I'm just catching the news this morning. It appears a tape was sent to a Chronicle reporter showing some racist, offensive, and homophobic remarks by a 49ers trainer and PR person. It was suppose to be a follow-up to a sensitivity session. Apparently some of the scenes were shot in Gavin Newsom's office. I imagine this is something the NFL (and most major sporting organizations) don't need right now.

Here's a link to the story. There's also a link at their site where you can watch the video, though the story describes it rather thoroughly.

Just more stuff that boggles the mind.

the whole thing just boggles my mind

they would tape this sort of thing

haven't they ever heard of what happened to Pamela Anderson and Paris Hilton???

So what you're saying is... the 49ers PR guy can now marry a Greek shipping magnate!

Watch videos here.

I thought it was kinda funny. Kinda different than the crappy meetings you have to sit through at work on this stuff.

This is really no different than seeing a comedy movie. Makes people laugh and think about it.

People should really lighten up a little, but i'm sure they will jump off a cliff at how shocked they are about this.

The real question, the blonde in the shower... real or fake ones?

GJ?

I think its pretty effing hilarious.

Well, I guess I am too dark to "lighten up a little".
A training video? Training for what? Racist caricatures of Chinese? Topless porn actresses parodying lesbians and engaging in sexual acts for the amusement of straight men? Baseless charges of corruption in the mayor's office? Millionaires ridiculing homeless people?
Oh yeah, that is great "diversity training", isn't it?
The idiot pr guy said it was to teach the team what they need to learn. What am I missing here? The video parodies the alleged inability of Chinese-Americans to understand English; I was born here and I'm not Chinese but I sure can't understand what the hell the players are going to learn from this. A racist, sexist porn flick for the entertainment of a bunch of rich straight guys? Someone please explain to me, since I'm female, Jewish, lesbian, working class and disabled and hence too stupid to get the "humor", what the important lesson is here?

he better do something because he's out of a job and I doubt he'll be hired any time soon

"Be professional" is the mantra repeated throughout. Underscoring that everything they say and do reflects back on the team. So how do you end up in such an ironic position as doing exactly the opposite from what you're saying?

I guess we've gotten used to that in politics lately, so it probably didn't even occur to the producers that they had a blind spot bigger than endzone goalposts.

It's something I would expect a frathouse to do as a recruitment tape to pass around to their friends, not something that would actually train professionals about handling the media. How anyone could live in the bay area, work in PR, and allow this anywhere near their organization is beyond me. And now the inevitable apology/firing.

In a time of Deep Throat coming out, it's almost reminiscent of Tricky Dick's Dirty Tricks Department & Watergate. And the video is presented by SFGate!

So--we might as well start the conspiracy theorizing right here--who wants to bring the 49ers down?? Considering how poorly they played, it's like Dick Nixon going after the hapless Dems when he was guaranteed victory. Is this payback from Owens? Garcia?

I want a new Deep Throat! eek! :cool:

If there is a god, please let it be Alex Smith!

“what the important lesson is here?”

The problem is that people have nothing better to do but be offended at every little thing they see that does not fit into the “feminist” agenda against those rich str8 guys who make a ton of money for throwing a ball around when the ladies make far less because no one watches (or cares) and they have a stick shoved so far up their collective… well, you get the point…..

My only complaint is that they didn’t have 2 football players going up there to get married. That would be pretty funny. How about two hot guys instead of us being the ones shafted with ugly guys on the video???? The better question is are you just mad because they put two lipstick lesbos on there rather than two bull dykes in leather?

If you would pull yourself away from hating men so much, you would understand they didn’t make this movie for some middle-aged-lesbian-sitting-at-her-house waiting for men to piss her off. This movie was made (in a funny way) for 20 something kids coming into the lifestyle of the NFL and for many of them a load of money that they have never seen before. Sorry babe, but with that comes strippers with big hooters. Spending too much money at restaurants when they don’t realize it (ie watch your money). Every little thing they say being scrutinized by the papers, even the smallest rag.

I bet many of you just love when Margaret Cho does her mom voice (which is the same).

