Burdell’s Bracket 2022: Sports Television Broadcast Theme Music - Championship

Methodology, Schedule, and Bracket:

A bunch of sports themes were listened to. Some were snubbed, and some forgotten about. A set of automatic qualifiers were invited to maintain a broad range of representation. Given that there is literally no objective way to rank these sports themes, it makes sense that my biased seeding (openly admitted throughout) still resulted in an interesting matchup for the final. This isn’t anywhere close to scientific.

As always, it’s all for the fun of it.

#4 SEC on CBS (NCAA Football on CBS) vs. #6 Olympic Fanfare / Bugler’s Dream

#4: CBS may not air the most sports, but they are certainly represented well on this list. As much as the general anti-SEC fan in me hates to admit it, this is the setting for the biggest game of the week, and unlike a lot of great football themes, it manages to stay upbeat and exciting, rather than feel very imposing and plodding. There’s likely a lot of that bias on the list - sports are fun! - but uptempo, lively themes really resonate with me.

#6: John Williams wrote a fanfare for a sporting event, and it absolutely fits the tone of the Olympics. Plenty of stuffy formality and flourishes, but that isn’t to say it is bad. It just fits what it is supposed to represent.

And this is what it comes down to, one last matchup.