Sports & Hip-Hop: The Cardinals Become the Shyne of the NFL, The Pats Roll & More Posted by Lucas Garrison on 12/13/12 | Filed under Opinion, 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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Tupac and Biggie "Runnin"


Last week, I touched on a few rookies who have been making an impact in the league despite their inexperience. Well, it seems as though we have a late bloomer in Giants running back David Wilson. Before the season started, Wilson, the last pick of the first round, was picked by some to be a breakout rookie. However, the Virginia Tech product found himself riding pine for most of the season due to a fumbling problem. In Week 1 against the Cowboys, the back fumbled on just his second carry of his career. The inexperienced back, then proceeded to cry on the sidelines, which is just never a good look.

Before last week's game against the saints, Wilson had not had his named called much, but with injuries to Amad Bradhsaw and Andre Brown, Wilson, who had been showing flashes of brilliance in the kick return game, got a chance at redemption. Following a Saints score via a 73 yard interception return for a touchdown, it looked as though the Giants were going to struggle. That was until Wilson received the next kickoff, which he took to the house for a 97 yard touchdown. Wilson’s return changed the landscape of the game; just as quickly as the energy was sucked out of Metlife Stadium, Wilson revived the crowd and saved his team from getting in a deep hole in an important game against a potent offense.



While that would have been enough to get him out of Tom Coughlin’s dog house, Wilson was not done. The speedy back almost retuned another kick for a touchdown, but was brought down after a 52 yard return. Because of his hot hand, and an injury to Ahmad Bradshaw, Wilson was also given the ball out of the backfield. Again he performed very well, going for 100 yards and 2 scores. In total, David Wilson racked up 327 all purpose yards (227 in kick returns and 100 out of the backfield), good enough for a Giants team record.



Wilson’s effort helped keep the Giants in first place of the NFC East, staying one game above the Cowboys and Redskins, and gave the team a much-needed spark. Wilson should see plenty of more work this season, especially with an injury to Bradshaw, but also, his success bodes well for the future. Wilson looks like a home-run hitter with a tremendous upside, provided he can curb the fumbles, which have been an issue in college, fumbling once out of every 48 touches, he should be a feature back for many years to come. To celebrate the rookies breakout game, I chose the classic tune "Runnin" by Pac and B.I.G, because it isn’t too often, someone racks up 327 rushing yards.

Game ft. Wale - "Stripper"


Got any plans for Sunday? Unless they include spending all day in front of a TV, then you might want tom rethink them, as there are a slew of huge games. Kicking off the day, is a 1 PM showdown between divisional foes the Packers and the Bears. Not only is this a huge rivalry game, but it also has playoff implications, making it all the more watchable. This rivalry is also one of the best, most historic rivalries in the NFL. The divison foes have squared off a whopping 185 times since 1921. Check out this video forma game between the two from1969. It gives you an idea of how long these teams have been playing and the history between them.



The Packers, who struggled out of the gate, seemed to have righted the ship and hold a one game lead over their Windy City rivals. The Bears appear to be spiraling. They have suffered multiple injuries to key players like Brian Urlacher, Tim Jennings, and their clutch kicker, Robbie Gould, who is done for the year. In addition to, and perhaps as a result getting bitten by the injury bug, the Bears have lost 4 out of their last 5, and once looking like division winners, are clinging to a wildcard spot, with the Seahawks, Redskins, and Cowboys right behind them. Despite their struggles, a win over the Packers would give them new life and keep them in control of at least a wild card spot. However, should they lose, they would most likely end up missing the playoffs. There is nothing like a late season rivalry game with playoff implications to get your Sunday started off right.

