English
EspañolCubs BCB After Dark: Who will lead the Cubs in home runs?
It’s another night here at BCB After Dark: the grooviest nightspot for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. You know you’re always welcome here. Come on in and spend some time with us. There’s no cover charge. The hostess can 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 night I asked for your opinion about the World Baseball Classic. Most of you were reasonably positive about it as 38 percent of you said you “Like it” and 26 percent of you said that you “Love it.” Only six percent of you want to see it discontinued.
On Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, I don’t normally do any movie stuff. But I always have time for jazz, so you’re free to skip that now.
Tonight we have pianist Jacky Terrasson playing the Michel Legrand music from maybe my favorite movie musical of all time, “Les parapluies de Cherbourg” (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg). This is a much more upbeat version of the music than the more melancholic take that’s in the film.
Joining Terrasson is Kenny Davis on bass and Alvester Garnett on drums. This performance is from 2024.
Welcome back to everyone who skips all that jazz.
Tonight’s question is simple. Where are the Cubs going to get their power? Who is the biggest home run threat on the team?
So who is going to lead the team in home runs? Every year I ask this question and I don’t think we’ve ever predicted right. Since 2020, the Cubs’ team home run leader has been a surprise more often than not:
2020: Ian Happ—12
2021: Patrick Wisdom—28
2022: Patrick Wisdom—25
2023: Cody Bellinger and Christopher Morel—26
2024: Ian Happ—25
2025: Michael Busch—34
I don’t think any of those winners were expected at the start of the season. Wisdom came out of nowhere twice. I suppose Busch was a reasonable pick this time last year, but was he really favored over Kyle Tucker or Seiya Suzuki? Bellinger doesn’t look unreasonable in retrospect, but he was coming off getting non-tendered by the Dodgers. On top of that, he only tied with Christopher Morel, who was also a shock winner of the Cubs HR title.
So with the understanding that we’re all likely to be wrong, who will hit the most home runs for the Cubs in 2026?
I hope I don’t have to explain who any of these people are.
Thank you for stopping by tonight. We were glad to host you. Please get home safely. Tell us if you need us to get a ride for you. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow for more BCB After Dark.
After winning gold, Alysa Liu reveals dream skate playlist and ‘Olympic crush'
Alysa Liu's Olympic victory lap shows no signs of slowing down.
Since winning gold in women's singles at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, the 20-year-old Bay Area native has launched a whirlwind media tour, offering fans a deeper look at her music choices, mental health journey and plans for the future.
Appearing on Bravo's "Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen" on Monday, March 2, Liu revisited her now-viral free skate to Donna Summer's "MacArthur Park."
"I was recommended by someone to listen to that song," Liu said. "Then I found a 16-minute suite version, and it took it to another level."
The performance vaulted her from third place to Olympic gold and sent the 1978 disco anthem back up Billboard's Dance Digital Song Sales chart, according to Billboard. Her exhibition skate to "Stateside" by PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson also delivered a streaming boost.
Looking ahead, Liu shared the five songs she hopes to skate to next: "Fire in My Heart" by Escape From New York; "CHIHIRO" by Billie Eilish; Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake"; "Star" by Mitski; and her top pick, "Capable of Love" by PinkPantheress.
The Oakland-raised skater has also opened up about the personal journey behind her comeback. In an interview with Today, Liu reflected on stepping away from the sport at 16 after feeling burned out.
"My mental health used to be horrible, like, absolutely horrible," she said. "And I just took a break, and I did something new."
Her advice to young athletes feeling pressure?
"If it's really such a struggle, I would say definitely take that break. Don't be scared to do that. You'll be scared of failure, (but) honestly, trying new things will definitely give you a different outcome."
The tour has included lighter moments, too.
In a video with Self magazine, Liu revealed her "Olympic crush."
"I think my Olympic crush is probably Suni Lee," Liu said. "She's so pretty and very stylized. You know what I'm saying? I like that, yeah. Oh my gosh, the one and only Hilary Knight. There's no thinking outside the box on that one."
She continued, "I have many Olympic crushes. Lauren Hernandez. I love that she's openly queer and that she is completely herself, a little bit of a nerd, just like me."
On "Today" Monday, Liu met "Harry Potter" actor Daniel Radcliffe backstage, in a moment captured by the show's social media team. The two embraced and posed for a selfie with her gold medal.
"You being you was the most joyful thing I've watched," Radcliffe told her.
Over the weekend, she also received a pop culture nod on "Saturday Night Live," where a sketch referenced "that figure skating girl with the striped hair," prompting Liu to repost the clip on Instagram and respond simply, "Period."
Back in Oakland, a new mural at Telegraph Avenue and 43rd Street in Temescal honors Liu with an image inspired by her playful "thizz" face - a nod to the Bay Area's Hyphy movement - alongside the words "Shoutout Oakland," echoing her post-victory remarks.
The Asian-led art collective Illuminairies funded the mural themselves.
"The Warriors left, the A's left, but it's kind of like we have someone to look up to and somebody that our kids can aspire to be," Steve Ha of Illuminairies told NBC Bay Area. "And you know, follow your dreams, and I think it's just dope, man."
