INSIGHT Magazine August 2015 | Page 29

A good many sports will have a hint in the name that gives a sense of how the game is played. Baseball is about running around bases to score points; in England, they call soccer football because, well, you use your feet. Basketball, if you’re following the theme, is about getting the ball into a basket. So what in the world is cornhole all about? Players form into teams, aiming to toss bags of corn (or bean bags) into a hole on a board that rests on a mild incline, not so steep that bags will slide off under their own weight if they come to rest on the board itself. A bag in the hole scores 3 and one on the board scores 1, by standard rules, and there’s a bit of strategy involved in knocking bags off the board, or even leaving one in the way to block a slide shot from going in. Abernathy. Upcoming events include a tournament (or “cornament,” if you’re feeling cute) on Aug. 8 at Local Joe’s at Little Bridge Marina in Rainbow City, one of Abernathy’s events. Registration starts at 11 AM, with bags flying at 12:30. Regular games take place every Wednesday at Loco Mex in Jacksonville, Thursday nights at 6 PM at Struts of Oxford and, as of Aug. 23, every Sunday night at Heroes American Grille. For more information about booking a Cornhole tournament for your business, event or charity, give Chris Abernathy a call at 256312-0877 or message him on Facebook. It’s becoming a popular Calhoun County pastime, with regular Cornhole nights around the county in restaurants and bars, and even charity events for organizations like the Hospice Promise Foundation tournament held in Anniston in June. Part of that popularity is that the game is as simple as it sounds. “What’s making it grow is that anybody can play it,” said Chris Abernathy, who arranges Cornhole nights at local venues. “It’s a fun game for the whole family.” Abernathy has been playing the game for four years, and