Round Ball Rock + Magic, Bird, and MJ: The Perfect Pre-Game Intro
This video honestly almost brought a tear to my eye. I remember the first time an NBA game debuted on NBC back during the 1990-1991 season. This was the intro to the pre-game show called NBA Showtime. The poetic Bob Costas and former Lakers coach, Pat Riley were the hosts of Showtime, while Marv Albert and Mike Fratello were the lead announcers for NBA on NBC games. When you throw in John Tesh’s Roundball Rock theme music and NBC’s in game Miller Genuine Draft Moments, their broadcasts reached absolute perfection.
David Stern loves to come up with reasons for why the NBA television ratings are down. He says it’s because people are getting their NBA coverage through new media such as the internet and video games. I must disagree. People aren’t watching the NBA because the NBA’s TV contract absolutely sucks. The decision to drop NBC and bring on the ESPN/ABC conglomerate was the biggest mistake they could ever make. First of all, ABC has the worst NBA coverage I have ever seen. They have baseball and football play by play men moonlighting as NBA broadcasters. They broadcast a majority of their games on cable and hardly promote the few games they broadcast on ABC throughout the year.
More people still watch network television than cable. Any idiot knows that it’s hard for a major sports league to keep up buzz when most of their games are on cable rather than on network TV. Imagine if the NFL did not have games on network TV every week. On top of that the League’s best announcer does not broadcast the Finals. What the hell is going on here? Last year ESPN/ABC made a big deal about hiring Mike Breen to team up with Hubie Brown for their NBA finals coverage. Listen, Breen was better than Al Michaels, but the best announcer in the NBA has and always will be Marv Albert. His timely uses of calls like “Yeeeesssss”, “Serving up a facial”, “A Sensational Move”, “From Down-town” and “Rejected” lets any real basketball fan know that he/she is watching a big game. How could you expect anyone to take a big game seriously when Marv is not around to make the call?
Then ESPN/ABC has the nerve to treat their theme music as an opportunity to market terrible pop songs. The last two seasons we’ve been treated a coctail of the Pussy Cat Dolls, Rob Thomas and Destiny’s child, while the year prior it was the Black Eyed Peas. Are you kidding me?!?!?! Any real basketball fan associates the NBA and a big game with Tesh’s masterpeice “Roundball Rock” (otherwise known as the NBA on NBC theme). John Tesh tried to sell the rights to the theme to ABC once they retained the rights to the NBA, but noooo….ABC chose not to give it’s NBA fans what they had grown to know and love, and instead decided to get us pumped by torturing us with Rob Thomas’s “This is How a Heart Breaks”. I liken it to when Hulk Hogan left the WWF for WCW and started coming out to some ridiculous new crappy theme song instead of the Derringer classic “Real American”. Trust me, it just wasn’t the same.
If you search all over the blogoshere, everyone says the samething: The NBA on ABC/ESPN sucks. Everyone wants Albert calling the Finals and everyone wants Roundball Rock to be the theme music.
Sports enthusiast Bill Simmons would probably be calling for the same thing if he didn't work for ESPN. Believe me, anyone that thinks Rocky Balboa singlehandedly ended the cold war, worships Hulk Hogan, and watched the NBA during it's Bird/Magic/Jordan glory years also longs for Marv and Round Ball Rock.
Despite my displeasure with ABC's NBA coverage, I do have to admit that the NBA's other broadcast partner, TNT does have pretty good coverage. They employ Marv Albert and their Inside the NBA studio team of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, and Kenny “The Jet” Smith is pretty entertaining. But that studio team doesn't cut it for anything after the second round. The NBA should still should pull Costas out for pre-game hosting of the Conference Championship series and the Finals. Consider this Video. Costas might be the greatest broadcast journalist ever:
People used to take big NBA games seriously, and this is mostly because NBC knew how to market and broadcast the NBA product. ABC/ESPN has no clue. I’m hoping that when the current TV contract expires, that NBC will join the bidding war and at least capture the right to broadcast the Finals.
11 comments:
Nate:
Great post. I think alot of the problems that the NBA has had (television wise) since it moved to ABC/ESPN is that Disney believes just by throwing basketball on ESPN it will somehow magically draw people in simply because it's on the greatest, most watched, most popular sports cable network.
Their arrogance is overwhelming--to turn down John Tesh's theme song is the ultimate evidence. That's like ESPN of Fox turning down music from NFL Films for football games and highlights. I used to plan ahead to watch the NBA on NBC. Now ESPN throws average games on during the week and will throw one or two quick promo ads on during Sports Center to get me excited. Disney, please!
I just got goosebumps watching those videos. Awesome work.
I agreed with you 100% until you brought up costas, I can live without him... and Jim Gray, that dude is terrible.
Marv Albert's chemistry with the Czar ot the telestrator was pitch perfect. I still remember the time he sarcastically let it slip that the Czar had filled out his all-star ballot in crayon. those were good times.
