MGoBlog: The MGoPodcast

If I was Jaren Jackson and someone asked me if I was leaving for the NBA draft I’d be like ‘I just played 15 minutes in an NCAA tournament game. Yes I’m gone.’”

seriously who did this?

We are back at the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown which has a new conference room now that Notre Dame has one more Big Ten championship than Rutgers.

We Couldn’t Have One Without the Other

We can do this because people support us. You should support them too so they’ll want to do it again next year! The show is presented by UGP & The Bo Store, and if it wasn’t for Rishi and Ryan there would be VERY long hiatuses between podcasts.

Our other sponsors are also key to all of this: HomeSure Lending, Peak Wealth Management, Ann Arbor Elder Law, the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown, the University of Michigan Alumni Association, Michigan Law Grad,Human Element, Lantana Hummus and Ecotelligent Homes

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1. Staeenfraude

starts at 1:00

Syracuse is not a good basketball team. Josh Langford with 20% usage and 37 ORtg. MSU with 29 OREBs and still losing. Ben Carter ain’t Mitch McGary, Tom. Touchdown, Billy Taylor!

Texas A&M Preview

starts at 16:40

Bombed North Carolina so bad people thought we might rather face North Carolina. This is definitively not true: A&M is a bad shooting team that had a crazy good shooting night until UNC got desperate and allowed a lot of runouts. Good at running you off the line—they contest shots, don’t go for steals, rebound and shotblock well. Lost starting PG (the Marquette transfer) was lost at mid-season and replacement is an offensive hole with Rob Gray usage. They play the way they make you play: will challenge Wagner and Robinson in the post and try to get them in foul trouble. Get to 1 PPP and stop their transition and win.

The Rest of the Region

starts at 37:04

FSU: coach in the tournament who looks the most like a character from The Wire, spectacularly large big men with spectacular names. Xavier turned the ball over a ton, which was out of character for them. But it’ll probably be Gonzaga, who’s a much tougher matchup. Stretch five knocking down 48% of his threes. They’re all foreign, they’re all tall. Kentucky is the team it’s likely to end against if it gets that far. But start making shots guys.

Gimmicky Top Five: Worst Commercials during NCAAs

starts at 52:27

Difference of opinion on the Spike Lee, Charles Barkley, Samuel L. Jackson buddy film. I’m glad they brought up the awful lady who throws all her stuff out the window. Get Doris Burke. Insurances we can’t buy. Ace’s bloody Great Clips experience. Nationwide upper middle class white guy ballads because we’re all still singing “Nationwide, that kid just died.” Yelling “dilly dilly” is a very little brother thing to do.

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MUSIC

• “No Scrubs”—TLC
• “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea”—Neutral Milk Hotel
• “Poets”—The Tragically Hip
• “Across 110th Street”

THE USUAL LINKS

• Helpful iTunes subscribe link
• General podcast feed link
• What's with the theme music?

Can we talk about fun things? Because Jordan Poole hit a really awesome shot!

We are back at the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown where the conference rooms are fortunately safe right now since 1 seeds apparently can lose to Rutgers-level teams now.

We Couldn’t Have One Without the Other

We can do this because people support us. You should support them too so they’ll want to do it again next year! The show is presented by UGP & The Bo Store, and if it wasn’t for Rishi and Ryan there would be VERY long hiatuses between podcasts.

Our other sponsors are also key to all of this: HomeSure Lending, Peak Wealth Management, Ann Arbor Elder Law, the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown, the University of Michigan Alumni Association, Michigan Law Grad,Human Element, Lantana Hummus and Ecotelligent Homes

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1. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! the Houston Game

starts at 1:00

Even while not handing out bags John Beilein is among the most successful coaches in the country. Naming a Top 10 without him becomes impossible. Tommy Amaker? Borderline Top 5, obvious Top 10, hard-pressed to find a better tactician. Breaking down The Shot II. The walk-ons are so crafty at post-buzzer beater dogpile tactical moves you wonder if they’ve been coached on that too. The game before that was a #refshow. Other than that: defense continued to be superlative. Want to see Simpson create more—Houston forced drives to the baseline. Weird shots—CM gets his but a lot of great shots rolled out.

