Profiles in Playground Courage

My friend Carter is being sued. Nothing dramatic or racy, just what happens when a small group of people get greedy and take themselves too seriously.

Carter started DC Kickball in 2005 after determining that the kickball needs of Washington area professionals were not being met. Among those needs: kick ball, drink beer, have fun. He used to run a major division of another league and but grew frustrated at the way things were handled. In addition to poor management, the players were losing out: bar "specials" were lousy and social budgets kept shrinking. Strange, since the league was run by volunteers.

Carter created his own league, drummed up sponsorship from Adams Morgan businesses, and raised over $2500 for the Latin American Youth Center in the process. Happy grown ups, happy businesses, happy kids.

Then the grumpiness began. The other league, miffed that Carter had brought his skills to a competitor, sued him for intellectual property theft. Carter could very well be the only person in history to be accused of "stealing kickball." That would put him in the ranks of such master criminals as The Great Hopscotch Absconder, The Purloiner of Pickle, and El Tetherball Bandito.

The Washington City Paper found comedy in the absurd and published a feature piece on the rivalry. Not long after, the Wall Street Journal put the story on page 1. (Which says interesting things about where national stories get scooped.)

While the merits of the case may be frivolous, it does cause Carter a real headache. The same individualism that fosters a spirit of entrepreneurship also promotes a system in which all grievances, no matter how petty, are resolved through complex lawsuits.

Or, as one attorney whines as he rubs himself against the Simpson family car, "Me so litigious!"