Sports & Hip-Hop: The Texans Continue to Roll, The Saints Struggle & More Posted by Lucas Garrison on 10/10/12 | Filed under Sports, Sports & Hip-Hop

A Note from Nathan S: Since the dawn of time, or at least since N.W.A. started rocking Raiders hats, sports and hip-hop have gone together like Rosa Acosta stretching videos. So while most sites might just recap the last week's biggest sports stories, we're upping the level of difficulty and attempting to recap the week's biggest sports stories...via music.

I'll let the homie Lucas Garrison take it from here:

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“Int’l Players Anthem” - UGK ft. Outkast


For those of you who didn’t watch the Monday night game between the Texans and the Jets, you really missed out. Second year defensive end JJ Watt had one of the more impressive individual performances of the year.

Watt, who leads the league in sacks with 8.5, terrorized the woeful Jets offense all night and helped keep the AFC South powerhouse undefeated. That night was a coming out part for Watt, who has quietly become a defensive force recoding a league best 8.5 sacks. In addition to leading the league in sacks, Watt also has 8 pass deflections. That is an astounding number of deflections for a defensive lineman. To put it into perspective, Watt is tied for 3rd in passes deflected among all players, beating out stars such as Ed Reed and Cortland Finnegan. Watt is also the non-defensive back player to be in the top 20 for passes deflected. Watt, at 6’5 295 pounds, is a physical force and can overpower pretty much anyone who stands in the way of the quarterback. What is really impressive his how athletic he is considering his size. Watt, who converted from tight end to defensive end in order to play football at Wisconsin, has an astounding vertical jump despite his 300 pound frame. At the 2011 combine, Watt’s vertical was 37”. You can see just how amazing that is when you compare Watt’s vertical to Dwayne Wade. Wade is an inch shorter than Watt and has a vertical of 36”. The fact that Watt can out jump Wade and is almost 300 pounds, is remarkable. Wanna see his hops in action? Check out this video from his college days.



Watts vertical, as well as his 11.1” inch hands, give him the ability to bat passes down at the line of scrimmage. Watt has affectionately been nicknamed “JJ Swat” and showed why on Monday night. The Jets, down by a touchdown late in the second quarter, actually managed a good looking a drive, and were threatening to score. With 29 seconds left, Watt deflected a Sanchez pass that was intercepted by Brice McCain, who proceeded to return 86 yards into Jets territory. The Texans managed three points and Watt was responsible for the six-point swing, which altered the rest of the game. On the last play of the game, Watt appropriately ended the game by batting down yet another pass attempt.

The Texans remain undefeated and showed on national TV, why they should be considered the class of the AFC. Their stingy defense and efficient, ball control offense are a great 1-2 punch and as long the defense continues to take the pressure of the offense by creating turnovers and winning the field position battle, they should continue to rack up the W’s. Despite the loss of star linebacker, Brian Cushing, who tore his ACL on Monday night, the Texans have plenty of players, such as Watt, who can pick up the slack and keep this team on track for the best record in the AFC.

I chose “Int’l Players Anthem” by UGK ft. Outkast for this topic, because how can we talk about H-town without showing love to the duo who put Houston on the map?

“Novacane”- Frank Ocean


I chose “Novacane” by Frank Ocean in honor of all the Saints fans who might need something to numb the pain of watching their once dominant team fall to the bottom of the standings. The Saints came into the season without their head coach, Sean Payton, assistant coach, Joe Vitt, linebacker Jonathan Vilma, and defensive tackle Will Smith. All of them were suspended for their roles in a bounty system, awarding players for causing injuries to opposing players. Peyton, Smith, and Vilma are done for the year and Vitt, the interim head coach, is eligible to return next week. The turmoil and lack of leadership looks to have taken its toll on the team. The Saints are tied for seventh most in penalties and definitely miss the leadership of an experienced head coach. Despite their struggles, the Saints offense remains productive. Drew Brees continues to play at a high level, but he does have 6 interceptions, the same number as the bewildered Mark Sanchez. Interceptions aside, Brees remains one of the most elite passers in the league. In fact he just broke Johnny Unitas’ 52-year-old record for consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass, by hitting Devery Henderson for a 40-yard touchdown strike.

Although Brees continues to be productive, this team will continue to struggle because the real problem with this team is the defense. They have given up the third most points and are giving up a league leading 456 yards per game to opposing offenses. The Saints defensive unit also gives up an average of 25.8 first downs per game, which, again, leads the league. Jamaal Charles exploited this defense back in week 4, rushing for 233, highlighted by a 91 yard touchdown scamper, and showed the rest of the NFL how vulnerable this Saints defense is:



The Saints did manage to get their first win, beating the often-overrated Chargers, 31-24, but if they want to climb back into the playoff hunt. Joe Vitt and the coaching staff must find a way to fix this defense before its too late.

“Cream” - Wu-Tang X The Beatles


Although the Indianapolis Colts have gone through some big changes in the past year, replacing Hall of Fame quarterback, Peyton Manning with the coveted rookie, Andrew Luck, they showed they are still capable of mounting a comeback. Last week, Colts coach Chuck Pagano was diagnosed with Lukemia, and spent Sunday in the hospital instead of on the sidelines with his team as the faced the Green Bay Packers. The Colts down 21-3 at the end of the half, looked all but finished. However, the Colts were not giving up and fought back won the game for their coach on a 4-yard toss from luck to Wayne, who has known Pagano for 16 years.

Luck looked like the quarterback he was hyped to be, standing in the pocket and making big throw after big throw. Luck threw for 362 yards and 2 touchdowns and only had 1 interception. While Luck’s performance was stellar, this win was a team win. Everybody on the team played their hearts out for their coach and were rewarded for their efforts. As you can see from the post game speech given by owner Jim Irsay, it was a special day for the organization and meant a lot more than just another win.

The Colts win on Sunday was a perfect example of what happens when you play as a team. In honor of the Colts team victory, I chose a cut from the ultimate team in hip-hop, the one and only Wu-Tang Clan for this topic. Specifically I chose “C.R.E.A.M”, but because you have all heard that track a million times, I chose a cool remix from, “Enter The Magical Mystery Chambers”, a whole album of Beatles/Wu-Tang mashups.

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