With popularity, however, comes a series of questions. How does a game with simple roots and built more on general principles than exacting principles move toward standardization? The cornhole tourney at the local bar may use the same general rules as the contest three thousand miles away on the other coast, but is everyone really playing the same game?
The issue of equipment standardization is clearly illustrated by the cornhole games most basic element. The bag.
Some sources will tell you that an official cornhole bag measures six inches by six inches, made of duck cloth, and stuffed with dried feed corn. Meanwhile, a company who claims to make official BAGGO supplies sells both 9.5 ounce and three-quarter pound versions of the bag (depending upon whether you are using their plastic board or the more traditional plywood rig) made from a polyester/cotton blend. Those are filled with a treated, unpopped corn. Yet another manufacturer maintains the six inch by six-inch construction, uses duck cloth, and stuffs the bags with a full pound of dried whole corn.
Cornhole is not an Olympic sport and there probably is not a great deal of controversy on a wide scale basis about which bag is the real deal, but the fact that so many variations exist on this one simple piece of equipment demonstrates that the lawn game has not yet reached the next stage of development.
All popular games go through a certain developmental arc. They begin as homemade diversions and are then picked up by entrepreneurial manufacturers who create their own version of the old handmade equipment. Multiple suppliers make different versions until the game reaches a certain level of popularity and maturity. At that point, more universal standards develop.
Baseballs were once available in countless sizes and weights. Today, there are specific compositions for different leagues. Darts were once handcrafted by individual throwers. Today they are mass-produced at certain accepted weights and sizes. Cornhole will probably follow that same pattern.
Who knows what the eventually-accepted Cornhole bag will look like. Will corn remain a critical ingredient or will the efficiency and weather-resistance of synthetic alternatives gain acceptance? Will official bags come in one weight or will different board types remain, allowing different versions to flourish? Poly/cotton blends or canvass duck cloth--which one comes out on top?
Assuming cornhole continues its rapid growth, those questions will be answered. A quiet consensus will emerge or an official governing body will form. The baggo game in Houston will be the same one played in Maine. There may not be an official cornhole bag today, but there will be soon.
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Dave Roth runs the site www.cornhole-game.org, a resource site devoted to the game of corntoss. The site features rules, building dimensions, and cornhole bags and boards .
