What do you get when you find some of the most testosterone fueled men (who are quadriplegic by the way), put them in a wheelchair (which is more like a battering ram), and give them a ball? Quad-rugby.

Quad-rugby is a sport that has been around for just over a decade, and while very intriguing, has gone largely unnoticed. You would think that feel good stories like this would be covered on the new magazine shows, or especially ESPN who loves to air 10 minute “overcoming-the-odds” stories on Sunday night SportsCenter, but apparently not.

You would also think that the new documentary film covering this sport and its participants, Murderball, would be one of those transcending-the-genre documentaries (like “Hoop Dreams”, “Bowling for Columbine”, “Fahrenheit 9/11”, “Super Size Me”), but nope. Mysteriously, it is going largely unseen in indy theaters nationwide and is being dropped left & right. In KC, the Tivoli, Glenwood Arts, and Screenland have all dropped it.

There were obviously many things to learn from this movie. First off, I learned that being quadriplegic doesn’t mean you lost all movement from the neck down, it just means you are impaired to some degree. Another being that while paralysis is something most every person fears to death, there are people out there that excel at coping with their disability, and this is their story. Amazingly, one interviewee said that he wouldn’t have it any other way. When asked if he could undo what happened, Team USA captain Mark Zupan replied “No, I don’t think so. My injury has led me to opportunities and experiences and friendships I would never have had before. And it has taught me about myself. In some ways, it’s the best thing that ever happened to me.” Many people think that paralysis would be the end of your life, and this movie points out that sometimes that can be brutally true, but it can also be the start of a new one.

While it is a sports movie, Murderball mostly covers everything about these athletes not related to the sport; their accidents/diseases that let to their situation, their jobs, their families, how they learned to cope with their injuries, and yes… even how they have sex.

So who are these guys? A KC Star movie critic said it best… “These guys don’t want your pity, they want your girlfriend.” Having known (non-quad) rugby players in the past, one thing is apparent to me… rugby players are an interesting breed. It’s even more apparent that rugby is more a mindset than simply a sport because these quad-rugby athletes are exactly the same guys I’ve known who play the non-quad version.

Think you can’t party hard, get drunk, talk shit, start fights, and get gorgeous women as a quadriplegic? Think again. These guys do it all, and on gameday, beat the crap out of each other with their $3,000 custom made wheelchairs. How have they managed to land their hot wives/girlfriends? First off, Zupan’s girlfriend claimed the wheelchair and the sport intrigues many women initially and then the motherly instinct kicks in. In contrast, one player bluntly put it this way… “The more pitiful you look, the easier it is to get laid.”

As I was leaving the theater, a girl behind me asked her husband what he thought, he said “I definitely shed a tear or two.” So I guess you can lump this in with Old Yeller and Brian’s Song as movies it is ok for guys to cry in.

So there you go… Easily one of the best documentaries I’ve seen, and it really opens up your eyes to a whole new world, which from my experience, is a true sign of a great documentary.

On a side note, I saw this film at Screenland and it is awesome! Leather recliners, a great vintage film atmosphere, and not to far from my loft makes this one of my new favorite theaters in KC. Oh, and they also have a liquor license which makes it the first theater that I’ve been to that actually serves alcohol.

For further reviews, check out Maxim & Yahoo. To see Johnny Knoxville & Mark Zupan having a little fun on MTV’s Jackass, here ya go.