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It Appears as Though John Clark Has Some Competition on the Philly Airport Beat
Published:
Luis Arraez will make his Phillies debut on Tuesday night vs. the Nats.
He showed up at the airport on Monday night and was greeted, of course, by John Clark, but it turns out that FOX 29’s Jeff Skversky was also in the house:
Look at Skversky getting in on the airport routine. He’s got the airplane emoji in the tweet. Is there competition at PHL International? John Clark has held this monopoly for too long!
I will say though, Clark brings an NBC camera with him. He gets the walk-and-talk shot next to the people mover. He gets camera time himself, which is a power move. It’s a double whammy, like “I got Luis Arraez AND here’s a shot of me at the same time.” They don’t call him Johnny Airports for nothing.
Jeff appears to be out there by himself, which is good hustling. And he got Arraez in the baggage claim, which is strong work. But FOX needs to send a camera down there with him. You have to match John Clark and let Jeff get his mug on camera as well. In order to be the best, you have to beat the best.
Now, I’m going to say something controversial:
I don’t think these quotes are very interesting. “I’m excited to be here, blah blah etc.” That’s typically what the athletes say. “Philly fans are great and I can’t wait to get started!” Stuff like that.
The airport interview is good for a casual TV audience, like your mom watching the 11 p.m. news before bed. She’s not a hardcore Phillies fan. She’ll text you the next day and say “did you hear the Phillies got Luis Arraez? – (she mispronounces Arraez) – I saw it on the news with John Clark last night.“
I think the true value of the airport interview is John Clark keeping the streak alive. ‘John Clark never fucking misses!’ He’s always had complete and total hegemony over this space, but Skversky is starting to encroach. Now THAT is compelling! It’s more exciting to think about this newfound competition between Clark and Skversky than listening to the actual quotes that come from the new players.
Hopefully there will be lots of trades and signings in the next few months so we can see more of this budding rivalry.
editor’s note: I have received emails saying that John and Jeff are very close and may even have shared trade secrets. that makes this even better!
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com