2. Unnnnngggghhhhhhh the Montana Game

starts at 30:32

Least fun 14-point victory in tournament history. At one point Montana’s offense was so out of ideas that the tried to post up their 6’8” Big Sky bigs on Teske. In a slugfart game when you need someone to barely scrape the lower reaches of offensive adequacy Charles Matthews is your man. Let’s not get in that situation again. Wagner and MAAR had bad weekends; need better to beat North Carolina Texas A&M. 

3. Gimmicky Top 5: Wild Emotional Swings

starts at 43:59

Doesn’t have to be sports but 9/10 are sports because who are you talking to? Jordan Poole shot is not eligible. Glorious trollface steal, the 2002 Red Wings-Vancouver series. The Shot. UTL1. Also some sad things.

4: Ace’s Hockey Podcast (wsg David Nasternak AND Ace Anbender)

starts at 59:36

It’s the #8 overall seed which means 2 seed, which means you get an ECAC team instead of the #1 overall seat in your part of the bracket. Northeastern: eerily similar to Michigan two years ago. Second-worst at puck possession. They have son of Keith Primeau. (why not MSU or another Michigan team?) and the Hobey leader—Michigan’s awful PK unit means whistles matter a lot. Cornell on the other side: super old players, play a lock system, goalie with super-high SV%. Unless it’s BU, which is super-talented high draft picks but not well-coached.

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MUSIC

• “Turn My Swag On”—Soulja Boy & Tellum
• “Hate It Or Love It”—The Game & 50 Cent
• “Funkin Around”—OutKast
• “Across 110th Street”

THE USUAL LINKS

• Helpful iTunes subscribe link
• General podcast feed link
• What's with the theme music?

That’s where I put my Komodo dragon when I fly United.

Things discussed:

• Michigan ends up seeded below MSU but with a more favorable draw.
• Last Michigan team that faced UNC was a very different team than a hypothetical rematch in the Sweet 16.
• Montana preview: The best 14 seed sure, but shut down their point guard and you’re in business.
• Don’t look past Houston, though. Ed’s numbers favor Houston and people are emailing. They can catch fire from three—Michigan’s ability to run them off the line makes us a bad matchup for them.
• Houston’s path to an upset is defense and getting hot from three. But they’re a small team so Michigan should be able to beat them in the paint.
• Virginia: how much does losing the 6th man of the year affect them?
• Callers: Angry Steve. Angry Phil.
• In-Studio: Angry Craig.
• Auburn is playing like there’s no tomorrow, because there’s no tomorrow.
• Don’t like playing against zones because Michigan just stares at them before they figure out how to shoot, and we don’t have a lot of rise-up shooters on this team.
• Around the brackets: How does Zona start two 7-footers and not be close to a top 50 defense? 1 seed Xavier is not favored vs 4 seed Gonzaga—do we believe it? Sam like Zona.
• First round games: Butler is the easy pick. Would you ever take a 10% sixteen seed?
• Who’s the last Teske that Michigan’s had? Craig starts to talk about the worst officiating call in the history of the Big Ten.
• When will teams start playing Z dishonestly? If they haven’t already there’s a there there.
• Final Fours: Brian: UNC-Purdue-Duke-Virginia, Craig: Cincy-Xavier-Purdue-Duke, Ed: Nova-Duke-UNC-Cincy

“SGA for the uneducated is Shai Gilgeous Alexander, who sounds more like a wizard I made up in DnD than any player since God Shammgod.”

We couldn’t do it at the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown because Brian was on offspring duty. Note the distinct difference in comfort and quiet when you’re not at the Rez Inn.

We Couldn’t Have One Without the Other

We can do this because people support us. You should support them too so they’ll want to do it again next year! The show is presented by UGP & The Bo Store, and if it wasn’t for Rishi and Ryan there would be VERY long hiatuses between podcasts.

