CosmicCowboy
06-02-2005, 05:25 PM
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/06/01/MNGHQD1IOT1.DTL&type=printable
It was meant to be funny — but no one is laughing now in the San Francisco 49ers' front office over an in-house training film that featured off- color racial jokes, lesbian porn, a spoof of gay marriage and a trio of buxom, topless blondes frolicking with team public relations director Kirk Reynolds.
The 15-minute video (see it here), some of which was filmed in the City Hall office of Mayor Gavin Newsom — who comes in for a few unsubtle swipes — was intended as a primer on how players should handle the media in diverse San Francisco.
Instead, it's turned into a team embarrassment — with PR man Reynolds looking for another job.
The video, said team lawyer Ed Goines, "is absolutely contradictory to the ideals and values of the San Francisco 49ers."
Even Reynolds is conceding he pushed the envelope a bit too far.
The video, which was sent anonymously to The Chronicle, was shown to players last August during training camp in Santa Clara. It opens with Reynolds seated behind Newsom's desk, impersonating the mayor and speaking directly into the camera about this "beautiful, diverse and tremendous city."
"I'm going to take you through the city," Reynolds says — and what a trip it is.
First stop, Chinatown. Reynolds says the team reads everything written about the players and the organization. Then, to illustrate the point, a bespectacled, buck-toothed Chinese man in an aloha shirt (played by then-49ers trainer and martial arts expert George Chung) is asked to translate an Asian newspaper story.
Sure — the man says in theatrical Asian accent. "Tim Latte (Rattay, a Niners quarterback). He feel good now. He feeling good. No plactice with the team, so most of the time he play with himself."
Another show stopper: "49ers love being in community. Very patriotic . . . support president and his George Bush erection."
"Erection?" Reynolds asks.
"Yes," the Chinese man responds. "It say, 'You like Bush — then you like his erection.'
"My name is Suck Hung,'' the Chinese man says as he's leaving. "My brother's name is Suck Young — my whole family suck."
And that's just the film's opener.
From there we're taken to a topless, lesbian wedding, filmed at the Mitchell Brothers' O'Farrell Theater and officiated by "Mayor" Reynolds.
"I know the courts say we can't do this," Reynolds says, "but like my predecessor, we make our own rules here in San Francisco.''
After the "I do's," the happy couple slink to the floor for some heavy petting.
"Go 49ers,'' the brunette says as the camera pans back to the "mayor."
"As you guys learned in diversity training,'' Reynolds tells his football player audience, "people have diverse lifestyles. You may know someone or have a family member with a diverse lifestyle. So embrace diversity — embrace it. "
At which point, two hunky guys — one black and one white — march up to be married.
The next stop is SBC Park for a lesson on how to handle local reporters.
In this scene, the "mayor" throws out the opening pitch — then the catcher trots up, slips a bribe to Reynolds to keep him out of trouble and thanks him for supporting "hookers and booze."
There's also a scene with a panhandler, played by star linebacker Julian Peterson (then holding out for more money), and a quick stop at a jail in Santa Clara County for a lesson on how to handle being arrested.
"Don't bend over for the soap," Reynolds advises, as a cuffed and yelling prisoner, played by linebacker Jeff Ulbrich, is shoved into a cell by a pair of guards.
There's also an expletive-laced skit on how to handle hecklers while being interviewed for TV, a scene on shower room etiquette featuring a topless blonde, and a trip to a restaurant where the "mayor" racks up a champagne and caviar lunch on the taxpayers' dime.
"Remember, the National Football League is the most highly visible sport on the planet,'' Reynolds says as he signs the check.
"You do something controversial, you say something controversial, it will have an impact on this team. So remember, be mindful of your actions."
With that it's back to the topless club, where the PR man-turned-mayor recaps the media tips he's imparted over course of the video.
Remember, says Reynolds — wearing only a towel, while three topless blondes touch up before a mirror — "what you do is not only a reflection of yourself. It's a reflection of the San Francisco 49ers."
And with that, the women join for a four-way group hug.
The film was shown to players last year as a follow-up to a 2 1/2-hour diversity workshop — an event that Reynolds organized in the wake of an anti-gay comment by running back Garrison Hearst.
And how did the players like it?
"I thought it was one of the funniest things I ever saw," cornerback Mike Rumph said. "The locker room is like a fraternity. The outside world can't really judge that."
Just who knew about the video outside the locker room, and when they learned of it, is a bit murky.
Then-General Manager Terry Donahue showed a racy, 30-second snippet of the video to team owner John York in January, just one day before he was fired.
