UCLA’s hiring of Rick Neuheisel as their football head coach has given me a timely opportunity to reveal my involvement in the whole Neuheisel/Duck Vision affair. In Part I, you can read Bob Welch’s 2003 column in The Register-Guard summarizing my role in the incident and Mr. Neuheisel’s response.
If you’re unfamiliar with what happened, just read the column as a whole.
Why is this such a big deal? That’s hard to explain if you haven’t been following Oregon football for a while. As Bob points out, Neuheisel’s Colorado squad pulled some pretty weak stuff in the ‘96 Cotton Bowl. And his teams have been fairly successful against Oregon. There was the whole guitar episode. And the nicknames for Rick abound. Ask any longtime Duck about Neuheisel and you should get a sense of how they feel real quickly. Duck Sports News’ Josh Wilcox even suggested that there should be legislation to prevent Coach Neuheisel from ever coaching in the Pac-10 again.
Needless to say, “sensitive” Rick Neuheisel is a “sensitive” subject for most Duck fans. And the Duck Vision piece featuring Rick added to the overall Neuheisel-Colorado-Washington-Bellotti-Oregon drama. Now, it looks like UCLA is going to be added to that list.
What follows from here on is a breakdown of Bob’s column, filling in, elaborating on, and correcting a few of the details.
But Jay and Alisa Jones of Eugene will always have a soft spot in their hearts for Rick Neuheisel, fired last week as the UW coach.
Do we have a soft spot in our hearts for Rick Neuheisel? I hate to say it, but yes. There I said it. It’s out in the open. But should I? I got upstaged at my own wedding by Rick Neuheisel! And the honeymoon? My wife will confirm the fact that there were times when I would zone out and just start saying, “I owe Rick Neuheisel a ‘Thank You’. I OWE RICK NEUHEISEL A THANK YOU!”
“We’ve been meaning to send him a thank-you note,” says Jay Jones, 29, who has never met Neuheisel but hasn’t forgotten his kindness.
I still haven’t sent him that “Thank You”. I probably need to do that. (Mindy, is it ever to late to send a “Thank You” card to someone?)
The Jones-Neuheisel story began in the wee hours of Nov. 30, 2001. Jones, a producer/digital artist for Chambers Productions, was editing a promotional spot for the company to be shown a day later on Autzen Stadium’s Duck Vision screen during the Civil War game.
That’s not entirely accurate. Actually, there was a bit of preproduction and production that was completed earlier that week. And we (in order to protect the innocent, let’s just call my partner-in-crime and editor on this project Ike) were editing the piece that Wednesday night before the game in order to get it approved on Thursday, leaving us Friday for any revisions.
In production, I played the role of the ‘man in the white lab coat’. What Bob did not note in the column, was that I was holding a sledgehammer. You see, I had always intended to include footage of Neuheisel in the promo. After my character tried to fix the Duck Vision problem a couple of different ways, my last resort was going to be to hit the screen with the sledgehammer. And my target was Rick’s face. I think that’s much rougher than editing Neuheisel bytes between a couple of clips from ‘Airplane!’.
The plug’s theme was designed to poke fun at a previous Duck Vision glitch; it featured a man in a white lab coat trying to fix a system gone haywire. Jones had interspersed sound bites from Neuheisel with a Lane County commissioners meeting and two fast-talking real estate salesmen. But the spot needed something more, Jones thought.
Again for space considerations, Bob couldn’t include all of the little details. The funny thing about the Lane County Commissioner clip was that the featured Commissioner was wearing a purple blazer and referred to it as ‘husker’ colors. No, that’s Nebraska. ‘Husky’ colors are purple and gold. Politicians and government officials shouldn’t attempt humor. Period. Then again, some say that about me, as well.
How about those “two fast-talking real estate salesmen”? How about them? Well, you’d just have to see them.
“We were literally flipping through the dials on all the satellite feeds at 2:30 in the morning when suddenly we saw the movie `Airplane,’ ‘ Jones says.
‘Airplane!’ is funny at any time of the day. But at 2:30 a.m. a lot of things that usually are not that funny, get a lot funnier. That probably could be applied to the promo. Is it funny? Probably not. It was funny to me and Ike. But it was 2:30 a.m. in the morning and we had no idea where were going with this idea! When Ike and get together, this promo inevitably comes up. And it’s still funny to us.