Absolutely agreed that ABC in general is on par with the Pussycat Dolls in the AWFULNESS department.
I love TNT though. I would watch every game with them if I could. Even the playoffs.
As for NBC, my understanding was that it wasn't the league's choice to move the broadcast over -- NBC didn't want anything to do with the NBA anymore because even with their great broadcasts, NBC was losing money.
Jones,
I agree with you somewhat on this post. The NBA on NBC was classic! It reminds me weekends at my Granny Helen's house. Within the context that you placed it's absence, I suddenly feel a sense of loss. It's what I grew up on for goodness sake; Roundball Rock (which you can download on I Tunes) IS basketball for all intents and purposes and I hate to say this, but John Tesh was brilliant! LOL!
As for Bob Costas, you are delusional, Bob Costas sucks! I abhor his smugness. He is not poetic, John Facenda was poetic. Costas is just arrogant. How could you crown him the best? Boooo!
I also agree with you about Marv Albert, there is something endearing about him, despite his past legal issue. I like him and his toupee!
Oh, and by the way, Destiny's Child's music should not be classified as terible pop music! They made some jams, as a matter of fact, I am listening to them right now....."let me cater to you, 'cuz baby this your day, do anything for my man, baby you blow me away, I got your slippers, your dinner, your dessert, and so much more...anything you want, boy let me cater to you.." I love that song!!!!! LOL! No, seriously, I really do...
I agree with almost everything you write - however, my only gripe with the NBA on NBC's overall package was their use of Jim Gray - he sucked big time.
Dr. J was also shocking to watch and listen to, when they rolled him out of mothballs for a few of the Finals' series in the 90's (particularly the Jazz / Bulls series'). It was like watching a car crash with Dr. J - you can't help but stick around to see the aftermath.
Peter Vescey was terrible also, come to think of it - he tried to be a hero whenever he analysed games, but was very ordinary.
On a positive, Marv and Mike were awesome together - Zeek Thomas was pretty bad actually, when he tried to commentate, as 95 times out of 100 he'd relate things back to being about him and his career rather than the game at hand.
My favourite comment from Marv was anytime following a Fratello 'rant' where Mike says (after we see a replay of great moves etc) stuff like: "Jordan, tells Pippen and his team mates to get out of the way, as Michael is feeling it!".
It leads to this inevitable interchange of priceless comments:
Marv: "Is...that, what he said?"
Mike: "Exactly! Word for word!"
Oh, the glory days of NBA!
ah, I forgot about zeke. he was soooo bad.
after howard eisly made a nice pass in one of the finals vs Bulls, Isiah dropped this nugget of insight. "Howard Eisly attended my basketball camps. And Howard Eisley was a counselor at my camps later on. So I know him really well."
Actually, the NBA on cbs was pretty good as well if you want to go way back. I used to love the sunday games starting at noon central time.
hi guys, does anyone know the name of or who played the song tha used to play before the espn breaks during the nba games? it was an orchestra right?
PS: nice video of the roundball rock.
Wow, I thought I was the only one. I'm 19 years old, but I grew up on NBA on NBC. I can remember it like it was yesterday (which made me a Suns fan from 92').
The intro and also the introduction of the players. It gave you a feeling of being there. I remember the game the Sonics played after the Oklahoma bombing and they had the bell toll during the game. The player introduction other than throwing up graphics gave it a sense of being front row and learning about the players.
Good game selections (which there was a game every sunday from beginning of the season other than ater the all star game) and good commentary.
I hope that they bring Showtime back and with the same formula.
The NBA on NBC is the sports telecast, and even greatest TV show of all time.
I miss the Sunday triple headers, and the doubleheaders on Saturday. The memories are priceless.
From Bob Costas, to Marv Albert, Hannah Storm (or Hanner as Peter Vescey would say), to the on-screen graphics, the buildup during the pre-game on Showtime and the introductions, to the great theme music that will be ever engraved in my head, nothing will beat the NBA on NBC, nothing!
Thank God I have dozens and dozens of games on tape that I continously watch over and over again to relive the good old days, because the NBA on ABC does suck the big one, and it's definitely not the same. I hardly watch the NBA these days... I now prefer the NCAA instead.
Oh Marvelous....
I used to like Mike Breen when we had the backup guy on NBC but he is not good and the deal with Van Gundy and Jackson is sickening. Walton and Steve Snapper Jones were never that bad.
I'm a lakers fan and love the western conference. I guess I'm always going to be a Marv fan. He is, by far, the best. I'd rather have Costas. For that matter, I wish Tirico and Hubie were calling these games.
It took awhile for me to like the broadcasts when they left CBS and went to NBC but this crap with ABC/ESPN is horrible...horrible and it isn't going to get any better anytime soon.
When does the ABC/ESPN contract run out? Not soon enough to take the NBA back to NBC or CBS. I guess I long for the days of Dick Stockton and Hubie Brown.
Post a Comment