In March, Donahue sent a version of the tape to York at the request of his ex-boss. Apparently it sat unopened on someone's desk until about three weeks ago, when it was brought to Goines' attention.
A call to York's office was returned by Goines, who says he has been investigating the tape matter.
The team found the video "completely inappropriate," Goines said. PR man Reynolds is "pursuing other interests'' outside the team, he said.
Newsom, whose office was used in the G-rated opening scenes, was chagrined when shown the tape Tuesday.
"Not good — not good,'' the mayor said as he watched the scene with the Chinese man.
After the lesbian wedding scene, Newsom shook his head and said, "What an idiot."
At that point the mayor rose and said, "OK — that's enough."
Mayoral press secretary Peter Ragone said Newsom's office had given Reynolds permission to use City Hall on the understanding that the video was going to be a training film.
"They didn't tell us anything about its content,'' Ragone said.
The video has also touched off a war of words between Reynolds and former GM Donahue.
Donahue believes Reynolds helped push him out the door during York's team house cleaning. Some people close to the team think he showed the tape to York to discredit Reynolds, and now the PR man is convinced Donahue is the one leaking the tape to the media.
"Absolutely'' he's behind it, Reynolds said Tuesday. "He made that clear to a couple of people close to me and a couple members of the media that he was going to do everything he could to take me out with him.''
Reynolds says Donahue didn't see the tape in advance but was well aware of the contents, having been told "the general premise'' ahead of time.
Reynolds points out that Donahue's roommate at the time appears in two scenes of the film — including one as a gay partner.
For his part, Donahue said, "I have never, nor would I ever, have been involved in any way with any kind of tape like this."
As for the tape, Reynolds now says he regrets some of the contents, but not the intent.
"I don't have regrets about the idea of trying to make it connect to the audience I'm trying to connect it to,'' he said. "The whole idea of the tape was to inform our players about things important for them to know.
"Did I push it too far? I did,'' Reynolds said. "I didn't make this for public consumption. The ideas of the tape are appropriate for the locker room — though some of the subjects were inappropriate for the values of this organization, and mine frankly.''
Reynolds says he's interviewing for another job, but insists he's not being pushed out the door.
"Anyone in professional sports in this position will tell you that if you're not 100 percent into it, you are not going to be effective,'' he said, "and I'm not 100 percent into it anymore.''
The Video:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/06/01/MNdisclaimer01.DTL
It was meant to be funny — but no one is laughing now in the San Francisco 49ers' front office over an in-house training film that featured off- color racial jokes, lesbian porn, a spoof of gay marriage and a trio of buxom, topless blondes frolicking with team public relations director Kirk Reynolds.
The 15-minute video (see it here), some of which was filmed in the City Hall office of Mayor Gavin Newsom — who comes in for a few unsubtle swipes — was intended as a primer on how players should handle the media in diverse San Francisco.
Instead, it's turned into a team embarrassment — with PR man Reynolds looking for another job.
The video, said team lawyer Ed Goines, "is absolutely contradictory to the ideals and values of the San Francisco 49ers."
Even Reynolds is conceding he pushed the envelope a bit too far.
The video, which was sent anonymously to The Chronicle, was shown to players last August during training camp in Santa Clara. It opens with Reynolds seated behind Newsom's desk, impersonating the mayor and speaking directly into the camera about this "beautiful, diverse and tremendous city."
"I'm going to take you through the city," Reynolds says — and what a trip it is.
First stop, Chinatown. Reynolds says the team reads everything written about the players and the organization. Then, to illustrate the point, a bespectacled, buck-toothed Chinese man in an aloha shirt (played by then-49ers trainer and martial arts expert George Chung) is asked to translate an Asian newspaper story.
Sure — the man says in theatrical Asian accent. "Tim Latte (Rattay, a Niners quarterback). He feel good now. He feeling good. No plactice with the team, so most of the time he play with himself."
Another show stopper: "49ers love being in community. Very patriotic . . . support president and his George Bush erection."
"Erection?" Reynolds asks.
"Yes," the Chinese man responds. "It say, 'You like Bush — then you like his erection.'
"My name is Suck Hung,'' the Chinese man says as he's leaving. "My brother's name is Suck Young — my whole family suck."
And that's just the film's opener.
From there we're taken to a topless, lesbian wedding, filmed at the Mitchell Brothers' O'Farrell Theater and officiated by "Mayor" Reynolds.
"I know the courts say we can't do this," Reynolds says, "but like my predecessor, we make our own rules here in San Francisco.''
After the "I do's," the happy couple slink to the floor for some heavy petting.
