what we would do is…the two people who were about to fight, would stand facing each other (like pro boxers do), and one bystander would stand in between them (like a referee). Next, the referee would place [a branch] wooden stick on the shoulders of both opponents. Whichever opponent reached to knock the stick off the other opponent’s shoulder “took first lick,” (meaning: they hit first).
…Then…the FIGHT was on…
Well in this case (and even in the above-captioned words of Tina Fey); it sounds like Kerry Washington acted as the referee therefore-pioneered a movement: Indirectly knocking the stick off SNL’s shoulders+ inadvertently forcing them to get the stick out of their butts.
So now (thanks to Kerry?) the olive branch was extended, and now 
…the SHOW is on.
And on January 18, we will all be watching…what is no longer a “fight.”
P.S.
So you want to know more about this stick/branch match went-what would happen if after the stick was placed on both shoulders; your opponent knocked yours off, first but you didn’t (physically) hit ’em back? Well, that’s when the “meetup” turned ‘mental’ and at that point; it meant that you were scared-you punked out. The issue of there having to be sticks placed on both shoulders meant that the two opponents kept mouthing off at each other too much and to the kids in my neighborhood; that meant you were all talk and scared to ‘put them hands up.’
Whereas nowadays people are quick to pull a gun out, our way was to be quick to pull your hands out.
The point of having to place sticks on both shoulders of both opponents secretly meant that both opponents were really all talk but since the physical fight didn’t ensue (from the argument), the branch/sticks on the shoulder was like a reverse olive branch: The last option to prove that “you hit (your opponent) first.”
Where I’m from, if you were at that “stick on the shoulder point;” watching the “referee” kick dirt and search around the vicinity for two popsicle sticks or two broken tree branches on the ground, could be THEE LONGEST few minutes of your LIFE. You HAD to be mentally ready to fight by the time the ref returned with the sticks.
Sometimes, both opponents would reach at the same time, and at that point (most often) they both would go on and “duke it out” (that meant: “fight it out”).
Other times, if only one opponent reached to knock the stick off, and that opponent [with the stick knocked off] didn’t swing, that’s when the the mental turnup was on: EVERYBODY knows now that you were scared because:
a) you didn’t even reach to knock your opponent’s stick off
and
b) you got your stick knocked off and you still didn’t swing-you just stood there
…Now that kind of opponent (who proved they were even twice as scared) would typically try and change the game and yell out: “That aint a real hit though. You hit a stick, you didn’t hit me!”
At that point, your opponent had two choices, either way, they still had the “juice” (the power). So they would either:
a) just bombrush you and beat your ass (for trying to change the rules of the game…because at that point they pretty much could smell your fear to a point they knew they could physically fight you and win)
or
b) that opponent would just humiliate you by laughing at your statement you made: “That aint a real hit though. You hit a stick, you didn’t hit me!” …and the crowd would laugh.
And well… your neighborhood rep was ruined if a full on physical fight didn’t ensue (from all that).
Welp, there you have it.
THAT’S how the “Stick Fight” was done.
(LOL…By the way, the oldest was probably 10 or 11. The youngest was 5-7, as was I).
Kids do the darnedest things. We had our own colony-just like ants do 🙂
