LISTEN: Chris Christie Wishes Joe Benigno Well With Surgery, Discusses His Favorite Teams
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called into Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts' WFAN show Tuesday to wish Benigno well on his upcoming hip replacement surgery.
"Joe, I just want, as your governor, to wish you the best on your surgery," Christie said. "I know you're a little down right now, but all of your fans out here, myself included, are pulling for you. Get through the surgery fine, get back and be yourself. Everything will be fine."
Of course, Benigno and Roberts asked Christie about sports while they had him on the line.
Christie, a Mets fan who attended New York's 5-2 win over the Phillies on Monday night at Citizens Bank Park, said despite some ups and downs, he feels "really good" about the Amazin's so far.
"Listen, we've been long-suffering Met fans for our whole lives, so to me, I look at a team that has that kind of pitching, has the kind of talent it has all across the lineup, and they'll get there," he said. "But we're Met fans, so the minute they lose a few games and go under .500, we're like, 'Of course this is going to be it, they're going to be awful, and they're going to torture me again.'
"You couldn't sit in that stadium last night and watch (Noah) Syndergaard pitch and not say to yourself he's one of the most special pitchers in Major League Baseball, and we've got him."
Benigno also asked the governor of New Jersey how he became a Dallas Cowboys fan.
"It was two things," Christie said. "It was seeing Roger Staubach coming into Super Bowl V ... and I was like, 'Gosh, this guy is great,' and I fell in love with Roger Staubach. Secondly, my dad is a Giants fan, and so the Giants -- as you remember back in those days, late '60s, early '70s -- were awful, and I was a young kid -- I was 7, 8 years old. My father used to scream at the television set every Sunday, throw things at it. ... Why do I want to root for that team?
"When I ran for office, everybody told me I had to change my teams, and I made an offer to the Giants. I told them that I would change my teams -- I would root for the Giants instead of the Cowboys -- if they changed their name to the New Jersey Giants."
Of course, that never happened -- and Christie is still a Cowboys fan.
To listen to the full interview, click on the audio player above.
