BCB After Dark: More Morel?

Welcome back to BCB After Dark: the happening spot for night owls, early-risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. We’re so happy you’re here for the final show of the week. Everyone is in a good mood after tonight’s win and a series split with the first-place Brewers. Grab a table in front. No cover charge after Cubs wins. Bring your own beverage. I hope you brought enough for everybody.

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.

Tonight the Cubs beat the Brewers 4-3 in ten innings thanks to Mark Leiter Jr. and Christopher Morel. Just like we all thought at the start of the season. OK, some other players helped. Honestly, I didn’t think it was possible for the Cubs to win two one-run games in a row. Now they’re all the way up to 6-13 in one-run games this year. I know the Cubs aren’t a good team, but their luck has been atrocious as well.

Last night I asked you if you thought that Nick Madrigal would be a starter on the next Cubs contender. Whereas 80 percent of you thought that Nico Hoerner would be a regular on the “next great Cubs team,” only 43 percent of you think that Madrigal will be around for that.

Here’s the part where I talk about jazz and movies. Feel free to skip to the baseball question at the end if you wish. You won’t hurt my feelings.

Once again, I’m running behind tonight because I had to go to a three-hour “promotion” ceremony for my daughter in eighth grade that was a heck of a lot like a graduation ceremony.

So tonight I’m just grabbing a 1977 PBS show featuring trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. If you’re into seventies jazz or even just nostalgic for what public television looked like back then, this one’s for you.

The performance features David Garfield on keyboards, Rick Zunigar on guitar, Larry Klein on bass and Carlos Vega on drums.

I don’t have a lot to say about movies this week as I’ve been really busy dealing with all the stuff surrounding my daughter being “promoted” from junior high.

But that got me to thinking about school movies as a topic of discussion. So why don’t you share with us your favorite movies about school? I know half of you are going to say The Breakfast Club and half of you are going to say Heathers, which will just go to show you how divided tastes can be.

I’ll make a plug for Blackboard Jungle, the 1955 “juvenile delinquent” film, starring Glenn Ford, Sidney Poitier and Vic Morrow. It’s also got the future Corporal Klinger himself, Jamie Farr, in a minor role. Blackboard Jungle is also the film that made Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock” into the first rock ‘n’ roll song to go to number one on the pop charts.

I’m sure there are a bunch of other good school films that I can’t think of at the moment. I know my wife, who is a teacher, has a deep hatred for most “heroic teacher” movies that she feels give an unrealistic portrait of what goes on in a school and how students succeed. Stand and Deliver may be a great movie, but it’s a pretty fictional portrayal of what went on in that East Los Angeles school. I would say the same probably goes for To Sir, With Love. But again, that’s an entertaining film despite the inaccuracies. And it’s got that title song by Lulu.

By the way, my wife loves Abbott Elementary as one of the more realistic portraits of the teaching profession. Sure, things get exaggerated for comic effect, but she says it mostly rings true. Of course, that’s a television series and not a movie.

Anyway, I’m sure there are a ton of school movies that I’m not even thinking about right now. But if you care to discuss your favorites, please do so in the comments.

Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies.

We had a heroic walk-off sacrifice fly tonight by rookie Christopher Morel. Since Morel arrived in Chicago (from Double-A Tennessee, no less!) on May 17, he’s pretty much won the hearts of Cubs fans. Not just with his infectious smile and exuberant personality, but also with his solid play both at the plate and at four different defensive positions.

So since I asked you the first two times this week if you thought that Nico Hoerner and Nick Madrigal would be a part of the next Cubs contending team, I thought I’d ask you tonight if you think Christopher Morel will be a part of that team.

Of course, it’s hard to judge Morel on just 15 games, but he’s been very good over those 15 games. And while Morel was never a top-five prospect in the Cubs system, he’s been a top-30 prospect for the past three seasons. Depending on who you ask, he’s been ranked even higher than that. So it’s not like he’s some org guy who just got hot when he got an opportunity in the majors. He’s always had skills, even when he’s struggled to put them to use in actual games.

So will Christopher Morel be a part of the next great Cubs team? I’m not asking you if he’ll be a starter, because the Cubs have been grooming him to be a Ben Zobrist-style multi-positional player since he arrived in the US. That’s how the Cubs intend to use him. But what I am asking is do you think Morel is a building block for a contending Cubs team?

Thank you for sticking with us all week. You’ve been a great audience and I hope that you’ll come back next week with some friends. If you checked anything, we’ll get that for you now. Tip your waitstaff. Don’t leave your phone behind. And join us again next week for another edition of BCB After Dark.