Beer Pong Lives (in Baltimore, at Least)

Feb. 12, 2009— -- Baltimoreans are free to pong in peace now that a state senator has abandoned his quest to ban a popular drinking game after a barrage of angry e-mails from players.

Maryland state Sen. George Della Jr., a 26-year veteran of the state Senate, put the kibosh Wednesday on his proposal to prohibit Baltimore bars, bottle clubs and retail stores from allowing beer pong or any other drinking game on the premises.

"Baltimore's got a lot of problems; beer pong's not one of them," said Austin Lanham, co-founder of MD Beer Pong, which spearheaded the protest effort.

MD Beer Pong's league players inundated Della's inbox in the last several days, leading him to ax the bill the day before it was due to go before a hearing committee.

Della didn't respond today to messages left with his office by ABCNews.com. But he told the Baltimore Sun that he got so many e-mails, "I don't have the time to fool with it."

A representative for Della's office in Annapolis said Della was the only one who could speak to the reason behind his proposal, why he decided to drop it and how many e-mails he got in protest.

The measure called for fines and suspension or revocation of liquor licenses for any establishment that violated the would-be law.

"I just hope that if people continue doing it, they do it in a way that there's not excessive drinking and disrespect for the surrounding neighborhoods," Della told the Sun.

While the name of the game may conjure up images of slovenly college drunks chugging beer while a raucous crowd cheers them on, true beer pong enthusiasts are in it for the sport.

In the MD Beer Pong leagues, which have seen more than 1,200 teams cycle through since 2005, drinking is optional and the cups are often filled with water.

"We're not just trying to get drunk," Lanham said. "That way, if you are the designated driver, you can still play."

While beer pong rules vary among the nation's colleges and universities, MD Beer Pong plays two players to a team with 10 cups each. Each player takes turns trying to land a ping pong ball in another team's cup. If the ball goes in, the cup must be removed. The first team to lose all its cups loses.

While some college students require players to drink alcohol for missing the cup or for missing the table all together, MD Beer Pong doesn't impose penalties for misses.