TUNE UP; CHRISTMAS SONGS IN SPORTS

By Scotty Mincher

I believe that as the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said: “Without music, life would be a mistake.” It seems that everybody likes to jam and rock out to their favorite tunes, especially before watching or playing in a big game or celebrating a great team victory. If you’re the type of person that likes all kinds of music, The Christmas season is one to savor, with plenty of carols and music tracks to go around. A lot like entertainment and sports It almost feels like music and sports are somewhat synonymous. This week we’ll break down all the world-renowned Christmas classics that tie in with sports.

The fact that I’m from the Youngstown area and fans in Youngstown are split 50-50 on their allegiance to the organization that I like to call the Cleveland Frowns and the Pittsburgh Steelers, Our first song choice is an obvious one for local sports fans. If you’ve watched any of the Browns Steelers games this year, it’s easy to see that the games haven’t lacked personality. Christmas songs are touted for their charisma and the leadoff hitter in this story is no different. Song number one ties into the Steelers franchise. You guessed it, This hit features Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer and Pittsburgh quarterback Mason Rudolph. As far as the song goes, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a song by songwriter Johnny Marks based on the 1939 story Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer published by the Montgomery Ward Company. Gene Autry‘s recording hit No. 1 on the U.S. charts the week of Christmas 1949. In 1939, Marks’ brother-in-law, Robert L. May, created the character Rudolph as an assignment for Montgomery Ward and Marks decided to adapt the story of Rudolph into a song. English singer-songwriter and entertainer Ian Whitcomb interviewed Marks on the creation of the song in 1972. The song had an added introduction, paraphrasing the poem “A Visit from Saint Nicholas” (public domain by the time the song was written), stating the names of the eight reindeer which went:

“You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen,

Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen,

But do you recall, The most famous reindeer of all?”

The song was first sung by crooner Harry Brannon on New York City radio in early November 1949,[citation needed] before Gene Autry‘s recording hit No. 1 in the U.S. charts during Christmas 1949. As for Mason Rudolph, at this point in his career, he’ll almost certainly be remembered only for his role in the brawl with Cleveland Browns star defensive end Myles Garrett, Which would climax with Garrett striping Rudolph of his helmet and hitting him over the head with it. Rudolph played college football at Oklahoma State, where he was a three-year starter and won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award during his last year. He was selected by the Steelers in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He spent the 2018 season as the Steelers third-string quarterback and did not see any game action in the regular season. Before the 2019 season, he was promoted to the main back-up to long-time starter Ben Roethlisberger.

In week 2 of the 2019 season, Roethlisberger suffered a season-ending injury, and Rudolph was named the starting quarterback in his place. He’s been far from great as a starter. He ranks 31st in the league in passing yards, 29th in touchdowns, and 31st in QBR which stands for quarterback rating. I hope everyone enjoyed a little history on the song Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer and the connection with Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph.

As we move on to song number two and the connection an NFL player has with it, We take a look at defensive lineman Frostee Rucker and that means that of course, the next tune on our list is Frosty the Snowman. It is a popular Christmas song written by Walter “Jack” Rollins and Steve Nelson, and first recorded by Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys in 1950 and later recorded by Jimmy Durante. It was written after the success of Autry’s recording of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” the previous year; Rollins and Nelson shipped the new song to Autry, who recorded “Frosty” in search of another seasonal hit. Like “Rudolph”, “Frosty” was subsequently adapted to other media including a popular television special by Rankin/Bass Productions, Frosty the Snowman. The ancillary rights to Frosty are owned by Warner Bros., but due to the prominence of the Rankin/Bass TV special itself, merchandising of the character is generally licensed in tandem with that special’s current owners, DreamWorks Classics. The song recounts the fictional tale of Frosty, a snowman who is brought to life by a magical silk hat that a group of children find and place atop his head. Frosty enjoys roaming throughout the town with the children who constructed him, only stopping once at a crosswalk when the policeman directing traffic orders pedestrians to stop. Frosty finally says goodbye to the children and comforts them, promising he will be back again someday. Although Autry’s original recording does not explain the reason for Frosty’s departure, later versions have lyrics that attribute it to the hot sun.

Although it is generally regarded as a Christmas song, the original lyrics make no mention of the holiday (some renditions, like that in the 1969 Rankin/Bass TV special, change the lyric “I’ll be back again someday” to “I’ll be back on Christmas Day”). The song supposedly takes place in White Plains, New York, or Armonk, New York; Armonk has a parade dedicated to Frosty annually.

It has been covered as an instrumental by the Canadian Brass, with founder Charles Daellenbach taking on the persona of Frosty, and repeatedly calling “One more time!” (“You know what happens when Frosty gets ‘hot'”), and then starting to collapse (“I think he’s melting” — “You know what happens when Frosty gets hot”). It was also covered by the Hampton String Quartet on their inaugural album, What if Mozart Wrote ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’.

On the football side of things, Frostee Rucker is currently a free agent. He played college football at USC and was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the third round of the 2006 NFL Draft. Rucker has also played for the Cleveland Browns, Arizona Cardinals, and Oakland Raiders. Frostee, named after poet Robert Frost, went to Tustin High School in Tustin, California, which DeShaun Foster, Matt McCoy, Chris Chester, and Sam Baker also attended. He played running back and linebacker at Tustin High School and was named All-Golden West League MVP as a Senior in 2000. He attended Santa Ana High School during his junior year and earned All-League honors as a linebacker. He played both his freshman and senior years at Tustin High. Frostee attended Colorado State as a redshirt freshman before transferring and playing at USC from 2002 to 2005. While in the NFL Frostee has recorded 300 total tackles, 21.5 career sacks, 8 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries, and 1 interception.

The final stop on this holiday carol/player profile breakdown has connections to the city of Cleveland, As we look at cornerback Daven Holly and one of my few Christmas favorites, You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know it’s A Holly Jolly Christmas. “A Holly Jolly Christmas” (also called “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas“) is a Christmas song written by Johnny Marks and most famously performed by Burl Ives. The song has since become one of the Top 25 most-performed “holiday” songs written by ASCAP members, for the first five years of the 21st century. “A Holly Jolly Christmas” was written by Johnny Marks in 1962. It was the title song of The Quinto Sisters‘ first album Holly Jolly Christmas, recorded in June 1964 for Columbia Records, featuring guitarist Al Caiola with arrangements by Frank Hunter and Marty Manning. Those are just a few of many cool facts on one of the most popular holiday songs.

Switching to the gridiron, In past years that I watched Holly play most specifically His time In Cleveland, a good word to fit the way he played football against opponents was pesky. He played college football at Cincinnati and was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the seventh round of the 2005 NFL Draft. Holly also played for the Chicago Bears and the Browns as I previously mentioned. Holly attended Clairton High School where in his senior year made 45 receptions for 900 yards and seven touchdowns. Holly played college football at the University of Cincinnati. During his time there he played in 49 games making 85 tackles, nine interceptions and one touchdown on defense. He majored in communications. Holly was signed by the Cleveland Browns as a free agent on July 13. He proved to be a valuable addition to a position that was decimated with injury. In his first season with the Browns, he made 14 appearances and 12 starts during which he made 56 tackles and five interceptions which led the team, (one of his interceptions was returned for a touchdown versus the Pittsburgh Steelers on November 19). He also recorded his first fumble for a touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on December 24. In the 2007 season, Holly appeared in 15 games with six starts. He made 47 tackles.