Becoming Al Lewis

By Storee Powell

Al Lewis is a man who’s always been overflowing with an undying and unconditional love for the Utah State University Aggies, second only to his love for his wife, Teresa. Lewis is a true-blue, dyed in the wool, through-and-through Aggie; who was born in Logan, and raised in Logan. Despite the unmentionable nature of the probability of the unspeakable, Lewis has lived in Logan near his whole life, and doesn’t have plans to change that.
“Al lives and dies with the Aggies,” said Mike Parson, another Aggie fan and life-long friend of Lewis.
Lewis’s career and much of his life has been centered on this love of Aggies and athletics. As a young boy, Lewis lived near the USU campus, and even went to grade school on the campus. Besides just watching Aggie sports games, Lewis attended the practices, where he memorized stats, players and collected autographs.
“Al used to sit alone in the old Field House in a reserved seat. He would keep stats. There is no doubt that Al is one of the most loyal fans the Aggies have ever had,” said Teresa Lewis.
For many of Lewis’s school years, he played sports himself. Eventually, however, Lewis decided being an athlete wasn’t his life’s calling. “I always wanted to do something for the Aggies though,” said Lewis.
Lewis realized he was meant to be a radioman. Signs of Lewis’s destiny were evident in his early years. Teresa explained that while watching sports on television, Al would announce them, play by play, using a Tinker Toy as a microphone. As Al got older, he would bring a tape recorder to Aggie basketball games. Along with Parson, they would announce the games together.
“Al always wanted to be a broadcaster,” said Parson, “and he has stuck to his dream since he was a little kid, and now he is living his dream.”
A great influence to Lewis was his childhood neighbor and friend, Reid Andreasen, who worked at the local radio station KVNU and did the color commentary for Aggie games.
“Many times, if I had a few extra tickets I would take Al with me to the games,” recalls Andreasen, “I believe that my being a radio personality during those years that we lived next to Al was a contributing factor in his desire to be in broadcasting.”
Although Lewis moved to Las Vegas for a couple of years with his family while he was in high school, he knew he wanted to come back to Logan and be a radio announcer for the Aggies.
And so he did. Lewis attended USU, and graduated in three short years. While in school, he got a job at KVNU as a DJ, with the help of Andreasen. He also assisted in announcing USU games.
After graduating, Lewis was hired as a sports broadcaster and announcer at the radio station, KVNU, now owned by Kent Frandsen. Lewis has worked there ever since, and has racked up 36 years of on-air experience. He does the early morning show, which includes the news.
“I have to tell the story of the news fast, while keeping facts as clear as possible,” said Lewis, “but my job is never the same or boring.”
In order to prepare to air at 5:30 am, Lewis wakes up at the ghastly time of 4:15 am.
“It suits Al to get up at 4:15 am every morning and cheerfully greet his Cache Valley listeners,” said Teresa.
Lewis admits though, that the early morning risings aren’t what they used to be.
“It gets harder every year to be up so early. Sometimes I may get giddy on air from a lack of sleep,” Lewis said.
“Lately,” explained Teresa, “Al falls asleep on the job. Sometimes his head hits the microphone and it wakes him up!”
But Lewis has a “therapy” and passion, which is announcing the USU games. While Lewis has contributed to the Aggies from his beginning, he officially began announcing football and basketball games for USU in 1995.
Aggie pride emanates from Lewis when announces. His preparation for the games is unmatched. According to Teresa, he spends hours preparing. He goes over stats, names of players, past games and creates scripts of commentary as well as elaborate charts of plays he learns by attending practices.
“I love pre-game prep, especially football,” said Lewis, “there is lots to learn that leads up to one game. I don’t think people know what goes into announcing a game.”
Dedication to excellence describes Lewis, and all concur on this matter.
“Al is dedicated to his job and his audience. He is professional all the way. He likes to feel he accomplishes a lot in his day, and he goes until he drops,” said Teresa.
Andrea, Lewis’s 16-year-old daughter, agreed, “My dad works very hard, and I am very proud of him.”
Andreasen said, “Al has a tremendous ability with statistics, and a memory of athletes and games that is awesome.”
“I just have to put my heart and soul into stuff—I can never just to things to get them done,” explained Lewis about his dedication to his job and life in general.
Parson confirmed this with, “Al is organized on and off air, and he is very dependable. He wants to do a good job. Al always sticks to his word.”
Teresa attributes her husband’s success at radio because “he is humble, so he doesn’t make a big deal about himself. He knows what his responsibilities are, and he takes them seriously.”
Lewis has interviewed many high-profile people, including Major League Baseball player Hank Aaron, former professional basketball players Karl Malone and Charles Barkely and even the actor Paul Newman.
