Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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12 APRIL 2018 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Longtime sports broadcaster Al Wester died Feb. 7 at age 94. The original voice of the New Orleans Saints when the franchise joined the NFL in 1967, Wester was well known to Notre Dame followers for his work with the Mutual Broadcasting System (now Westwood One) and coverage of the Fighting Irish. From 1968-82, he worked alongside Van Patrick, Don Criqui, Pat Sheridan, 1951-54 Notre Dame quarterback Ralph Guglielmi and Tony Roberts while covering the Irish, highlighted by the 1973 and 1977 national titles. In a career that spanned more than 60 years, he worked Major League Base- ball, college and professional football, college basketball, the Olympic Games, professional boxing, the Kentucky Derby, NASCAR races and more than 55 Masters golf tournaments. He was honored with the Babe Zaharias LPGA Jour- nalism Award in 2002 and the Masters Major Achievement Award in 2007. Prior to his broadcasting career, Wester served in the Army Air Corps in the Pacific as a World War II pilot. — Lou Somogyi If a Notre Dame football player on scholarship wants to engage in a second sport, three requirements must be met, according to head coach Brian Kelly. First, he must be in good aca- demic standing. Second, he must be an actual contributor in the second sport, not just a bystander or bench warmer. Finally, it cannot seriously affect his situation on the football team because of too much absence from the sport. This spring, sophomore cornerback Troy Pride Jr. and freshman Cole Kmet have checked all the boxes. In track, Pride ran a personal-best 6.73 in the 60-meter dash to qualify for the finals of the ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships held in Clemson, S.C. the final weekend of February. Among the 28 contestants in the event, Pride finished sixth with a 6.78 time in the final to pick up points for the men's team and earn second-team All-ACC honors, a laudable feat considering he doesn't train in track throughout the year. The Bleacher Report listed Pride as one of the nation's 10 fastest col- lege football players in 2017. As a high school senior, he won four South Carolina Class 3A state track and field championships, capturing the 100-meter dash (10.55), the 200 (21.28) and the 400 (48.28) while also running a leg for the 4x100 relay team (42.20). Meanwhile, during Notre Dame's 7-6 start in baseball, the southpaw Kmet, who has a 92-mile-per-hour fastball, was tied for the most in- nings pitched (17 2 ⁄ 3) for coach Mik Aoki's Fighting Irish as of March 13. Although his record was 0-1, he owned a 2.55 ERA, had 14 strikeouts compared to nine walks and was holding the opposition to a .206 bat- ting average. In the first of his five appearances in the initial 13 games this year, Kmet earned the save in the 10-5 win at No. 9 LSU Feb. 17 by pitching the final four innings and shutting out the Tigers while al- lowing only one hit. It was the first win this year for the Irish, who took two out of three from the Ti- gers, a superpower coached by former Irish boss Paul Main- ieri (1995-2006). " C o l e w a s o u t - standing," Aoki said afterwards of the first- team all-state baseball player from Illinois. "He's a kid who is just a winner. … He fell behind a couple of times but came back. "That was a huge pick-me-up from Cole." On weekends when Notre Dame baseball has to travel, Kmet might miss a Saturday scrimmage but Kelly said "missing one practice is not going to put them in a position where they lose their place. "I've been able to communicate quite well with the coaches, and we feel really good that they're going to be able to all of the things necessary to grow in the football program as well," the head coach added. — Lou Somogyi Sophomore cornerback Troy Pride Jr. ran a personal-best 6.73 in the 60-meter dash to qualify for the finals of the ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships in late February. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS Freshman tight end Cole Kmet also has excelled as a pitcher for the Irish, posting one save and a 2.55 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 17 2 ⁄3 innings of work as of March 13. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS Dual Threats AL WESTER: 1923-2018