"All Rise, the 177th Court with the Honorable Judge W.I. Zard is now in session". "Y'all may be seated. Good morning, we are here today to argue the case of The Narrative of Young Players vs Older Players and who has any type of advantage based on age, employment status, family responsibilities and such". "I will allow opening statements for both stating their position, then providing evidence, hopefully accurate evidence, followed by closing statements. In conclusion, you, the jury can decide for yourselves if either may have any type of advantage based on the evidence provided. Keep in mind that this case is not to cause any division between the parties instead it may be to help each delegation understand the position of the other."
Sorry y'all, I am far from a judge and certainly have no idea how courts operate. I thought it would make for a fun start to a discussion that is indeed something that has been talked about in certain cornhole circles. Some believe that it may be difficult for older players who have 8-5 jobs, families and responsibilities to compete with the teenage or early 20-year-olds due to them not having jobs, children or much responsibility outside of throwing bags. I will be using information that I have gathered through conversations as well as my own experiences and observations. I promise we won't have any low-speed chases, bloody gloves and certainly no predetermined verdicts! This is all for fun and hopefully a read you all will enjoy.
"Attorney for the Youth, you may make your opening statements." "Ahem, thank you your Honor, Folks let's try and paint a picture of a typical day for someone who may be in school, or perhaps not employed. We all know the stress that can be involved for these kids as they maneuver thru a day full of sitting in classrooms listening to some blue haired teacher discussing proper pronunciations and comma placements. Learning fragments and the difference between and a neutron and a proton, maybe they are confused as to why they can't get A x B to equal C. Figuring out if they want to eat in the cafeteria or scamper over to Chick Fil A for lunch, all the while pondering a clever way to get Susie Clinkstone's attention. Some may spend the last hour or so of the day in a practice session for a sport they may play before heading home to do homework or work on projects. Others may have chores they must complete each day before anything else is attempted. Then, if they wish, can spend time throwing bags for a bit before they go play in a local switch or event nearby. When they get home some may get online and play video games until they fall asleep, making the getting up early part of their day more challenging. Those that are out of school with no job can get up when they want and do whatever they want. Some throw bags, for hours it seems until they have darn near mastered the craft. Pretty nice gig if you can get it! Kids these days may seem like they have no worries at all but that may not always be the case. Peer pressure can be tough to deal with and kids can be brutal towards each other. Going to school and having to face mental challenges and sometimes bullies isn't pleasant and sometimes the effects can be hidden. As much as it seems that kids may have an advantage because they have no job or responsibilities, they too can have tough days and feel the pressure of dealing with things unknown to most. Let's not even mention physical appearances, bad hair days or not having the shirt you wanted to wear because it wasn't clean. All in all, kids have it pretty good however they still have things going on in their lives that may wear on them and having the ability to throw bags for hours each day isn't all it's cracked up to be...or is it. Thank you, your Honor".
"Adult attorney you may step forward". "Thank you, sir. Folks I will explain to you something similar to what an adult may have on their plate each day and in most cases, you will see a comparison to what you may encounter on a daily basis. Adults with jobs, kids, mortgages and other bills, have a large number of things they may deal with. Let's start with getting up in the morning. Not only do they have themselves to get ready for work, but they sometimes may also have to get little Timmy dressed, fed and off to daycare or school before they even think of a sip of coffee, or brain food as some may call it. They must navigate safely through rush hour avoiding school zones and other adults who are driving as if they're late for work. They may have to venture out on Highway 80 near Forney...need I say more. Once they arrive to work, they are met with 642 emails on their computer, all requesting something that needed to be done yesterday. They get through the morning escaping various meetings, or not, and skedaddle their way to lunch with a couple of co-workers who can't decide where they want to eat. Back to work and finally they are done with work, for the moment, and they hurry home just in time to pick up Timmy from ball practice. Dinner, oh man, what are we going to eat, Timmy is starving! Throw in a frozen pizza while on the phone with the roof guy who says he will be there in 15 minutes to look at you roof that was damaged in the recent hailstorm. You avoided the other 8 calls as they appeared to be spam, or an in law wanting something...who knows! After dinner you help Timmy with homework...I don't remember having to write book reports like this...wowser! Why am I doing it while Timmy is twisting his phone sideways looking at tik toks? If you play cornhole, or try, maybe you have a league night or just want to spend an hour or so practicing, this is your chance. You go outside and set up boards and start throwing only to have Timmy run outside saying he forgot a science project that was due the next day...ugh, the absolute worst! On top of these type of days, you may have to spend an hour or so shopping for groceries, getting online to pay bills. Doing various other things around the house like cleaning, mowing, repairing things that may need to be repaired, sewn or bandaged! I realize there are many parents or older folks who may appear to have things way more organized than this but certainly you get what I'm putting down...right? The older more mature cornhole player has experienced things in life that may have helped them prepare better, help them handle situations better thus giving them some sort of advantage. Unless you are one of the lucky ones who have it all together, you know the challenges we are facing each day. Thank you, your honor".