Bingo! Jones took a few “Airplane” scenes and played them off Neuheisel. In one, the ex-coach says, “I tell everybody who asks that we’re going to be a good team - eventually”; boom, cut to a scene of an airplane passenger throwing up in a vomit bag.
Well, I think we also included the ‘Turkish prison’ and ‘gladiator’ clips in there, too. Some of the other clips were from “The Grinch” and an infomercial featuring a vacuum that had enough suction power to hold a bowling ball.
Later, Neuheisel says, “I think the experience of having won a championship is a good thing” - boom, cut to a shot of another passenger holding her stomach, grimacing and saying, “I haven’t felt this awful since I saw that Ronald Reagan film.”
Here’s the deal with that: if we were not flipping channels at that exact moment, this wouldn’t have been that big of a deal. Well, maybe it still would of made some noise because of including Neuheisel, regardless of the context.
When I decided to include Rick in the promo, I knew exactly what I was doing. I knew the image of Neuheisel on the Duck Vision screen would draw laughter and boos. And I got my wish.
The promo was shown in front of 46,075 fans at Autzen, drawing laughter. When word reached Seattle, it drew anger. The Dawgs complained to Pac-10 officials that, with high school recruits in the stadium, the promo was inappropriate.
As it turns out, the word of the promo reached a lot farther than Seattle. A couple of years later, and a couple of thousand miles away, my mom was having dinner with a couple back East and the subject of the promo came up. They had heard about it.
The Pac-10 agreed and reprimanded the UO, which apologized to the UW and vowed to review all Duck Vision material from then on.
The funny thing about this is that the Pac-10 did not take any action until some time later. It was not a case of the Pac-10 acting in the week following the playing of the promo. And several media outlets tried to get a copy of it. Wisely, Chambers Communications did not release the promo. If they had, people would have realized that it wasn’t as funny as people remember it being.
Last August, knowing that he was to be best man at Jay and Alisa’s wedding, KEZI sports broadcaster Joe Giansante couldn’t resist. While in L.A. for a media day with Pac-10 coaches, he concluded a one-on-one interview with Neuheisel by asking if he’d be willing to extend video wedding greetings to the couple.
Joe did a great job here. He kept what he was doing under wraps at Chambers for six months. Pretty good, considering Chambers is a communications company.
Giansante divulged that the groom was the guy who had done the vomit video. And, remember, Giansante had been tough himself on Neuheisel, once comparing him to Hermie, the rosy-cheeked elf in “Rudolph” who wants to be a dentist and not a toy maker.
“A dentist?!”
Last February, Alisa and Jay’s wedding reception came to a hush when it came time for toasts. Suddenly, on a large video screen, more than 400 guests saw the towering image of Rick Neuheisel.
Actually, it was closer to 500. But who’s counting?
His smile was warm, genuine. “Congratulations, Jay and Alisa,” he said. “This is a big step for both of you and, Alisa, Jay wanted me to pass this on to you …’
His expression was warm and genuine. And here lies Neuheisel’s strength. This guy can go into any high school football player’s home and charm anyone. Regardless of his off-field issues, he produces on the field. And that’s why he’s going to be good for UCLA and the Pac-10 (and a problem for Oregon).
Neuheisel’s head lurched forward in mock vomiting. He laughed good-naturedly, then said, “Congratulations! I hope all goes well and everybody keeps their wedding cake down.”
There was no reason for Mr. Neuheisel to do this. None at all. But he did. And he played along with the joke. If I were in his shoes, would I have done the same? Would you?
“My jaw dropped,” Alisa says. “Then mentioning us by name …’
And we stayed in shock for about the next week.
Neuheisel isn’t going to be as good a sport about being fired, but Jay and Alisa won’t forget his let-bygones-be-bygones gesture - and the unique imprint it put on their wedding reception. “Duck fans were actually saying, `He’s not such a bad guy after all,’ ‘ Jay says.
Neuheisel wasn’t a good sport about being fired. So, he sued (he is a lawyer). And, he won.
It was a classy move, indeed. And in Neuheisel’s well-tattered honor, I hereby vow to forgive him for the fake punt.
I’m glad Bob was able to forgive him for the fake punt. And I think I have. But it sure would’ve been easier if it weren’t so cold at the Cotton Bowl.
Well, I think that about wraps up my explanation of the Jones-Neuheisel-Duck Vision promo. It’s just funny to think that Rick Neuheisel plays a part in two of my fondest memories.
And I owe him a “Thank You” for that.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
- Jay Jones