Saw this post over at Friend of the Lynx (FOTL), Dave Gross’ blog yesterday, and fired off a quick email to the subject of the post.
Is this an open topic for discussion now?
It is.
One of the nice features that WordPress offers (WordPress is the blog service I use) is its “Stats” function. Among other things, it tells me what search terms people are using to find the blog. Frequently the term “Kyle Bostwick” would appear, linking to one of several pages. Up until a couple of weeks ago, it was widely speculated that Kyle would return as the GM of the new Can-AM team, but as Mr. Gross notes in the early part of his post, that is not to be. And while it’s a shame for Ottawa (and that’s no disrespect meant to incoming GM, Don Charrette), it’s for the best for Kyle and his family; he’s been through an absolute wringer here and I’m thinking he’ll enjoy the change that a new career brings.
While not everyone may have agreed with the way the Lynx ran their operation, what I have found to be universally true is that no one had anything but good things to say to me about Kyle. Perhaps most telling was the respect with which his name was held in a particularly tough corner: City Hall. Councillors may have disapproved of, and disagreed with the Lynx, but when each of them would temper their argument with the comment that Kyle and Ray Pecor were decent people, you knew these were honorable men.
Kyle offered the blog a level of access to the team which I regrettably never fully explored. Let’s face it, I’m not a journalist (blogger: There’s a revelation.) And being the kind of guy he is, he refused to fight any battle in the media - despite my arguments (and I’m sure the protests of others) to the contrary. Many other stories, some of them truly touching will probably not be told - stories which demonstrated the thoughtful nature and kindness of the man, but in keeping with character, moments he would say were private and not meant, nor ever intended for everyone to know about. I have felt very priveleged to hear of some of these moments, and to have had the “open door” that I did.
Just the other day, my son Zechariah asked me if “Mr. Bostwick” would be coming back. My reply was greeted with a true expression of sadness. Not grief or tears, just the sincere disappointment of a ten year old who was hoping to impress someone in 2008 with his improved baseball and bat-boy skills.
No, the “Boy Wonder” has returned to his home in Vermont.
We miss him already.
