Gov. Christie doesn't understand loyalty

By Richard K. Barry

The NFL Network interviewed New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie this week on a range of topics. One was the frequently heard complaint that both the Giants and the Jets play at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey but are still identified as New York teams. There was also talk about Super Bowl XLVIII that will take place at MetLife Stadium on Feb. 2, 2014. Everyone is treating it like it is taking place in New York. I even see that the organizers call themselves the NY/NJ Host Committee. This all seems to annoy Christie.

Yes, I remember when the Giants made the move to the Garden State, but no head of marketing was ever going to call them the New Jersey Giants. It wasn't going to happen. As a New Yorker, I was good with that.

But the thing that pissed me off about the interview with Christie was his proud declaration as a Dallas Cowboys' fan.

He explains himself this way:

"I'm a Dallas Cowboys fan," the governor told NFL Network in a segment that aired Sunday morning. "I saw Roger Staubach play for the first time, and this was 1971, and I became a huge Staubach fan. And as a result, a Cowboys fan, and I've been one ever since."

How do Christie's constituents feel about that development? Exactly as you might expect.

"Oh, they hate it," Christie said. "Giants fans, obviously, are more hateful of my rooting interests, but, you know, I told them right from the beginning when I was running in 2009. You get asked those kind of questions and I didn't try to hide it. I'm a Cowboys fan, I'm proud of it, and you got to be true to the team you've been rooting for your whole life."

And he said more. He talked about why he wasn't a Giants' fan in the 60s and 70s. The answer: Because the Giants sucked back then, and boy did they ever (who could forget the 1966 1-12-1 season?). 

I'm a few years older then Gov. Christie so I became a Giants' fan just in time to completely miss their championship runs in the 50's and early 60s. Still, I suffered through the later 60s, all of the 70s, and the early 80s because I'm a New Yorker and that's what you do when you're from a place.

Chris Christie turned his back on his home town team to root for their arch rival because the enemy had a better team.

No wonder Republicans question his loyalty. I would to.