These “training” sessions we’ve all gone through at work and such… how many of you want to just blow your brains out after the first 10 minutes and then fight falling asleep? Why not throw in some humor and discuss what the person did wrong, sounds more fun to me, and you have to think a little. Much better than watching some film that the ACLU/Femanazi/GLBT/Family Values crowd approved with their stamp of approval.

By getting truly offended by something like this, well you lose your luster when someone does or says something really bad. Plus, I bet you PC’ers are quite the bore at parties and Happy Hour.

it's incredible that the PR director of an NFL team can be so tone deaf that he could think this was a light-hearted parody of diversity. That man needs an intensive course on what diversity really is...
there are many ways to look at how diversity takes form aside from "crappy" meetings that you are forced into at work (PhillyFan) - this was not one of them.
it may be funny to you, but I found it extremely insulting as a gay Chinese man, lifelong SF resident, and 26 year season ticketholder to the 49ers - it offended my heritage, my identity, and mocked that city that i love.
do you think that stunts like this help/encourage any of the players to expand their viewfinders on diversity - a subject that should be taken seriously in our society?
when team management doesn't set the tone at engaging topics like this seriously, it's not surprising that these attempts at "humor" occur. this is just another example of why the players and management need enlightenment on diversity - it's another incident that started with the humiliating "mock rape" of the longtime 49'ers trainer Lindsay MacLean by Ted Washington in front of theteam - pretty "effing hilarious" except to the victims...

I also find it kinda funny.......but the fact still remains that you don't do that when it comes to the workplace. That's just stupidity.

This video was shown as part of a 2 ½ hour “diversity” training course. What do you think they talked about for 2:15 of it? This video was also only shown to the players, so it’s not like Susie Secretary has to watch it.

It’s just too bad the reporter didn’t do a better job of breaking down the entire training course, if so, then this spoof could have made perfect sense. As usual, the media will take this small piece and try to turn it into a big deal. Plus, this took place over a year ago. If the niners did this type of training, or that was their view… I’d think we would have heard about it by now. Instead you have a fired GM who’s pissed off, and trying to get back at them for something that was probably pretty harmless at the time.

The problem occurs when the PC crowd gets their hands on something and take it out of context.

Folks, **everyone** on the planet wasn't the audience here. The video was created to meet the mentality (and capture the attention) of today's pampered athlete, who probably had this training session scheduled one day after practice, when their minds were just getting over what happened on the practice field. Was the guy's intention right (to educate players on the diversity within the SF Bay area) when facing the media? Yes. Did he go too far by overstereotyping to try to get the players to pay attention? Yes. Did he apologize and will he face the overblown consequences of his actions? Yes. Time to move on folks and find the next pariah who steps out of line and offends someone.

Some of you whine about everything .

This video will have one use: it'll be used in the What NOT to do in a Diversity Training Course course.

The sad thing is that the video apparently has been out since last August, so the "doesn't reflect the values of this organization" huff-and-puff from ownership really rings hollow. Can they really have turned that much of a blind eye?
The other sad thing is that this is the same organization whose longtime trainer, Lindsy McLean, came out after retirement and detailed years of painful treatment in the locker room by the players. It seems ownership needs to do a little more to make its so-called high-road values trickle down to the entire organization.

In the hands of an intelligent comedy writer and perhaps professional actors, some of that material could've been done in a clever way. That was amateur night narrated by a moron. I don't know what the rest of the training was like, or whether that video was showing at the beginning, middle or end of the workshop, but unless the viewing of the video was followed by someone like a drill instructor screaming at the players at how offensive all of that was, it served absolutely no purpose except for all of them to laugh at the same targets they always laugh at.

JIP pretty much channeled my thoughts. I was not offended personally as much as baffled by the lame, sophomoric humor more befitting a frat house than a "professional" business' diversity pitch. All it did was reinforce the stereotype that SF is full of freaks. The only truly offensive clip was the "bucktoothed Chinaman"; that was offensive 50 years ago, let alone in 2005 in a city with a heavy Asian population.

