A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
So, Steve, as a proud Midwesterner from Indiana, am I safe to say you've played a lot of cornhole?
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
(Laughter) You are safe to say that. I played it growing up. I've played it on vacation. I played it this morning. Somebody...
MARTÍNEZ: No way.
INSKEEP: ...Set it up here at NPR. Yes, yes. I still stink, but yes, yes, I've played it.
MARTÍNEZ: Well, that's nice. I mean, it's a very simple and fun game to play, throwing a small bean bag into a hole on a slanted board. And the game is actually growing in popularity. This week, the American Cornhole League hosts its annual world championships in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
INSKEEP: Woo.
MARTÍNEZ: That's right. For more - grease up the old soup bone, Steve, you got a chance to be a champion. For more about the tournament and the intricacies of the sport, we called up cornhole analyst and ACL chief strategy officer Trey Ryder, who's in South Carolina covering the championships. Trey, so, how and when did a backyard pastime become a pro sport?
TREY RYDER: Yeah, that was back in 2016 when our founder and commissioner, Stacey Moore, really had a passion for tailgating, for lack of a better way to put it. Decided, hey, look, a lot of people are taking this seriously. There's an opportunity here to professionalize it. Decided to do it at our first championship event in 2016, and now going into year No. 10, there's been a lot of ups and downs, a lot more ups than downs, and two different network deals now, and 50 million people playing worldwide. And now it's officially a professional sport.
MARTÍNEZ: So what separates an amateur cornhole player, like my colleague, Steve Inskeep, between, like, the best players on the tour, the pros? What separates them?
RYDER: It's all about consistency, right? So what's great about cornhole is it is so accessible to anybody from any walk of life. It is a game that - our slogan is anyone can play and anyone can win, and we embody that, but it's the consistency at the highest level, right? We're talking about players that - I'm not going to assume any skill levels here, but - right? - if you guys put one or two bags in the hole, it's probably a good day and a good round. These players are averaging what we call a 10.0 or higher points per round average. Meaning if they put three bags in the hole and the other one sits on the board, their average actually goes down. These guys are playing at a high level, 80-plus percent in the hole, and they just practice consistently, and that's what delivers for them.
MARTÍNEZ: So is it better to have a high arc on your throw or to be more direct to the hole? Which one seems to work best?
RYDER: Well, it really just depends on what shot selection you're trying to make, right? A traditional player has a lower angle if they were trying to do what is a traditional slide shot, meaning I want to land at the center of the board, and I want that back to slide straight and up and into the hole. That's the most common shot in the game. However, if I want to throw what we would call an airmail, throwing it straight in like a swish...
MARTÍNEZ: Oh.
RYDER: ...In basketball because maybe my opponent has blocked the center of the board, then, yes, I want to change that trajectory. I want to throw it higher, so it flies straight in. And boom, 3 points.
MARTÍNEZ: I think Steph Curry would be a great cornhole player. What do you think?
RYDER: Exactly, yes.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
RYDER: It's a similar distance - right? - 27 feet from the front of the board to the front of the board. It's a similar distance for an NBA 3-pointer. So, yes, certainly some similarities there.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, you might have to recruit him. Now, you know, in recent years, sports channels like ESPN appear to be more willing to give airtime to sports such as cornhole. I mean, ax throwing, too, dodgeball. You got me. Like, if somebody is throwing something for accuracy, I'm there for hours watching. But why do you think it is? Why do you think people in sports channels like ESPN are giving this time?
RYDER: You said it best. It's a sticky sport, is kind of what we call it. ESPN views it as an evergreen property. A hundred and forty airings this past year on ESPN networks across the various linear channels. We think it's part of the accessibility and relatability. You were just talking about - you started the show by asking - right? - oh, have you played? You're from the Midwest. Everybody's got that relatability story.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
RYDER: You've beaten the neighbor at the tailgate. You've won the graduation party tournament.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
RYDER: That's not true when it comes to football.
MARTÍNEZ: Trey Ryder, cornhole analyst. Thank you, Trey. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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