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EDS BYRON NELSON CHAMPIONSHIPApril 25, 2007Ron RittenmeyerKent SkinnerMikey TeutulPaul Teutul, Jr.Paul Teutul, Sr.IRVING, TEXAS BOB BRAND: Why don't we get started. As many of you may have seen, we just unveiled the EDS Byron Nelson chopper on the first tee. With us on the podium today we have next to me Kent Skipper, executive director of the Salesmanship Club Youth and Family Centers, the recipient of the money that's going to be raised by the charity, by the auction of the bike from charity; Paul Teutul Jr.; Ron Rittenmeyer, president and chief operating officer of EDS and kind of executive champion on our side of this for this project; Paul Teutul, Sr.; and Mikey of the Teutuls of Orange County Chopper fame and also the stars of American Chopper. Maybe we'll just kick it off and maybe give us a quick second on why EDS got involved this year. RON RITTENMEYER: We thought this year we should do something even more unique, and this type of effort, this partnership that we created with the Teutuls is probably the best example of great innovation on both sides and great excitement, and it really adds something of a very unique dimension to the tournament. Again, with the proceeds all going to the charity, we saw this as just an exciting way to continue to make this tournament a very, very memorable and exciting experience. BOB BRAND: Paul, Jr., maybe just a few comments from you on the process of the bike that you went through. PAUL TEUTUL, JR.: You know, when EDS came to us, it was interesting because we weren't sure exactly what to do because this is a real prestigious event, and so we just basically turned to the fact that we had to make these bikes the classiest bikes we've ever built, and that's really what we set out for. Our dealings with EDS was unbelievable, and just to be a part of the EDS Byron Nelson Championship has been a real honor for us. BOB BRAND: Kent, any comments on behalf of the charity? KENT SKIPPER: We are the lucky folks who get to spend this money to help kids, and we're so grateful to EDS, to the Orange County Chopper team, and the Teutuls are wonderful. They came here, visited our kids, drove them wild. They're here helping us celebrate this event. It ties with so much of what's going on. EDS has been a great title sponsor for us, and their spirit of creativity and innovation is reflected here. The give-back attitude by the EDS and the Teutuls is really amazing. We're proud to be a part of this partnership. BOB BRAND: Any questions? Q. I was just wondering for any of y'all that went out to the EDS complex, was it yesterday, were they surprised to see all the bikes out there? Were there a bunch of -- PAUL TEUTUL, SR.: Actually there was only three bikes out there when we came out. RON RITTENMEYER: There were 70 to start with, and we chose three winners. The employees chose three winners. PAUL TEUTUL, SR.: And I think Ron took all the rest of the bikes home with him (laughter). RON RITTENMEYER: One at a time. Q. What's the timeline for putting a bike together? How long did it take to come up with the design and kind of get it to a finished product? PAUL TEUTUL, SR.: Too long. PAUL TEUTUL, JR.: It took about a month to do the bikes. There's three bikes so we did them all at the same time, and we really did them pretty much in the same time frame as we do one because we brought more people in on the project. From start to finish it was about a month. That's pretty standard. Inside that month we also do our two-hour show, so it'll be airing on TLC down the road, so people should look for it. But it's pretty standard to do it like that. It was extremely exciting for me to be able to do three bikes, three lifts lined up, all extremely classy bikes, all identical, all at the same time. We just did a lot of machine work and a lot of hands-on craftsmanship for these particular bikes. Q. How are your golf games? PAUL TEUTUL, JR.: Ooh. MIKEY TEUTUL: We'll see how bad my game is later. I'm going to be golfing in the Pro-Am tournament with Charley Hoffman, and I can tell you right now it's probably going to be the worst game you've ever seen. RON RITTENMEYER: I played miniature golf with Mikey at the shop. MIKEY TEUTUL: That's right. RON RITTENMEYER: He was pretty bad at that, so I don't know what's going to happen. MIKEY TEUTUL: Very bad at that. Q. Do you guys play at all? PAUL TEUTUL, JR.: I do. Actually I'm missing my league game today. I play on a league once a week. I've played on and off throughout the years. I love playing golf. I also love pitching, so sometimes it's a choice between the two. It's a little frustrating for me, golf, sometimes. If I can just play good, I'm okay. But when I start playing bad, it's not as enjoyable. Q. Being hooked up with Charley Hoffman today, why did that happen, and did it have anything to do with your similarities in hair? MIKEY TEUTUL: It had everything to do with our similarities in hair and I think our personalities. I haven't met Charley yet, but I hear he's really a nice guy and has kind of a docile-type personality like myself. So I hope to get along very well with him. I can see this lady is typing every word I'm saying. BOB BRAND: In anybody wants to bid on the bike where, should they go to find out more information? RON RITTENMEYER: EDS.com/auction, and it'll get you a link to go there, and we certainly suggest everybody get on there and place a bid. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Q. Have you made any bikes for golfers in particular, other pro athletes? PAUL TEUTUL, JR.: Yeah, actually we built a bike for Davis Love. It was for his birthday maybe two years ago. So we were able to build him a bike. It was actually on one of our shows. It went really well. He loves to ride and he's just a great guy. But never for like a winner of a tournament or for a charity event like this. So it's definitely a little different from that. But it was fun building it for him, as well as -- any involvement we have in golf and golf organizations, it's always fun. PAUL TEUTUL, SR.: I think it's like for us, whoever we're dealing with, if they reciprocate and put effort into what we're doing, that's what makes the difference. We have done stuff in the past where people come to us and they don't participate as much as we'd like them do. With EDS and even with Davis Love, they participated in a lot of what we do, and I think that that's very important, and I think that makes the relationship what it is. Q. Talk a little bit about the touches of Byron Nelson that came in. How did that come about and how did you kind of come up with the ideas to include some of those? PAUL TEUTUL, SR.: Me and Mikey came up with most of the ideas, I think. MIKEY TEUTUL: Most of them, but the rest was left up to Pauly and Jason Pohl, our head design and fabrication expert. PAUL TEUTUL, JR.: We did 11 spokes for obviously his 11 wins consecutively, and just made it as classy and as -- it almost has a nostalgic quality, and that was really important. An American Classic, that's kind of what we were looking for, and we also have a nice mahogany wood plaque on the belt drive cover that has a quote from Byron Nelson. And he has so many great quotes. I actually read a quote book that he has. Just a phenomenal person. It was just unfortunate I never got a chance to meet him. But in seeing films on him and in talking with people and things of that nature, you just get a really good feel for how much of a stand-up guy he was and how much he affected the people around him. BOB BRAND: We'll just say the bikes will be here all week long, one bike out on the front of the pro shop, one bike on 17 and one bike on Champions Way for display. RON RITTENMEYER: One last comment I want to make is I want to say with EDS we're very fortunate to have the team that we have. Mike Minshew and his guys, the whole team spent a lot of time putting this together and went through a lot of pain personally to make this happen, and I think it would be remiss of me not to mention the fact that I get to sit up here on stage but they did all the work. BOB BRAND: Thanks, everybody. End of FastScripts |
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