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Joe Tait Honored

Posted on May 11, 2010 · 1 Comment

Perhaps the biggest honor for Cleveland Cavaliers iconic radio voice Joe Tait would be being the voice of the NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers.  But this one’s pretty good.

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame has tapped the veteran Cavs broadcaster as the Hall Of Fame’s broadcast  inductee for 2010, with Tait winning the Curt Gowdy Media Award.

Quoting the press release from the Cavaliers’ website:

Joe Tait, the 2010 Gowdy Award winner representing the Electronic Media, is currently in his 38th season covering NBA basketball as the voice of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He began as Cleveland’s play-by-play announcer eight games into the club’s inaugural season of 1970, and during his first 11 years with the team, Tait earned his reputation as one of the nation’s top sportscasters.

After stints in New Jersey (1981) and Chicago (1982), Tait returned to call the Cavs’ games in 1983 when owners George and Gordon Gund acquired ownership of the team, as one of their first moves was to re-hire the most recognizable and popular voice of the franchise. In 1987, Tait was named Vice President, Broadcasting for the Cavaliers and worked on all aspects of the club’s radio and television broadcasts, calling games on WOIO-TV/19 and the Cavaliers Television Network. For the past 15 seasons, Tait has called Cavaliers’ games on News Radio WTAM 1100 and the team’s radio network that reaches most of Ohio.

The release also note’s Tait’s previous awards and honors:

Tait is an eight-time winner of Sportscaster of the Year in Ohio, spanning from 1974 to 2004. He was inducted into the Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1992 and was awarded the group’s C.S. Williams Founders Award for his longstanding and meritorious service in broadcasting in 1996. In 2008, Tait received the “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, joining Cleveland sports legends such as Jim Brown and Bob Feller as recipients of the honor. In addition, Tait was inducted to the Cleveland Sports Legends Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Cleveland Press Club Hall of Fame in 2003.

With this, we wonder out loud – what took the Basketball Hall of Fame so long, taking until a year before Tait’s apparent retirement to honor him?

Congratulations, Joe…and here’s hoping LeBron and company do manage to “Win One for Tait”…

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Comments

  1. richpassan says
    May 12, 2010 at 12:37 pm

    Couldn’t happen to a nicer or more deserving guy. As one who has known him for more than 40 years, I can attest to the fact that there is no harder working or dedicated broadcaster than Joe Tait. It’s about time he was recognized for his contributions to the sports world.

    And he’s not a bad gin rummy player, either.

    Reply

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