BASEketball (1998)

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Overview:

Starring the creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and directed by David Zucker, BASEketball follows Joe Cooper and Doug Remer as they try to live up to athletic icons from their childhood. After attending a party the two are challenged by some dudes who are obviously much better at any sport than Coop and Remer, so the two invent a new game for the every man and call it BASEketball. Years later BASEketball is now a nationally loved sport and its up to Coop and Remer to make sure it doesn't fail like every other major sport has from greed and outside interests. It's pretty funny too.

Plot Summary:

Joe Cooper and Doug Remer have been friends since they were kids. They even got the chance to attend the World Series in 1977 when Reggie Jackson hit three homeruns in one game, and the 3rd homerun ball was caught by Coop himself. Ever since then Coop and Remer have always wanted to be sports stars themselves. But as the years passed and the two grew up things changed as they often do. Sports has become stagnate, bogged down by inflating egos and salaries of players and teams willing to move from city to city in hopes of more dollars. Coop and Remer have also changed, both now 23 and unemployed trying desperately to keep their house without any money.

The two decide to attend a party, uninvited, of some old high school friends who have all since moved on from their old lives getting careers and families. After trying to sniff some panties, and a vibrator, the two are kicked out by the host and sit just outside of the house shooting some baskets on a driveway basketball court. While lamenting their failures, and surprised at how good of their shooting is, two of their former classmates challenge them to a game of basketball. Coop and Remer are about accept when they realize these former classmates are pretty good.

So on the spot Coop and Remer make up a new game, claiming to have found it in the hood. Baseketball, played like horse but with a mix of baseball rules and having psych outs so that opposing players can cause the shooter to miss. As the game goes on Coop and Remer flesh the game out more and easily beat their former classmates. Back at home the next day they find themselves practicing the game in their driveway when Squeak, a "friend" of theirs, comes to shut off their gas due to lack of payments. After making fun of him they let him in on their team since he has some shooting talent himself.

Six months later Baseketball has turned into a neighborhood sport and even forming brackets and a league. Stilled played in Coop and Remer's driveway the first league championship is won by, who else, but the creators Coop and Remer. While celebrating with most of the neighborhood Coop is approached by Ted Denslow and offers Coop the chance to turn Baseketball into a professional sport. Denslow doesn't want Baseketball to turn into other sports just like Coop and the two agree to form the league.

Five years later the NBL, National Baseketball League, now has more teams, jerseys, stadiums, official balls, and legions of fans. The Milwaukee Beers, the team starring Coop and Remer, are playing for the championship and just as Coop goes up for his possible game winning shot, Beers owner Denslow chokes on a hotdog and eventually dies. Dejected from the loss of both the game and his friend and owner Coop packs his things and leaves the stadium but is stopped by Jenna Reed. Reed is the director of the Dream Come True Foundation and asks if Coop and Remer would sign some autographs for her kids. 

A few days later at Denslow's will reading Coop is given ownership of the Beers but only for one year, he and the team must win the championship the following year to keep ownership otherwise it will default to Denslow's short time wife, Yvetter Denslow. Fellow owner and rival to Denslow, Baxter Cain, smells blood in the water and feels like this would be the best opportunity to change the league's rules and allow both players and teams to make more money and move cities. Yvette and Cain agree with these rule changes but Coop doesn't, knowing that Denslow and himself purposefully created Baseketball to not be about greed and money.

As the next season begins Cain talks to Remer without Coop, telling him that Coop refused any rule changes that could have given Remer and his Beers teammates more money without talking to them. Remer tells his teammates and confront Coop about his "selfish" decisions. Coop decides he will split the ownership between all of his teammates and himself. Coop explains what the rules change would really mean and the team decides to keep them the way they are.

Cain then decides to defund the foundation that Jenna works for and Coop and Remer ask Cain is there is anyway they could help her out. When Cain suggests establishing a Beers clothing line Coop is against it, saying the league has always been against making merchandise deals. But Remer agrees with Cain and signs on to form a clothing line and after modeling some of the clothes soon gets a taste for fame which angers Coop. Despite the disagreements the Beers have been doing well in the playoffs until Cain shows the two pictures of the Beers merchandise being made by children labor. Cain blackmails the two into purposefully losing the championship game or Cain will release the photos and ruin both Jenna's foundation and the Beers' image.

With Jenna angry at Coop for allowing kids to make the merchandise, the championship and his ownership on the line, and his friend Remer not speaking to him Coop decides to go to the factories making the clothes himself. He is able to turn the factory into a legal one, using adult workers, and makes it back for the Beers game in the middle of the championship game. Down by 16 runs Squeak, Remer, and Coop hash out their differences and decide they need to win this game. Through shot after shot the Beers get back into the game and find themselves down by only two runs. With both Remer and Squeak in scoring position, Coop is up to bat(?) when his handmade original ball pops. With none of the other official balls feeling good in Coop's hands all seems lost.

However Jenna, who had hated Coop until she saw what he did with the children labor, rushed to the stadium with the kids from the foundation in tow. One of those kids, a big fan of Coop, had made his own version of Coop's original ball and gives it to Coop for his shot. Coop lines up, throws, and misses. Both opposing players miss their chance to convert his miss into a double play, giving Remer a chance to keep the ball in play. Coop runs up and is able to convert the ball and make it in the hoop, counting as a homerun and winning the championship game. Coop retains ownership of the team, keeps the league greed free, and wins Jenna heart. Remer and Yvette also hook up cause, why not?