Kansas State University Athletics
SE: Ahead of Final Game, Lewis Looks Back on 14 Years of “First Downs"
Dec 04, 2020 | Football, Sports Extra
By: Austin Siegel
The relationships are what Dave Lewis will remember.
That might sound like a cliche, the sort of thing you're supposed to say before your last day of work. But here's the thing about Dave Lewis' job:
For 14 years, he's been the public address announcer for K-State Football and K-State Men's Basketball.
He's the guy you hear after every K-State first down - if you close your eyes and think of the words "Good for a Wildcat…" it's impossible not to hear that voice.
Lewis will sign off for the last time following this Saturday's football game against Texas.
Even after Big 12 Championships, Sunflower Showdown victories and over a decade of memorable K-State moments, that's never what it was about for Lewis. Not really.
"What means the most is what it did for me during the worst time in my life," he said. "The relationships mean a lot and they will for a long time."
For Lewis, the worst time in his life came 14 years ago, when he lost his wife, Elena, to breast cancer.
Lewis was then, as he is now, a morning radio show host for KMAN in Manhattan. But he stepped away from that job to take care of his daughter, Casey, as a full-time dad.
Leaving the house before dawn to host a radio show wasn't going work with a fourth grader who needed someone to help her get ready for school every morning. It was around that time that Lewis filled in as the K-State public address announcer for the first time.
"I'll always be appreciative of that," he said. "It was such a struggle and to have this opportunity come give me some new identity and some new hopes in life, it meant a lot to me and family. It still does. It always will."
Before long, Lewis was the full-time PA announcer for K-State Football and Men's Basketball.
He was something of a natural fit for the role. In addition to his duties at KMAN, he has emceed over 900 wedding receptions through his own company, Dave Lewis Entertainment.
So, with stage presence and experiencing working a crowd on his resume, Lewis stepped into the booth at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, alongside 50,000 of his closest friends.
"Good for a Wildcat First Down, I inherited that," he said. "But there's a learning curve. At my first game, I said 'Good for Another Wildcat First Down.' And then I got a phone call from Frank Tracz saying, 'It's not another, it's a' because those extra two syllables throw the band off."
The production value at football games also surprised him, as Lewis worked with two spotters and a member of the athletic department who directed production throughout every game.
If football saw Lewis playing the hits K-State fans have come to expect, basketball season was his chance to step into the studio and create some instant classics during player introductions.
"One of my biggest goals with basketball was to make sure every player's name sounded different," Lewis said. "I always thought the more syllables, the better."
His favorite name over the years? Buchi Awaji.
Of course, the call Lewis is probably best known for is that of All-American Michael Beasley.
That's certainly the one that K-State Executive Associate AD Casey Scott will remember.
"Who will forget his calls on baskets for 'Michael Beeeeaaaasley' or 'Dean Waaaaade?'" Scott said. "It's hard to believe so many years have passed since we asked Dave to fill a void we had at the announcer position."
Though Lewis rarely called games outside Manhattan, trips to Wichita and Kansas City for early-season basketball games were always a treat.
"The sound system at the Sprint Center made me sound like god," he said. "I wish I could have taken that home with me."
K-State Basketball also provided Lewis with one of his favorite memories from a 14-year run behind the mic in Manhattan.
In 2008, K-State came into their first meeting of the season with Kansas ranked No. 22 in the country and looking to end a 24-game losing streak to the Jayhawks in Manhattan.
Lewis knew there was a chance the Michael Beasley-led Wildcats could make history against No. 2 Kansas and told his daughter to make sure she was behind him at the scorer's table if K-State was winning late.
This, he figured, would be the safest place to be standing in the event of a court rush.
"That didn't work out so well. She was safer out on the court where there was more room," Lewis said. "Then Beasley jumped up on the table where I was sitting, and he's got big feet. I wedged my body underneath it because I thought the table was going to fold. There were four or five people behind me just like, 'Don't fall, please don't fall.' Those things aren't designed for people with big feet to stand on."
