The Book of Beer Pong: The Official Guide to the Sport of Champions

"Beer pong may have been created in a college basement somewhere, but now it's using the whole country as its table."

This quote is on page 36 of "The Book of Beer Pong: The Official Guide to the Sport of Champions," a book dedicated on all there is to know about the game that has swept the nation. With its gold-trimmed pages, the book assumes that of the Holy Grail and proves it with the vast amount knowledge inside the pages.

The guide is not just a compilation of how-to's, it is the go to for all questions of beer pong, including how it started, which are appropriately titled "Beer Pong's Ancestors" and "Beer Pong's Genesis."

Some might believe that the birth of Beer Pong took place in the early 2000s in the basement of some American institution of higher education. While the latter of this is true, the real start date was actually 1955 and the specific location, Dartmouth College.

Jere Daniell, 1955 Dartmouth alumni remembers playing ping-pong and how it transformed into beer pong. "It wasn't uncommon for us to be playing a game of Ping-Pong before someone changed things up and put a paper cup of beer on the table," as Daniell was quoted in the guide.

One may wonder why a fascinating game of competition took so long to catch on in popularity. The answer is because most colleges were usually either all-male or all-female. As a result, most free time was spent on taking trips to colleges of the opposite sex more than honing beer pong skills.

Yet, beer pong did not fall into the background, as through the years it remained a game of good fun. Daniell also recalls in the book, "We never had all these rules. We were just playing Ping-Pong with beer, now it seems like there's a lot of organization and regulation that goes into these games, which is something that we never had."

Beer Pong moved with history, as more women were being admitted into the same colleges as men, the game took center stage as the ultimate free time killer and Thursday night main event.

By telling the history of Beer Pong first, the book already has a novel feel to it with the telling stories of great tournaments won, legendary teams and the history of the infamous red Solo cup.

With all of this aside, the book is the final word for all debates on the rules of Beer Pong and even offers quick fixes such as how to fix a dented ball.
The authors examine the game from all aspects, including picking a team mate, picking a team name, racking the cups, way to throw the ball, celebratory dances, defense mechanisms, and a whole lot more.

The historical aspect of the game is not only important, but the current day social atmosphere that Beer Pong brings to a house party. With a section titled, "Working The Crowd," there are certain behaviors that are totally allowed in Beer Pong settings that not in more conventional settings.

For example, the book explains that a victory lap is always allowed after a first win, also the "The Lam-Beer Leap" which involves literally and physically jumping into the crowd.

The mass appeal of the game is that it is a mental and physical challenge as you are not only trying to beat your opponent, but you are also trying to win against your own mental obstacles. This is also explored in the section, which focuses on four key points in the game: relaxation, concentration, visualization and positive thinking.

These are all concepts that therapists might enlighten a patient with when overcoming a fear or players' would use before and during a big game, Beer Pong is no different.

The game has truly evolved into a full-on organized sporting event that might as well be casted on regular basis on ESPN. Teams and leagues are formed all over the country, along with national and world championships.

One really great thing the guide offers is testimonials from champions of national and world tournaments who can attest to the little known fact that Beer Pong is actually a grueling sport, but all in good fun.

The future of Beer Pong has yet to be determined, but whether you are just playing for fun at a house party or entering in a big-time tournament this book is the one-stop, last word, final-say of all things Beer Pong and no one can argue with that.