"Go 49ers,'' the brunette says as the camera pans back to the "mayor."
"As you guys learned in diversity training,'' Reynolds tells his football player audience, "people have diverse lifestyles. You may know someone or have a family member with a diverse lifestyle. So embrace diversity — embrace it. "
At which point, two hunky guys — one black and one white — march up to be married.
The next stop is SBC Park for a lesson on how to handle local reporters.
In this scene, the "mayor" throws out the opening pitch — then the catcher trots up, slips a bribe to Reynolds to keep him out of trouble and thanks him for supporting "hookers and booze."
There's also a scene with a panhandler, played by star linebacker Julian Peterson (then holding out for more money), and a quick stop at a jail in Santa Clara County for a lesson on how to handle being arrested.
"Don't bend over for the soap," Reynolds advises, as a cuffed and yelling prisoner, played by linebacker Jeff Ulbrich, is shoved into a cell by a pair of guards.
There's also an expletive-laced skit on how to handle hecklers while being interviewed for TV, a scene on shower room etiquette featuring a topless blonde, and a trip to a restaurant where the "mayor" racks up a champagne and caviar lunch on the taxpayers' dime.
"Remember, the National Football League is the most highly visible sport on the planet,'' Reynolds says as he signs the check.
"You do something controversial, you say something controversial, it will have an impact on this team. So remember, be mindful of your actions."
With that it's back to the topless club, where the PR man-turned-mayor recaps the media tips he's imparted over course of the video.
Remember, says Reynolds — wearing only a towel, while three topless blondes touch up before a mirror — "what you do is not only a reflection of yourself. It's a reflection of the San Francisco 49ers."
And with that, the women join for a four-way group hug.
The film was shown to players last year as a follow-up to a 2 1/2-hour diversity workshop — an event that Reynolds organized in the wake of an anti-gay comment by running back Garrison Hearst.
And how did the players like it?
"I thought it was one of the funniest things I ever saw," cornerback Mike Rumph said. "The locker room is like a fraternity. The outside world can't really judge that."
Just who knew about the video outside the locker room, and when they learned of it, is a bit murky.
Then-General Manager Terry Donahue showed a racy, 30-second snippet of the video to team owner John York in January, just one day before he was fired.
In March, Donahue sent a version of the tape to York at the request of his ex-boss. Apparently it sat unopened on someone's desk until about three weeks ago, when it was brought to Goines' attention.
A call to York's office was returned by Goines, who says he has been investigating the tape matter.
The team found the video "completely inappropriate," Goines said. PR man Reynolds is "pursuing other interests'' outside the team, he said.
Newsom, whose office was used in the G-rated opening scenes, was chagrined when shown the tape Tuesday.
"Not good — not good,'' the mayor said as he watched the scene with the Chinese man.
After the lesbian wedding scene, Newsom shook his head and said, "What an idiot."
At that point the mayor rose and said, "OK — that's enough."
Mayoral press secretary Peter Ragone said Newsom's office had given Reynolds permission to use City Hall on the understanding that the video was going to be a training film.
"They didn't tell us anything about its content,'' Ragone said.
The video has also touched off a war of words between Reynolds and former GM Donahue.
Donahue believes Reynolds helped push him out the door during York's team house cleaning. Some people close to the team think he showed the tape to York to discredit Reynolds, and now the PR man is convinced Donahue is the one leaking the tape to the media.
"Absolutely'' he's behind it, Reynolds said Tuesday. "He made that clear to a couple of people close to me and a couple members of the media that he was going to do everything he could to take me out with him.''
Reynolds says Donahue didn't see the tape in advance but was well aware of the contents, having been told "the general premise'' ahead of time.
Reynolds points out that Donahue's roommate at the time appears in two scenes of the film — including one as a gay partner.
For his part, Donahue said, "I have never, nor would I ever, have been involved in any way with any kind of tape like this."
As for the tape, Reynolds now says he regrets some of the contents, but not the intent.
"I don't have regrets about the idea of trying to make it connect to the audience I'm trying to connect it to,'' he said. "The whole idea of the tape was to inform our players about things important for them to know.
"Did I push it too far? I did,'' Reynolds said. "I didn't make this for public consumption. The ideas of the tape are appropriate for the locker room — though some of the subjects were inappropriate for the values of this organization, and mine frankly.''
Reynolds says he's interviewing for another job, but insists he's not being pushed out the door.
"Anyone in professional sports in this position will tell you that if you're not 100 percent into it, you are not going to be effective,'' he said, "and I'm not 100 percent into it anymore.''
The Video:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/06/01/MNdisclaimer01.DTL