Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Cornhole: Catching on fast, and leaving horseshoes in the crosshairs

This game once seemed like one for young children, or even for yuppies. However, it seems folks of all ages, walks of life, and even races are playing cornhole.


Cornhole is a game similar to horseshoes in many fashions, including the scoring.  Two boards with a hole near the top are placed a few feet from each other, just like horseshoe pegs. One, however, tosses beanbags with corn in them, attempting to hit the hole at the top of the board.


This game has really taken many areas by storm. There is recreational and competitive play.  You can now see people playing this game at bars, cookouts, tailgates, birthday parties, and even family reunions. There are also many local, regional, and even national competitions everywhere. Competitions can be held indoors or outdoors. The outdoor competition seems to be the most popular, especially during spring and summertime.


I have many friends and relatives that not only play, not only buy their own cornhole boards and bags with sports logos of their choice, they make them as a side hustle. I know of a couple of people, including family members, that construct cornhole sets and pocket anywhere from $150-$200 per set. Not bad if you're good with your hands, wood, and can paint.


So where does this leave horseshoes? I know many horseshoe players that will not go near cornhole. Others play both, liking the new thrill cornhole offers.  Horseshoes is more of an old school game but relies more on strength than cornhole does. Cornhole is more of a game of accuracy. However, you can play cornhole virtually anywhere and it is overall safer than horseshoes. It basically has more versatility than horseshoes, but not necessarily a better game. That is all a matter of perception.


Nonetheless, cornhole doesn't seem to be going anywhere soon. Horseshoes will always be around as well, but appears to be to cornhole what pinball machines are to video games.  It is simply the next step in recreational and competitive gameplay.


So now what will the next big game be like?


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