This is the America I know and love,” tweeted as a pair of cornholers competed in baked bean regalia.īack-to-back airmails on a deep block! /vnyhEId0UZ “Watching cornhole on ESPN and the guys are sponsored by Bush’s Baked Beans playing on boards sponsored by Johnsonville sausages. It didn’t hurt the game’s hotness factor that ESPN, which had aired the pro games since 2017, began highlighting them even more, evoking appreciative tweets. It’s not difficult to social distance, when cornhole boards are placed the required 27 feet apart. While COVID forced other sports into hiatus or shortened seasons, cornhole became the first sport to return to action. Meanwhile, the already popular game continued to get even more popular.

Thielen purchased some boards and bags, and during breaks, he practiced. When COVID hit, Thielen began spending a lot of time working from home - a home that fortuitously had a very long hall in it. Josh Thielen, left, his partner Corey Gilbert, Mike Barnes and his partner Tom Embry check their cornhole accuracy during a tournament at Vallejo’s Napa Smith Brewery. “I thought, wow, you can have a few adult beverages and win things,” Thielen says Thielen lucked out and drew an experienced corn chucker, and they won the draw, each taking home an $800 Traeger grill. (Did we mention that cornhole has its own slang?) So he entered a blind draw, where players are matched up with someone they don’t know. The turning point for Thielen might have come during a cornament, where he and his partner lost rather quickly, getting shucked early on. Thielen eventually joined a league, Pleasanton’s Pacific Coast Cornhole, competing against other Bay Area clubs including San Jose’s Willow Glen Cornhole, the Brentwood Bombers, Vallejo’s North Bay Elite Kornhole and Pleasant Hill’s West Coast Cornhole. He never dreamed he could be a cornstar, but he and a neighbor entered a cornament hosted at a nearby bar and won third place. He also discovered he was pretty good at it. Thielen enjoyed the camaraderie, friendly banter and competition. “You’re less likely to injure yourself, and you can have a few beers.” “It’s a good sport for dads,” Thielen says.

While the kids played and ran around, the adult tossed bags. Thielen’s cornhole dream began innocently enough with a neighborhood game, shortly after he, his wife and two children moved to Livermore five years ago.

Thielen’s not quitting his day job as the vice president of marketing for a Silicon Valley medical tech company, but he’s definitely cornhole focused. VALLEJO, CA – OCTOBER 23: Professional cornhole players Tom Embry, left, and Josh Thielen participate in a tournament at Napa Smith Brewery in Vallejo on Oct.

Best in bags wow