I attended another Iowa State Fair this year. It’s only a small exaggeration to say every time I go, my dozen or so hours there are segmented into roughly 30 minutes each, during which I visit the same exhibits and venues that I do every year.
However, I do try to take in something different every year (besides new fair food). Last year, it was arm wrestling.
This year’s new thing was spending about an hour watching horseshoe pitching. Not just any horseshoe pitching, mind you, but the Iowa State Fair Women’s Horseshoe Pitching Championship.
After acquainting myself with the scoring (3 points for a ringer, 1 point for being within six inches – you’ve heard the phrase about close only counting in horseshoes, right?), I settled in to watch a few simultaneous matches. And then it hit me.
Horseshoes is the more rudimentary ancestor to today’s popular ‘bags’ game that so many can be found playing at picnics, or tailgating events. Other people probably figured that out a long time ago, but only now did I gain enough insight to make the connection.
You stand about equally as far away from the target. You throw two shoes (bags), and the other person throws two, with more points for shoes around the ringer (bags in the hole). Missing the target, but still being close, may get you points. Winner is the first to a certain number of points.
The only real difference in the two games, other than the horseshoe pit being dirtier, is that horseshoe pitchers are better athletes. I’m serious. It takes almost no effort to toss a lightweight beanbag, but it takes a measure of strength and effort to toss metal horseshoes for a while. It’s more like bowling, in that regard.
Except close doesn’t count in bowling.
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