TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie reiterated Wednesday night that the next part of his career could involve talking sports behind a microphone.
The New Jersey governor made an appearance on “Baseball Night,” a baseball-themed television talk show on SNY, and once again fanned rumors that he might turn to sports broadcasting after his final year in office is up next January.
“I’m a sports fan, and I enjoy that stuff,” Christie said. “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.
Christie hints at radio gig, says he ‘can’t imagine’ running for office again
Christie, a lifelong, knowledgeable sports fan, is often a guest host on the “Boomer & Carton Show” on WFAN-660 AM, a sports-talk radio station in New York. He’s scheduled to co-host again Thursday morning.
He has been floated as a possible replacement for the station’s most famous anchor, Mike Francesa, who is scheduled to leave his afternoon-drive show at the end of the year.
Last month, Christie called in to Francesa’s show, and the host asked him if he’d be interested in the job. The governor hinted that he’d be open to it.
“Mike, you don’t throw your hat in the ring for that kind of thing,” Christie said. “You just see what happens.”
During his appearance Wednesday on SNY, the TV home of the New York Mets, Christie discussed how he’s been a fan of the Major League Baseball franchise since he the late 1960s. He was 7 when the Mets won the World Series in 1969.
“I thought that’s what it was going to be like all the time,” Christie said. “Little did I know I had 50 years of misery ahead of me.”
He also revealed that his favorite Met of all-time is former first baseman Keith Hernandez, the co-captain of the team’s 1986 World Series champion team.
“Those 80s teams were really great,” Christie said. “I was in law school during that period of time.”
The governor also weighed in on the controversy that the Mets’ chief rival, the Philadelphia Phillies, have plastered the slogan “Ya Gotta Believe!” on a wall at their spring training facility in Florida. The phrase was a rallying cry of former relief pitcher Tug McGraw while he helped lead the Mets to an improbably National League pennant victory in 1973. McGraw later helped the Phillies to the World Series title in 1980.
“The Phillies suck,” Christie said when asked about the slogan flap. “They’re an awful team.”
Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
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