NBA Game of the Week > Roundball Rock?

This may be a controversial statement, but maybe NBC should not bring back John Tesh's "Roundball Rock" when it carries the NBA again starting next season. I am here to tell you that instead of looking back to the Nineties, the network ought to go to the Seventies:

I love "Roundball Rock," but here are some reasons for my suggestion:

1) It's already been played out with people speculating/celebrating/discussing it.

2) It's been used by Fox Sports for years and isn't as fresh as it otherwise would be.

3) NBC itself killed it with a cheesy promo announcing its return.

On the positive side of things, here is why I embrace the earlier song:

1) It has LYRICS! Every sports theme song should have lyrics.

2) And WHAT lyrics! "Sit back and do something nice for yourself." What could be more evocative of professional basketball?

3) The song combines several musical styles.

4) It still has some mystery. One of the joys of seeing that clip is reading all the comments wondering if it's Terry Kath on vocals.

5) Just imagine this song leading right to Keith Jackson and Bill Russell. That scenario makes me smile on even my darkest days.

If NBC won't do it, maybe new NBA TV partner Amazon Prime Video will. Someone should do it! If not, then please find a higher-quality clip of the original we can all enjoy.

Top Ten #356: Special "It's June" Edition!

1) Emotional Summer: It is underway, folks! Let's enjoy the season!

2) National Game Show Day: A bit of a contrived one, perhaps, but are YOU gonna sit back and refuse to celebrate?

3) CNN: The Cable News Network began 45 years ago today.

4) NBA and NHL Playoffs: The second season of each league is heading to the final rounds.

5) My Father's House: Wait, my father's house was...my house. I guess not everyone was so lucky. Anyway, a TV movie by this name debuted 50 years ago tonight on ABC. Cliff Robertson is a workaholic exec who reflects on his life while recovering from a heart attack.

Hey, let's get back to celebrating Summer, eh!

6) Harry Castleman and Wally Podrazik: The authors of a couple of my favorite TV books made several appearances in recent weeks on Ed Robertson's TV Confidential radio show. The good news: Their Watching TV has a new edition. The bad news: It costs more than the budget of some of the episodes we've covered on the podcast.

7) The Young Ones: The Britcom debuted on MTV 40 years ago last week, and it went on to play about 500 times a week on the channel.

8) Gidget's Summer Reunion: This syndicated TV movie aired 40 years ago this weekend. Cliff Robertson is a workaholic--Sorry, that was the other movie.

9) NBC: Also 40 years ago, it was announced that NBC had climbed to number one for the just-concluded season. We can of course give full credit to the show that carried the whole network:

10) R.I.P. Loretta Swit, Jeff Margolis, James McEachin: