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Gov. Chris Christie says Phillies 'suck,' have 'angry, bitter fanbase'
Watch out, Skip Bayless, because America just discovered its next great, hot take artist. To everyone’s surprise, that person is New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
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Christie unloaded on the Philadelphia Phillies and their fans in an interview on SportsNet New York. During his tirade, he said the Phillies “suck,” have an “angry, bitter fanbase” and questioned the safety of going to Citizens Bank Park.
It sounds too crazy to be true, right? Well, listen for yourself:
“The Phillies suck. They are an awful team, they are an angry bitter fanbase” — @GovChristie
Full Video: https://t.co/yAopMXw7nm pic.twitter.com/6ovUPPkemF
— SportsNet New York (@SNYtv) February 16, 2017
Here’s a full transcript of Christie’s comments:
“The Phillies suck. Let’s just start with that. They are from Philadelphia. They are an awful team. They’re an angry, bitter fanbase. And it’s not safe for civilized people to go to Citizens Bank Park if you want to root for the other team.
You gotta believe what? You gotta believe we’re awful people. That’s what you gotta believe.”
Yeah, that’s straight out of the Bayless playbook. Christie held nothing back. While the first part of his rant is easy enough to understand, the “you gotta believe” part refers to the Phillies using Tug McGraw’s famous quote as part of their spring training facilities this year. McGraw did utter that statement, but it was when he was a member of the rival New York Mets, the team Christie supports.
The Phillies weren’t going to take those insults lying down, and put out a not-so-cryptic tweet taking a shot at Christie.
We love our fans and appreciate their unwavering support as we “bridge” to a bright future!
— Phillies (@Phillies) February 16, 2017
Not bad.
Perhaps the most concerning part is how easy Christie was able to play the heel. His comments are indistinguishable from what you would expect to hear on sports talk radio. You could attribute those quotes to Bayless, Stephen A. Smith, Colin Cowherd or any other hot take artist and no one would bat an eye.
Those talking heads may want to start prepping their résumés, because a career in sports talk is not out of the question for Christie, according to Philly.com.
“I’m a sports fan, and I enjoy that stuff,” Christie said during the segment. “Whether it’s something I’ll do when I get out, I’ve got to start thinking about that. … But I’d love to do something like that as part of what I do in the next phase of my career.
“It’s certainly one of the things that I hope I’ll have a chance to consider when I get out and stop being governor,” he added.
That’s a terrifying notion. We’re just years away from Christie sitting across from Jason Whitlock having a heated debate about how millennials have ruined baseball. Truly, this is the darkest timeline.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
