Christie's joke about the basketball team's new home in New Jersey was an epic fail, unless he was trying to chase businesses away.
What is it about South Jersey that seems to bring out the worst in Gov. Chris Christie?
First, Christie thumbed his nose at us twice in the past year by not getting involved quickly after damaging weather incidents. In March, he decided that campaigning out-of-state for Donald Trump was more important than attending the funeral of a state trooper from South Jersey who was killed in an on-duty accident.
So what could possibly go wrong Wednesday when Christie addressed the Southern New Jersey Chamber of Commerce? How about bashing one of the businesses that his administration has helped attract to Camden?
The Philadelphia 76ers are unquestionably horrendous. The basketball team just finished with a 10-72 record, missing by one win the distinction of overriding the NBA's worst full-season record, still held by the 1972-73 Sixers (9-73). The perception that the current 76ers are hapless by design, in hopes of landing a star draft choice, has been fodder for both frustration and humor from fans.
Thus, the Sixers' play quality may be fair game for a governor who has been known to throw a zinger or two at radio sports hosts, especially when explaining why he has a thing for those hated Dallas Cowboys. Maybe the problem was the awkwardness of the governor's welcome for the 76ers' Camden practice facility, which is being fronted with $82 million in state Economic Development Authority tax breaks.
According to NJ Advance Media, here's what Christie said at the chamber speech:
"The only thing the 76ers will do in Philadelphia once they move into Camden is lose."
The one-liner apparently was meant to convey that all of the team's front-office operations are moving to Camden, even though its games will still be played in Philadelphia. Christie could have turned the phrase so it wasn't such a knock on the team's future, as well as New Jersey's worst slogan ever for snagging businesses. He could have said, for example, "Once the 76ers start practicing in Camden, they're going to start having a winning record."
Other businesses are coming to Camden and New Jersey, which had a fairly good 2015 economically. We hope he doesn't put the kibosh on them, too.
Just imagine: "The only thing Subaru will do once it moves its headquarters to Camden is recall all of its cars."
Or: "The only thing Amazon.com will do after it adds 2,000 jobs in New Jersey (announced this past week) is watch consumers go back in droves to brick-and-mortar stores."
Sixers' CEO Scott O'Neil was apparently none too pleased with Christie's dig, and briefly tweeted, "Such a surprise coming from (an) nj based Dallas Cowboys fan ... ."
That's OK, as long as O'Neil doesn't back out of his team's plans for Camden. If you're Christie, you might try self-censoring before making snide comments about desperately needed employers.
Once the Sixers have moved in to their new digs, the governor can joke about their record all he wants.
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