For many years, my friends Buffum, Dan, Chris, Steve and Foster and took an annual Spring trip to Club Med. In later years we were joined by girlfriends, wives and Rob. We had the time of our lives.
One of the coolest outcomes of our time there was a game we invented called “corks.” It is a drinking game, born from the necessity to drink – and drink a lot of something that was less of a pleasure. Club Med had a house wine that, to any mediocre fan of wine was… absolutely gross. But it was free. And so, to get ourselves “started” for the evening (and most evenings), we finished our dinner and assembled the pieces needed for the game.
Pieces needed:
- A table, the bigger the better. This is best played at a square table where two people sit on each of the four sides.
- An empty drinking glass per person, preferably a “highball” glass that is no more than 3-4″ high.
- And then… corks. You should have at least 2 per person at the table. The more the merrier, as they bounce all over the place and you’ll be scrambling to have one ready when it’s your turn.
Teams of 2 are then determined, where teammates sit across from one another at the table, each with their drinking glass on the table in front of them. At any time, one teammate is the “shooter” and the other the receiver. The scope of the game involves throwing the corks overhand (but never reaching over the plane of the table) aimed at the glass in front of your partner. The receiver cannot participate in the shot (assisting the cork or glass in any way – they spend much of their time just trying to block or catch wayward corks as they glance off in every direction). Imagine this at a square table where you’re also distracted by other corks flying across your flight path.
Each game is begun all at once, with all of the teams starting on the word “go.” To score a point, your cork must land in their glass and stay there. At this point, you both must yell “one!” (or the number of subsequent corks you’ve properly landed). The teammates alternate turns.
We most often played to a game of 5 points – where the first team to 5 points was declared the winner and the other teams must drink (sometimes, collectively a whole bottle of wine).
We had it where the winners celebrated by carrying one another around the room in delight (Foster was priceless at this). The winners can then add a rule to the next game of 5. We came up with several supplements:
- count in a foreign language
- at points 2 and 4 you must switch sides of the table
- point 2 must be shot standing up
- point 5 must be shot throwing with your non-dominant hand
Some people got more accurate as they played, some got worse. But the mayhem created – when desperately trying to land a cork across the table, running around the room for spare corks, remembering the silly rules and the adrenaline rush from winning or almost winning – made for the most memorable nights.
Go!
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