Is nothing sacred anymore
Cornhole is usually thought of as a game that is played during summer barbecues, but there are people who are a lot more serious about it. While your Aunt Becky taking an extra step to toss her bean bag in your grandma's backyard might not be a big deal, a cheating scandal shook the professional cornhole world in August and has now gone viral as "BagGate."
The incident happened at the doubles competition of the 2022 American Cornhole League World Championships in South Carolina. It started when Devon Harbaugh filed a formal complaint against opponents Mark Richards and Philip Lopez -- the No. 1 ranked doubles team -- because he believed they were using illegal beanbags.
"I thought the bags were too thin," Harbaugh told The Wall Street Journal.
ACL regulations require them to be six by six inches when laying on a flat surface and weigh 16 ounces. Officials followed procedure and inspected the bags. Turns out Harbough's suspicions were correct, the bags failed to meet the requirements of the league.
"They're too small," said cornhole color commentator Mark Pryor on live TV. "That's going to create some drama."
Pryor was right, but there was another interesting turn of events. Richards and Lopez asked for Harbough's team bags to be inspected too. Officials said that their bags also didn't meet the proper requirements and the game was paused. It was ultimately decided by those in charge that the violations were not intentional by any of the competitors and the competition was allowed to resume.
ACL spokesperson Trey Ryder told The Wall Street Journal that there's the possibility of cheating happening, but he didn't think players were doing it on purpose.
"It's possible, but I'm pretty confident that it wasn't intentional," Ryder said.
While scandals can cause unnecessary drama, they sometimes also bring light to important topics.
The ACL announced its intention to check bags at random during tournaments. Ryder told the WSJ the league is even "exploring infrastructure for automated bag testing." He said they've had to invest more in their compliance and that he believes they are "taking a major step."
ACL president Eric Marvin also told the WSJ that the league is moving in the right direction.
"You're going to see some big shifts and movements in the infrastructure of the sport. This is when sports evolve," he said.
Cornhole is usually thought of as a game that is played during summer barbecues, but there are people who are a lot more serious about it. While your Aunt Becky taking an extra step to toss her bean bag in your grandma's backyard might not be a big deal, a cheating scandal shook the professional cornhole world in August and has now gone viral as "BagGate."
The incident happened at the doubles competition of the 2022 American Cornhole League World Championships in South Carolina. It started when Devon Harbaugh filed a formal complaint against opponents Mark Richards and Philip Lopez -- the No. 1 ranked doubles team -- because he believed they were using illegal beanbags.
"I thought the bags were too thin," Harbaugh told The Wall Street Journal.
ACL regulations require them to be six by six inches when laying on a flat surface and weigh 16 ounces. Officials followed procedure and inspected the bags. Turns out Harbough's suspicions were correct, the bags failed to meet the requirements of the league.
"They're too small," said cornhole color commentator Mark Pryor on live TV. "That's going to create some drama."
Pryor was right, but there was another interesting turn of events. Richards and Lopez asked for Harbough's team bags to be inspected too. Officials said that their bags also didn't meet the proper requirements and the game was paused. It was ultimately decided by those in charge that the violations were not intentional by any of the competitors and the competition was allowed to resume.
ACL spokesperson Trey Ryder told The Wall Street Journal that there's the possibility of cheating happening, but he didn't think players were doing it on purpose.
"It's possible, but I'm pretty confident that it wasn't intentional," Ryder said.
While scandals can cause unnecessary drama, they sometimes also bring light to important topics.
The ACL announced its intention to check bags at random during tournaments. Ryder told the WSJ the league is even "exploring infrastructure for automated bag testing." He said they've had to invest more in their compliance and that he believes they are "taking a major step."
ACL president Eric Marvin also told the WSJ that the league is moving in the right direction.
"You're going to see some big shifts and movements in the infrastructure of the sport. This is when sports evolve," he said.
