DCKickall is much more fun than WAKA. Most of the budget from registration fees is spent on midseason parties and they frequently buy the first keg of beer on rainy nights to entice players to come out and drink.

I volunteer for the WAKA vs. DCKickball game, I know we could take them.

Only in DC. Only in DC.

Heartless. You can rob someone with a gun or a pen. Take your pick.

paraphrased from "Pretty Boy Floyd" Woody Guthrie

Further proof that kickball is inferior to softball. Why don't both leagues go away so us softballers who play something more similar to sport have fields to play on?

why don't they settle it by playing something less Neanderthal-ish, like bocce?

It's the little league kiddies that never grew up and want their nationally protected monopoly.

The mindset is sick and anti-competitive. I wish the tobacco free marketeers would devote some energy to this, much more pressing, issue.

Jeffrey and Devon,

While I play on a DCK team, this is only my second season and I hardly consider myself a dedicated player. In fact, when I first joined my team I had no idea that different leagues existed, much less that they were engaged in a lawsuit against each other. If my association with a DCK team spoils my take on this, I invite any WAKA players or reps to offer their opinions. Anyhow, ultimate frisbee is much more my sport, and I've been at that for the last four years.

Trust me -- my take would be no different if I didn't play or even if I played on a WAKA team. I'm a firm believer that copyrights can serve to protect intellectual property, but I cannot in good conscience argue that kickball rules that most people followed when they were 13 can be proprietary. If someone came along and declared that the rules of Paper, Rock, Scissors were their property, I would similarly be irked.

I would hope that both WAKA and DCK could sit back and agree to some sort of out-of-court settlement.

LOL! What tools!

Every coed sports league has requirements for the balance of sexes on the field. Also, the legal drinking age is 21. The creative geniuses at WAKA must have been hard at work thinking up that formula. Thank God there are copyright laws that protect their intellectual property.

disclaimer: i have played in WAKA for 2 years.

While i have not sat down side by side and looked at what DCK and WAKA individually purport to be their rules, my impressions are from what i have heard and seen is that there are very few distinguishing characteristics of the DCK rules and league set up, at least as of when DCK started. It has alwasy sounded like the founder of DCK simply wanted to create a "leaner" ie cheaper version of what WAKA was doing.

I am of the opinion that WAKA found themselves a relatively intelligent niche in the adult athletics market and DC Kickball spun it off rather glaringly and refuses to take responsibility for that. I don't see why DCist should be finding fault with WAKA for protecting their "product."

Isn't WAKA predominantly sponsored by Miller Lite? And isn't DC Kickball sponsored by Bud Lite? Is it possible to target a more perfect demographic to spread the sale of mass-consumption lite beer than a growing number of 20-30-something kickball athletes (god bless them), while incuring a relatively low expense?

Maybe more to this lawsuit than a playground squabble - a behind the scenes corporate legal move? Or perhaps I should just couple my paranoia with a few tomatoes and cabbages at the next World Bank/IMF meeting.

Re: why are adults playing kickball?

We play kickball for 30 minutes. We network, meet new people, give to charity, and support local commerce (i.e. bars) the rest of the time.

Seriously, it's a great way to blow off steam, especially for those of us who may not be athletic/competitive enough to play in high-stakes games like football and baseball. Although some of us do exhibit quite the athletic prowess...

Are we stuck in the third grade? Why not make some cupcakes and sit around playing Atari. What self-respecting grownup plays kickball?!?

"why are adults playing kickball?"

Why must things stop being fun just because you're an adult? I mean, come on... video games, kickball, roller coasters, cartoons... these are all, in my book, fun things, all the more so because I don't have to reach back ten or fifteen years to remember how much fun they were, but rather continue to enjoy them to this day. I have a grown-up life with a grown-up job and grown-up responsibilities, so it's not as though my enjoyment of these things reflects stunted cognitive development or anything, so where's the harm?

Why bother with the lame kickball part of it, when "socializing" (or more accurately getting hammered at 6 PM on a Tuesday night) is already 90% of the experience? Can't we just start some organized drinking clubs and do away with the silly rules?

Baby, if you ever wondered

Wondered - whatever became of me?

I'm living on the air in Cincinnati.

Cincinnati - WKRP.

"Why bother with the lame kickball part of it, when "socializing" (or more accurately getting hammered at 6 PM on a Tuesday night) is already 90% of the experience? Can't we just start some organized drinking clubs and do away with the silly rules?"

Because we likely to thinly veil our alcoholism.

No seriously, no one's forcing anyone here to sign up for kickball. Go out and drink with your friends without playing kickball beforehand. Have fun your own way - we'll have it ours.

I've also lived in Syracuse, New York, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis, all of which had their good points and bad points, but none of which sucked.

You're right. In Syracuse you probably won't ever see a lawsuit over kickball. More likely it will come from someone who tripped over their acid-washed jeans, which caused them to choke on their Hoffman's hot dog.

I grew up there. Syracuse sucks. But it does have some damn good hot dogs.

Wait . . . Cincinatti doesn't suck? How on earth did you reach that conclusion?

"...play bocce"

SHUT UP GRAMPS!

