Roundball Rock
Even on a different network, John Tesh’s classic tops my list of the best sports anthems
I spent the last two nights watching Mountain West Conference basketball on FS1 and my biggest takeaway is that I’m still not used to hearing the “NBA on NBC” jingle on Fox.
It’s been four years now since Fox bought the rights to the legendary John Tesh song. It’s called “Roundball Rock” and you might not have the name memorized, but the jingle is no doubt lodged deep in your brain.
The story behind the jingle is the ultimate late-1980s story. John Tesh was in Europe working on the Tour De France, heard that NBC was getting the rights to the NBA and needed a jingle, then had an epiphany in the middle of the night. Cell phones didn’t exist. He didn’t have a recording device. Fearful he’s forget the song, he called his home in the United States and left a message on his answering machine with the basic premise.
This is Tesh explaining the story, along with the actual message he left himself, during a concert.
Yes, the song is so legendary, Tesh consistently played the song in his live concerts.
NBC used “Roundball Rock” from 1990-2002. This coincides with all six of the Chicago Bulls NBA titles with Michael Jordan, which is probably why the song is permanently lodged in my brain.
Even a decade after NBC no longer had the rights to the NBA, Saturday Night Live did a skit about a parody of the song that’s one of my all-time favorites. Jason Sudeikis plays Tesh, and Tim Robinson plays Tesh’s fictional brother Dave. Guest star Vince Vaughn is one of three NBC executives who try nudging the Tesh’s to ditch the lyrics and just stick to the music.
In 2004, Nelly sampled the song for his chart-topping single “Heart of a Champion.” The entire “Sweat” album went platinum. Nelly’s lyrics are filled with sports references, including these two.
I’m like Magic to Kareem
But you tell me I’m not Worthy
- - -
Can’t stop me from scoring so they result to just hackin’
So there’s three of us now – me, A.I., and Skaq’n
I heard the Nelly version a few hundred times when I broadcasted the Modesto Nuts games in 2007 because that was the walk-up song for infielder Chris Nelson. I still think of baseball Nelly every time I heard Nelly’s song.
After NBC lost the rights to the NBA, Conan O’Brien once tried a campaign to get Tesh’s version to be NBA theme no matter which network had the rights. It failed, but we did get to hear Tesh saying he got paid “Oprah scratch” for the song in an appearance.
“Roundball Rock” aired an estimated 12,000 times for NBC. It began at the end of the Magic-Bird rivalry, covered both of Jordan’s three-peats, plus the 1992 Olympic Dream Team.
When it comes to theme songs for sporting events, your favorite anthem probably says just as much about your age and favorite sport than your musical taste.
Here are my rankings:
1. Roundball Rock
For me, it’s gotta be Tesh’s “Roundball Rock.” It’s Air Jordan at the peak of his dominance, then departing for two years, then returning for three more titles. Sprinkle in some Hakeem the Dream, Patrick Ewing, Shaq, and of course the theme leads into the voice of Marv Albert.
The song ended up on Fox because NBC no longer needed it, some former NBC executives started working at Fox, they wanted to use it, and bought the rights. So it’s the song that keeps giving and giving to Nash’s back account.
As much as I enjoy college basketball, it’s still jarring to hear such an iconic song, that is synonymous with the NBA Finals, to be played when New Mexico is playing Colorado State.
It’s still my favorite though.
2. Olympic theme
There’s actually been three different Olympic theme songs, but the most famous is the one composed by John Williams.
Williams’ original version debuted with the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, but didn’t truly reach legendary status until it was combined with the “Bugler’s Dream” – the original theme – for the 1996 games.
3. MLB on NBC
As an ’80s kid, I’m partial to the NBC theme for Major League Baseball. Maybe this is because you so often heard Vin Scully’s magical voice in the background, or how often I heard that song before the A’s and Giants played playoff games in the late 1980s. But I get all the feels with the slower, more dramatic buildup of this song.
4. NFL on Fox
It’s been 30 years since Fox became an NFL rightsholder, but it’s hard to overstate the impact the network had on professional football. They introduced us to the score bug, the first-down marker, and so many more technological advances that it’s hard to fathom a viewing experience without them.
Even if the other networks had used theme songs in the past, Fox’s just felt different. I remember covering high school football games in Oakland in the late 1990s, and always every game, some parent would bring a huge boombox to play the “NFL on Fox” theme to get their kids pumped for the game.
5. Monday Night Football
Officially called “Heavy Action,” it was composed by Johnny Pearson in 1970 and first used on the ABC show, “Superstars.”
Personally, I think of “Heavy Action” more as the background when Howard Cosell is narrating highlights at halftime, and the Hank Williams, Jr. song, “All My Rowdy Friends Are Here On Monday Night” as the opener for the broadcast.
That’s my list. What iconic sports theme is on your list?