out tonight vs Heat. Right ankle sprain. Front side of back-to-back. Al Horford is playing, which rules him out tomorrow vs Raptors.— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) January 19, 2026 The Warriors will be short of two key rotation pieces in Green and De’Anthony Melton, who is listed as out due to injury management. Melton still hasn’t been cleared to play back-to-back slates, which means he will be available tomorrow against the Toronto Raptors. Al Horford — available tonight against the Heat — also hasn’t been cleared to play both games of back-to-backs and will be expected to sit out tomorrow night’s game. Per Databallr, the Warriors have been a net neutral (plus-3.5 on the floor, plus-3.5 off the floor) this season with regard to Green’s on-off numbers.

The Golden State Warriors will play the Miami Heat for Monday’s Martin Luther King Day matchup. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM PT in San Francisco and can be watched on NBC Sports Bay Area. MLK Day hoops🏀 GSW vs. MIA 🕖 7pm PT 📺 @NBCSAuthentic 📻 @957thegame📱 https://t.co/6BLvDT0Wyn🎟️ https://t.co/Z938EY2y42 pic.twitter.com/BG2KSz2J9q— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) January 19, 2026 Previously with the Warriors: The Warriors moved to a season-best five games above .500 after defeating the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night, 136–116. It was a true team effort for Golden State, with eight players scoring in double figures. The Warriors shot 54.8 percent from the field and stayed hot from beyond the arc, knocking down 23 of their 52 three-point attempts (44.2 percent). Golden State’s offensive rhythm continues to roll, as Saturday marked their third straight game with 10 different players making at least one three-pointer — a feat that has never been accomplished in NBA history. The Warriors are the first team in NBA history to have 10 players make at least one 3-pointers in three straight games @NBCSWarriors— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) January 18, 2026 Curry on Golden State's recent 3-point shooting: "We have capable shooters all up and down the roster. … It's how you create good looks that get everybody involved. It's a fun way to play, not knowing who's going to get (the ball) on any possession."— Sam Gordon (@BySamGordon) January 18, 2026 What to watch for tonight: Saturday’s blowout win came despite a surprising late scratch for Warriors wing Jimmy Butler, who was ruled out shortly before tip-off. After the game, head coach Steve Kerr said he was informed by general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. that Butler missed the game due to personal reasons. Steve Kerr on Jimmy Butler’s late scratch and how the Warriors, said he doesn’t expect it to be anything long term:“I got the word from Mike [Dunleavy] that everything is fine. He just had a personal thing that came up right before the game.” pic.twitter.com/G95j5XK4es— Kenzo Fukuda (@kenzofuku) January 18, 2026 While Butler is expected to return for Monday night’s matchup against his former team in the Heat, Golden State will be without De’Anthony Melton, who will be sitting out the first night of this back-to-back. De’Anthony Melton is out for the Warriors tomorrow night against the Heat on the front side of a back-to-back. They face the Raptors on Tuesday night. Jimmy Butler is not on the injury report after missing Saturday night for personal reasons.— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) January 19, 2026 In addition to Butler’s return, former Warrior Andrew Wiggins will make his first appearance at the Chase Center since last year’s blockbuster trade. Wiggins was a key piece of Golden State’s 2022 championship run and should receive a warm ovation in his return to the Bay.  I hope Dub Nation gives him a GREAT welcome back tonight!! He deserves it. https://t.co/Lw9YdioBC3— Raymond Ridder (@DoubleR_PR) January 19, 2026 Enjoy the game Dub Nation. GO WARRIORS!!!  Projected Starters Warriors: Steph Curry, Moses Moody, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, Quinten Post Heat: Davion Mitchell, Norman Powell, Pelle Larsson, Andrew Wiggins, Bam Adebayo How to watch Regular Season Game 44 Who: Golden State Warriors (24 – 19) vs. Miami Heat (22 – 20) When: Monday, January 19th, at 7:00 p.m. PT Where: Chase Center, San Francisco, California TV: NBC Sports Bay Area (available on fuboTV)

The thing about Cubs Convention is that you can be as big of a Cubs fan as anyone you know, a rabid poster on various Cubs communities like Bleed Cubbie Blue, the type of person who gets notifications for multiple teams and players, and odds are the crowd at Cubs Convention will out-fanatic you. It won’t be one or two people, either. It will be 95 percent of the crowd, at all times. In 2026, however, it was hard to get to the point of feeling overwhelmed by any one else’s fandom because the size of the crowd itself was overwhelming at virtually every moment. To be clear, there is always a crowd at Cubs Convention and waiting in line for a bit is part of the game whether you want seats on Friday night or an autograph from a player. But 2026 was orders of magnitude different from every other year I’ve attended Cubs Convention. This year’s lines and crowds strained the capacity of the Sheraton Grand and resulted in large numbers of disappointed fans being turned away from events. It’s a perfectly reasonable assumption for fans that buying a pass to the Convention means access to those events, and for marquee events this year that simply wasn’t the case. As I was heading to Cubs Convention at approximately the same time I have every year since I began attending in 2017, I was stunned to get a call from a friend, Ken Schultz. He just heard he wasn’t getting into the Opening Ceremony. That struck both of us as odd, he’d been at the Sheraton for a couple of hours and neither of us are new to this gig. In fact, we’ve attended every Cubs Con together since it returned after the pandemic. My curiosity was piqued. I walked towards the hotel entrance and saw more than a few disappointed fans calling ride shares to take them back to their hotels. I stopped to chat with a couple guys, one on crutches. They’d been there since about 2:30 p.m., and while they weren’t sure what time they finally joined the line to get into the Opening Ceremony when doors opened, they both estimated they’d been standing in line for at least an hour when they were told the room was full. It was their first Cubs Convention, the tickets had been a Christmas present. You could sense their disappointment that they’d spent $150 on each pass, not to mention money on travel and a hotel room, only to be turned away from the first event 45 minutes before it was scheduled to start. I headed in to meet Ken and the line still snaked through the lobby with Cubs staffers at the escalators to keep fans from heading up to the at-capacity fourth floor. I didn’t do a head count of the number of people in line, but I was stunned at how long it still was: To be clear, there are always some diehard fans who get in line at 8 a.m. on Friday to ensure they are seated at the front of the room. However, in the years I’ve attended Cubs Convention getting there when the doors opened at 4:30 p.m. for a 6 p.m. start was adequate to get in the fourth floor ballroom. You might be able to snag a single seat, you might have to stand in the overflow, but you’d be in the ballroom. According to a Reddit thread about this year’s convention, that was not the experience in 2026: Ken and I opted to head to Lizzie McNeill’s for dinner and watched the Opening Ceremony on the TV over the bar. That pub is traditionally a late-night hub for Cubs Convention activity and 2026 was no exception. Friends and other bloggers trickled in all night. The crowd was a topic of conversation with almost all of us agreeing the convention was oversold considerably, along with speculation about what that could mean for the activities on Saturday. For those who have never been, Cubs Convention happens in more than the ballroom on the fourth floor. There are autograph signings, a vendor expo on the first floor and side events all weekend long. The only times almost everyone is in the ballroom are the Opening Ceremony on Friday and Bingo on Saturday night. At previous iterations of Cubs Convention that capacity seemed to cap…