While there are several other great matchups, such as the Giants vs. the Falcons, the Cowboys vs. the Steelers, and the Ravens vs. the Broncos, none are more appealing than the Sunday night game between the New England Patriots and the San Francisco 49ers. This game, like the Packers vs. Bears game, is an intriguing matchup on its own. The Patriots are red hot, and historically, have been almost unbeatable in December. The Patriots have won an astounding 13 consecutive home games in December. Their most recent December victory coming last week when they blew out the AFC heavyweight Texans 42-14. Everything seemed to be going right for the Patriots on Monday, especially when Brandon Lloyd recovered a Danny Woodhead fumble in the endzone. I guess those are the kind of breaks you get when you are a good team.



This week, they face another tough defense in the San Francisco 49ers. The Niners are one game behind the Falcons in the race for the number 1 seed in the NFC and homefield advantage and need to remain ahead of the Seahawks, who still have an outside chance at the division crown. This defense has been great thanks to the play of defensive end Smith. Smith, a second year player out of Missouri, leads the league with 19.5 sacks and appears to be unblockable lately.



This could cause problems for the Pats, who have had some injuries on the offensive line, but overall, have been doing a great job of protecting Brady, considering they haven’t had a consistent group up front. However, if Aldon Smith can get to Brady, it could spell trouble for the Pats.

I chose Game’s Wale assisted tune Stripper for his topic, because Game has being releasing tracks every Sunday as part of his Sunday Service series, leading up to the release of Jesus Piece. I chose this tune because it was one of my favorites from the series and considering I am not usually a fan of Game or Maybach Wale, if I like it, you just might too. Also, now that Jesus Piece is out, its time for football to reclaim Sundays. Here's the schedule of the games this Sunday, I recommend looking through it and planning your Sunday accordingly.

Shyne "Bad Boys"


Remember way back in September, when replacement refs ruled the world and the Cardinals were looking like a surprise team? Hard to believe, but only a few months ago, they were undefeated and had beaten the Patriots among a few others. My how the times have changed. After winning their first 4 games, the Cards have not won a game since beating the Dolphins in week 4. Some of the highlights, er… lowlights include, a loss to the Jets, by a score of 7-6 and another terrible performance, in which they lost to the rams 17-3. While Cardinals fans thought they had seen the worst of it, their squad officially hit rock bottom last week against the Seahawks. Plagued by injuries, and a bad case of terrible quarterbacks, the Cardinals reverted to starting the onced benched John Skelton again, after 6th round rookie Ryan Lindley struggled, throwing 5 interceptions and 0 touchdowns in 4 games. The QB change did not help, and the Seahawks embarrassed the Cardinals by a score of 58-0. Yes you read that right, 58 to zip. The Cardinals had 8 turnovers (the NFL record is 9) and Skelton did not even reach 100 yards passing.



The sad thing is, their defense isn’t bad, its just that this offense, despite having Larry Fitzgerald, is anemic. When you have one of the best receivers in football, but cannot manage to get him the ball, it is truly a sad display. I cannot imagine how Larry Fitzgerald feels, and despite his outspoken support of the team, he must be very frustrated. It has gotten so bad that it looks like head coach Ken Wisenhunt, who is a great coach, looks to be on his way out. While he will finish the season, it doesn’t sound like he will be back next year. Although it is not really his fault, I guess someone has to take the blame.

It’s a shame to see a team that started so hot, crumble, and its gotten past the point where they are comically bad. This team needs some serious reshaping, specifically on the offensive side if they want to compete with the Seahawks and Niners down the road.

Shyne’s "Bad Boys" is the best fit for this topic, because his career is the perfect metaphor for the Cardinals this season. Way back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s Shyne was supposed to be the next great rapper. He was signed by Bad Boy, and looked like he was settling in for a long and prosperous career. All was well and good until he got wrapped up in the infamous club shooting incident with Diddy. Shyne was sentenced to 10 years in prison and, as a result, his anticipated album never got legs. After serving 9 years, he was released, but only to be deported back to Belize soon after. Shyne went from the future of the rap game to a never-was in the blink of an eye, much like the Cardinals went from serious contender to hopeless in a matter of weeks.

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