Christie is 'radio ready,' but is that enough?

Making the quantum leap from the sports world to the political arena is rare, but not unheard of.

Surely the name Bill Bradley rings a bell. Ditto for bodybuilder-turned-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

But what about the other way around?

Reports that Governor Christie is “on the radar” as a possible replacement for retiring afternoon drive-time host Mike Francesa on the popular sports radio station WFAN have excited, intrigued, tickled and outraged more than a few residents of the Garden State.

Blogger Joel Keller of Somerset, who has written about broadcasting for Parade, Playboy, Salon and AOL, has listened to Christie’s guest spots on WFAN’s "Boomer and Carton" show and describes the governor as “actually, pretty good. He has a very radio-ready style, and he mixes in well with everyone else on the show. He has that one-of-the-guys type of presence and doesn’t put on airs. If he wasn’t introduced as ‘Governor Christie,’ you’d assume he belonged in that group.”

Another plus, according to Keller: “Christie actually seems to be enjoying himself. He seems very comfortable and appears to be much more in his element than he is as governor -- at least for now. And, let’s face it, he’s probably better off starting a new career at this point. I’ve heard rumors that he has a shot at some position in the White House. But, to be honest, I think WFAN is a better long-term prospect.”

Bret Leuthner, of Vernon, agrees. Leuthner, who does the play-by-play for the Sussex County Miners and the William Paterson University Pioneers hockey team, says “Christie has been dipping his toe in the radio pool for over a year now, and he has a combative style that works for him. If someone disagrees with him, he fires back. And I think WFAN likes that. A lot of people aren’t going to like him, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t listen to him.”

Leuthner compared Christie to Stephen A. Smith, the often-controversial ESPN host. “Many people can’t stand Smith and can’t stand his views,” he said. “He’s a lightning rod. But they tune in to him every day, anyway.”

Richard Deitsch, a writer and editor for Sports Illustrated who covers sports media, has been hearing those arguments for a while, but isn’t convinced.

“Stylistically, yes,” Deitsch said, “Christie could fit on WFAN, he comes off as someone from the tri-state area, which, of course, he is, and he’s facile enough with the local teams. If he did the right preparation, he’d be better, but he would have to commit to it. To do this job you have to able to be conversant on so many teams and subjects, you can’t just come in on a parachute. And I think listeners would be able to see, early on, just how serious he is.”

But beyond that, Deitsch said, “I think the issue that he could never overcome is that he has too many negatives as governor. Yes, he fits in if you tune in and don’t know who he is. But we do know who he is. And yes, there is a lot of hate-listening in the media, but I think that the level of dislike for him, especially in New Jersey, would translate into not-listening as opposed to hate-listening.

“I think that after the initial curiosity, listeners would leave quickly,” Deitsch continued. “I think it would be a disastrous hire for WFAN, long term. As a guest? I don’t care. But as a host, I personally wouldn’t listen to him because of how he treated my relatives in New Jersey.”

On the air, Christie has hinted at his interest in the job. Last month, when the governor called in to Francesa’s show, he was asked what he was going to do after he leaves office in December.

“Could you see yourself talking sports daily,” Francesa asked, “or talking whatever you want to talk about, sports or whatever you want to talk about, could you see yourself doing this kind of show every day?”

Christie replied, “Well, you can tell that I love to talk, and I love sports.”

In other words: He didn’t say no.

But so far, WFAN isn’t saying yes.

In a recent interview with The Record, WFAN’s program director, Mark Chernoff, said of the governor, “I would certainly at least want to consider him. If he’s interested and we’re interested, it’s worth pursuing.”

In WFAN call, Christie softly pushes back on job report

Andrew Bucholtz, reporting on the story for the sports website Awful Announcing, wrote that Chernoff’s statement wasn’t “particularly strong, but that’s to be expected here. WFAN has plenty of candidates to consider for Francesa’s role. Even if they did really want Christie, they wouldn’t want to tell the media that until they signed him (otherwise, it gives him more leverage in contract negotiations). It’s notable to have Chernoff on the record here saying that they’d at least consider Christie, though.”

The big question at this point is whether Christie, who waged an unsuccessful run for president last year and who briefly led Donald Trump’s transition team in the weeks after last year’s election, can overcome his poor approval ratings with residents of the Garden State.

The news that Christie might reinvent himself as a radio host didn’t go over too well with local sports fans. Westwood resident Kenneth Svec said he wouldn’t tune in “unless he has a co-host [who] is a professional sports announcer.”

Chuck Levy of Paramus was more adamant: “I will no longer listen to WFAN if that happens.” And C. Boyd Cote of Fair Lawn agreed: “I don’t listen now, just in case he is on. Listening to Christie would be like smelling a skunk.”

But Mike Landmesser of Wallington was just a bit more supportive: “I don’t care if he gets a job as a mattress tester as long as he isn’t governor.”