A gambling addict and ticket scalper living an aimless life reluctantly agrees to coach a Little League team from the Chicago projects as part of a loan agreement.A gambling addict and ticket scalper living an aimless life reluctantly agrees to coach a Little League team from the Chicago projects as part of a loan agreement.A gambling addict and ticket scalper living an aimless life reluctantly agrees to coach a Little League team from the Chicago projects as part of a loan agreement.
- Awards
- 2 nominations
- Andre Ray Peetes
- (as Bryan C. Hearne)
- Jamal
- (as Michael Jordan)
- Clarence
- (as Kristopher Lofton)
- Pearla Evans
- (as Carol E. Hall)
- Waatas Coach
- (as Mark Ellis)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBefore the film was released in 2001, posters and ads reflected the rating as R before it was re-edited to dub over the kids using the "f" word. Despite quite a bit of profanity remaining, the film was then released with a PG-13 rating.
- GoofsIn the first game, when Miles (the kid with headphones) is up to bat, he is number 9. On his second swing his back is visible and the number is number 7 which is Andre's number.
- Quotes
Conor O'Neill: Good morning. Um, Gerius was a player on the Kekemas baseball team I coach. Honestly he, uh, he was too young to play. But he wanted to be a part of the team so badly, I couldn't say no. He had a great smile too though I'm not telling you anything you don't know. He was a really tough guy. Just a boy really who, uh, wanted to be around his older brother. The other day we played a really important game against a good team. And two outs in the last inning, I had no choice but to let Gerius bat. He was fearless as he stepped to the plate. I was terrified for him. With two strikes and our hopes dwindling, he hit a shot down the first base line. He won the game. And watching him raise his arms in triumph as he ran to first base, I swear I was lifted in that moment to a better place. I swear he, uh, he lifted the world in that moment. He made me a better person, even if just for that moment. I am, uh, forever grateful to Gerius for that.
- Alternate versionsThe mayor of Chicago, school chiefs and coaches were angry about the kids in the movie using extreme language. After protests and saying it was "overly negative", the distributors decided to edit/dub all of the lines with the word "f*ck" to get a PG-13 rating.
I loved this film, from beginning to end. I loved every aspect of it: the story, the acting, the plot. I expected just another "Coach takes over losing team and makes them winners" story. Those are fine stories now and then, and I was not expecting anything more than mild entertainment. But this film moved me. Now, I'm a middle-aged white boy, and while I've never been rich I've never gone hungry either, and I've never had to worry about getting shot on the way home, so maybe I don't really know what that "sh*t" is all about and maybe this film wasn't "realistic" in portraying all that; but it communicated to me, and that's what any film is all about. And sometimes in order to communicate, you have to go half way between where you are and where the other person is, and maybe that's what this film did. But whatever, I got it.
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $32,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $40,222,729
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $9,386,342
- Sep 16, 2001
- Gross worldwide
- $44,102,389
- Runtime1 hour 46 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1