Over the years, the Athens’ rich history of taverns has included The Tavern, Century House, Wings and Rings and now Red Brick Tavern. Red Brick Tavern, located at 14 N. Court St., is one of the oldest establishments in Athens, according to the bar’s Facebook page. A fun sports bar with 11 big-screen TVs, 14 draft beer taps, a large selection of whiskey and a welcoming staff, the bar is home to a number of activities. The most recent addition to this roster is cornhole.
Torion Cross, the game night manager at Red Brick, said he was asked to fill the position as a favor to advertise and work game nights for the bar. He has been working the game nights and helping advertise them since August.
Anybody can come to play cornhole at Red Brick every Monday between 7-9 p.m. Cross came up with the idea to play cornhole to give the bar a different look and atmosphere. Cornhole was something the bar had never done before, so it is still new to the establishment.
“We started out doing regular trivia,” Cross said. “Then we wanted to do something for the people in town that was more inviting and could meet a spirit of competition.”
Cross also said every time he talks to people about it, everyone lights up. There is still open seating right now for people to sign up, and the tournament will begin once there are enough teams to fill a bracket. When there are enough teams to fill a bracket, the tournament will likely run until right after winter break, Cross said.
Playing cornhole in Red Brick had been in the works since August, but Cross said they made it a reality in October. According to Cross, it will go until late January or early February.
One of the drawing factors to playing is there are cash prizes involved for teams once the bracket is filled.
The cash prizes are awarded weekly and there is a grand prize at the end of the competition. Every week, the team selected as the best team will be named “Champion of the Week” and win $50. In the championship round of the competition, which will take place after winter break, the championship team will win $150.
It is free for teams to register to play cornhole at Red Brick.
Cross said only about eight teams have been able to show up weekly and the hope is to have eight more teams sign up to create a full 16-team bracket for the competition. Now, the Tavern is doing a seating rotation with the teams signed up where open games are being hosted for anybody to play.
“Anyone can play anybody,” Cross said. “It's the best two out of three setup, just so we get an idea of how well each team plays, so we can seed everybody one through 16. That way, I know how to actually organize the brackets. It's not just a free-for-all kind of thing.”
Red Brick has not posted its cornhole tournament on social media yet, but there is a flyer going out soon to help get the word out to those who don’t frequently visit the bar. Cross said he has been advertising it on his personal socials, but hopes to get the word out on the bar’s socials.
Preston Hayes, a senior studying marketing, said he learned of the opportunity to play when he met Cross at the bar.
“(Cross is) in here quite a bit,” Hayes said. “(He said), ‘We're doing a cornhole tournament, so if you want your buddy to sign up.’ So I just gave him (My buddy and I’s) phone number and (we) signed up. That's pretty much how that happened.”
Hayes said after signing up, he has enjoyed playing corn hole so far and hopes they can get enough teams to start the tournament soon.
“It's a lot of fun,” Hayes said. “I know a lot of people in it, like a lot of my buddies. I mean, it's a good time. We get a pretty good crowd here. Even if you're not playing, it's still fun to watch, like my buddies play, we'll still just hang out and watch everybody else.”
The competition is still accepting new teams of all different skill levels.
“If you are at home on a Monday, you just want something fun to do, come out and play,” Cross said. “If you're not studying (and) you don't want to go out to drink, there's just not much to do in Athens. But this way we're giving you a viable option to just want to have fun.”