Our other sponsors are also key to all of this: HomeSure Lending, Peak Wealth Management, Ann Arbor Elder Law, the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown, the University of Michigan Alumni Association, Michigan Law Grad,Human Element, Lantana Hummus and new this week introducing Ecotelligent Homes

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1. Michigan’s Quad

starts at 1:00

Michigan’s in Wichita, which doesn’t sting but c’mon MSU in Detroit? Previewing Montana, Houston, North Carolina. Don’t want to face SDSU (we don’t like zone teams with big fours!) but Houston looks capable of taking them out. Good draws otherwise: Michigan can run these PG-oriented teams off the line. UNC will be there if we make it to the Sweet 16—we like Providence more than the SEC mess. Ohio State-Gonzaga is a disagreement. Purdue against anybody but Nova.

2. Bad Bracket Opinions

starts at 22:40

Almost as bad as three of four ESPN analysts picking Michigan State as if they hadn’t watched every game (except the one) where they scraped by a mediocre team. Don’t take Oklahoma. We’re not picking against Clemson because of Donnal it’s because they lost a big man (which makes them play another Donnal).

3. Gimmicky Top Five: Bracket Outrages

starts at 44:37

Should Kenpom be on the teamsheets? Michigan-UNC Greensboro for the non-FBI national title. Not enough MSU schadenfreude. Too many weegionals. No regional in Anchorage. Tough for Saint Mary’s, not so tough on PSU and Notre Dame. Michigan State doof’s unbelievably bad KPI model, which doubles down on the worst parts of RPI and gets on the team sheets because Mark Hollis. Also Syracuse?!? The silly quadrants were important after all! Recommend Seth Barnes as the best ranking system.

4. Ace’s Hockey Podcast wsg David Nasternak

starts at 1:13:25

It is a visual, silent podcast. Death to posts. Michigan doesn’t look like they don’t belong on the ice with 1 seeds anymore. Quinn Hughes really coming into his own. Bench is tighter than under Berenson.

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MUSIC

• “P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)”—Parliament
• “Knee Deep”—Funkadelic
• “Can You Get to That”—Funkadelic
• “Across 110th Street”

They’ve got a permanent chip on their shoulder and its name is Zavier Simpson

Things discussed:

• Hit some threes with some weird guys. Michigan’s matchups vs MSU are all too good. Can’t cover up Winston’s defensive deficiencies the way Michigan spaces you.
• Michigan’s coaching is so good
• Won Nebraska with defense; didn’t like that we kept going at Roby and he was awesome. Wagner’s best game other than 27 points at Breslin?
• Michigan starts the 2nd half vs Purdue with a 10-2 run after missing great shots in the first half. Purdue was one step behind Beilein all night. Painter is a great coach too.
• Bridges turns into a jump shooter because Yaklich put Z on him. It’s not a switch! He wasn’t able to stick in the post despite MSU trying to run their offense through him.
• State came into the game trying to punk Michigan, turned out they were the softer team.
• What do we not want to face: zone teams. Good zone attack plan but not enough rise up shooters. Every time they face it they need time to adjust. Good draws: West Virginia (see: the VCU game in 2013), Virginia, teams that have a traditional post. Bad draws: Duke, UNC, Nova. Don’t want a Michigan-ish team.
• There’s no favorite in this tournament. If Virginia didn’t have a history of flaming out at least.
• Yaklich effect: 43rd percentile in P&R defense to 92nd!!
• Craig: Zavier Simpson, best defensive point guard at Michigan since Alfred Ethelwulfsson, maybe the best ever.

And next year, when they lose in some stupid out of conference tourney in Atlantis, we’re not going to do this again. We’re not gonna freak out, Michigan basketball twitter. We’re just gonna be like, ‘Well that is unfortunate but I look forward to the improvement that is undoubtedly coming next year.' That’s what we’re gonna do. We’re not gonna get in anyone’s mentions. We’re just gonna be like that was unfortunate, I hope it doesn’t happen again, and it probably will not. Amen.

We are at the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown, which is down to EIGHT conference rooms after that tourney, so book now before there are no rooms left!

