Joe Tait Calls His Last Game: A Tribute to One of the All-Time Great Cavaliers

"It's basketball time at the Q!"

For 39 years, Joe Tait has been the one-man radio team for the Cleveland Cavaliers.  On April 13th, 2011, Joe will call his final basketball game of a Hall of Fame career.

What ends as a disappointing season for the Cavaliers should have no bearing on the accomplishments and the impact Tait has had not only on the Cavs but the world of broadcasting as well.

From Carr to Price and Smith to Ilgauskas, Tait has seen it all in his time in Cleveland, although rarely being seen himself.

Those who remember Tait will most likely recall his trademark calls and trademark sweaters, but what's often overlooked is the number of accomplishments Tait has received in his illustrious career.

Not only has Tait called over 3,100 Cavaliers games, he was also the play-by-play voice for the Cleveland Indians for 15 seasons, working both radio and television.  When the Cleveland Rockers were still an WNBA franchise, Joe stepped up to the mic to deliver their games as well.

In 1992, still almost 20 years before his retirement, Tait was inducted into the Ohio Radio/Television Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

In August 2010, Tait was recognized with the Curt Gowdy Media Award, given to outstanding basketball writers and broadcasters by the National Basketball Hall of Fame.  Previous winners of this award include Jim Nantz, Doug Collins, Dick Vitale, Marv Albert and Bob Costas.

Most broadcast booths today are filled with two- or three-man teams, often ex-players who rely on the parts of three seasons they played to articulate their "expertise" to the common fan.  Often times these ex-jocks are too busy recalling their own glory days and reveling in self-promotion to deliver a quality broadcast.

Not Joe.

Tait, despite calling a non-stop game like basketball, does the play-by-play and color commentary by himself while simultaneously painting a beautiful picture of the action happening on the court for the listener to enjoy.

Section C126 at Quicken Loans Arena has been renamed "The Joe Tait Perch" in honor of Tait's 3,000th Cavalier game broadcast which occurred on March 26th, 2008.  On April 8th, 2011, the Cavaliers hosted a "Joe Tait Appreciation Night" that included a banner hung in the rafters to commemorate his outstanding career with the team.

Despite the awards and years of dedicated service, Tait is special for Cleveland because, in many ways, he represented what the city was all about.

Tait's broadcasts are never flashy, self-promoting or boastful.  They're delivered with class, integrity, humor and a lot of Digiorno pizza.  Tait was someone fans could rely on, someone who was always there for 39 years through a lot of bad teams, and some pretty good ones too.  He showed up to work everyday in a very blue-collar manner which reflected the spirit of the city that so admiringly enjoyed his work.

Joe Tait is Cleveland, and Cleveland will wish a very happy retirement to the man who we all had the pleasure of listening to for so many seasons.

"Have a good night everybody!"