History Film / Baseketball

Based on an actual game created by ''Film/{{Airplane}}'' co-creator [[Creator/ZuckerAbrahamsAndZucker David Zucker]].

* '''Miami Dealers''': Predominantly Cuban, Puerto Rican (or other Hispanic) drug-dealer types. They wear old-school pagers [[Main/TechnologyMarchesOn which were less out of place in the late '90s.]][[invoked]] One of the players ran away when Coop performed a psyche-out wearing a DEA jacket with the logo facing him.

** The home arena, Roswell Stadium, is shaped to look like a flying saucer and has a backboard resembling a restricted warehouse (reminiscent of {{Area 51}}).

** Cheerleaders strip to cutoffs on the field, and perform on stripper poles.

* HumbleBeginnings: In-universe. Baseketball was made up on the spot by Coop and Remer one night. Soon it was being played on suburban driveways [[MemeticMutation even going as far as developing entire amateur leagues within neighborhoods]]. With the support and financial sponsorship of a billionaire fan and a rapidly growing fan base, it became a professional league sport. As a nod to the game's roots, many baseketball arenas have backboard façades that resemble suburban garage doors each themed to the arena's home team.

* HumbleBeginnings[=/=]MemeticMutation: In-universe. Baseketball was made up on the spot by Coop and Remer one night. Soon it was being played on suburban driveways even going as far as developing entire amateur leagues within neighborhoods. With the support and financial sponsorship of a billionaire fan and a rapidly growing fan base, it became a professional league sport. As a nod to the game's roots, many baseketball arenas have backboard facades that resemble suburban garage doors each themed to the arena's home team.

* '''San Francisco Ferries''': Referencing San Francisco's status as America's most well-known {{Gayborhood}}. The word Ferries, referring to ferry boats, is also a play on "[[CampGay fairy]]", a slur towards gay men. The players wear white, pastel pink, and blue uniforms.

* EveryoneMustBePaired: Coop ends up with his love interest Jenna, and Squeak embraces the possible transsexual he has been sharing looks with. Remer on the other hand looks despondent until he meets gazes with Yvette, a character he has had no interaction with throughout the movie. They immediately begin making out.

* '''San Francisco Ferries''': Homosexuals; referencing San Francisco's status as America's most well-known {{Gayborhood}}. The word Ferries, referring to ferry boats, is also a play on "[[CampGay fairy]]", a slur towards gay men. The players wear white, pastel pink, and blue uniforms.

Five years later, Joe "Coop" Cooper (Parker) and Doug Remer (Stone) are the star players of the Milwaukee Beers team in the National [=BASEketball=] League, playing against their arch-rivals, the Dallas Felons, in the fourth Denslow Cup. Tragically, Denslow chokes on a hot-dog and dies just as Coop comes up to shoot for the team, causing the Beers to lose. A few days later, at the reading of Denslow's VideoWill, Coop learns that he's inherited ownership of the Beers, meaning he's now the only person standing in the way of Baxter Cain's (Creator/RobertVaughn) plans to bring in all the things Coop and Denslow hated about other professional sports. That is, unless the Beers fail to win the next Denslow Cup, in which case ownership reverts to Denslow's widow Yvette (Creator/JennyMcCarthy). Cain promptly cozies up to Yvette, and makes plans to get Coop out of the way, while Coop struggles to keep baseketball the game it was meant to be, while wooing Jenna (Yasmin Bleeth), the attractive director of a local kids charity.

* [[NewscasterCameo Sportscaster Cameo]]: Creator/BobCostas and Al Michaels ([[AsHimself as themselves]]) do the play-by-play for the Beers, and it's more than a cameo -- in fact they probably get more screen time than Ernest Borgnine as Ted Denslow. Other sportscasters turn up briefly, including Dan Latrick, Kenny Maybe, Tim [=McCarver=], and Jim Lampley.

* [[NewscasterCameo Sportscaster Cameo]]: Bob Costas and Al Michaels ([[AsHimself as themselves]]) do the play-by-play for the Beers, and it's more than a cameo -- in fact they probably get more screen time than Ernest Borgnine as Ted Denslow.

Five years later, Joe "Coop" Cooper (Parker) and Doug Remer (Stone) are the star players of the Milwaukee Beers team in the National [=BASEketball=] League, playing against their arch-rivals, the Dallas Felons, in the fourth Denslow Cup. Tragically, Denslow chokes on a hot-dog and dies just as Coop comes up to shoot for the team, causing the Beers to lose. A few days later, at the reading of Denslow's VideoWill, Coop learns that he's inherited ownership of the Beers, meaning he's now the only person standing in the way of Baxter Cain's (Robert Vaughn) plans to bring in all the things Coop and Denslow hated about other professional sports. That is, unless the Beers fail to win the next Denslow Cup, in which case ownership reverts to Denslow's widow Yvette (Jenny [=McCarthy=]). Cain promptly cozies up to Yvette, and makes plans to get Coop out of the way, while Coop struggles to keep baseketball the game it was meant to be, while wooing Jenna (Yasmin Bleeth), the attractive director of a local kids charity.

