For those of you that have every been around my friends in north Alabama or Middle Tennessee, you may have heard one of us say “Nice bag!” at some point. I would use it on here if anyone would know what the heck I was talking about. “Nice bag” is a phrase that has come to be used as a synonym for “good job” or “very nice.” When watching football for instance, if there is a big hit put on someone or a long catch for a touchdown, you might see us shout “Nice bag!” as we high five each other. The saying is catching on more and more every day, and it’s because of an addicting game: cornhole.
For those of you who have never heard of cornhole, it is a fun little tailgating game. That means, of course, that you can do it with beer, and in fact it is recommended by nine out of ten medical doctors that you should consume beer while you play. And maybe eat a cheeseburger or two as well. See? Now this is a sport I think we can all get behind. It was invented by some geniuses in the midwest who must have had a surplus of corn, and not since beer pong have we seen such a perfect blend of alcohol and sport. People that I know in Virginia call the game “Baggo,” and it’s known by Hoosiers as “Indiana Horseshoes.” You can read a basic synopsis of gameplay here. If you don’t want to wade through stupid terminoligy like innings and frames that no one really uses anyway, I will boil it down for you. Basically, you take turns throwing bags filled with beans or corn at four foot wooden boards with holes in them that are about thirty feet from each other. A bag on the board is worth one point, and a bag in the hole (a cornhole) is worth three points. You play in pairs and the first team to 21 wins and then gets to defend it because you really can’t stop yourself from playing once you start.
Well, I had heard of cornhole before and knew some people that loved it. I had seen tournaments advertised, heard people mention it on television, and seen bars having cornhole nights. I really didn’t see what the big deal was, though, not only because of the gay name but also because it sounded really gay to have a game where the only object was throw bean bags into a hole (not that there’s anything wrong with that). And maybe it is pretty gay, but I freaking love that gay game now and so would you if you tried it. We started out playing on crappy boards on a whim for a weekend lake trip. Those junk boards broke the first time we used them, and it probably had something to do with the fact that someone was playing cornhole for at least twelve hours every single day. Those things were literally unusable when we finished with them, and you can see the beginning of the damage in the picture. The middles cracked, the legs broke off, and we were having to prop the boards up with rocks and wood to even continue playing. You could tell they were just cheap pieces of crap from Wal-Mart. Then, a few of my buddies went to a home store and bought wood, sandpaper, and paint to build their own bags. Instructions for construction and assembly can be found by a simple google search, and if you have a backyard or tailgate very often, it would be a small investment for a great deal of fun. You can make them simple white, or you can paint them up for your tailgate to suit your favorite sports team, as my two buddies are doing for their Tennessee and Alabama boards. You can also order good boards that meet tournament regulations online, but they are expensive and it’s much much more satisfying to build them yourself.
Back to “nice bag.” A few of my friends in my tiny hometown in Middle Tennessee started saying “nice bag one night when we were out at a bar. At first, I let it slide becasue I thought I had misheard them, but eventually my curiosity got the best of me. They told me that they were saying it because they sometimes played cornhole at another guy’s house in town. That guy would always get drunk and drawl “nice bag” or “nice bags” every time someone tossed a good bag. They said it was hilarious the way he said it, and they made fun of him so much that it became part of their vocabulary. Then it became part of mine. Then it became part of all the guys in north Alabama that were at the lake weekend where we broke the boards. And now it has followed me to East Tennessee, and I hope everyone in the damn country is saying it by the time it is over because it effing makes me laugh. So, next time you are playing cornhole, shout out a “nice bag” for me. Then, go use it when watching other sports, when your buddy picks up a cute girl or gets a raise, when your girlfriend gets a boob job (it would be plural then – “nice bags”), or just in general conversation. If it ever catches on, and someone like me who ever wonders “Who in the hell came up with that?,” you will know the answer. It came from the most unlikely of places – a small town in Tennessee where we like our sports with beer and burgers, and where rednecks and country boys can say a simple phrase like “nice bag” and make it funny. At least we like to think so.
For everything there is to know:
American Cornhole Association
American Cornhole Organization
For Boards:
SC Cornhole Games
Someone is also making a movie:
[...] I sat around with a bunch of my buddies and watched football on television, while playing a little cornhole at the half, and it was everything I thought it could be … well, except for the Vols getting [...]