Chris Christie

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie showed up on SNY on Wednesday night for some good ol’ fashioned New York Mets talk leading into Spring Training. The conversation turned into a slam-fest against the rival Philadelphia Phillies, and Christie didn’t hold back in trashing the Phillies, their fans, and their humble home, Citizens Bank Park.

Here’s Christie’s full rant, via The 700 Level.

“The Phillies suck. Let’s just start with that,” Christie said. “They’re from Philadelphia. They’re an awful team. They’re an angry, bitter fan base and it’s not safe for civilized people to go to Citizens Bank Park if you want to root for the other team. Ya gotta believe what? Ya gotta believe we’re awful people.”

With takes like this, you have to imagine Christie is angling for a post-political career in sports punditry. This isn’t exactly unprecedented territory for an elected official – former Pennsyvlania governor Ed Rendell works as an Eagles pundit on CSN Philly.

More and more regional networks transitioning into “embrace debate” programming, which means that adding loud voices who don’t add much in the way of substance (which is a description that fits both Christie and Rendell) is going to be a key strategy for regional networks in the weeks and months heading into the 2017 MLB season.

For what it’s worth, the Phillies responded on Twitter with a savage Bridgegate joke.

[The 700 Level]

About Joe Lucia

I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.