BMatt’s Monday musings

AUBURN | I think we all know better than to read too much into what happens during the first week of fall camp.

A week into last year’s camp, Hugh Freeze mentioned JC Hart and Terrance Love as two young defensive backs standing out and how Tanner Burns thought special teams were going to be “leaps and bounds better.”

He said plenty that turned out to be spot on, of course, but it’s a good idea to keep that proverbial grain of salt handy this time of year.

With that in mind, there have been a few things that have stood out to me over the last week.

LOCAL STANDOUT

No. 1 on that list is freshman running back Omar Mabson. He certainly stands out in person but it’s the way Freeze praised him after Saturday’s workout that really stood out.

It wasn’t just your basic praise that gets passed around to a lot of players during camp. It was much more specific, which makes it more meaningful.

“That pad level he has, and he’s patient, and he’s just hard to … he’s gonna finish moving forward, it seems, in the reps we have,” said Freeze. “We haven’t gone live yet. But we’re in thud, and they’re thudding him pretty good, and he’s finishing runs.”

Mabson, who graduated high school a year early, still has some tough tests to pass but it’s a positive early sign.

Some other freshmen that have caught my eye early include noseguard Jourdin Crawford, who’s been getting reps with the first-team defense, receiver Sam Turner, who continues to perform like a veteran, and defensive lineman Darrion Smith, who is making plays despite being undersized.

FILM DON’T LIE

There were certainly others but the reason I point out those four is because they weren’t the most highly recruited players in Auburn’s 2025 class.

They were great evaluations by the Tigers’ staff, which is vital if you’re going to build a championship program. Not every five-star or top 100 player is going to pan out, and guys that play above their ranking are vital to fill those spots.

You can’t build a championship program with whole classes of strong evaluations, but they can make the difference between a very good class and a great one.

And in a year when your recruiting efforts have been kneecapped by your own administration, making great evaluations will be extremely important for this staff over the next several months.

Sure, they’re still going to get their share of top players between now and December, but a third consecutive top 10 class seems more wishful thinking at this point.

Freeze and his staff made some great evaluations in last year’s class. They’re just going to have to make a few more this time around.

THIS WEEK’S MUSICAL JOURNEY

In today’s musical journey, we go back 83 years to the premiere of a movie, which included one of the greatest holiday songs of all-time. On Aug. 4, 1942, the movie Holiday Inn premiered at the Paramount Theatre in New York. Its soundtrack included “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby, who also starred in the movie along with Fred Astaire, Marjorie Reynolds, Virginia Dale and Walter Abel.

Irving Berlin wrote and composed 12 songs for the movie including “White Christmas,” which topped the charts for 11 weeks, and again in 1943 and 44. Crosby’s version of the song is the world’s best-selling single and it continues to be a popular holiday song more than eight decades after its release. When you combine all the different covers of the song, it’s sold more than 100 million copies worldwide. Crosby had to re-record the song in 1947 because the original had been worn out by all the pressings, which is the version most often played today.

The film received three Academy Award nominations with “White Christmas” winning for Best Original Song. Berlin had to present the award to himself during the Oscar ceremonies, which was the first and only time that occurred. The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1974 and ranked No. 2 on NPR’s list of the greatest American musical works of the 20th century behind Judy Garland’s “Over the Rainbow.” The song was very popular during World War II and was also used as a cue to evacuate Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War when it was played on the American Radio Service.

FROM SIBERIA TO BROADWAY

Israel Isidore Beilin was born in Russia in 1888, most likely Tyumen, Siberia. His father was a musician and the family emigrated to the U.S. in 1893 and settled in New York. His father died in 1906 and Irving helped support his mother and seven siblings by selling newspapers and eventually as a singing waiter. He taught himself to play piano and in 1907 published his first song and changed his name to Irving Berlin.

He went on to write more than 1,500 songs during his career including 25 that topped the charts in the U.S. Some of his most popular hits include 1911’s “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” 1926’s “Blue Skies,” 1929’s “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” 1933’s “Easter Parade,” 1934’s “Cheek to Cheek,” 1938’s “God Bless America,” 1942’s “Happy Holiday,” 1946’s “Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)” and 1948’s “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” Berlin won a Tony Award in 1951 for Best Score for the musical Call Me Madam and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1968. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977.

Berlin died of a heart attack at the age of 101 in 1989. After his death, the New York Times wrote, “Irving Berlin set the tone and the tempo for the tunes America played and sang and danced to for much of the 20th century.”

OUR SPONSOR

Monday musings is brought to you by Uncle Keith’s Red Sauce. I was a customer before bringing them on as a sponsor and I was hooked after the very first taste. It’s available in original and hot and can be found in Publix throughout the state of Alabama along with select Piggly Wiggly’s and Renfroe’s. Uncle Keith’s Red Sauce was born right here in the state of Alabama.

*** GET 15% OFF YOUR ON-LINE ORDER WITH THE DISCOUNT CODE: BMATT15 ***