We all can’t be professional ballers or Olympic athletes, so we common folk have our own sports where endurance equates to a high tolerance, motor skills are optional and being genetically enhanced is replaced with impaired drinking games, if you will. The AL (Alcohol League) encompasses beer pong, flip cup, asshole and all the games you play using alcohol instead of Gatorade: darts, pool, poker, horseshoes, shuffleboard and an array of intoxication-intramurals. The AL may not sell out arenas (but hey, neither do the Bobcats); instead the playing field is a watering hole, such as the Irish Cue in Cornelius, Thomas Street Tavern, Fox and Hound or Jillian’s. As of last Saturday, Quaker Steak & Lube on Woodlawn has beer pong tournaments.
I was recently introduced to a new game: cornhole toss. The objective of the game is to toss a beanbag into a hole on a wooden board. Yet, it’s so thrilling — it’s like beer pong meets bocce, and it’s one of those drinking games where the more you drink, the better you get.
Apparently, cornhole toss is hot right now. It’s a fixture at pools and block parties; Dixie’s Tavern got it, and they just had a huge tournament at George Herman’s in Brevard Court. Shane’s Rib Shack has a cornhole toss tournament every Tuesday. You can kick off your shoes (literally) and play on the patio. Albeit it’s in University, it’s not really a university crowd, but more of a teacher crowd. Thus a friendly crowd, which worked out well considering the tournament’s a draw, meaning you don’t get to pick your partner. Shane’s reminded me of a place you’d find in Nashville — a southern joint that serves collard greens. And The Grand Promenade for which it’s located in is a cool little spot with a lighted patio. The Tuesday Tourneys start at 7 p.m. — put your game face on because you might just end up being my teammate.
Meanwhile, RockHouse Events has taken drinking games to the Olympic level with the Social Olympics III at Midtown Sundries at Lake Norman. They had 11 teams of alcohol-induced athletes and challenges included the Suck-N-Blow, Wild Rumpus, 5-Legged Race, Bathing Suit Swap and Dizzy Bat (which is hard enough sober!) The Pink Pussycats won the gold and the Grand Dix finished dead last, winning the Silver Donkey Award.
Granted, you don’t need a special drink to partake in the summer games, but it sure can make them more interesting. I’d like to see everyone get “hydrated” and have one big pillow fight — now wouldn’t that be fun?
This article appears in Jul 25-31, 2007.
