Michael Jordan was known for dunking with his tongue out, Lebron James has his signature chalk toss, and soon two Delawareans plan to leave their mark on basketball … through beer.
Gordon DelGiorno and Matt Del Pizzo, old buddies from Delcastle High School, are headed to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Massachusetts on Feb. 28.
At the HOF they plan to play a 1-on-1 game of B-E-E-R, a spinoff of the game H-O-R-S-E.
The filmmakers will be dressed in costume as Bottle and Can, lead characters they play in their new feature-length comedy “The Canfather,” a spoof of the mobster franchise “The Godfather.”
“Canfather” screens at Delaware Art Museum this Friday. The event is sold out.
Mike Cianciola, vice president of marketing and sponsorship for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, said the brews made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
“The Naismith Hall of Fame is pleased to be able to facilitate the next epic showdown of Bottle vs Can on Center Court. We’d rather see these rivals compete in a fun and safe environment so that not a drop of beer is spilled,” Cianciola wrote in a statement.
What’s ‘The Canfather’ about?
“Canfather” was scored by Grammy winner James Nichols. The film takes place in Brewington, a fictitious city based on Wilmington.
Brewington is a competitive market for distributing booze that’s run by three mafia families: The Biscottis, Tilapias and Pistachios.
Characters Bottle and Can are bitter rivals fighting for beer turf. The self-important Bottle (DelGiorno) thinks he’s the greatest thing since sliced beer bread.
Meanwhile, the Can (Del Pizzo) is so disgusted with humanity that he refuses to talk in the film.
The two sworn enemies must figure out how to coexist in Brewington or something is going to implode.
The message behind the film is sometimes people have to find common ground, even if they have different world views. “This story has many layers. It’s not ‘Dumber and Dumber,’ ” Del Pizzo said. “There’s some cleverness to it and you have to pay attention.”
Playing ‘B-E-E-R’
The idea to play B-E-E-R at the Basketball HOF came after Del Pizzo and DelGiorno connected with Massachusetts-based Dan Morean, author of Breweriana.com.
Morean’s website is branded as the oldest retail collectible (empty) beer can and brewery advertising website on the internet. He also runs an online auction for beer collectibles.
Del Pizzo showed Morean the 2018 beer documentary he and DelGiorno had crafted called “Beer Can — a Love Story,” which includes an interview with Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione.
He also showed Morean the trailer for “Canfather.”
That led Morean to hire the movie makers to do promotional work for him while in character as Bottle and Can, said DelGiorno, a native of Wilmington who now lives in Avondale, Pennsylvania.
DelGiorno said he always wanted to visit the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, and with a new client in Massachusetts, this seemed like the right time.
He thought it’d be a cool idea if he and Pizzo played a 1-on-1 game of H-O-R-S-E at the HOF, but rename their game B-E-E-R.
In H-O-R-S-E, players must duplicate each other’s baskets. Each time a player fails to match their opponent’s shot, they get a letter.
DelGiorno spoke to a Basketball Hall of Fame rep and worked out a deal to play a match there.
‘Make it big’
Moving forward, DelGiorno’s goal is to generate as much attention as possible for Can, Bottle and “The Canfather” — through any means necessary.
“We want to make it big, somehow, through these characters,” DelGiorno said.
“We want eyes from across the country — and maybe the world — to see the Bottle and Can and to have a [cold] beer and a smile.”
Andre Lamar is the features/lifestyle reporter. If you have an interesting story idea, email Andre Lamar at alamar@gannett.com.
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