Issue date: 9/4/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Steve Berry Kevin Slaby throws a bean bag towards his target. His bags league is soon to start in Edwardsville.

Hacky sack has a new bean bag neighbor on college campuses these days.

This game, however, does not need the fancy footwork.

Edwardsville resident and American Legion Post 199 regular Kevin Slaby said he is looking to boost the game, bags, among SIUE students and others in the community while helping the legion.

"It would bring in activity," Slaby said.

Bags, otherwise known as cornhole or corn toss, has been a popular college game for decades. Bags can be associated with drinking and partying, but also with leisure for any age level.

According to the Eastern Progress and MSNBC.com, the game originated in Ohio and has since swept the Midwest, including Chicago, where Slaby first learned about it.

"They play this up there for tailgating at the Bears football games," Slaby said. "All you see is a set of boxes."

In bags, a team of two will face another team with each standing by a wooden ramp 30 feet apart. They basically toss to each others' ramps, one person at a time.

If it lands on the ramp itself, that's one point. If it goes far enough to fall through the hole near the top, the team will get three points.

The first team to get to 11 points without the other team scoring will win the game.

"That's called a skunk," Slaby said.

However, if the other team does score, the winning team has to reach 21 points and win by two to take the match.

Bags is growing so quickly among Midwesterners that there is even a league to sponsor the game. The American Cornhole Association consists of at least 3,500 members nationwide.

In an effort to keep the legion buzzing during the fall months, Slaby has set up a fall bags league that will begin Wednesday, Sept. 26. There will be a 30-minute practice at 6:30 p.m. with competition from 7 to 10:30 p.m. every Wednesday through Nov. 28 at the Edwardsville American Legion.

The teams still competing at season's end will play each other in a double-elimination playoff Dec. 5 and 12 for the $500 prize that goes to the first place squad.

Continued...

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