Retro Round-Up: BASEketball

For this installment of my Retro Round-Up series, I will be looking at, and introducing many of you, to a cult film from the 90's. BASEketball is a movie about two best friends who create a neighborhood game that quickly gets blown into a national sports craze.

David Zucker, of Airplane! fame, directed and co-wrote BASEketball. He based the story on the game that he created in real-life with some friends of his years before the 1997 movie came out. But giving too much credit to the writing of BASEketball would be a mistake. The true brilliance and humor of this movie comes through in the 'psych out' jokes made by the movie's stars, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, during the game play.

I don't want to get too ahead of myself here, so let me first tell you about the game of BASEketball. Two friends, played by South Park co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, realize they are great at basketball; as long as they don't have to "run and jump or anything". This gives them the great idea for this new game, BASEketball, which can be played by anybody; a game where average Joes can compete on the same field as steroid injected athletes. BASEketball is basketball with baseball rules:

- A single is from the free throw line

- A double is from the top of the key

- A triple is from behind the key

- A homerun is further back

- You can't shoot from the same place twice

- If you miss, you get an out

The other rule of BASEketball that gets made up as they first start playing is the aforementioned 'psyche outs'. This rule states that when a player is attempting a shot, or hit, a player from the opposing team can do anything they want to make him miss the shot. It is assumed that physical contact is not allowed, but it does happen in one very funny scene. This is where the comic genius of the South Park creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, really shine, and the main reason BASEketball has become such a huge cult favorite.

After playing in their neighborhood for six months, billionaire Ted Denslow (played by Ernest Borgnine) convinces Joe 'Coop' Cooper (Trey Parker) to take BASEketball professional. Fast forward five years and the Milwaukee Beers, the team that the friends are the star players on, has made it to the championship, The Denslow Cup. During the championship game, Ted Denslow (the 'Father of professional BASEketball) dies choking on a hot dog. In his will, he leaves the team, the Milwaukee Beers, to Coop, but only if he can lead them to a Denslow Cup victory that season. Otherwise, Ted Denslow's much younger window (Jenny McCarthy) inherits the team. Another rich team owner proposes to help Denslow's widow so she can gain control of the Beers, and he can pass new rules that would make him more money. Then the zany, wacky adventure ensues.

Even though BASEketball is along the same vein as Airplane! , it has much more social relevance in today's big corporation, sports conglomerate world. A key point of the sport of BASEketball is that all players get paid the same and can't be traded and transferred. Corporate sponsorship is also forbidden. Not to mention the friends aspect, especially when Doug Remer (Matt Stone), becomes a big sell-out.

Movie Highlights

Numerous cameos filter through BASEketball: Bob Costas, Robert Stack, Reggie Jackson, Dale Earnhardt, and Yasmine Bleeth to name a few.

Trey Parker can be seeing using three famous South Park voices, though BASEketball was filmed before South Park had even aired: Mr. Garrison, Mr. Hankey, and Eric Cartman.

Reel Big Fish, who play on the BASEketball soundtrack, can also be seen playing their cover of 'Take Me On' in the movie.