I hope you all got a laugh with the previous paragraphs as I did my best to give you some idea what each may go through on a daily basis. Now I would like to give you some evidence I have gathered just for this story. I went and looked at the results for the Signature events for this year and jotted down the finishers for each. What I found was clear and it really isn't close. If you look at who won Singles and Doubles in the Open Division, there is one person over the age of 30 who has won either event. Johnny Govea won Doubles with Logan Chamberlain in Shreveport at Signature Series 1. Now there have been several who placed in the Top 10 including Brandon Gregor who played with Klaydon Powell and finished 3rd in Shreveport. That same event Fletcher Jonson finished tied for 7th in Singles while tied for 17th were Brandon Gregor, Scott Beck, Ernest Hererra and Donnie Greer. Signature Series 2 in Irving had Johnny Govea and Logan finishing in 2nd, Fletcher and Ernest Monarca coming in 4th. Mason Terry tied for 5th with his partner Caleb Franklin while Jake Whatley and Brandon Marinez tied for 9th. Signature 3 in Mesquite had Govea and Josh Heilman in 5th, Kyle Francis and Fletcher tied for 7th, Brandon Gregor and Cowboy Kevin Meza tied for 9th. Kyle also finished tied for 9th in Open Singles. In Elite Singles Jake Whatley finished tied for 5th and Hererra tied for 9th. Lubbock Signature Series had Grant Upchurch and Oscar Mariena finishing tied for 7th and in Elite Singles Blake Holly came in tied for 13th. Waco had Derek and Bryson Goode coming in 3rd, Matthew Morris and Josh Murdock tied for 9th and Jake Whatley and Dillon Randle also tied for 9th. All of these finishes are respectable with something definite being displayed. Signature 1 Singles went Hayden Morris, Kobey Alley and Logan Chamberlain. Irving had Sammy Soto, Justin Burton, and Grant with Doubles being won by Kale Harrell and Chase Lester over Logan and Johnny. Sig 3 in Mesquite it was Justin Burton, Alex Ibarra and Caleb Franklin. Doubles were led by Burton and Payton Lopez, Cannon Hatcher and John Miller(over 30) and Grant with Brendon Bennett. Lubbock Sig Sammy, Burton, and Tye Thompson won Elite Singles and in Doubles it was Sammy and Kale over Tye and Tanner. Waco had Levi Haddock, Kale Harrell and Chase Lester in Elite Singles and in Doubles Cannon and Tanner Gibson beat Tye and Blaine Frerichs.
Only one Champion over the age of 25. Every event was won by someone under the age of 25 and except for a couple of cases, it really wasn't close. Sure, the older player can compete and finish near the top, but they just can't quite get to win. Many older players do very well and on any given day can beat any player regardless of age but these facts that I just listed show us that the younger players are either simply better, or somehow some way, have a distinct advantage. What that advantage may be, who knows. Do they have more time to practice? Do they have more stamina? Have they simply perfected more shots?
In closing, these are the facts, young players have dominated the podiums this year and as valiant as they're efforts have been, the older players just haven't been able to crack the code. I wrote this to share different points of view and your comments are welcome. This is pretty much opinion related with some facts to provide some backing. I myself have played sports for over 50 years and once, believe it or not, was a young, hungry and feisty competitor. I played many sports in my day having more success than not and I have been able to compete with the best in cornhole but not against the younger players. My best years were in 2019 and 2020 and that is about the time the younger players began their climb to the top. Don't fret, this old guy recently found a few ounces of gas in his tank and may be making a little stab at competing again soon!
Hope y'all enjoyed this story and look forward to more soon including some player spotlights that I will be putting together soon!
Take it easy and throw em straight!
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