Right next door at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, Lewis still remembers moments like Isaiah Zuber's game-winning touchdown catch with 0:00 on the clock against Iowa State in 2017, or when a massive thunderstorm rolled in off the prairie and delayed a 2010 game against UCF.
Of course, it always comes back to the relationships for Lewis, who only has good things to say about the coaches he's gotten to know during his 14-year run in the booth:
On Jim Wooldridge - "He and I were at an event a few months before my wife passed away and he took a real interest and sent some flowers after she passed. Things like that will touch you."
On Bruce Weber - "He and Megan [Weber] were asking all these questions about me and I'm sitting here like, 'Gee, that's something I didn't expect.' They're just really good people."
Lewis always says hello to "Huggy Bear" when Bob Huggins returns to coach in Manhattan and said that when it comes to Frank Martin "Frank is Frank."
Bill Snyder's "genuine and sincere" nature still means the world to him.
Lewis was inducted into the Kansas Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2019 and returned to KMAN as the radio's Program Director in 2016.
A game day in Manhattan won't be the same for Lewis, but next season will provide new opportunities as well – he can finally watch a K-State game with his 12-year-old son, Noah.
Even after his final game on Saturday, it's those relationships that will endure for Lewis, who gave the stadium a voice for a generation of Wildcat fans - whether or not they knew his story.
"He helped foster the great tradition we have of leading the fans in cheers of 'Good for a Wildcat … First Down' or 'Touchdown' and then creating some of his own flavor, particularly with the team introductions at basketball games," Scott said. "I can't thank Dave enough for the effort and emotion he put into the job to make K-State games fun and memorable."
Of course, the conversation Lewis had with K-State fans was never totally one-sided anyway.
"When it's an afternoon game, the place is filled and rocking, we're playing good football and everyone is into it," Lewis said. "That's when it's exciting. That's when it's the most exciting."
The relationships are what Dave Lewis will remember.
That might sound like a cliche, the sort of thing you're supposed to say before your last day of work. But here's the thing about Dave Lewis' job:
For 14 years, he's been the public address announcer for K-State Football and K-State Men's Basketball.
He's the guy you hear after every K-State first down - if you close your eyes and think of the words "Good for a Wildcat…" it's impossible not to hear that voice.
Lewis will sign off for the last time following this Saturday's football game against Texas.
Even after Big 12 Championships, Sunflower Showdown victories and over a decade of memorable K-State moments, that's never what it was about for Lewis. Not really.
"What means the most is what it did for me during the worst time in my life," he said. "The relationships mean a lot and they will for a long time."
For Lewis, the worst time in his life came 14 years ago, when he lost his wife, Elena, to breast cancer.
Lewis was then, as he is now, a morning radio show host for KMAN in Manhattan. But he stepped away from that job to take care of his daughter, Casey, as a full-time dad.
Leaving the house before dawn to host a radio show wasn't going work with a fourth grader who needed someone to help her get ready for school every morning. It was around that time that Lewis filled in as the K-State public address announcer for the first time.
"I'll always be appreciative of that," he said. "It was such a struggle and to have this opportunity come give me some new identity and some new hopes in life, it meant a lot to me and family. It still does. It always will."
Before long, Lewis was the full-time PA announcer for K-State Football and Men's Basketball.
He was something of a natural fit for the role. In addition to his duties at KMAN, he has emceed over 900 wedding receptions through his own company, Dave Lewis Entertainment.
So, with stage presence and experiencing working a crowd on his resume, Lewis stepped into the booth at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, alongside 50,000 of his closest friends.
"Good for a Wildcat First Down, I inherited that," he said. "But there's a learning curve. At my first game, I said 'Good for Another Wildcat First Down.' And then I got a phone call from Frank Tracz saying, 'It's not another, it's a' because those extra two syllables throw the band off."
The production value at football games also surprised him, as Lewis worked with two spotters and a member of the athletic department who directed production throughout every game.
