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Grapehead · 10-31-2020, 09:27 AM

It’s a foggy morning in the San Francisco bay area, and I’m waiting outside my hotel for my rideshare to arrive. Supposedly I’m meeting with former Pride GM Jeff Kirkstone for an interview, but rumour has it Jeff’s gone missing. The invitation was extended to me nearly 6 months ago, and it’s been a long wait for this day to come, but now I’m a bit nervous that the interview won’t really happen. It’s been three months since Jeff Kirkstone unceremoniously left his position as Pride GM, and with the exception of the recent appearance of his oldest child, Kit, there’s been essentially no evidence that Jeff is anywhere to be found. Still, I’m heading to a small office building in downtown San Francisco to see if he’s there as we agreed. As my rideshare is pulling up, I get an email notification on my phone; Jeff is ‘running late’.

It’s a lovely drive through the heart of San Francisco, and my driver is nice enough to leave me to my work. I start to wonder if Jeff even remembers me, after all it’s been more than two decades since I last interviewed him, and back then he was just a young goalie coming off his first SMJHL season. At the time, he had just informed the Detroit Falcons he would be sitting out on them, and we discussed the controversy he managed to stir up. Here I am now, preparing to ask him about this new controversy he’s stirred up in San Francisco, among other things of course. This is all hinging on him even being there today though, and a feeling of dread is starting to build inside me. The buildings around us start getting smaller again, and rather quickly we’ve arrived at my destination. It’s a three-storey office building, and quite plain looking from the outside.

Making my way inside, I follow the building directory to the third floor, and I’m greeted off the elevator by a young receptionist. They point me to a chair in the waiting area, but I’m barely sitting for a moment before Jeff Kirkstone appears in the doorway of his office. Even though he’s clearly standing in front of me, his unkempt hair and beard suggest there was some truth to the rumours about him. Still, he’s well dressed, and sporting a wide grin across his face that indicates he may be privy to the rumours himself. I reach out to shake his hand, but he pulls me in close to add a pat on the back

Jeff: It’s good to see you, Nolan.

He leads me into his office and points me to the open chair across his desk as he takes a seat himself. There’s one brief moment of awkward silence as I’m getting my recorder ready, but a moment later we were talking like old friends.

Nolan: It’s good to see you too, Jeff. I was getting worried that you were going to stand me up.

Jeff: Nonsense, I’ve actually been looking forward to this for months.

Nolan: About three months maybe?

Jeff: (haha) It has been an interesting few months.

Nolan: So, let’s get right to it then; where have you been?

Jeff: The truth is, I had to take some time away from San Francisco to travel back home and be with family in Prince Edward Island. I only just arrived back in California the other day, and it’s been a bit of a whirlwind as we prepare to move the family back to Canada next week.

Nolan: So is that what prompted your abrupt exit from the Pride?

Jeff: Not exactly… Not directly anyway. I wanted to take an indefinite leave of absence from the team, but that didn’t seem like an option, and so I continued working. I began to lose focus on work, and felt like I was spiralling out of control. I should’ve tendered my resignation before things got so bad that I ended up leaving in the middle of the night.

Nolan: Let’s talk about that. A lot of people, most people in fact, say they had no idea that you had even left. Why did you choose not to tell anyone, even those you appeared to be close with in San Francisco?

Jeff: I wasn’t thinking straight to be honest. My behaviour had slowly become a little bit more irrational over the course of my last 2-3 months on the job. It was a slow creep that was hard to perceive internally, but looking back I can see how I was lashing out more and more. In hindsight I can see the exact day that I should’ve stepped down, but I pushed myself farther than I was capable it seems, and now here we are.

Nolan: You mentioned the exact day you should’ve stepped down, when was that? Why didn’t you step down at that time?

Jeff: It would’ve been the last day of season 54. We’d just missed the playoffs by 2 points, and it was devastating. The reason I inevitably stayed in the position longer than I should have is because I didn’t have my replacement lined up. We thought for a while that Johnson was going to take over for me when I stepped down, but he withdrew his interest prior to that point. I could feel the fire was totally out at that point, but I was still going through the motions.

Nolan: Some… or a lot of people question the moves you made after that point, so it’s really interesting you can identify that moment. Looking back now, what do you think of the trades you made near the end?

Jeff: Obviously SFP imploded after I left, so the trade for Geezus Kryyst obviously looks terrible in hindsight, but there’s no way to know what could’ve happened if the team wasn’t blown up and if Kryyst actually got to play instead of sit on the bench. The other moves I made for budget reasons, because we were trying to re-sign Bo Kane, who had informed us that he’d let us match any offer he got in free agency. So we went ahead with making the necessary room to fit him into the budget. When he abruptly left for Edmonton, we were left with a lot of room on the budget and a few moves that looked totally unnecessary now that Kane walked away. I was totally blindsided by Kane, and it really messed me up.

Nolan: So you hold a grudge against Kane?

Jeff: No way. Not at all. Bo is a friend, and I don’t blame him for wanting to play somewhere else. I just didn’t think it was a great move to tell me we could match and then just take off, but it’s water under the bridge now.

Nolan: What do you think of the moves that took place since you’ve left?

Jeff: I really don’t think that’s fair for me to speak on, especially because of the way I quit on the team. I can say that I think I left the team in much better shape than I received it in Portland, and yet I think the team might be in worse shape currently than that Portland team was. The future is bright for the Pride, no question whatsoever, but they’ve taken a beating in the media, that I am regretfully partially responsible for, and they have a long road ahead.

Nolan: Anything you’d like to add with that?

Jeff: I think it’s important to acknowledge my remorse over the situation, because I think some people may not realize that I regret my decision to leave when I did. I also regret staying as long as I did. I see all this negative media about me, my team, and whatever else, and I want to scream my rebuttal back at them, but I know it won’t really change any minds or bring me the peace I seek. I need to move past all this and leave it in the rearview mirror, but it’s hard to do that.

Nolan: No doubt. So what’s next for you, Jeff?

Jeff: Nothing for me really. I’m done with hockey now, and focused on my family life.I’m really looking forward to moving back to Canada, because even though I’ll miss San Francisco it feels like I’m long overdue for a return home. As you know, Kit is entering the upcoming SMJHL draft, so I’ll be cheering them on, and Seth…

Suddenly Jeff’s demeanor changes completely. He leans back in his chair, then drawing a deep breath he turns to look out his office window. I can tell now that I should wrap this up and be on my way, but I can almost hear my editor telling me to push harder for a story here. I switch off my recorder, and get up to let myself out, but not before shaking hands and wishing each other well. The car ride back to my hotel is spent wondering if Jeff was going to be okay or not.

Code:
Ready to grade! 1500 words

DeletedAtUserRequest · 10-31-2020, 02:05 PM

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*Zoone16* · 10-31-2020, 04:57 PM

Everyone asking "Where is Jeff Kirkstone". Nobody asking "How is Jeff Kirkstone"....

So tell us @Grapehead ... how is Jeff Kirkstone?

Grapehead · 10-31-2020, 05:55 PM

10-31-2020, 04:57 PMZoone16 Wrote: Everyone asking "Where is Jeff Kirkstone". Nobody asking "How is Jeff Kirkstone"....

So tell us @Grapehead ... how is Jeff Kirkstone?

He is at peace, thank you

Leoben · 10-31-2020, 06:17 PM

10-31-2020, 04:57 PMZoone16 Wrote: Everyone asking "Where is Jeff Kirkstone". Nobody asking "How is Jeff Kirkstone"....

So tell us @Grapehead ... how is Jeff Kirkstone?

I'll do you one better. WHY is Jeff Kirkstone?

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