We Couldn’t Have One Without the Other

We can do this because people support us. You should support them too so they’ll want to do it again next year! The show is presented by UGP & The Bo Store, and if it wasn’t for Rishi and Ryan there would be VERY long hiatuses between podcasts.

Our other sponsors are also key to all of this: HomeSure Lending, Peak Wealth Management, Ann Arbor Elder Law, the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown, the University of Michigan Alumni Association, Michigan Law Grad,Human Element, Lantana Hummus and new this week introducing Ecotelligent Homes

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1. The Big Ten Championship Game

starts at 1:00

Ace and Brian opened a bottle of champagne. Kenpom time was not friendly, the score doesn’t show how much Michigan dominated the game. Despite Michigan going 3/11 on threes Painter switched up his approach because they were wide open. Z and MAAR did an incredible job on Carsen Edwards. The free throws. Who’s the MVP of this game? Does any other Big Ten team have a better claim to “best team in the conference?” State played nobody on the road and lost by double-digits twice to Michigan at home and at a neutral court. Purdue? Michigan went 30 minutes without a turnover.

2. The Rest of the Big Ten Tournament, and Seeding

starts at 17:58

Michigan versus Iowa was frustrating largely because the threes wouldn’t go, and the atrocious refereeing. Nebraska: Poole’s defense on Palmer was clearly below that of Matthews. Stop going at Roby—that guy is incredible. MSU: Why is Jaren Jackson playing for this program that won’t put him on the court in a crucial game? State was desperate: been owned by Michigan lately and the FBI is about to crater the program. McPoyle tweet rules! Change the end of basketball games: run off whatever’s left on the shot clock?

3. Bracketology

starts at 38:27

Michigan should get the Detroit seed over Michigan State. What scares us is how dumb the committee can be. Michigan had the harder Quadrant 1 schedule—hopefully that and, like, everything puts Michigan ahead of Michigan State and their four losses. Resume-wise Michigan goes above MSU. H2H Michigan goes above MSU. KPI hates the Big Ten in general. Feels like there’s one or two more teams than spots in Detroit. Xavier is 15th in Kenpom, is the 1-seed you want in your bracket. Z is the engine of this team right now, on both sides of the floor.

Next year: keep it rolling. Teske and Poole as fulltime players, some deadeye shooters coming in a super class. The Zavier Simpson murders the world year is going to put a smile on our faces no matter what happens in the tournament.

4. Ace’s Hockey Podcast wsg David Nasternak

starts at 56:36

Ace was kicked out for excessive I told ya so’s. Michigan punches their ticket despite a pretty bad Wisconsin Friday they pulled out with power play goals. Mel didn't surgarcoat: if we don't play better we aren't going far in this tournament. Prettiest goal of the year on a 4-on-1 started by Quinn Hughes. The Niko Porikos goal was kiss fingers. Complaint again about the stupid college hockey tourney: nice that Big Ten went away from that. Big Ten is a good hockey conference now because the bad teams got good--only MSU lags behind and that program made a good hire.

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MUSIC:

• “Empire State of Mind”—JayZ
• “The World is Yours”—Nas
• “Survival of the Fittest”—Mobb Deep
• “Across 110th Street”

THE USUAL LINKS

• Helpful iTunes subscribe link
• General podcast feed link
• What's with the theme music

 

South Dakota and Philly, woohoo!

Things discussed:

• Dropping the hammer on Maryland. This team can stay in games thanks to defense, offense still feels like it can go on and off.
• How better on defense? 1) Z is a much better on-ball defender than Walton ever was. 2) Yaklich is moneyballing, forcing defenses into lower efficiency shots: funnel to the posts, prevent threes and transition. Cut out most of the hard hedging to make it more effective. Ability to switch to versions of 2-3 zones when a matchup gets exploited.
• Michigan’s entered the Big Ten season with good defensive rebounding before but it’s never stayed this good.
• Iowa: They don’t play defense. Brian hates it when Michigan plays vs a zone. Garza is not a terrible offensive team but they do turn the ball over a lot. Make your threes, make your free throws (ED: prescient, guys)
• Things for Matthews to work on over the offseason: driving to shoot, and hands.
• If M gets to MSU Sam likes the matchup: Cassius Winston is at the perfect place but Michigan was able to take Jaren Jackson out of the lane—would MSU play JJJ at the five again? Get JJJ in some foul trouble (maybe in the NCAAs, the Big Ten isn’t going to call him).
• Hockey tournament: The Midwest regional is in Philly. In the Allentown Arena. Geez, NCAA. At least the Big Ten figured it out. Michigan probably in the tournament despite missing Will Lockwood. Michigan’s penalty kill gives up shots from right inside the blue line and that’s not a shot you want to give up. Great year for a house money year. Quinn Hughes is a pirate. Win one they’re in; win two and they might get a better seed.