City officials are also planning a community-wide celebration, Mayor Barbara Lee announced, calling Liu "Oakland's hometown hero." Fentons Creamery has offered her "ice cream for life."
As she makes stops in New York and beyond, Liu has said she plans to compete at the upcoming ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Prague.
When asked whether she sees herself competing at the 2030 Winter Games in the French Alps, her answer was succinct.
"Oh yeah," Liu said.
This article originally published at After winning gold, Alysa Liu reveals dream skate playlist and ‘Olympic crush'.
Harper scores 22, Spurs rebound from 1st loss in 12 games to romp past 76ers 131-91
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Dylan Harper scored 22 points and Victor Wembanyama needed only 10 to help the San Antonio Spurs bounce back from their first loss in 12 games and rout the Philadelphia 76ers 131-91 on Tuesday night.
The Spurs hit 18 3-pointers and wrapped their annual rodeo road trip with a 5-1 record. They had won 11 straight games overall before they lost Sunday to the New York Knicks.
No worries in Philly about a losing streak. San Antonio never trailed and led by 49 points at the end of the third quarter.
Devin Vassell hit six 3-pointers and scored 22 points for the Spurs.
Tyrese Maxey scored 21 points for the Sixers. They scored only 11 points total in the third quarter.
The 76ers played again without Joel Embiid as he sat out the second of a scheduled three straight games with a strained right oblique. The 76ers were also without the suspended Paul George and Kelly Oubre Jr. (illness), which left them undermanned and greatly overwhelmed from tip against the superior Spurs.
The Sixers lost VJ Edgecombe after he had a hard landing on his back on a 3-point attempt in the first half.
The Spurs put on a show in front of Bob Costas, Doug Collins and more familiar broadcasters as part of a throwback night for NBC's NBA coverage.
The 76ers would like to throw this one back.
Carter Bryant buried a 3 for 60-36 lead in the first half and the Sixers were booed off the court headed into a timeout. Harper scored 14 points in the half to take a 78-53 lead — all done without forward Harrison Barnes, who had his 364 consecutive games played streak end when he woke up from a nap with a sore ankle.
Up next
Spurs: Return home for the first time since Feb. 21 when they play Detroit on Thursday.
76ers: Host Utah on Wednesday.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
76ers-Thunder Jared McCain trade already looks incredibly one-sided
76ers-Thunder Jared McCain trade already looks incredibly one-sided originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Philadelphia 76ers couldn't figure out how to use Jared McCain this season.
So before the NBA trade deadline, they sent the talented second-year guard to the Oklahoma City Thunder. And everything has changed.
McCain is thriving in OKC.
He's nearly doubled his scoring average (6.6 to 12.5 points per game) from his stats with the 76ers this season to his stats with the Thunder.
He's also shooting better from the field (38.5 to 48.5%) and better from 3-point range (37.8 to 43.1%).
MORE: Rip Hamilton's son is committed to play D-I college basketball
It wasn't hard to see this coming, either.
As a rookie with the 76ers, McCain was leading the Rookie of the Year race with a potent start to his NBA career out of Duke before he went down with a season-ending injury.
By the time McCain made it back to the court this season following an additional injury, he had fallen out of the rotation.
Philly occasionally made an effort to incorporate him, but at other points, the 76ers pretty much let McCain just rot on the bench. It's as if they forgot what he had already done for them, and the level he had already proven to be able to reach in the NBA.
So instead of allowing him to rediscover his development, the 76ers instead traded McCain to the Thunder, who consistently help players reach their maximum potential.
It already looks like yet another steal for OKC, and a move the 76ers may come to regret.
More NBA news:
No. 13 Oklahoma knocks off Dallas Baptist
Things were a bit sleepy at Kimrey Family Stadium on Tuesday night. When you're staring at five games in six days, that's a good thing.
The No. 12 Oklahoma baseball team, which knocked off Dallas Baptist, 2-0, in a one-off, midweek game finds themselves in such a scenario this week. One down, one to go now as Oklahoma (11-2) next prepares for a four-game set with Santa Clara from Thursday to Sunday.
Both the Sooners' runs came off the bat of first baseman Deiten LaChance. He hit an RBI single in the third inning to center field that scored Kyle Branch. Then in the eighth inning, his flyball to center plated Dasan Harris. Oklahoma had managed just one base-runner over the fourth, fifth and sixth innings before threatening in the seventh after the first two batters reached. A wild pitch with two outs sent them second and third base, but Jason Walk struck out to end the inning.
Harris then started the eighth with a single, too, ultimately putting himself into position to give OU's pitchers some breathing room. Not that they needed it.
Coach Skip Johnson used eight different pitchers against the Patriots. Combined, they gave up just two hits, two walks and hit two batters. They also struck out 11 while allowing just one DBU runner to reach third base. Jackson Cleveland pitched the ninth and allowed Dallas Baptist to bring the potential winning run to the plate, but he got Adam Berghul swinging to end the game.
No Sooners player had more than one hit, though Camden Johnson reached twice with a single and a walk. Jaxon Willits and Drew Dickerson each knocked a double.
OU's series against the Broncos begins Thursday night at 6:30 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: No. 13 Oklahoma baseball beats Dallas Baptist