The world of corn pits is being torn apart by bag-related drama – and the world of tossing bags is dealing with the consequences. Now there are questions about potential misconduct, tampered bags, loose stitches, replaced padding, and the entire competing cornhole process. Let’s review and explain what’s going on, and what it might be a symptom of a sport developing faster than it’s willing to deal with.
Fans tune in to doubles B’s bracket for the 2022 American Cornhall League (ACL) World Championship, a high-stakes game. It’s a big deal, with two of the highest-ranked teams in the world standing out on the ACL live stream. Then, before the first bag is thrown away, the drama begins. Devon Harbaugh, who was part of the No. 6-ranked team, called for luggage checks on his opponents, No. 1 Mark Richards and Philip Lopez Jr., who wanted to make sure their bags were legal before the crucial game. A measuring tool was taken out and the bags were inspected, but they failed the inspection.
Then, in the final case of “transfers are fair play,” Richards and Lopez Jr. demanded, in return, a luggage inspection of Harbaugh and his partner, Derrick King. Their bags also failed the inspection. It didn’t spoil the game, as both teams decided to continue the game despite their bags failing the inspection – so it’s not that one team has an advantage over the other, but it’s enough to raise questions about “addiction” at Cornhole” Facebook group, one of the largest community of players.
“Simply put, all bags should be checked during registration for all major ACL events,” said one commenter. “If they checked every bag, most of the bags these players threw would probably fail the inspection!” adds another, another undercurrent in rule discussions and proposed solutions: claims that bag making has become a A cash grab at the expense of sports.
What has a corn hole evolved into?
If you’ve only ever played a casual tailgate game or at your local pub, you’d be surprised to find the exact specs used for the competitive pack. In addition to very specific size and weight requirements, ACL and the American Corn Pit Organization (ACO), as the two main competing bodies, have one major difference beyond weight and dimensional tolerances, which comes from stuffing bags full of stuff.
ACL Bag Filler: Internal material may be any that will not damage the board or in the circuit Material that produces residue on the board. Bags that damage the board in any way due to the bag’s material will automatically forfeit the player who threw that particular bag. If the bag is found to gradually leave residues or marks on the board during the game, that player or team will abandon the game. .
ACO Bag Fill: Each bag is filled with plastic resin/non-breaking beads
In the original bag Will be filled with corn, hence the name of the sport – but we’re past that now. Resin has become the most popular filler because the particles inside the bag have a tendency to “break in” along with the fabric, making them less stiff with each use, allowing higher level players to adjust better The way the bag feels in their style—especially its ability to slide over the board, feel looser, block better, or have “hole friendliness,” which is the movement of the material inside the bag that makes it easier to transfer weight and drop.
A bag maker explained…(
So, what is an illegal corn bag? What is legal? What benefits can a person gain from trying to change the rules? I spoke with bag maker and owner of “So ILL Cornhole” Tom about “BagGate” and how the sport needs to adjust moving forward.
A big question about bag manipulation stems from how bags are broken. The easiest and most obvious way is for players to simply play more games – but Tom has heard stories of some truly remarkable ways people have tried to manipulate their corn sacks. “Players have been known to put bags in washers and dryers and even boil them to destroy them,” Tom said. “But please, anyone reading this, don’t cook your bags. You will most likely ruin them in ways you can’t see.”
So, what is an illegal corn bag? What is legal? What benefits can a person gain from trying to change the rules? I spoke with bag maker and owner of “So ILL Cornhole” Tom about “BagGate” and how the sport needs to adjust moving forward.
A big question about bag manipulation stems from how bags are broken. The easiest and most obvious way is for players to simply play more games – but Tom has heard stories of some truly remarkable ways people have tried to manipulate their corn sacks. “Players have been known to put bags in washers and dryers and even boil them to destroy them,” Tom said. “But please, anyone reading this, don’t cook your bags. You will most likely ruin them in ways you can’t see.”
He added that technology has led bag manufacturers to come up with legal ways to give players different speed and sliding characteristics without forcing them to operate the bag themselves— Includes fabric treatment. There is a ban on foreign objects and medical bags in the sport, but as long as the size and weight requirements are met, do nothing.
In addition to breaking in, there is an even more nefarious process, chemical adjustments to the outside of the bag itself . It’s not uncommon to hear players use fabric softeners or even other chemical treatments on their bags. Tom explained that this is to reduce the stiffness of the bags and/or change the coefficient of friction to make them faster or slower, all of which can provide a competitive advantage, but no one has really examined these modifications. “If we follow the rules, these may not be allowed,” he said, “but how would anyone know if they hadn’t seen the process take place?”
Tom believes that neither of the two teams involved in the ACL World Championship “BagGate” was manipulating the bags themselves, but rather the product of a problem – which he believes has led to more big impact issue. With the money pouring in, dozens or bagmakers pay the league to get the coveted “approved” stamp, opening up room for shoddy compliance issues, and the league doesn’t have much incentive to pay their companies More.
“The amount of money a manufacturer gets to get a seal license is substantial, so why make it harder for manufacturers to work harder by implementing additional compliance measures?”
This is if You’re a sports league trying to make money, and that’s great, but it sucks for players who want to make sure there’s a level playing field — even if the players don’t know they’re using illegal bags in games. This is the process ACL started with when it started the stamping process, which was implemented under the guise of conveying players’ confidence in bag making, but didn’t really live up to that ideal. Companies can seek a basic ACL tag, an ACL “comp” tag, or the highest level ACL “pro”.
“Higher tiers require higher licensing fees, but only Pro tier packs are allowed to televise the game. Therefore, as the collective community associates stamped packs with more High quality is associated with a huge marketing incentive for manufacturers to have their bags stamped.”
Events like “BagGate” prove that these stamps often don’t mean They sell to strict standards.
“It’s easy to fix,” Tom quipped, “in every Players/teams can sign in for a certain number of games for inspection.” He believes players should be free to choose any manufacturer or bag they see fit, but confirmation of legality shouldn’t wait until halfway through the game. “Such checks can be done during registration or before a player’s first game without adding too much time.”
For now: nothing is done. In the 10 days since “BagGate,” there have been no official changes to the rules or simplification of the process — even for a prestigious televised event like the World Championships. For most sports fans, cornholes are fun as part of ESPN 8: The Ocho, but for those who follow and love the sport, do your best to get more people involved In competitive play, this is a major problem with no current solution – and no governing body seems to care enough to address it.