[ June 01, 2005, 06:53 PM: Message edited by: Jim at Outsports ]

Now for me I found it absolutely offensive, but not for content but for just the fact of what its purpose was. To show the diversity of the city to the players. Now aren't the players smart enough to read a booklet or just talk about it without having to resort to videos and hand puppets.

The sad part about this is that I bet that if a hockey team did 'city diversity training', talking about african americans (who are clearly not the majority in ice hockey) and saying that they don't have the mental faculty to understand ice hockey rules, the NAACP would be knocking down the doors with a lawsuit. The fact that it was done by a football team and the players thought it was funny must mean it is alright and is not a serious issue. I mean how many gay or chinese players do they have to interact with in the locker room? So no problem there with diversity, because we all know players don't care at all about diversity of fans and community, only the ones in the locker room.

i'm definitely not "PC" but was offended by the video. Jim you were correct that it was lame "frat house" humor that would have been offensive 50 years ago. So what's the excuse today? I've got no problem at all with using humor to illustrate and educate about diversity - why not use humor to turn stereotypes upside down to illustrate the point instead of perpetuating centuries old notions of bucktoothed asians speaking fractured english? it's better to provoke and challenge conventional assumptions of race, ethnicity, gender, preference, etc if you want people to learn. if you can do it with humor, then so much the better. this example was dumb, tasteless, and offensive for an organization that should already be walking on eggshells from past incidents.

After seeing three randomly chosen segments of the video, I thought some of it was really funny in a frat-boy humorish way - that is to say, crude and unsophisticated - exactly what you would expect to appeal to a bunch of "dumb jocks" (no offense intended of course, I'm a great fan of dumb jocks as long as they aren't given work that requires responsibility like say running for political office or carrying a gun, etc. wink )

Unfortunately that leaves out the large number of sophisticated, intelligent people who play sports. Some of them are willing participants in the dominant brute culture simply to get along and not damage team comity. It's these guys that the video should be geared toward. If their attitude toward insensitivity changes they can lead the others away from dysfunctional behavior. No matter what people may think, I believe others on the squads know who these natural leaders are, and when they have the courage to lead, the others tend to follow.

As for the soft-straight-porn, it's self-defeating. It simply encourages the players to believe they can laugh at societies norms of behavior because they don't have to follow them. They may take the humor as a nudge and a wink, believing their lawyer and sports executives can work the system to get them out of most problems mere mortals have to go to jail for. A video making very clear the serious and inevitable penalties for specific infractions would be more to the point and more effective.

My thoughts exactly. I wasn't necessarily offended by the "gay" content or the bashing of a mayor who has been very good to their organization (last time you get favors from City Hall, buckos), but the Asian caricature made me way uncomfortable. That wasn't funny at all - it was mean and ignunt.

Edited to add: What makes you all think those O'Farrell entertainers were str8 posing as gay? Having lived in SF and having known a few women who worked ther, I can tell you that there are more than a few lesbian sex workers who "act str8" to pay the bills. Another stereotype bites the dust.

[ June 02, 2005, 05:49 AM: Message edited by: GatorJamie ]

I think it is ironic how the biggest lesson Mr. Reynolds was trying to teach is being learned. That is, be careful what you do because your intentions may be "misread" in the press and by the audience. His intentions may have been satire. The outcome is offensive and he was correctly terminated in shame by The Yorks.

What if one of those players in the room viewing that video happened to be gay? After the 2 1/2 hours of diversity training, he was probably filled with hope and optimism. After Mr. Reynold's "satire", I am confident he felt fearful and firmly locked in the closet. We've all been there -- no one should feel that way. It is wrong.

I'm not really offended by the video. But I also didn't think it was funny. South Park-offensive and funny. Howard Stern-offensive and funny. Dave Chapelle-offensive and funny. 49ers Diversity Training video-not and not. Big "Who cares"!

But what is amazing is that the 49ers went from being perhaps the league's classiest and accomplished franchises in the NFL to it's biggest joke. This video would have never seen the light of day during the old regime. Lately though the organization seems like a frat house run amok. Their on and off field problems have made them the laughingstock of the NFL.

