March 31, 2006
Kickball Returns to D.C
By DCist contributor Campbell Roth.
Somewhere in between frigid and sweltering, it happens every year: the rubber balls and rainbow-colored t-shirts descend on every green space in the metro area, where underpaid Hill staffers and overpaid lawyers frolic around, remembering the days in third grade when a home run made one a hero, then celebrate afterwards at a pre-determined bar, where they'll drink away that ability to remember. It's kickball season and, for better or worse, it's back.
This weekend marks the unofficial launch of the spring season, which means that nary a day will go by without you passing one of those WAKA t-shirts during your stroll home from work until, oh, October or so.
The World Adult Kickball Association -- the Microsoft of the sport, locally -- kicks off its schedule with games on Sunday, while former WAKA player and federal lawsuit respondent Carter Rabasa's D.C. Kickball will begin play in mid-April. NAKID (New Adult Kickballers in D.C.), a league that, like Rabasa's, was created by disgruntled WAKA players, started kicking around the blue rubber ball last weekend.
Confused? Uh, yeah. And no word yet on how the competition between the three leagues has affected local kickball registration. A WAKA official told DCist in an e-mail that they've registered just under 5,000 people in the D.C. area (including this writer). Underdog NAKID has more than 300 players on its 12 teams. D.C. Kickball founder Rabasa has been notably tight-lipped about his league since the WAKA founders filed a lawsuit against him in February, accusing him of infringing on their massive -- and lucrative -- territory. According to the league's Web site, though, he's thinking of adding a third division to the current two, "due to high demand."
In any capitalist society, demand breeds competition, and it's clear that kickball in D.C. is no different. Wouldn't Adam Smith be proud?
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UGH..when is this dorky fad going to FINALLY fade away? Or is this just another example of general DC dorkiness???
This so isn't news. Who cares about any of these leagues and their dealings with one another. And have you seen the pictures on the NAKID site? What an ugly bunch of fatties. Yeah - I really want that loser guy grabbing my chest in a bar. Get real.
Yes, it is news. With how many people that are involved, rumblings like this make more waves than ripples. People take kickball seriously around here; maybe you should give it a try and see what the fun is about.
And the writer and I are gonna throw down for Team Keg of Evanston in WAKA!!! GO CAM!!!
Are there any DC city regulations regarding the sanitation of post-kickball flip cup? I hope that last year's nasty bout of mononucleosis that went around one of the (perhaps multiple) kickball teams from shared beer, saliva, etc. was limited. It'd be a shame if one of the leagues were to be taken down by pink eye, or even worse, herpes (from post-flip cup hookups). It's all really classy though, huh?
I don't know if it's news or not but it is fun. Poor Carol, don't worry I'm sure no one wants to touch your chest. It's about fun and just meeting people not grabbing anyone.