* ArtifactTitle: In-universe, in the opening narration, describing professional sports teams who have moved to other markets:

* '''Los Angeles Riots''': Reference to the 1992 [[UsefulNotes/LosAngeles L.A.]][=/=]Rodney King riots and, possibly, the 1965 Watts Riots. The players appear to be mostly Latinos and African-Americans.

* UnEntendre: Yvette, being a trophy wife, frequently mistakes Baxter's unconventional requests as sexual come-ons:
-->'''Baxter''': But you know, my ''[glances at groin]'' lobby could use a good buffing, ''if you know what I mean.''\\
'''Yvette''': I know exactly what you mean.\\
''[Cut to Yvette struggling to use a janitor's buffer in the lobby]''

* '''Milwaukee Beers''': The team our protagonists play on referencing to the numerous local beer breweries and the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team. Their mascot is a walking keg of beer (who can use his "tap" to urinate).

** The cheerleaders wear highly revealing attire, like all of the cheerleaders in the league, with the most range of attire (since we see them the most often) - from lacy white lingerie, to lacy black lingerie (when in mourning) to cutoffs and short-shorts, to [[Main/CatholicSchoolGirlsRule sexy schoolgirl outfits.]] They generally project a "sexy {{girl next door}}" vibe, suitable for the Hero Team.

** Their mascot is a grey alien in who is accompanied by the cheerleaders wearing translucent unitards and perform bizarre dance routines.

* BookEnds: We open with a narrator talking about about the majesty of sportsmanship in it's decline and we close with that same narrator.

** Britney's boyfriend Ted, when Coop and Remer tells her he told them about her party. Though his expression is more subdued.

* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: Ted Denslow is already rich, but he made Baseketball into a real sport because he wanted a national sport that focuse more on the spirit of the game than the franchising.

* [[NewscasterCameo Sportscaster Cameo]]: Bob Costas and Al Michaels ([[AsHimself as themselves]]) do the play-by-play for the Beers, and it's more than a cameo - in fact they probably get more screen time than Ernest Borgnine as Ted Denslow.

** Both Coop and Remer thinks Shaq got rich from playing in college. Coop believes that's common knowledge.

* StrawLoser: At the start of the movie, Coop and Remer face the fact that they've done nothing with their lives since high school, especially since it seems like ALL their former classmates are successfull.

* AwesomeButImpractical: Many of the psyche-outs require lots of planning, and even some props. Each psyche-out can be used only once, or it loses its shock value.

* FamousLastWords: When Denslow tries to tell Coop he's choking:
-->'''Denslow:''' (''weakly shows Coop his empty hot dog bun'')\\
'''Coop:''' Somebody get this man a hot dog!\\
'''Denslow:''' (''smashes an egg on Coop's head'') STUPID! (''dies'')

* '''San Francisco Ferries''': Homosexuals; referencing San Francisco's status as America's most well-known {{Gayborhood}}. The word Ferries, referring to ferry boats, is also a play on "[[CampGay fairy]]", a slur towards gay men. The players wear white and pastel pink and blue uniforms.
** The team has the only all-male cheerleader squad in the league.

* PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure: True to form, Coop and Remer have a huge falling out over Coop's refusal to let baseketball be commercialized, as well as their rivalry over Jenna. Which gets worse when they're being blackmailed and then they blame each other. During the halftime show, they pretend to shake hands, but Remer wouldn't let go of Coop's hands, and begin to fight until Squeak stops them.

* OnlySaneMan: Despite being the movie's villain, Baxter Cain is this, mainly because all the heroes (and some of the supporting characters) are complete morons.

** For some reason, everyone but Baxter thinks that Shaq got rich from playing in college.

* PairTheSpares: Remer and Yvette, despite meeting only once before. They were lonely because everyone else was paired.

** Remer thinks he has to quit [=BASEketball=] to get rich.

* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Cain doesn't understand why a fellow billionaire like Denslow wouldn't want to franchise baseketball to make even more money.

* RightBehindMe: At the house party near the beginning of the movie, Brittany is standing right behind Remer when he tells Coop how much he wants to have sex with her. It happens again when she catches them going through [[spoiler:her mom's]] underwear drawer.

* RunningGag: Cain's headaches. Of course, he's SurroundedByIdiots.

** The look Jenna makes when she's surprised or weirded out by something.

''[=BASEketball=]'' is a 1998 comedy film telling the story of two unemployed losers (''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' creators Creator/TreyParkerAndMattStone, just as ''South Park'' was starting to skyrocket in popularity) who invent a game combining baseball and basketball, but requiring no real athletic skills, and banning controversial sports practices like massive sponsorship and multiple player transfers. The game rapidly evolves in popularity becoming an actual professional sport, thanks to the backing of billionaire Ted Denslow (Ernest Borgnine).