Has the public received the expected "apology-not-apology" yet? You know, something like:

"If any of you thin-skinned hobby-free people with no life or sense of humor were for some unknown reason actually offended by this utterly harmless and wickedly funny piece of comedy, then we apologize."

LXN

I didn't see a single thing in the video that qualifies as humor. I personally know one long-time season ticket holder who told me this morning that she will not be renewing her four 49ers season tickets (and she stuck with the team all thru the horrible years of the late 70s). I'm sure her decision was made easier by the fact the Niners are an on-field embarrassment too in recent years, but she said the video hit her hard. And just for the record, she's straight, married and white.

I'm an incredibly difficult person to offend but even I found it very offensive (the racial stereotyping more so than the anti-gay stuff actually). I think the Niners and the public in general may be underestimating the effect this is going to have on Niners fans and previous fans who live in the Bay Area.

I wonder how many other teams in various sports have produced similar films to teach their players about diversity and dealing with the media? Surely the 49ers isn't the only organization whose employees would create a "frat house" (to use the phrase many on this thread have employed) type of video to explore these themes.

~Adam

Adam, I agree with you that other organizations have probably done somthing similar to the 49er tape but were smart enought (for the moment anyway) not to let it get into the hands of the media. I also think the reason why it's such a big deal is the fact that it is San Francisco and perhaps there's this view that in such a diverse, sophisticated (did I spell it right? sorry if I didn't!), and cosmopolitan city that there woudn't be such issues. I hate to admit it but when it all comes down to it, it really is just lockerroom humor not meant for the public. If I were the Yorks, I'd be more concerned about the person who sent that tape to that reporter.

“Edited to add: What makes you all think those O'Farrell entertainers were str8 posing as gay? Having lived in SF and having known a few women who worked ther, I can tell you that there are more than a few lesbian sex workers who "act str8" to pay the bills. Another stereotype bites the dust.”

WOW, I’m taking GJ on a trip to SF to meet her friends! We can have a crazy-lesbo-hot-action-happy-hour. I’ll buy the appletinis! That is diversity at its finest!

CU hit this right on the head, it was made for and seen only by the football players. “Frat house humor” fits right into what the organization was trying to get across. No one knows (because the bitter guy who gave the film) failed to mention how/when/where this film was used to educate the players. Anything else is jumping to conclusions.

It took the GM to get fired and him to release the film I’d have to say guess that none of the players, coaches, or staff that were there found this film to be the horribly offensive. Otherwise grumblings would have come out long before this.

You have a bitter ex-Gm, who sucked, trying to stick it to the organization. To me, he is the bad guy.

“Diversity” training is a joke in and of itself. It’s basically your employer boring you to death for a few hours. When all they need to say is… if you don’t like MO’s, shut up and keep it to yourself. If you think your secretary is hot today, keep it to yourself.. otherwise we get sued. Make no bones about it, that is what “diversity” training is, a prevention from being sued by someone. Not to open the hearts and minds of people.

Diversity training, brought to you by John Edwards (trial lawyer).

I dunno, PF. What about the now-retired trainer? Or some rook trying to make the team who also likes dudes? You really think they'd speak up? Methinks they're more concerned for keeping their jobs. They just go along to get along and keep that closet door locked down tight. We all suffer for that.

As for my knowledge of the O'Farrell entertainers... you and sting and the PHL bunch will just have to come to DC for the Redskins game. I'll only tell the story in person. wink

All signs point to ousted President Terry Donahue who feuded with the PR guy who did the tape.

Terry Donahue, the Deep Throat of the 21st century.

The problem is that this was one piece of a 2 ½ hour session on this issue. None of us can say what was discussed for the rest of the time. This video could have been shown at the start and then they discussed what was wrong with it. It could have been at the end to lighten the long boring “diversity” training. At most it was in bad taste and not meant to be offensive.

I do not follow the 49ers that closely to know the facts concerning the trainer, except to say that if you are sexually harassed, then say something. Stand up for yourself, etc. To say it years later, well, there is not much you can do. I doubt the organization would have allowed these things if they knew it was going on. That’s bad press for them and the players involved. Like I said, I don’t know what happened with her.

