And that probably goes a long way toward explaining the difference in name recognition, even in their hometown, between NBA broadcast greats Joe Tait and the late Chick Hearn.

Hearn, of course, was the longtime voice of the Los Angeles Lakers into his mid-80s. He did 3,362 of their games over five decades, including a streak of 3,338 straight.

Thanks in part to the team's success and their locale, the East High graduate who also attended Marmion, became nationally known, even earning a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Tait, meanwhile, has been the play-by-play voice of the Cleveland Cavaliers for 36 of their 38 seasons. He did New Jersey Nets games and Bulls cable TV games for one season each in the early 1980s due to a falling out with a former Cavs' owner.

This past March, the 1955 West High graduate broadcast his 3,000th Cavaliers game.

"I used to listen to (Hearn) do West Aurora football games on WBNU-FM and a show from the top of the Leland Hotel, until he left to go to Peoria," remembers the 71-year-old Tait.

Hearn moved on to the west coast in 1956 (at age 40) to do Southern Cal football and basketball games.

"When (Hearn) would give me static," remembers Tait, "I'd give it right back and say, 'I remember when you were a D.J. back in Aurora. My sister and I used to call in to your show and request Frankie Laine's Cry of the Wild Goose .'"

The song topped the charts nationally in 1950.

Tait got his start in broadcasting at a local station when he attended Monmouth College. It was there that he met Bill Fitch, basketball coach at rival Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, that he interviewed several times each season.

Fitch went on to bigger and better things in the college ranks while Tait did a three-year stint in the U.S. Army. He also taught broadcasting for a couple years at Ohio University sandwiched around broadcasting jobs in Illinois and Indiana.

When Fitch left Minnesota and landed the job leading the expansion Cavaliers in 1970, Tait sent him a congratulatory letter. The team was looking for a radio play-by-play man, Fitch remembered Tait and recommended him for the job.

Six games into the team's inaugural season, Tait took the offer and hasn't looked back. He was there for Fitch's nine-year run that included the team's first star, Bobby "Bingo" Smith.

There were plenty of lean years, including 19 of the team's 21 losing seasons. Other big-name players like Austin Carr followed. There was the successful Brad Daugherty-Mark Price era that featured five (several of them heartbreaking) playoff losses to the Chicago Bulls.

And now the team is enjoying good times with young superstar LeBron James that featured last year's franchise-first NBA Finals appearance.

Tait, who also did Cleveland Indians games on television for 15 years, serves as the team's vice president, broadcasting. He is revered in northeast Ohio.

Despite a heart attack, knee replacement and back surgery, his listeners will argue Tait hasn't lost a step as they repeat one of his signature calls on WTAM (1100 AM) describing a dunk:

" To the line, to the lane, to the hoop -- Wham with the right hand! "

"He is the Cavalier's franchise to so many people. Fans know they can trust him," said former Cavs owner Gordon Gund when Tait was honored for that 3,000th broadcast.

Gund, the blind majority owner of the team from 1983 to 2005, trusted Tait. He brought the announcer back after that two-year hiatus that included the 1981-82 and 82-83 seasons during the short reign of owner Ted Stepien (1980-83).

"I went through one year with (Stepien) but had I stayed I probably would have killed him," Tait said. "He felt the radio play-by-play man should be part of the public relations department."

Tait, who is perfect for blue collar Cleveland, begged to differ and refused to sugarcoat the team's poor play for his listeners. It's a trait he and Hearn have shared.

"I honestly felt (Stepien) was gonna kill the franchise," said Tait. "Fortunately, Gordon Gund bought it from him. When I came back, he told me, 'I can't see. You're gonna be my eyes.'

"That's why I try to be as descriptive as I can. (Gund) said, 'You're the one guy I can rely on to tell me the truth.'"

Tait did, even if it hurt Gund to listen at times.

"I thought about calling him, but I never did," Gund told Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist Terry Pluto. "I knew he was just being honest. It takes about three minutes listening to Joe to know how the team is playing."

Tait used the same candor in describing his athletic career at West High.

"I was the team manager (in basketball and football)," he said. "I made a couple attempts at playing. I had a love of the game but not the eye of the tiger. I blew out my knee (in football). My mother asked the doctor to fix it so I could walk but not play football again!"

Like Hearn, Tait has done a variety of sports on radio and TV. It includes four to five TV broadcasts each season since 1986 of perennial Division III football power Mount Union College.

"It's certainly helped me through some of the Cavs' seasons when they weren't winning much," he said.

He also still does some high school basketball broadcasts.

"I go out to our various network affiliates and sit in and do some games with the local high schools," said Tait. "I love it. It's a great battery charger.

"The NBA is the same thing night in, night out. You go into a high school gym and everybody is busting their tail and it's just a great atmosphere."

He's definitely old school. Tait doesn't own a computer nor a cell phone.

"Don't believe in 'em," he said. "I'm still in the Eisenhower Era."

He's no dinosaur, though. Tait is still going strong and current majority owner Dan Gilbert has told him he can continue as long as he chooses.

"He told me I'm the only guy who could determine when I quit," said Tait. "A lot depends on my health, but I plan on being back next year and we'll take it year-to-year.

"You could sum me up as an old fart who is tired and still breathing on a regular basis."