 

You don’t want to see "This is Jordan Poole for Mr. Spots?" Come on!

We are at the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown, which now is the time to book those rooms for football next year because those fill up.

We Couldn’t Have One Without the Other

We can do this because people support us. You should support them too so they’ll want to do it again next year! The show is presented by UGP & The Bo Store, and if it wasn’t for Rishi and Ryan there would be VERY long hiatuses between podcasts.

Our other sponsors are also key to all of this: HomeSure Lending, Peak Wealth Management, Ann Arbor Elder Law, the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown, the University of Michigan Alumni Association, Michigan Law Grad,Human Element, Lantana Hummus and new this week introducing Ecotelligent Homes

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1. Hoopscast

starts at 1:00

Zavier Simpson erased Tony Carr gnat style, Mo Wagner three that re-tied swung the game from a loss to a win. Yaklich has magnificently moneyballed this defense, forcing opponents into the least efficient shots, e.g. M funnels the ball to the post. Twice in a row Beilein has gotten a DC from a defensive mid-major that’s outplaying their level. Bench guys are developing well.

2. Big Ten Tourney, Hardware and Bracketology

starts at 35:12

A continuation of our This Week’s Obsession yesterday. Who’s the best center in the league (since the league didn’t name one)? When you watch MSU you’re most terrified of JJJ. Penn State always has a 2nd team all-conference two guard and nobody else. Z got robbed; when the only guards who have good games are dudes making bad ideas…

Brackets: UM up to a six, should probably stick there if they get 1-1 in the BTT. If they face MSU maybe a five. Win the thing: fourth seed in Detroit? Would love to face West Virginia, Cincinnati.

3. Drevno and the FBI

starts at 58:15

Drevno got axed in the most dignified way: Michigan tried to find him a landing spot but nobody took him. Warinner thing all makes sense now. Warinner: “Never leave that double until you smell the linebacker’s breath.” OSU’s offense was much more power and counter so it’s not a spread misfit. Got an OL commit in the meantime. Maybe they can pick up a stunt.

Go FBI! Correlation between the wanton NCAA rule-breaking and program cultures that hide actually heinous things. The spreadsheet is just the tip of the iceberg—there are plenty of other agencies out there operating this way. Adopt NHL draft/Olympic amateurism models. Base rookie wage scale on age so players aren’t incentivized to leave early/franchises aren’t incentivized to rush them out of school.

4. Ace’s Hockey Podcast wsg Ace Anbender (also David Nasternak)

starts at 1:22:50

Why are we in Fargo and Allentown two years in a row? The penalty kill is atrocious—don’t know if they can fix it this year. Any series win against Wisconsin probably puts them in the tournament. Outplayed in previous four games except for when goalie things went haywire. Even Ace has fond opinions on Quinn Hughes—one of his favorite things to do is pass it from the blue line then immediately asks for it back; shades of Jordan Leopold going Bobby Orr, and some Michigan examples Brian can sometimes pronounce.

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MUSIC:

• “Rock Steady”—The Whispers
• “Get Up & Get Down”—The Dramatics
• “It Hurts Until It Doesn’t”—The Mothers
• “Across 110th Street”

 

Their blood is fused with urea which is interesting so if you want to eat it you have to do some stuff to it.

