Don't be a battered kickballer

Bars - they are the linchpin of successful kickball leagues. The game really is about what goes on there, so it is a vital that the bar is considered not just adequate, but great by the kickballers who inhabit it on a given day or night for as many as 6 plus hours. This reciprocal feeling can lead to many dollars for the sponsor bar because people will stay longer. However, it seems the bars have been "guaranteed" some certain revenues - and people are being bullied into going to the bar - at least by one league.

Editor's Note: I have decided to refrain from calling WAKA the Wal-Mart of Kickball because: 1) Wal-Mart is cheap, WAKA is not and 2) It's an insult to Wal-Mart.

A recent debate in one of the WAKA (Worshiping the Almighty Kash Assets) has turned up some interesting details that most kickballers probably don't know, but may want to regarding the relationship between the Kash boys and the sponsor bars. The sponsor bars PAY to be a WAKA sponsor bar. That's right, they give them cash to have their logo on the back of your shirt but they are also told that people will go there for the whole season. And apparently some are forced to, as this post states:

we are obligated to stay at the INCH.. we tried to switch it before the season started.. but we were at the Mill last season and they (WAKA) wouldn't let us. And yes.. the board all had to sign a contract that we would hang out at the inch after the game. I agree we do have space issues though.

And from the division President:

Sorry everyone, I tried to get the bar switched because the league has so many teams this season, but WAKA had already signed a contract with the Inch. I know it was crowded, but I think we can make due by just taking over the whole bar. We can still make it a great season regardless of the bar situation, right? It didn't seem like people were having a bad time last week.

Sooo, WAKA gets money, and you get the shaft. Want to switch, too late the Kash guys already got paid. Volunteer for the board, they force you to sign a contract stating that you will go the bar no matter what. Too bad for you that you wanted to help them make money and help your division have a a good season, now shut up and go to the bar. Problems with the bar? No one cares. The bar owner paid and WAKA got paid, so no one is listening to you.

Why did this all start? Apparently someone was posting that people should go to another bar and this was the result. I shared this with Sideshow Bob and learned of a similar situation that came up in Fall 2004. The short story is that a group of people were tired of crappy service, being lied to by Kelly's Irish Times about beer prices and buying pitchers, and other issues and some teams staged a boycott. After going to the Exchange for a few weeks, Kelly's lured the teams back with gift certificates and promises of better service. They got the certificates, but apparently not much changed. So several teams just left for good. This serves a few lessons.

I am certain that an agreement that customers have to sign stating that they will go to a bar no matter the service, conditions, etc is not legally binding (maybe the Kash guys should have to go there). Second, the fact that the Kash guys get money from the bar is going to lead to worse service then in a league where the founders are not taking money (DC Kickball operates this way too). It's better is the league doesn't take money from the bar (and some actually don't) this way if the bar sucks, you have no obligation (real or imagined) to stay. Finally, WAKA sucks. Not caring about the concerns of your customers because you want to get paid by a bar makes them tools. But, until people leave them, I doubt this will change.

This is akin, as Sideshow Bob said, to staying with a boyfriend who beats you because he promises to stop and brings you flowers before the next beating commences. My advice to the people being treated this way by the Kash guys: Don't be a battered kickballer, leave them now!