Only one event has all this and more. I am talking of course about the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee. Where 9 year olds take on veteran 14 year olds. Where the sound of a bell doesn't signal the beginning but the end. Where the possibility of duel champions is present yet hasn't happened in over 40 years. Where young women and young men battle head-to-head on the same playing field. where makeup, contacts, and a hair brush is frowned on. See this sport isn't about looks. the weirder you sound and look the more you can intimidate one of the zillions of other spellers. Where being homeschooled is not only coold but an eery advantage.
Unpredictable? Look at the young Samir. He is in his 3rd or 4th Bee now and still hasn't won. He was in the final four when he was like four? He is most definetely the greatest speller to never win the Bee. You think Phil Mickleson had pressure? Try carrying that label at age TWELVE!!!!
After watching the great Katharine Close win the Bee right now I knew I was witnessing greatness. No "repeat the definition please" from her. No "language of origin?" She would just ask the word and meaning and S.P.E.L.L. the mother. Unshakeable confidence. She laughed when she got her word Ursprache to win it all. Saying after I was just glad they said "Ursprache." She spelled it like no one had ever spelled it before. This girl knew the whole dictionary people.
What makes them even more impressive is the consistency and the age they do it all at. I mean if I went back to early middle school I am pretty sure I would domin8 just about every sport. But I would not be able to outspell these little 4 eyed nosepickers. I watched about 4 hourse of Bee coverage yesterday. And I don't just watch I join the competition. Me against my wife with a pen and a paper. We see who can get the most words right. We can spell until the word pops up on the screen. If its not spelled by then were out. I whooped my wife in that game. But you know how many I got correct in 4 hours? nine. Nine. A college graduate spelled 9 correctly. My wife just got her masters in teaching and she spelled 4 correctly. Roughly one word per hour. These kids are incredible.
Last but not least I want to let everyone know that I saw this greatness first. Before ABC put them in primetime I have been watching since ESPN first started airing. I have seen the documentary Spellbound and I have been glued to anything BEE for years. Just wanted to add that. Oh and I am not going to spell check this post, but I am sure if I did plenty of errors would come up.
Yo Yo...JC speaks da troof. Spelling is pretty damn h-a-r-d and these runts do it better than no other. If you think you can spell...u kno wut...YOU CAN'T. That's why everything from Word to your Email has that tool to correct everyone's misspellings (and/or bad grammar). These kids probably never heard of "spell-check" and would consider themselves part of a lesser lifeform if they ever did resort to using it.
These spelling freaks are true athletes and their achievements are up their with any individual accomplishment in sports. For the bee-haters, two words for you: AKSHAY BUDDIGA. In 2004, kid literally faints in the middle of workin his word. He is practically half-way to death, but there was just too much determination in his Indian blood, so he resurrects himself, which is a miracle in itself. BUT THEN...he goes on and spells his word "ALOPECOID" to perfection!!! Right there, in front everyone: his peers, family, judges, television cameras - practically the whole world. I couldn't even spell that word feeling 100% with a dictionary in front of me.
This is legendary stuff...I compare it to the Jordan performance in the 1997 NBA Finals at Utah. It was a critical Game 5, series tied 2-2. Due to food poisoning (which I suspect a crazed Mormon of causing), MJ is tired as hell, getting worse with each passing minute. By the time 4th quarter rolls around, His Sickness is throwing up on the bench and leaning on Pippen between plays just to stay on his feet.Despite struggling just to keep his eyes open and keep upright, MJ somehow manages to hit one clut
This is legendary stuff...I compare it to the Jordan performance in the 1997 NBA Finals at Utah. It was a critical Game 5, series tied 2-2. Due to food poisoning (which I suspect a crazed Mormon of causing), MJ is tired as hell, getting worse with each passing minute. By the time 4th quarter rolls around, His Sickness is throwing up on the bench and leaning on Pippen between plays just to stay on his feet.Despite struggling just to keep his eyes open and keep upright, MJ somehow manages to hit one clutch J after another, leading a Bulls comeback and of course nailing the game-deciding shots to not only save the game, but the series.
Michael and Ashkay both will be forever cemented in my head for their greatness in these performances.
I dare Ken Jennings or anyone to pull a Danny Almonte and get some paperwork that states you are 12 and enter the NSB, then prepare to be humiliated in the first round. Give these kids props, people!!!
Hey, Sportsnuttz the spelling bee surprised me by how I was really interested by who won this thing.Although the contestants looked like the nerd squad from nerdland. LOL!
That is part of the beauty of it. I mean everybody went through an awckward stage in middle school, but these are the weirdest looking kids AND they are in there awckward stage. beauty.
I love watching the 8th graders drop there mack on the chix.
There are times when i've thought it would be really cool to play a little basketball with MJ.
But i've never wanted to sit down for an exhibition game of scrabble with Akshay, or AB as i afffectionateley (sp?) call him. So thanks for making that connection D. Maybe someday Hasbro will set that up as a charity event and i'll win the sweepstakes...sigh, maybe.
Sportsnuttz I'm callin you out...you have a soccer player (who it is i haven't figured out) as your icon yet you have no blogs devoted soley to one of the three ultimate sports (rock climbing and golf complete the trifecta but i suppose thats a weeks worth of blog debating right there). WE WANT SOCCA!
my bad i just checked and thats a very obvious Dino - nice pic, good choice.
These kids certainly are intelligent yet this one home-schooled kid lacked intellectual skills. As a Canadian, I love watching hockey fanatics talk about how Hockey is the best sport in the world yet The Spelling Bee is a great example of how wrong these fanatics are. I must say, The Bee is more compelling.
sportsnutzz, Those kids are certainly amazing. And with the intense scrutiny and pressure that they're under it's truly remarkable that they handle it all so gracefully. They could teach the politicians on Capitol Hill a thing or two about how to handle pressure and act with dignity. But then these are kids that we're talking about, not the grown adults up there on the 'Hill'. Get my drift ?
I think I won the school title three times in grammar school, which was the only time it was held. Never did venture out though and I wonder how I would have fared under this kind of extreme pressure. Retiring at 9 was the right move for me. I was burned out.
Thanks Meandovine-
nice comments everyone.
Flip- your soccer blog is coming very soon.... its like the World Cup it seems like it is never coming but it is well worth waiting for ; )
the Dan- the last homeschool kid contestant was definetely a little quirky. I didn't like the whole barf in hand thing he did every couple of letters.
Again thanks all for dropping by for a s-p-e-l-l
Practice... we talking about practice?" 
