Cincinnati Cornhole Craziness

I've been waiting for this. The Wall Street Journal has an article today all about Cornhole, the game for those who think Horseshoes is too dangerous. If you don't know all the rules or, more likely, have never even heard of Cornhole, go check out the article in the WSJ. I'll wait.

They claim in the article that Cornhole is "particularly popular in Cincinnati, where folks say it originated more than 50 years ago..." Since I live in Cincinnati I can confirm that yes, the game is insanely popular here. It's the 50 years ago part that really puzzles me. That and why it's so damn popular.

I was born in Cincinnati over 30 years ago. In 1995 I moved to Virginia, where I lived before returning to the Queen City in 2004. As of 1995, I had never even heard of Cornhole. Popular lore claims the game originated on the West Side of town (I was an East-Sider), so it is possible the game existed here and I just didn't know about it. (For the best description of the East-West divide in Cincinnati, I give you Jim Borgman.)

Sometime between 1995 and 2004 Cornhole acquired an infectious popularity previously achieved only by Skyline Chili and cholera. In Virginia I had taken up Horseshoes, and upon being introduced to Cornhole I found it an emasculated version of the same activity, like playing darts with Post-it notes. It's as if one game was meant for adults and the other for those who can't be trusted with the scissors.

I like driving the stake in the ground and tossing objects originally intended to be nailed to the feet of four-legged animals. I enjoy the loud clank of a "Ringer!" I particularly like that if you just pound the stakes in your buddy's lawn, you can till the yard for him too. Some may say it's problematic to drive a stake through the asphalt while tailgating at a Bengals game, that Horseshoes tend to behave erratically when skipping across pavement. To them I say: Keep your beanbags, I like a challenge.