The past couple weeks gave us some tough news about local hero's passing away. Joe Tait, long time and much loved voice of the Cavs and Tribe, and of course Michael Stanley, a music icon in Northeast Ohio. So Thursday, I had to drive out to the only place fitting to sense the presence of both, the confluence of I-271 and RT 303 - the home of the now gone, Richfield Coliseum.
Let's tell a story about the 1970s' in our area. It was changing and challenging times for all manufacturing - and jobs around here. It was the time of the Browns being bad, the Tribe being beyond bad, both playing in old dilapidated Municipal Stadium with the wooden seats, porcelain trough urinals and the disastrous "Nickle Beer Night." It was the time of the river on fire a few years earlier, and endless jokes about us on TV. - The Edmund Fitzgerald tragedy. - The Cavs were awful in their early years and their first home, the Cleveland Arena was worse as it was a dark, dank, dinosaur downtown leftover with wooden seats from the 1930's. The music scene was generally good as always, but the live venues were aging, but it's what we knew, and we didn't mind. The area needed a Miracle - and we got one.
The beginning - of the beginning - was in 1974 when the Richfield Coliseum opened. It was something like we never saw. The gigantic, beautiful entertainment mecca would become the maker of millions of great memories for hundreds of thousands of people. It was the new home of the Cavs, the Miracle In Richfield, endless shows, the Circus, Truck and Tractor pulls, Motorcycle racing on ice, the Royal Lipizzaner Stallions, concerts, the Crusaders, and the Force. But most importantly for two incredibly popular and influential people. - Joe Tait and Michael Stanley and the MSB
Stanley set records there. I saw him do a big New Years Eve Concert at the Coliseum in 1981 at the height of the MSB. That place shook that night like few places ever have. Fans exploding with pride, looking for and now finding something to cheer for and be proud of. The Coliseum had a heartbeat, and it was supplied by us walking through its veins. That night Michael Stanley was the most popular singer on earth, as the local guy really made good. He was ours, he was playing in this beautiful jewel, on top of the world and he took all of us with him. Hey, everyone from Sinatra to John Denver, to Elton John played there over the years, but ask anyone from this area, and they'll remember Michael Stanley's show first by a mile. Stanley, in one night, became synonymous with the Coliseum, and would remain so forever. I don't know who else has ever really done that.
Great MSB Song
Joe Tait started doing Cavs games in 1970, the same year they entered the NBA. The Cleveland Arena was God-awful, but the amazing Coliseum was the envy of the entire Midwest. The Cavs had the miracle season in 1975-76 when they had the first playoff run by any Cleveland team in a long while. Their new home, the Coliseum was so loud it literally shook and was deafening. But somehow we heard Joe Tait's voice cut through it all and paint a picture so vivid, we were all there with him. When the Cavs eliminated the star-studded Washington Bullets in game five of the playoffs, it became one of the best moments in local sports history. This new building, with Joe Tait calling the game, with Akron's Nate Thurmond (Central Hower High School) being one of the season's difference makers, and Dick Snyder, a kid from Canton (Hoover High School) making the game winning shot and game saving defensive play. Tait, in that one night, became synonymous with the Coliseum, and would remain so forever. I don't know who else has ever really done that.
The Miracle In Richfield (This is a mix of Tait and others - But Tait where it matters!)
Wait, didn't I just say that?
Over the following years, Joe and Michael would have very similar paths. Tait would see a lot more basketball and made it sound like it was a game you didn't want to miss through your radio. Tait called the games with Price, Nance and Daugherty, and eventually Lebron, and Len Barkers perfect game pitched for the Tribe. The week of the Miracle that Tait called, the Cavs and the Coliseum set NBA records 3 times for the largest crowd to ever see an NBA Playoff game. Stanley would go on and record many great albums that we all loved and put on shows we didn't want to miss. He set attendance records at Blossom that still exist by selling out 4 nights in a week! He would also be forever immortalized at the Cleveland Agora, where the fantastic album, Stage Pass was recorded. These two gentlemen, for many years were Northeast Ohio icons, we loved them and accepted them into our lives as we would family or very close friends. We were proud to have the NBA's best announcer and music's favorite son call Northeast Ohio Home. - And they did - Forever.
Joe could have been the voice of any NBA team, but stayed here to build a legacy. Michael could have moved to Los Angeles and really go for it and leave us behind, but he stayed here to build a legacy. Turns out they loved us as much as we loved them. And that's why it all worked out so well. My hero's, MY teams, in My Town.
Michael Stanley - My Town
The Coliseum served us proudly until 1994 as a living, breathing place. It opened our eyes to better times and things ahead, as it proved to us we DID deserve beautiful new things around here. The Gund (The Q) came later, as did Jacobs Field (Progressive), and First Energy Stadium. The Theater District has been revived and is now the envy of the country. And the beginning of the beginning of all of this - was a big beautiful behemoth building built literally in a field - 25 miles from any downtown - 20 years earlier. It served a purpose that it never knew it was charted for. It began a renaissance for an entire region. The Coliseum is loved, missed, and incredibly important to this area for exactly that, and it's been gone for almost 30 years. It's been gone longer now than it was here and alive.
Two men, one place, both kings of the same castle - The Coliseum. Thank God for Joe Tait. Thank God for Michael Stanley. Thank God for a place where Miracles really did happen for an area that needed one at that moment. All synonymous with each other, and will remain so forever.
I don't know anywhere else, that has ever really done that.
