Karsten and I just watched Murderball the other night, and were both moved and impressed. It’s exactly the kind of “truth is stranger than fiction” documentary I love, where the people and situations in the story are so unbelievable that any seasoned screenwriter would stay the hell away from them. I mean, the aging player who got pissed off for not making the USA team becoming the Canadian team coach as a giant “fuck you” to the USA? The guy who got injured in a motocross accident, described by his family as loving “anything with wheels,” getting depressed at being stuck in a wheelchair… until he learns about wheelchair rugby?
And I love the guys they profiled. They all had the kind of smartass sense of humor that made me want to hang out with them.
The filmmakers get a little manipulative with the editing at times, like when the defector-coach talks about how he’s so good at disciplining his son, and the next clip is his son acting up and the coach guy getting irritated. But it’s a fantastic story, and a very well-made documentary. If you haven’t seen it, see it.
Incidentally, it put me in exactly the right frame of mind to see these. I want these to be printable stickers so I can affix them to every damned disabled parking space I encounter.
I once saw a guy without handicap stickers or plates park in a handicap space, from the back seat remove a sports bag with a raquetball raquet protruding from it, and enter a nearby gym.
Let me get this straight buddy, you’re on your way to a gym to play raquetball and you’re too f*cking lazy to walk an extra 50 feet?!
He’s lucky I was lacking a valve stem tool, else he would have come out to find four flat tires.
I loved Murderball. And I thought the main character with the reddish hair (the one that said, “It’s good to see me out? Where am I supposed to be, in a closet?”) was hot!
IMO, there are 3 great sports documentary movies:
1) hoop dreams
2) when we were kings (about mohammed ali)
3) Murderball
I loved M’balls fierce sense of humor and lack of patronizing.
Am enjoying reading your stuff..
(john h from down the street who frequently passes your house with dogs and admires your front yard)
John! Great to hear from you. Glad you’re reading.
I LOVE Hoop Dreams. That is one of the finest documentaries I’ve ever seen. And if you group When We Were Kings in with Murderball and Hoop Dreams, then I guess I’m adding WWWK to my Netflix queue right now.
I watched Murderball a while back in a hotel while traveling. It was great. I might have to go watch it again soon.