Things Chris Christie Talks About At Parties: Rooting Interests And Politics

— -- During the Dallas Cowboys' wild-card win over Detroit on Sunday, the American viewing public got a glimpse of how rich dudes celebrate when Dallas owner Jerry Jones got a jumping-up-and-down three-way man-hug that included New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Apparently, Tony Romo's winning touchdown was better than fresh tax cuts for the 1 percent.

Christie seems to have lost sight of one truism: Like kissing babies on the campaign trail, cheering for the hometown team seems to go with the elected office.

Was George Washington rooting for Manchester United as he crossed the Delaware? Despite the fact that it would be historically impossible and he wasn't yet our nation's first president, the correct answer is still "no."

In New York City, Mayor Rudy Giuliani practically had a satellite office at Yankee Stadium. Before him, Mayor David Dinkins helped change flight patterns to reduce noise at the US Open, and he served on the USTA's board of directors.

Even Hilary Clinton, who wasn't even a real New Yorker, knew to trade her Cubs cap in when she became a U.S. senator from the Empire State. At least Clinton can claim she came by the Cubs honestly after growing up in Illinois, but a politician has to appeal to the local people who vote for her, no matter how many caps she has to purchase.

Before being too hard on Christie, it would be naïve to think that all loyalties are regional after 50-some years of watching sports on television. When Christie was growing up, you were practically required by law to pick either the Cowboys or the Steelers. And it's a little limiting to have to choose all your loyalties based on where you're born. You can be from Kansas City and pick Thai food over barbeque. There is no shame in being a Californian who loves a Philly cheesesteak. If you move around, you may have a drawerful of loyalties that move west as you do. Seems reasonable enough for a civilian.

But that changes when you get into politics. And like any good politician, Christie knew his approval ratings were slipping each time that Dallas luxury suite GIF got retweeted. So Christie responded to the critics who said a Jersey guy should root for a Jersey team.

"Believe me, I will take all the abuse I'm taking from some of these folks in return for Cowboys playoff wins," Christie said Monday on "Boomer & Carton," a WFAN morning show. "As a fan, that's what it's all about."

It might have been easier to overlook Christie's out-of-town rooting interest if Christie hadn't bypassed his own New York Jets and Giants to pull for the Giants' divisional archrival.

Christie also said he'd been to five Dallas games this season. Only one of those was at MetLife Stadium, so that's four games that he's committing time and expense to attend, and later celebrate in the locker room with Dez Bryant.

Sometimes those relationships with teams can get too cozy. Former New York Gov. David Patterson was fined $62,000 for accepting free World Series tickets.

Jones paid for Christie's tickets and travel, which his aides told the Wall Street Journal is acceptable under a family-and-friends clause in the state's ethics rules on gifts, but this unique friendship is less likely to have sprung up if one man were not governor, and the other were not an NFL team owner.

Christie's brother Todd had a very Christie response via Facebook to anyone who would question the governor's integrity: "To all of those non Cowboy fans who have their panties in a ringer because the Governor of NJ is a Cowboys fan -- GET A LIFE !!!"

Panties in a ringer? Like, a phone ringer? Or maybe a wringer. Angry posting is rarely pretty, but Todd gets that Christie annoyance across almost as well as his brother does, such as when the governor called a voter an idiot during this 2012 town-hall event.

But this column isn't about politics, it's about middle-aged men celebrating a winning touchdown harder than the guy who actually threw it. Something even former Jets quarterback Boomer Esiason noted during the radio interview with the governor on Monday morning.

"Just hugging Jerry Jones is just so, I don't know, creepy," Esiason said.

Look, man, Jerry votes too. Christie may have just won Texas in 2016 with that hug.

Lastly, wasn't the College Football Playoff a good idea after all? Remember how long the bowl cartel kept it from us? I feel like we're all entitled to lost wages.