At 4 a.m., while the majority of Cache Valley residents are still sound asleep, Al Lewis and Craig Hislop are both climbing out of bed, getting ready to be at work an hour later. When the rest of the Valley is waking up, these two are on the radio, greeting listeners with their recognizable voices and the news of the morning.
These men, who have spent the majority of their lives in Logan, are living their dreams. They have the jobs they grew up longing for and working toward.
“It’s horrible getting up that early, but once you’re there it’s the best time of the day to work,” Lewis said. “It’s when everyone’s waking up. You can tell them all what’s going on in the community or the things that broke in the news overnight.”
Lewis is the program director of KVNU, where he controls who and what is on the air. He and Hislop host the daily morning show, on air from 6-10 a.m. They discuss news, community events and, of course, sports – particularly of the various teams in Cache Valley.
“It’s mostly news and talk,” Hislop said. “And Al and I just banter back and forth.”
After the show ends, they work on material for the next day, record commercials and write up interviews for Cache Valley Daily. By early afternoon, they are home getting ready for whichever Aggie game is up next.
Two of the most avid Aggie fans you’ll ever meet, Lewis and Hislop spent their lives wanting to become radio sports broadcasters. As his junior high school basketball team’s manager, Lewis practiced recording and calling games that the team could listen to afterward.
Lewis moved to Las Vegas for high school, where he had a friend whose dad was involved with television sports.
He met with the man, who gave him the advice and opportunities to get going on a career in radio. He would cover high school athletic events as well as host an interview show talking to high school, college and professional athletes from the Vegas area.
He returned to Logan for college in 1972 and went straight to the guys at KVNU who he had known for most of his life. They immediately gave him a job, and he has been there ever since. Next spring his radio career will hit 40 years.
“I always kind of had chances,” Lewis said. “I had people and opportunities to get me where I needed to get.”
Hislop’s path to KVNU was a little different. He started his college career on a partial football scholarship but only played for a year.
“It became obvious that that was not my calling,” he said.
With a degree in journalism, he started working in the Athletics department at the University of Utah. After three years, Utah State created a position for an in-house broadcaster – an opportunity Hislop jumped at.
He worked as the sports information director and play-by-play announcer for the radio until the early 1990s. He then moved to Utah Public Radio for the next 14 years. In 2007 he retired from the university and went to KVNU.
Even though Hislop’s path was a longer, winding road to becoming a broadcaster, it was something he always knew he wanted to do.
“When I was 12 years old, I turned on the radio and some guy somewhere was describing the game,” Hislop said. “I realized he was getting paid for it and thought, ‘That’s amazing, that’s what I want to do.’”
Hislop was hired as the “Voice of the Aggies” the same year Lewis moved back to Logan for college. Lewis worked with him as the analyst during games. Now the roles are reversed, with Lewis on play-by-play and Hislop as the color commentator.
For both Lewis and Hislop, broadcasting is more of than just a job. There are hours of work that go into preparing for a game, but it’s what they love. It makes them happy ad keeps their lives interesting.
“Games are my hobby,” Lewis said. “It’s my therapy, it’s what keeps me sane.”
Early winter is the busiest time for the broadcasting duo, as the football and basketball seasons overlap. Both men work the football games, traveling with the team to away games. For men’s basketball, Lewis is on-site doing play-by-play with Hislop ready to do the post-game call-in show. Those roles are reversed for women’s basketball.
A huge part of their job is working with and building relationships with the Aggie coaches. Gary Andersen, USU’s head football coach, said some of the qualities and attributes Hislop and Lewis bring to the atmosphere of Aggie athletics are unique.
“Something that isn’t always the case with media guys, is that I trust them. They’re Aggies. It’s obvious that this is important to them, it’s their passion,” Andersen said. “I have a lot of trust and a lot of excitement when I’m around them.”
Likewise, Lewis and Hislop have a lot of respect and trust for members of each coaching staff at Utah State.
“I completely admire these coaches,” Lewis said. “They work hard. There are a lot of things they have to do that people don’t realize. They really do care about their players and want them to succeed.”
Lewis, who has broadcast almost every game Stew Morrill has coached at Utah State, said he loves working and talking with the USU coaches.
“All of them have different methods of how their program is run,” he said. “We have to deal with them a little bit differently with pre-game interviews or when they do and don’t want to talk. They’ve all been interesting to learn from.”
Raegan Pebley, USU’s women’s basketball head coach, said broadcasters play a huge role on the team. Hislop is in his first season of traveling with the team and is already fitting in well.
“Our broadcasters are a part of our team. They experience the highs and lows of travel with us. They eat with us, attend practice, ride the bus, win and lose with us,” she said. “I love the history of Aggie athletics, experience and credibility he brings to the broadcasts. He is a true professional, a gentleman and one of our best Aggie fans.”
Broadcasting Aggie athletic events is huge for the Athletics department. It can be used as a recruiting tool and keeps alumni and fans involved.
“I want to be there to tell the story. I want them to be able to visualize what I’m seeing. I want to give it to them in the most fun and descriptive way possible,” Lewis said. “I don’t try to be too over statistical or anything, just try and be the person who is their eyes since they aren’t at the game.”
Hislop agreed and said his favorite part of the job is the immediacy of live radio.
“When you’re doing a game, it’s journalism in its purest form,” he said. “You don’t have anyone editing it, people hear it as soon as you say it. People want to know now, what’s going on.”
Andersen said it is not common for radio announcers to be such devoted fans of the team they are broadcasting. He said he really enjoys having Hislop and Lewis around, and their contribution makes a difference to the team.
“It’s fun to have them involved. It’s fun to have them be around the success, particularly the last few weeks,” Andersen said. “If you listen to the last few highlight tapes, Al’s voice is right in the middle of it all. It’s not just another game for them. There’s a lot of emotion and it means a lot to them. That makes it mean a lot for us.”
Story by Megan Allen
Photos by Timothy R. Olsen, courtesy of Sammy Hislop
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megan.allen@aggiemai