Major Baggers

Players gather for second leg of traditional Charles City summer bags series 

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — Golf and tennis have their four majors.

Those few who are able to win all four in their respective sport during their careers or — more impressively — during a calendar year are credited with hitting a grand slam.

But for regional bags players, a triple would be okay … that is in “triple” crown.

“Maybe someone will come up with a fourth big tournament around here,” Dan “Sacky” Novak said. “But the ‘big three’ have been around for awhile.”

The first leg of the Charles City bags “triple crown” is the annual tournament hosted by La and Leroy White that has traditionally taken place in or around the Fourth of July holiday for the past 14 years.

The final leg is hosted by “Sacky” Novak around Labor Day.

The middle leg of the tournament is hosted by Jake and Lori Kummer, often on the couple’s farm acreage about a mile east of Charles City.

The Kummer’s tournament took place on Saturday, starting around 1 p.m. and lasted well into the evening.

“People always say I can’t throw, but somehow my team wins,” Lori Kummer said after early success in the tournament.

“I must be doing something right.”

One thing Kummer and her given partner usually seem to do right is turn matches into marathons rather than sprints.

There is no shot clock in bag games up to 21 which — like blackjack — you’ve got to hit exactly as busts bump you back to 13. Thus, best-of-three matches can last for more than an hour (really) like one victory from Kummer’s team.

“I got drunk just watching them,” a spectator marveled after it was finally over.

Bags is a strange game in the way it seduces beginners with the illusion of mastery. It’s not that uncommon for someone trying the game for the first time to put three of his first four bags through the hole.

“The simplicity of your backyard game amuses me … bring me your finest meats and cheeses.”

But as most upstart players eventually find out, it’s not that simple.

When facing an experienced team, you often can be snookered by strategy … like the deft act of nudging your bag through the hole for 3 points to bust you, or — catering to the thought that the best throw is the one you don’t make — forfeiting an attempt to concede a 20th point to leave you with little room for error.

So in bags there are strategy, psychology, physics, mathematics …

“And chemistry,” southpaw bags player Ryan Blunt said.

Indeed, especially the chemistry in the beverages that are never too far from the players thanks to the innovative two-drink holders designed and made by Jake Kummer.

Such chemistry does have a way to make the math a little more fuzzy for the players, which can affect points-to-victory calculations.

“Sacky Bash”, the said third leg of the series, will take place Sept. 9.

“It’s our 10th annual one so we’ve made T-shirts and signs for it,” Novak said. “It should be one of our bigger ones considering we’re reaching a milestone, but you can never tell until the day comes.

“We had a Fourth of July parade float promoting it.”

They don’t call them majors for nothing.