While ESPN2’s Keith Olbermann made the New York Daily News’ Manish Mehta something of a celebrity last night — mocking the scribe’s claims that Rex Ryan’s job was in jeopardy, sans any source beyond his own suggestions — Non-Metallic K.O. was beaten to the punch earlier in the day by none other than possible GOP presidential hopeful Chris Christie. The New Jersey Governor visited WFAN’s Craig Carton Monday morning, and in the view of Mehta colleague/defender Bob Raissman, demonstrated he might be the Next Great Angry White Guy on sports talk radio (shame for Sirius/XM’s Mad Dog Radio they’ve already got a pile of ’em). “Unlike his current job, where he’s held accountable (okay, maybe semi-accountable) to Jersey residents, sports radio bloviators are never held accountable for what they say — ever,” sneers Raissman. But hey, enough about Dino Costa, let’s get to Christie’s comments.
“Idiot. The guy (Mehta) is a complete idiot. Self-consumed, underpaid, reporter . . . the only way he’s empowered is because we’re spending all this time talking about Manish Mehta,” Christie ranted. “Who, by the way, I couldn’t pick out of a lineup and no Jets fan gives a damn about… We shouldn’t be giving this dope, you know, the amount of airtime we’ve given him already.”
The Guv gets it. He did not take the high road. Plus, he showed a lack of self-control — two more of the Ten Commandments. And it wasn’t like Mehta was Christie’s only target. He took down one of our favorites, John (Pa Pinstripe) Sterling, too.
“I don’t want to hear one more thing from John Sterling,” Christie demanded. “The guy just turns my stomach. I can’t take Sterling.”