Pete Newell
College basketball aficionados still speak fondly of Coach Pete Newell (August 31, 1915 – November 17, 2008) who was an American college men’s basketball coach and basketball instructional coach.
Pete Newell in his easy chair
The Hall of Fame coach who won an NCAA championship and Olympic gold medal, touched the lives of many in the sport of basketball.
“I just don’t think anybody has contributed more to my life in more ways than Pete Newell did,” said Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight, Division I’s all-time victory leader, who coached three NCAA champions and also won Olympic gold. Newell spent his last days at the Rancho Santa Fe home of retired Dr. Earl Shultz, who played for Newell at Cal and watched over him for the last several years.
A Selfie with Pete Newell by Patty Mooney
Coach Newell’s vivid memories of games played decades ago were quite impressive. He had a genuine and easy-going smile and humble attitude. I was amazed during his interview of how he could distinctly remember games that he had coached 30 years ago, play by play. It made me wish that I had been a college basketball player under his tutelage. His love of the game and the affection he had for his players were remarkable. His attitude about teaching is summed up in this quote which I recently discovered: “Coaching and teaching are two different things. The coaching never turned me on that much, but I always enjoyed the teaching, the practice sessions.” Spoken like a true guru, I think.
Coach Pete Newell and Portable Green Screen
Coach Pete Newell in his easy chair
Producer Andre Stark interviews Coach Steve Fisher using portable green screen
When I asked if he would pose for a photo with me, he didn’t even hesitate. Kudos to you, Coach Newell, for everything you did to further the sport of college basketball, and on a smaller scale, for the laughs we shared one afternoon in the winter of your life.
Steve Fisher
Later in the afternoon, the crew traveled to SDSU to see the Aztecs practice and interview Coach Steve Fisher. If you have ever seen interviews of him talking about his Aztecs, you know how mild-mannered he is, and how devoted to the sport of college basketball.
This is an example of an interview that is conducted with a portable green screen. Such a small background is perfect for seated interviews but would not be adequate for stand-up interviews or for videotaping sequences that require the talent to jump up and down or move off the perimeter of the screen. The beauty of this particular green screen is its portability. The Boston crew were able to easily travel with it to San Diego where we videotaped the interviews of Basketball Coaches Steve Fisher and Pete Newell.
Go Aztecs!
Patty was pleased when Andre Stark wrote this Testimonial about her performance on the green screen interviews:
I hired Patty when I was securing interviews for the College Basketball Hall of Fame. We interviewed Hall of Famer, the late Pete Newell and San Diego State and NCAA Championship head Coach Steve Fisher. Patty did a great job of putting our subjects at ease and as a good sound tech does, was invisible when she needed to be and up front and center when called upon. She even got pictures of us with the late great Mr. Newell, a picture that is now invaluable. Further, being a San Diego native, Patty was able to get us to both our destinations with little trouble, a great feat given the traffic around SD. She is a pleasure to work with and I hope I get to work with her again. Top Notch. I especially liked the fact that Patty was a Jane-of-all-Trades, since she is a producer and camerawoman as well as a sound technician.
Patty Mooney is a VP and Video Producer and Mark Schulze is President and DP at award-winning San Diego video production company, Crystal Pyramid Productions.
