Clark Booth (1939-2018) Appreciation

[Actual Pats Fan]

My older brother used to make fun of Clark Booth, as well as anything or anyone that may seem pretentious (then, he went to Harvard).

Clark was inextricably part of living and growing up here in Boston, and his insightful and intelligent coverage of sports, as well as other things, were refreshing, informative and, for me, really entertaining.

I think he gave the kind of attention to subjects that reflected, and respected, the fact that lots of people care about them, passionately.

Right now I can just say that he was one of us. Born and bred. And I miss him.

Longtime NewsCenter 5 journalist Clark Booth dies

Longtime TV journalist Clark Booth dies at 79 - The Boston Globe

Picked this out from here 11 years ago:

signbabybrady said:

If you want to know why a lot of NFL insiders will be happy when Bill Belichick gets his comeuppance some day, ponder that cheesy stunt he pulled in St. Louis that resulted in a 'touchdown pass' from Adam Vinatieri to Troy Brown on a fake field goal. The play was technically legal but laden with a deceit bordering on un-sportsmanlike conduct. That's sandlot stuff hardly worthy of this league, in the minds of true-blue football sorts who would also argue that humiliating a foe is to be avoided at all costs. - Clark Booth, 11/11/04

I found this little quote on that website thought it was kinda funny.
who is clark booth?

RoadGrader replied:

Clark Booth was a long-time fixture on TV-5 Boston as a "close observer of matters Bostonian, especially sports, politics, and religion"

I believe he writes for the web-based Dorchester Reporter currently.

although I believe Booth to be one of THE most erudite commentators of the passing scene here evah, I would like to hear more about that play in St. Louis, which I can still see vividly in my mind's eye -- it reeked of some "gotcha" aspect between BB and Mike Martz that hopefully will be written about in the future.

[RayClay didn't get Clark's tongue-in-cheek sarcasm, at first]

I just caught up with Troy this morning at the Wegman's in Natick

Could not resist shouting "BINGO!!" at least once...

R.I.P. Clark

 

[RayClay]

He was a very intelligent broadcaster, though not outstanding in other areas of the craft. If that remark was sarcasm, it lacked the elements of sarcasm. The play itself was great and it was an easy touchdown. Can't imagine reaction other than envy or shame from opponents.

 

[RhodyPatriot]

Great writer, reporter. Very intelligent. They don't make them like Clark Booth anymore and we are worse off for that. Rest In Peace Clark Booth.

 

[Jackson 2]

Clark was a class act. And, he was on the record as someone who hated Pat Patriot and loved the Flying Elvis. It's true.

 

[captain stone]

He was a very intelligent broadcaster, though not outstanding in other areas of the craft. If that remark was sarcasm, it lacked the elements of sarcasm. The play itself was great and it was an easy touchdown. Can't imagine reaction other than envy or shame from opponents.

Yeah, I'm sure that other teams have used that play too, before and since 11/11/04.

Booth wasn't a big boxing fan either, obviously.

Besides writing for the Dorchester Reporter, he also wrote a weekly column for the Pilot, the Boston-area Catholic newspaper. He certainly had a way with words, both of the printed and of the spoken varieties. RIP.

 

[maust]

RIP Clark Booth, As interesting as his sports reporting was at times, he was an even better political reporter.

 

[Tony2046]

APF you do a fantastic job paying tribute to those who have contributed to Pats history over the years. Thanks

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Clark was a class act. And, he was on the record as someone who hated Pat Patriot and loved the Flying Elvis. It's true.

That's interesting, and illuminating. We can never exaggerate the depths of resentment toward Billy Sullivan from members of the press, his own colleagues, naturally the ripped off stockholders, and even us, Pats fans. But the 60,916 fans at Schaefer Stadium when we beat the Chargers on September 23, 1979 disagree with Clark.

I've acknowledged it before: Bob Kraft had reasons to go along with it. Anger and distaste for the old ownership was real, even if it was mostly at the executive level. He had no problem distancing himself from it. And those folks do...not...care about the public or average person's opinions whatsoever. That included old time Pats fans.

What it did, of course, was provide a solid, firm, official and enormous foundation for the validation and sanctioning of Patriots hatred and haters across the nation, whose bias and malevolence toward the franchise had zero legitimacy, and was strictly based upon disliking Boston, or the team, or being butt-hurt from losing to us, which almost all of them did at some point on the field. And, it piggy-backed neatly right on top, creating the monster that resulted in the eruption of degradation and baseless cheating accusation national scandals that permeate this century.

No, Bob Kraft didn't mean to. But he did. And to this day, he shows zero indication that he understands it. He thinks his fellow owners are merely "jealous" of his success on and off the field. He has no clue.

Bottom line, though: Flying Elvis lovers have lots to back themselves up. The fact that nobody ever complains or even brings the subject up in the media is something we can figure out for ourselves. The utter, ignorant, stupid, sick dismissal of our team's on field success over three decades, which has nothing at all to do with ownership, has no place in Pats fandom.

Even I'd shut up about it if Julius Adams, Russ Francis, Chuck Fairbanks and Leon Gray are the next four inductees into our Hall of Fame. It will be belated. BTW, I believe Darryl Stingley belongs in there, too. He was just as important to our success in the 70's as Troy Brown was later.

Sounds unlikely, but it has a better chance than the franchise ever being exonerated, or Kraft ever getting that apology from the league.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

He was a very intelligent broadcaster, though not outstanding in other areas of the craft. If that remark was sarcasm, it lacked the elements of sarcasm. The play itself was great and it was an easy touchdown. Can't imagine reaction other than envy or shame from opponents.

Clark totally had me going the first time I read it too.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Clark was a class act. And, he was on the record as someone who hated Pat Patriot and loved the Flying Elvis. It's true.

"As for young [Doug] Flutie, he may have reached the end of the line in his charmed football existence."

Yup, after Berry sent him (and any chance of the Pats' success in the ensuing years) packing, all Doug did was win 3 Grey Cups, 6 CFL Most Outstanding Players and set single season CFL records for passing yards and passing touchdowns in a season.

Then, of course, he returned to the NFL where he got the rug pulled out from under him, again, this time in Buffalo.

 

[captain stone]

Booth's prediction of the demise of the Boston Marathon was also a tad premature.