Although he hasn't yet been at KSL-TV for quite a year, newcomer Tom Kirkland brings a wealth of experience to his sports-anchor role on Ch. 5. He spent 14 years at CNN and three years at Fox before taking an offer to come to a strong local market where he could settle down with his young family. At 42, Kirkland is two years older than the market's senior sports anchor, Dave Fox.
Kirkland was born in Chicago. His father, a Presbyterian minister, died when he was only 4. When Kirkland's mother remarried, Kirkland's stepfather -- a doctor and conscientious objector -- took the family to Cambodia for two years. Afterward, they moved to Westchester, N.Y., where young Kirkland spent the next 20 years. He attended Manhattan College and Manhattanville College, playing basketball for both schools while majoring in political science.Six weeks out of college, Kirkland went to work for Rep. Peter Peyser, a Republican congressman from his home district, and stayed with him for three years. Although he enjoyed the experience, Kirkland became convinced that he did not want to devote his life to politics, so he enrolled in graduate school at Boston University to study journalism.
"I had wanted to play professional basketball, but I had knee problems and had a couple of surgeries. I was always interested in television, so when I read Dan Rather's book, 'The Camera Never Blinks,' it really lit a fire under me. I thought television journalism would be a lot of fun. But there's no blueprint for going into television. You don't need a medical degree or a J.D. (juris doctorate). You just get in any way you can. So I decided to get a master's degree in broadcast journalism."
Kirkland thought he would become a political reporter, but his graduate adviser asked if he'd considered sportscasting. Kirkland completed an internship at Boston's WBZ-TV under veteran sportscaster Bob Lobel. Kirkland considered him to be very bright, "with an off-the-wall sense of humor."
After graduation, CNN offered Kirkland an entry-level position as a video journalist who operated a camera and the TelePrompTer. Finally, CNN gave him a sports position on a fluke. "The V.P. who interviewed me said later that my last name jumped off the page at him. We were both Scottish, and his minister was named Brian Kirkland. So he just decided to interview a fellow Scotsman. The rest was a lot of hard work."
That was 1983; he was made a production assistant who mostly edited tape. After four years, he worked his way into doing "on-air stuff," beginning with five-minute updates on weekends. "Pretty soon, someone called in sick, and they started giving me a half-hour hour here and there, and it just took off from there. Dan Patrick, who was in New York at the Northeast bureau, wanted to come back to Atlanta, so I started lobbying for his job, saying I knew the city and could talk to the cabbies."
Kirkland worked with some of the best people in the business, including Patrick (who is now with ESPN), Hannah Storm (now at NBC) and others. He snared an opportunity to go to France and cover the Olympics, and his professional track record became hotter. At the end of 14 years, he left CNN to work for Prime Sports in Los Angeles, but the network was soon gobbled up by Fox. It was a corporate takeover that Kirkland was not crazy about, so he started looking around again, and while covering a Lakers-Jazz game, he was introduced to KSL's Rod Zundel.
"He told me Craig Bolerjack was going to CBS, so KSL had an opening and did I want to meet the news director? So I met Brink Chipman, and we hit it off right away."
Kirkland's decision was based on his desire to settle down and become part of a community after years of travel. Five years ago, Kirkland married Suzanne Sullivan, "the girl of his dreams," and they now have two children, the youngest born since their move to Utah.
Their romance began on one of Kirkland's routine trips from Atlanta to New York. Suzanne was a flight attendant from Pittsburgh, and she was stunned when he requested a second meal. "Most people have enough trouble with the first one!" said Suzanne. With the conflicts caused by their two jobs, they didn't date for three years, only talking on the phone occasionally, until they eventually lost touch. Then one day, Suzanne's purse was stolen in Houston during a layover, and one of the few things returned to her when it was found was Kirkland's "ratty old business card." She remembered him, called him, and a couple of weeks later they finally got together.
"Talk about getting hit by a ton of bricks," says Kirkland. "They always say, 'When you know, you KNOW.' Well, it was amazing. Within seven weeks we had decided to get married."
"We've found a home we love," says Kirkland, "and I'm planning on making a career here. KSL's a great newsroom. It's nice to have your bosses be fanatic sports fans." Kirkland likes golf, biking, movies, having people over to the house and travel. "Suzanne spent two years in Switzerland and I spent two years in Cambodia, so we share that wanderlust." But most of all, he is interested in and dedicated to his wife and two young children.
"I have a dream job. I married over my head. I have a great family. I work at a great place, and I live in a great community. People ask me if I like it here, and I say, 'Yes, and I hope it shows!' "