Things discussed:

• Fun shark facts.
• Duncan Robinson: Not just a shot-blocker. Penn State was committed to posting up for some reason. Beilein’s zone adjustments were interesting. Putting Z on Carr also brilliant.
• Charles Matthews is broken.
• Craig Ross gives Jordan Poole pro tips on looking into the camera.
• Maryland and Mediocre Mark: Tossup game. Defense travels. Penn State unlikely to beat Nebraska with Roby playing as he is without Watkins.
• Bracketology: Michigan has a quadrant problem, e.g. PSU was 76th (despite being a Kenpom Top 25 team) and had to be a 75th to be a Q1 road win, so last night’s win doesn’t count.
• Ed’s hockey podcast: Beat Arizona State and they’re a lock for the tournament despite a team that wasn’t supposed to be there.  Once there? No dominant team this year.
• Why so bad on special teams? Assume Mel came in and focused on his 5 on 5 system but that’s speculation.

 They do have a couple of immensely punchable faces.

We are at the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown, which now is the time to book those rooms for football next year because those fill up.

We Couldn’t Have One Without the Other

We can do this because people support us. You should support them too so they’ll want to do it again next year! The show is presented by UGP & The Bo Store, and if it wasn’t for Rishi and Ryan there would be VERY long hiatuses between podcasts.

Our other sponsors are also key to all of this: HomeSure Lending, Peak Wealth Management, Ann Arbor Elder Law, the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown, the University of Michigan Alumni Association, Michigan Law Grad,Human Element, Lantana Hummus and new this week introducing Ecotelligent Homes

---------------------------------

1. The Hoops Podcast

starts at 1:00

Bracketology: Even the biggest skeptics are coming around on Michigan as a 6-7 seed: NCAA and their buckets make it annoying because a win at Michigan State is the same as a “Quadrant One” trip to Penn State. Encouraging to see head of the selection committee say strength of nonconference is garbage. Big Ten goes to 20 games next year so we’ll see fewer Houston Baptists.

Poole eating into Matthews’s minutes, which is a nice thing to see given CM’s turnovers. MAAR is up to 20% usage. Michigan can beat anybody when they’re getting a huge shot differential from their turnover avoidance. Posting up on Dunc doesn’t work anymore. Peak Wisconsin names—Happ took 23 twos in that game!

Big Ten future: Indiana should be back up, Maryland will solidify itself, Brad Underwood a good hire at Illinois. Annually convince ourselves that Iowa will be good, but they’re 250th on defense. Penn State preview: Watkins gets angry—go get him Mo! Unlikable players in the Big Ten?

2. The Ball of Crap so We Aren’t Talking Recruiting Segment

starts at 34:01

Curling! Signing Day: Michigan recruiting imploded and we don’t know why. Otis Reese is understandable because Georgia is paying ridiculous money. Losing Herron from the 2019 class hurts.

Jim McElwain: he’s a position coach who can’t recruit, don’t think he’s a competent dude or a good dude—denigrating players like Mark Mangino. Made up a death threat. Credit card fraud. Track record as a WRs coach but as a 10th assistant he’s a wasted opportunity more than anything. Nobody down South likes him so you’re not even getting some help in Florida recruiting. Like Sherrone Moore and Ed Warriner hires. Not great that Pep is still around if it’s only because he didn’t get an NFL offer.

3. Gimmicky Top Five: Top Five Things NCAA Would Cite Beilein For

starts at 52:51

The FBI is going to come down on a lot of programs and the people in Ann Arbor aren’t scared, but we’re going to try to figure out what they’d find if they put Michigan’s basketball program under the microscope. This is what Michigan State failed to do—we’re getting out in front!

4. Ace’s Hockey Podcast wsg David Nasternack

starts at 1:06:26

Sweep weekend over #1 Notre Dame gives them a shot at the playoffs, provided they take care of business down the stretch vs. Arizona State—tournament upsets can really hurt teams in the 13-15 at-large area. ND was a good matchup for us because Michigan's a defensive team and can hang back.

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MUSIC:

• “We Will Not Make It (Not Without You)”—Twin Peaks
• “The Star Spangled Banner”—Francis Scott Key, as “performed” by Fergie
• “Drunk and On a Star”—Kevin Morby
• “Across 110th Street”