sports // 18

Sport/Schmort: Beer Pong

» Drunken debacle, or drunk(er) darts?

Natalie Serafini
B, Assistant Editor
pe M assistant

Bo @theotherpress.ca

  

A t some point during their

cademic careers, most
college kids will eventually find
themselves at one end ofa table,
facing a pyramid configuration
of cups, with a pingpong ball in
hand. The game is beer pong,
and hazy vision and an inability
to stand up straight for more
than a brief moment before
swinging like a pendulum
make it both challenging and
entertaining. Beer pongisa
well-known and -loved game. It
involves throwing and sinking a

 
 
 
    
 
 
  

: pingpong ball into a Solo Cup

: filled with cheap beer, then

: forcing your opponent to down
: said Solo Cup of alcohol. Some
: people might rush to classify

: this time-honoured tradition

: asa simple drinking game,

: but I’m not so quick to judge.

According to the official

: rules on BPong.com, beer pong
: can be an individual competi-

: tion, or can be played in teams

: of two. The basic rules are that
: players aim to get pingpong

: ballsinto their opponents’ cups.
: Ifthe ball gets in, the cup is

: taken away and the opponent

: downs the contents. If both

: teammates sink their balls in

: their opponents’ cups, they get
: the opportunity to shoot again;

: otherwise, the balls are in the

: other team’s court, and play

: continues. The team that forces
: their opponents to drink all the
: contents of all their cups wins.

Specifics of the rules make

: the game trickier. To start,

: games must begin by establish-
: ing the controversial Elbow/

: Wrist Rule. The rule states that
: players must ensure their elbows
: don’t cross the boundary line of
: the table edge while throwing;

: sometimes this rule extends to

: placing limitations on wrists

: as well. Implementation of the

: rule is often up for debate, due

: tothe difficulty in determining
: whether there has been an

: elbow/wrist infraction.

Rules state that re-racking

: requests can be made a max-

: imum of two times per game.

: Sticking to this limit will of

: course depend on how big ofa
: stickler youre playing against.
: Essentially, re-racking facilitates :
: the sinking of balls by arranging
: the cups into specific configura-
: tions—see BPong.com’s section

: on Typical Beer Pong House

: Rules for

: more information. Requests to

: fix cups should not be confused
: with re-racking: fixing cups can
: be done anytime, and as many

: times as necessary, to put cups

: back where they would have

: been ifnot for drunken jostling.

The bouncing rule is your

: shot at redemption if you find

: yourself approaching the loser’s
: circle: if you manage to bounce

: a ball on the table before having
: it capsize in a foamy cup of

: beer, you have the option of

: forcing your opponent to down

: not one, but two cups, due to

: the difficulty of the deed.

House rules may vary from

: house to house, or from rule-

: maker to drunk rule-maker.

: Essentially, the main aim of the
: game is to sink balls in cups and
: to not get too drunk; get those

: rules down, implement them,

: and you're golden like the beer

: you'll be forcing others to drink.

This could turn into a

: controversial ruling, but beer
: pong strikes me asa sport in
: the same way that darts are:
: you might not initially agree

because it lacks the physical
feats of football,

and because

the game

theotherpress.ca

: easily allows for jokes, laugh-
: ter, drinking, and maybe

: a quick smoking break;

: nonetheless, even with these
: possible protestations, beer

: pong is indeed a sport.

Some people say that any

: “sport” during which you can

: sip, sup, swig, or drink heavily

: isn’treallya sport; I disagree.

: Tsay that the drunker you are

: duringa sport, the more difficult
: itis, and consequently, the more
: sporty it is. Because beer pong

: not only permits, but facilitates
: and encourages drinking, I have
: no choice but to deem it a sport.
: Ifanyone disagrees, I would

: suggest they throw back a series
: of tequila and rum shots, nurse

: afew beers, then attempt to

: stand up straight while throw-

: ing pingpong balls at cups.

Beer pong requires very

: precise aim in order to keep

: opponents drinking; it requires

: training and endurance,

: especially in ability to hold your
: liquor; trash talk is inherent to

: the sport, and any little fumble

: could cost youa match. A drunk
: sportisa sport nonetheless.