When I was young and even when my kids were young, we used to play a game called bean bag toss. As the name implies. It was a cloth bag filled with beans. I am not certain what kind of beans they were, as they were in the bag. Now that I think about it, I wonder if some folks had an advantage based on the type of beans that were in the bag. Probably there were some beans that were better in soaring through the hole at the almost top of the board. The idea as is obvious is to put the bag through the 6” hole which is located 9” from the top of the board. It is sort of like getting a ringer in horseshoes, except the bag is less weighty. The bean bag also doesn’t hurt if you drop it on your foot.
I hadn’t really thought about the game for a goodly number of years until recently. Then one day I noticed in a newsletter that we should sign up for a cornhole tournament. Well, I tell you I was appalled, since where I grew up – in a nice family community – the word cornhole was not used in polite society. Using it was a pure form of scatology. In other words it was an obscene word. Thus, I found its use in our fine neighborhood to be a puzzlement. However, after doing some checking I discovered that there is now an American Cornhole Association. As is the custom with associations, they set rules and conditions. if you wish to go to the big time in the toss of bags full of beans or whatever they put in the bag now it is required that you comply with the ACA rules.
Actually, it is my understanding that now they use small plastic pellets in the bags – pro or otherwise. However, at one time they used corn which led to the unfortunate name mentioned above. They also have all weather pro-style bags if you wish to be a real pro and get an endorsement from a company named Reynolds which seems to be the big supplier of the bags. I guess you can go bigtime, if you choose wisely and pick out the proper style of bag. There are several from which you can select the one that fits you best. Sort of like picking out your favorite golf putter except that you pick at least four of the bags. They are not cheap either, and you can most likely get a decent putter for the same cost. It is probably hard to get four exactly alike as the pellet content might be slightly different in each one. In fact, as a pro you most likely need eight bags four red and four green. I further imagine that if you become a famous pro cornhole champion, you can do well on tee shirt sales, and perhaps your name on one of the prostyle bags. Life is full of opportunities! It should be known that some cornhole champions can earn as much as $15,000 a year just throwing the old bean bags – while winning, of course!
I will have to admit that memories of the old game as a kid and with kids dance in my mind. I may sign up for the big tournament that has been posted to happen in October. One deficiency for me is that you need a partner. The Blonde in the House is not interested, so those in charge will probably have to find another single to pair with me. That could be a problem if they see me practicing – which I should do.
I wonder how much you have to practice to join the pros – and earn 15,000 smackers (Old Western Pennsylvania term)?
Barry Evans is a columnist for Villages-News.com