March 12. 2020:
Everyone was on the edge of their seats to hear the continuous updates of the CDC and local safety commissioners on what was going to happen next. Some were boarding planes, some just getting off flights, some on their 9+ hour drives to reach the biggest and most phenomenal event so far. Meetings and press conferences, shutdowns and closures, tears, and overwhelming frustration. These are just a few of the things going on this very day as we all waited anxiously to hear the answer that would affect us all. Just a simple answer, yes or no...?
Well... By now you know exactly what happened. We all were in distress and utterly disappointed when the sold-out event of ACL National #2 in Cleveland, Ohio was canceled as some would say "last minute." A "shot heard around the world" you could say. Following the cancellation, we continued to see organizations, businesses, and so much more come to immediate closure. The world stopped turning ever so slightly, and to this very day, it still hasn't been the same as it once was. Since that day we've seen an uprising in live streams. blogs, online interviews, and a whole new virtual world. We've seen new formats and
horizons on virtual cornhole tournaments and ghost games. We saw the ACO and ACL introduce online tourneys to help members gather points and work towards something. What else could we possibly do? Let our love for the game fade away?
I know for me, quitting wasn't an option and there had to be some way to unite players and keep them all involved. So the very next day after everything went into lock-down, I introduced an idea for an online/virtual singles tourney. Being new to the idea of live streaming games and unsure of the difficulties ahead of me, I accepted as many players as wanted to participate. Well needless to say I ended up with 118 players overall and ended up with a tourney that lasted over a week to complete! Payouts were around $1,100 and it was the most stressful thing I've ever done. After this, I started to see ideas and tourneys pop up all around! I even had a couple of people ask me if they could use my idea and me not take offense to it. My answer was, "of course, and let me know if I can help in any way." You see, in these times we all need to support one another and work together to make something great out of very little. As most of you have seen on your Facebook, live-streamed games started to flood your feed. Cash games, tourneys, ghost games, practicing, airmail challenges, trick shots, and so much more all around.
We've seen some of the most impressive shots, skills challenges, and ghost games that we never would have imagined before it was all we had. Heck, we even saw Matt Guy (the phenom/8 time King of Cornhole) beat an 11.5 ghost which was never even a reality until he tried! We've seen Noah Wooten, Austin Schlobohm, Trey Burchfield, Frank Modlin, and so many more online legends take down tourney after tourney!
Before I say this, don't take it the wrong way but... ONLINE CORNHOLE IS NOT AS HARD AS REAL TOURNAMENTS. I don't intend to devalue anyone's achievements in the virtual cornhole world, but we all know it's a different world out there when you're standing beside an opponent. There's the strategy, bag placements, distractions, pressure, nerves, and so much competition out there. You don't get that at home playing a live stream against an opponent 100 miles away. Then there are the conditions and weather and playing in different time zones and it's just a huge mess. There's so much room for error with live streams cutting out, redos and such, that aren't there in the real tournaments. I will say one thing for sure on a positive note about online tourneys, they helped to keep the game alive when there was nothing else. It got people out of the house when they could have just sat there and watched Netflix all day. They helped build excitement for the next big thing in the online world as well as kept players in contact with one another. I think it was a great thing for the sport.
Enough about virtual tournaments, let's talk about the here and now. What's going on today in the cornhole world? Are we progressing at all towards a "normal" tournament? Are we any closer to a "normal" life? Is cornhole coming back? First off, I'd like to reassure you guys that one day we will all be able to compete with hundreds of people around again. The world couldn't function the way it is forever. Change is inevitable, something will break. Within the last few weeks, we've seen ACL Cornhole on ESPN with social distancing precautions, an ACO major took place with a decent turnout, and a stacked regional up in Ohio take place. Cornhole is inching towards becoming somewhat of a "normal" sport again. I hope you all are excited as I am to see what the cornhole world is going to grow into. Let's take a second and think about what this quarantine did for the cornhole world...
First off, anxiety and the itch to get back on the boards has never been higher. You will most likely see a surplus of players at events and a new perspective in the cornhole world. We'll have players traveling long distances just to play regionals, or other great events. We'll have friends traveling just to spend a day or two around friends that they haven't seen in forever! Secondly, bag manufacturers, organizations, podcasts, virtual games, and new events are pop up all around and expanding. We have more things cornhole-related to watch and listen to than ever. We have bag companies coming out and selling unique limited edition bags and supplies, to enlighten the cornhole world. We have female players being brought into podcasts to talk about being overlooked in the cornhole world (which I agree on). Thirdly, this quarantine and isolation have given family and friends more time to be there for one another and to remember the most important parts of life. It's inspired some players to get their family and friends into the game and to participate in trick shots and such. Lastly, it's shown people how something so small can mean so much to someone. Those small hugs and fist-bumps from friends as you pass by one another walking through the room of an event. Those endless laughs and smiles, those cheers and toasts, those unforgettable memories and things you wouldn't have missed for the world. It's brought a sense of appreciation of directors for hosting events for us, it's brought a sense of gratefulness towards something we all had taken for granted before.
In the finals of this match, Quarantine vs Cornhole, Cornhole may have been knocked down but will never be beaten! Cornhole takes the win. Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed the article.