Tourney special for Lew

By Tom Keegan     Jun 25, 2009

All my life I’ve been fascinated by look-alikes.

Late actor Don Knotts and Mick Jagger. Keith Richards and Methuselah. Kansas University assistant athletic director Sean Lester and Florida football coach Urban Meyer. Realtor Bob Stephens and everybody’s grandfather. Baseball player Geoff Jenkins and football player Brett Favre. Lawrence builder Bob Schulte and Lawrence High football coach Dirk Wedd.

More: Sarah Palin and Tina Fey. Late actress Lee Remick and Valerie Perrine. (Otherwise known as Hubba and Hubba). Susan Sarandon and Lesley Ann Warren. Singer Britney Spears and pitcher Pedro Martinez. (Seriously, look at how far apart their eyes are and you’ll quickly note the resemblance.)

I always wondered why I never had a look-alike. And then I moved to Lawrence and started getting mistaken on a regular basis for dashing local banker Warner Lewis. He routinely is stopped around town and asked, not in so many words, “When are you going to write a column about my son?”

Hint: If the answer is anything but, “Never,” you’ll know you’re talking to Lewis and not me. Our mutual friends all get a big kick out of how deeply offended both of us are over being mistaken for one another.

Never mind that Lewis is more than a half-foot taller, I’ve been asked by more than one golfer, “How did you like Pebble Beach?” Lewis played it recently. It remains high on my bucket list.

Another question I’ve been asked at least a half-dozen times: “Did you take Lew’s money today?”

“That was Warner Lewis playing with Lew,” is the standard answer. “Handsome fellow, that Warner, isn’t he?”

For the record, I’ve played one round of golf with Lew Perkins this year and it was quite enjoyable and not just because of the quality of the cigars. You want to find Perkins at his most relaxed, find him on the golf course, especially this year. Perkins is proof that golf is the one sport at which players can improve with age. The cagey AD knows the best way to trim the handicap is to play with better players. With one exception, the men he joins for early morning weekend rounds are better golfers than he is. It wouldn’t be classy to name the one exception, but I suppose it would be OK to give a hint: first name Kim, last name Wells.

Anyway, you want to find Perkins on the golf course, find him Monday at Alvamar public, where he will serve as host of his annual golf tournament that benefits Douglas County Special Olympics. Registration and lunch is at 11:30 a.m., the shotgun start at 1 p.m., dinner is at 6 p.m., followed by an auction. Last year’s raised nearly six figures.

Since his days as a student-athlete at the University of Iowa, where he played basketball for Ralph Miller, who played basketball for Phog Allen at Kansas, Perkins has taken an interest in children with special needs. He worked with them when studying recreational therapy at Iowa.

“There are so many good causes, but you can’t do them all,” Perkins said. “I’m just so glad we could be a part of this one. Those kids are just so awesome. Even if people don’t play golf, we hope they’ll come out to the auction. We’ve got some nice surprises.”

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