Can I sue someone over the color blue now? Seriously...WAKA needs to let it go. WAKA has more serious rules and is still a ton of fun. I have played in both leagues...and I choose to play wherever my friends are playing...but when it comes down to it...WAKA is more serious and DCK is all about fun and friends. It's all a fruitless game of kickball. It's for fun. It's not an enterprise!

GEEZ! What is wrong with people. Every city I have lived in (not just DC) has had multiple kickball leagues...and again, I played in both. It was never an issue there. Next thing I know, the WAKA in Richmond will be sueing the River City Sports and Social Club for its summer kickball league and around the country our playgrounds will be unsafe. What are we, five-year-olds?

If WAKA wins this, I would never support it! This is vicious and ridiculous.

In fact, I'd venture so far as to say that there are many strapping young men in kickball, many who play other "real" sports like soccer and football.

It's true, it's true; the current Captain and President of my rugby club was recruited by our former President while they were both playing kickball.

I've never played in either league and while kickball on it's own is awesome, unless you're playing on asphalt with mailboxes and trees as bases, an almost non-existant baseline, and allowing hits above the waist it's not a kids game. Kids don't play with rules, they play to injure and win.

Copyright infringement and Kickball just scratches the surface of how far out of hand IP has gotten. US Patent & Trademark Office has issued 150 yoga copyrights and over 2000 yoga trademarks for an ancient practice enjoyed by hundreds of millions of people.

A Big Stretch
By SUKETU MEHTA
Published: May 7, 2007, New York Times Op-Ed page

no links? in DCist. . . how lame

Pardon my confusion, but I thought 18 constitutes adulthood, or at the very least 21.
... none of which would be mistaken for games played by small children.

You mean the game where children feel compelled to correct everyone to mask their own shortcomings?

Junior - Team Red Rover

I've played in WAKA, and now play for DCKickball. I, like most of the sane people in the world, know how retarded this suit is. We in DCK, as well as NAKID and other leagues, don't need this crap. WAKA is basically just pissed that these other leagues are offering a better time for less money and more FUN.

Pinto - Team Lush

Isn't the real sport flip-cup anyway???

No . . . just your shortcomings

Ahhh, focused aggression toward someone you believe you're superior too. Thanks for clarifying.

This is, of course, absolutely ridiculous. Who the hell are WAKA to say that someone else isn't allowed to play a game? WAKA capitalized on a fun idea that had been going around for years, and then imposed restrictive rules and fees on an innocent kids game. Kickball rules are the same on playgrounds all across the country, and WAKA's gender and age requirements are lifted from hundreds of co-ed leagues in multiple sports. WAKA has been whining and claiming ownership like the shunned child on the playground from day one. Taking this to court is the not-so-grown-up version of running home to Mommy and tattling because you didn't get everything you want. It is also emblematic of WAKA's habitual misconstruing the privilege of having fun on the Mall as a right that they are somehow entitled to enforce.

In contrast to WAKA's pettiness, softball has been played on the Mall for decades, for the most part with a good-natured friendliness among all the players. When space is limited, it's commonplace for softballers to simply play games side-by-side, or back-to-back, or however everyone can fit in. Players just keep their heads up and look out for each other, with outfielders from different games playing alongside or in front of each other, overlapping their fields of play without any difficulty. Simply let the players in the neighboring games know when a ball's in flight, and step out of the way so they can make their play. Easy, friendly, and accomodating to everyone who enjoys some exercise on the nation's playing field. It actually adds an element of fun to the game when you have to improvise on the fly, and all participants simply chalk it up to the unique nature of playing sports on the Mall. Soccer cones already set up on the grass? No problem, just scoot home plate over 50 feet. Frisbee flying over 1st base? That's fine, just halt the action for 30 seconds and toss it back. Rugby, volleyball, flag football, field hockey, kite-flying, cricket -- all these coexisted for years without a hitch.

When WAKA showed up, however, suddenly all the good nature and cameraderie went out the window. "This is OUR field!" they cried when an errant throw might get past a fielder's glove and cross their foul line. "Stop trying to hit us!" they whined when a long fly ball bounced within 30 yards of their open field. "We have a PERMIT!" they'd yell if a soccerball interrupted their precious game. They even started calling Park Police and waving permit papers in people's faces to enforce their claim to a patch of grass. None of this petty divisive behavior was ever seen on the Mall before WAKA started being jerks. For decades it was all about having fun, getting some exercise, and being friendly to your neighbors out on the grass, regardless of your activity. WAKA came to the Mall and chose to join the others, playing in some already well-established surroundings, but then cried because the atmosphere they'd chosen didn't perfectly fit their sensitive temperament. Any thought of sensibly adapting to the environment upon which they had imposed themselves went out the window. MY field, MY game, MY ball, go away, I'm gonna tell on you. Kickball is, and can be, a great game (thank you, DCKickball and NAKID). WAKA, however, are selfish jerks.

Although it's silly and embarrassing to them, this lawsuit doesn't surprise me in the slightest. From their inception WAKA has imposed themselves on others and demanded that things operate their way, and they'll cry to the teacher whenever others don't comply. Here's hoping they get sent to detention for the rest of the school year, and for many to come.