Not to stick up for the pampered athletes, but their job basically consists of going out on the field and being yelled at by opposing fans (more offensive than this movie). Dealing with a bunch of big boobed ho’s trying to get with you cause you got money. Everything you say being printed and twisted. Not your typical “PC” Hope-we-don’t-offend the lesbo world.


PS do you have pictures or home videos to go along with the "story"

PF, the trainer was a gay man, not a woman.
Here's an article about him.

Edited to add: It's interesting that Kirk Reynolds describes the above incident of harassment as "disturbing and bizarre", and then produces the video that's the subject of this thread.

[ June 02, 2005, 12:05 PM: Message edited by: Weaselman ]

It's interesting, and rather sad, to read Cyd's article saying that the 49ers deserve a pass on this because they "are the only NFL team on record as offering its employees domestic partner benefits" and that they "do sensitivity training around the topic of homosexuality." Cyd writes, "these are the San Francisco 49ers; they deserve the benefit of the doubt."

What Cyd fails to write is that the 49ers only began offering domestic partnership benefits after being forced to do so by the City of San Francisco, which enacted a 1997 law requiring companies and corporations doing business in or with the City, or using City-owned facilities, to offer equal benefits to domestic partners already being offered by the company or corporation to their heterosexual counterparts.

Also going unmentioned in Cyd's article is the fact that in March 2004, the City of San Francisco's Human Rights Commission wrote a second letter (the first followed Garrison Heart's 2002 comments) again expressing concern about newfound homophobia within the San Francisco 49ers organization.

That March 2004 letter came just 5 months prior to the insensitive videotape now being referenced.

The 49ers have shown a history of homophobia and have never been at the forefront of gay and lesbian rights. The organization has only been reactionary, and in no way should be given a pass for insensitivity. This issue may be seen as a joke in other parts of the country but it's not a joke to those of us who live in the Bay Area.

PF - why do you need to pander to the humor and education level of the audience? the fact that you think that "none of the players, coaches, or staff that were there found this film to be offensive..." is precisely why there is a need for diversity training/awareness.
i read postings about this subject from others on this board - people whose opinions i respect - that don't think the video was offensive. but it was to me - one member of the "diversity" of SF portrayed - sometimes those in the cultural/ethnic majority don't get what is offensive to those in the minority.

What I saw was a training video in which the narrator modeled several clearly-engineered-to-be-offensive behaviors. The organization I work for uses similar, though more professional and higher quality, videos to provide training on sexual harrassment. After showing the video, participants discuss what they saw, was it acceptable or not and why, etc., etc.

This is a non-story as far as I can tell. Completely manufactured by the media which has presented the whole thing quite out of context.

Oh well! What the hell. I'm sick of hearing about Deep Throat.

I wonder how the players might have felt if, instead of going to Chinatown, the producers went to Bayview/Hunters Point and filmed caricatures of African-Americans...

That's an excellent point, GatorJamie!

the bay area has a difference sensibility than most places

to those of us who live here, it's sad to see this happen here

I had hoped that this area had progressed beyond this sort of crap

Maybe somewhere else, this is considered funny but not here

it's homophobic, anti-Asian, anti-women and just plain stupid

My quote in the Oakland Tribune.

Jim Buzinski, co-owner of the gay-themed Web site Outsports.com, said that while not personally offended, the video was "dumb, silly, sophomoric and more worthy of a frat house," and inappropriate for diversity training.

GJ - you definitely get it!
Torgauer - i don't think anyone has said the video was engineered to provoke discussion afterwards - the former PR Director Reynolds who produced and starred in this unfortunate use of video acknowledged "pushing the envelope" too far - you would think he would rationalize it in the same manner as you.

They have a different sensibility? Oh gosh, yeah all us hicks in the rest of the country REALLY look up to you guys.. gimme a break. What do you drink tea and have umbrellas at all the games? A little French wine? Discuss the great diversity in the crowd that day?

Does that mean the pressure of PC have taken over and everyone just has to think it instead of saying it? Good Job guys! Jump off the moral high horse please.

