The best play-by-play announcer in the history of basketball turned 80 on Monday.
Joe Tait celebrated exactly the way you’d expect Joe Tait to celebrate: under the radar, with a low-key gathering involving a small group of friends in a tiny, out-of-the-way eatery that you’ve probably never heard of.
The former voice of the Cavaliers — can you believe he’s been gone for six years? — ate lunch at Leah’s Kitchen, tucked inside a multi-purpose building that is tucked behind Acme No. 1 in West Akron.
In attendance were his son, Joe Jr.; longtime Cavs podiatrist Richard Hofacker, who has known Tait since the doc was a ballboy at the late, great Richfield Coliseum; good friend Paula Ross, who helps him with his day-to-day affairs and owns another of his favorite eateries, Taylor’s Diner in Lodi; and, of course, his favorite columnist.