If football saw Lewis playing the hits K-State fans have come to expect, basketball season was his chance to step into the studio and create some instant classics during player introductions.
"One of my biggest goals with basketball was to make sure every player's name sounded different," Lewis said. "I always thought the more syllables, the better."
His favorite name over the years? Buchi Awaji.
Of course, the call Lewis is probably best known for is that of All-American Michael Beasley.
That's certainly the one that K-State Executive Associate AD Casey Scott will remember.
"Who will forget his calls on baskets for 'Michael Beeeeaaaasley' or 'Dean Waaaaade?'" Scott said. "It's hard to believe so many years have passed since we asked Dave to fill a void we had at the announcer position."
Though Lewis rarely called games outside Manhattan, trips to Wichita and Kansas City for early-season basketball games were always a treat.
"The sound system at the Sprint Center made me sound like god," he said. "I wish I could have taken that home with me."
K-State Basketball also provided Lewis with one of his favorite memories from a 14-year run behind the mic in Manhattan.
In 2008, K-State came into their first meeting of the season with Kansas ranked No. 22 in the country and looking to end a 24-game losing streak to the Jayhawks in Manhattan.
Lewis knew there was a chance the Michael Beasley-led Wildcats could make history against No. 2 Kansas and told his daughter to make sure she was behind him at the scorer's table if K-State was winning late.
This, he figured, would be the safest place to be standing in the event of a court rush.
"That didn't work out so well. She was safer out on the court where there was more room," Lewis said. "Then Beasley jumped up on the table where I was sitting, and he's got big feet. I wedged my body underneath it because I thought the table was going to fold. There were four or five people behind me just like, 'Don't fall, please don't fall.' Those things aren't designed for people with big feet to stand on."
Right next door at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, Lewis still remembers moments like Isaiah Zuber's game-winning touchdown catch with 0:00 on the clock against Iowa State in 2017, or when a massive thunderstorm rolled in off the prairie and delayed a 2010 game against UCF.
Of course, it always comes back to the relationships for Lewis, who only has good things to say about the coaches he's gotten to know during his 14-year run in the booth:
On Jim Wooldridge - "He and I were at an event a few months before my wife passed away and he took a real interest and sent some flowers after she passed. Things like that will touch you."
On Bruce Weber - "He and Megan [Weber] were asking all these questions about me and I'm sitting here like, 'Gee, that's something I didn't expect.' They're just really good people."
Lewis always says hello to "Huggy Bear" when Bob Huggins returns to coach in Manhattan and said that when it comes to Frank Martin "Frank is Frank."
Bill Snyder's "genuine and sincere" nature still means the world to him.
Lewis was inducted into the Kansas Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2019 and returned to KMAN as the radio's Program Director in 2016.
A game day in Manhattan won't be the same for Lewis, but next season will provide new opportunities as well – he can finally watch a K-State game with his 12-year-old son, Noah.
Even after his final game on Saturday, it's those relationships that will endure for Lewis, who gave the stadium a voice for a generation of Wildcat fans - whether or not they knew his story.
"He helped foster the great tradition we have of leading the fans in cheers of 'Good for a Wildcat … First Down' or 'Touchdown' and then creating some of his own flavor, particularly with the team introductions at basketball games," Scott said. "I can't thank Dave enough for the effort and emotion he put into the job to make K-State games fun and memorable."
Of course, the conversation Lewis had with K-State fans was never totally one-sided anyway.
"When it's an afternoon game, the place is filled and rocking, we're playing good football and everyone is into it," Lewis said. "That's when it's exciting. That's when it's the most exciting."
Players Mentioned
WR
/ FootballK-State Soccer Postgame Highlights vs Portland State
Friday, September 12
K-State Soccer | Postgame Highlights vs Oral Roberts
Friday, September 12
K-State Soccer | Postgame Highlights vs Colorado College
Friday, September 12
K-State Football | Pregame Hype vs Arizona
Friday, September 12