If you think the 49ers don’t like Asians, go watch the Raiders. Quite simple. For someone who’s had season tickets for 26 years, I’d think you would hear more offensive crap coming out of the 16 yo’s that are actually at the games.

The NFL, 49ers, heck even the cards give back to the communities where they reside. I know the eagles do tons for poor kids. I think most sports franchises do wonders in their communities. With that, most athletes also do wonders in the community. Too bad people and the media are too busy trying to find a dumb video or writing stories about Hearst to realize this.

Maybe I’m old fashioned but I don’t want my teams to be involved in anything political, take sides on moral issues… I just want the best athletes on the field and hot babe cheerleaders on the sidelines… quite simple. Oh yeah, and a beer in my hand.

Back a day later after my first post in this thread.. lots of good stuff here..

This video was nothing more than a "How not to act type of video. That was the message that Kirk Reynolds was trying to get across to the players. I think people have taken this out of context. The video is not a statement about an organization or what it's core beliefs are. This is pure sarcasm. This is locker room humor.

I am going to quote something I read earlier today: If we're to be offended by this, we should be offended by MadTV, Saturday Night Live, South Park, Dave Chappelle (Great example, George) and other extreme stereotyping. Yet we dismiss one and pile on an other. The video was an effort to be humorous, and humor is subjective. That's why we let the Dave Chappelle's of the world slide. This is one we should let slide as well and move on to more important matters.

wow PF, why so much anger? there's no need for this to turn into a cable news rant 'n rave...
'hicks in the rest of the country.." - never said it, never implied it - is this some insecurity surfacing...?
"moral high horse"? - not me - can't even get up on one.
i'm sure the 49'ers, like many other teams, have community service programs but what's that got to do with the issue at hand? weren't we talking about an ill-advised and conceived attempt at teaching diversity?
you may want to keep thinking your politically incorrect thoughts all you want - that's fine, just don't say them in public in my neighborhood - that's what the 49'ers did and that's what the ruckus is about.
a mistake was made - it's not the end of the world - it can be acknowledged, learned from, and apologies made - but don't come at it from the angle that there was nothing inappropriate and your athletic heroes are incapable of error.

I've read here and heard elsewhere some comments that maybe we should just take Mad TV, Chappelle, South Park, etc., off the air, if people are so sensitive in the wake of this video. The difference is that one would not be surprised to find bathroom humor on comedy television shows, but would be in diversity-training programs. No one has been able to tell me *why* it's acceptable to have this sort of locker-room humor. They just say, well, that's the way it is. The cat also gets their tongue when I ask, What's wrong with a little more *kindness*?

Had they gone to some of the players hometown and made fun of the locals it would probably have upset more of their target audience than making fun of gays in Castro or Chinese in Chinatown. How many asians are there in the NFL? They obviously don't need the Chinese fans.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by sportinlife:
[QB] [QUOTE]Originally posted by GatorJamie:
[qb] I wonder how the players might have felt if, instead of going to Chinatown, the producers went to Bayview/Hunters Point and filmed caricatures of African-Americans...fans.

I realize racism is racism,and is comparable to sexism, and homophobia. But it isn't apples to apples either. There are loads of people out there who would be appalled by what that video showed and then flip on their TV to watch their Indians and Chief Wahoo, or catch the latest Redskins news....etc. etc.

I have to admit, I chuckled at some of the stuff on there. I watch South Park quite a bit and could see how the stuff on that video could be put onto to that show without much if any controversy.

I guess my point is that there is a place for this video, it just didn't belong in an NFL Training program

The video used extremely bad humor and even worse judgment. I watched the video and I was aghast at all of the references.

You can't compare this training video with the antics of Chappelle, who I find extremely funny. A training video is to educate not humiliate. I agree with blueraider, it belongs somewhere else, not as part of diversity training.

I think what I am most distressed about is the indignant reaction of the 49er player themselves. They act as if the training video could be used as a vehicle to extend long held prejudices in the name of humor. The PR guy should have been fired. He should have been fired 8 months ago.

Why did it take so long to get this far? Because the Yorks don't know what they are doing. They have run the team into the ground. They have made my once proud team the laughing stock of the league.

Bring back Eddie!