But, Lewis said he really enjoys interviewing local high school students and athletes. Often, Lewis will interview players of high school teams from both sides before the game.
“I think people appreciate this. It means more than just announcing what happened in the game,” said Lewis, “This shows there is still a place for local radio.”
Lewis is something of a celebrity himself, locally anyway. According to Teresa, “Al has a following that he is not even aware of.” The Lewis family often have people talk to them they don’t even know, but the people feel they know Al, and the whole Lewis family.
“People start their days with him. It’s like he is part of their family,” said Teresa.
Andrea is not too keen on how her dad will sometimes mention her while on air; she said it is sometimes “embarrassing” and that “other people know too much about me.”
“My teachers at school know more about my life than me,” Andrea said.
And though Lewis has to travel a lot with the teams, and spends time away from home, this doesn’t stop him from keeping up and track of his family.
“I can’t keep track of where he goes all the time, but he calls me from road trips and says, ‘Where are you?’ He keeps track of me no matter where he is,” revealed Andrea.
As a sports announcer, being away from home for long periods of time is a fact of life for Lewis.
Andreasen explained that as a broadcaster, Lewis has to “sacrifice his time for the benefit of bringing the games to the folks back home.”
Andreasen remembered from his own career that even at local games, his family didn’t sit with him.
“I have heard Al mention on occasion that he missed his wife and family also. He does have a very friendly personality and is well liked by his peers,” said Andreasen.
But Lewis makes time to be a family man. Teresa said, “He is a loyal friend, father and husband.”
Al and Teresa are coming up on their thirtieth wedding anniversary. They grew up within two blocks of each other, but didn’t get together until Al’s friends set him up on a date at age 24. Al shares his love of broadcasting with Teresa by having her be his co-host on the early morning show once in a while.
“Al and I work really well as a couple because he is grounded. I am the creative, nervous, take-charge wife...he makes me feel secure, and I make his life a party,” explained Teresa.
The Lewis’s have two adopted children, Andrea and Nick. Andrea is a high school student, and Nick has since graduated. Lewis enjoys spending time with his family and friends, especially while playing golf.
“I just like to have him to myself sometimes,” said Andrea, “We go to lunch and play golf.”
Parson and Lewis are still two peas in a pod. For the past 10 years, they have done call-ins on the road for Aggie basketball games. Parson describes his friend as a man who would give him the shirt off his back. But the two weren’t always so close-knit. Parson went to a neighboring elementary school of Lewis, so they were originally rivals on little league. Parson said Lewis didn’t like him at first. But all that rivalry has since gone away, mostly anyway.
Parson and Lewis are very competitive when it comes to their favorite pastime of golf. Lewis’s golfing skills are apparent by the Club Champion award he received in 1983, from the Logan Golf and Country Club. Parson said Lewis could even show a bad temper occasionally during the game. He recalled a story of such a nature. During a game, there were a couple of people playing very slowly just ahead of the two friends. Lewis got a “little steamed” on the twelfth hole as he shot his ball into the sand trap.
“He was yelling and screaming for five minutes, hitting the sand with his club,” Parson said laughing, “The sand was flying by his ears, and I razzed him a bit after, and told him I would call this the Famous Sand Fit.”
Parson said, however, that Lewis is usually very agreeable and friendly, and that Lewis has always been there for him. Parson recalled another story that brought the two closer, as well as the Logan community.
An outstanding Aggie basketball player, Wayne Estes, was a hero to both Lewis and Parson growing up. Lewis said he supervised on the playground at lunch hour, and that they would jump on his back and he carried them around. The two agree that Estes would have been a pro player had he not died in 1965 by a tragic accident.
“It just killed me when he died. It affected all Aggie fans for a long time. He was definitely a superstar in my eyes…he was a big gentle giant,” said Lewis.
Parson noted that during this time, video games weren’t the method of entertainment, but rather watching the Aggies, so the event was traumatic for a close community and Lewis because of his passion for Aggies.
While Lewis is very passionate during announcing, his off-air personality is somewhat different, according to Teresa and Parson. Both said he is more laid back off-air, and perhaps even shy in social settings.
“On the radio, Al is totally in his element,” said Teresa.
Lewis described his two personalities exactly the same, acknowledging his outgoing nature on-air, and his quiet nature off-air.
“I am not really comfortable in social settings like hosting a dinner,” said Lewis.
But one thing is for sure; Lewis is passionate man on and off the air, about his job, golf, his family, and the Aggies. His dedication to life is apparent, and his USU pride is unmistakable. There's no doubt Lewis is a True Aggie in every sense of the phrase.