We had an unfortunate incident at league last night where two players could not come to an agreement on how the game was being played. While the league is meant to be fun and relaxed I also understand that it is also competitive (very competitive at time) and emotions can come out.
I want to say that if there is ever an issue DURING a game being played that two players cannot agree upon that you come to be so that we can address it. There are many situations (like last night) where there is no official rule in any rule book on what to do about it, but if we can address it early before players start getting into it then we have a chance to come to an agreement. Once player emotions start coming out, I find it very unlikely that we will be able to solve it at that time in most cases.
That being said, here is the Cleveland Cornhole rule for what happened last night. At the American Legion Hall the boards are 5-6 feet a part (between sets of boards). If you are in one of the five foot sections then it is possible that you are not going to be comfortable throwing at the same time as the person next to you (who is playing in a different game). If this is the case you have the right to wait your turn before you START your frame. That is, if you want to wait for the person next to you to throw all 4 bags before you START your frame, that is acceptable. Obviously if everyone does this it’s going to make for a long night, but it is your right. However, what you cannot do (going forward) is start your frame (say throw your first 1-2 bags) and then stop in the middle, wait for the person next to you to throw all of their bags, and then resume your frame. Once you start your frame the “traditional” rule of you must pitch a bag within 12 seconds kicks in. Now of course we do not enforce this 12 second rule, nobody does, so let’s not get carried away with that. My recommendation is if you’ve started a frame and then the person next to you is throwing at the same time and you are not comfortable with it, that you let them throw a bag, then you throw yours and take turns.
Hopefully that makes sense, if not, contact me and we can discuss.
