You can have your baseball. You can have your American Idol. I’ll take a good spelling competition any day.
The National Spelling Bee. That’s entertainment. And it takes place right here in town.
Bee Week is my World Series. And Bee 2010 did not disappoint. At least that’s what I read. Instead of watching the final round Friday night I was at, ahem, a baseball game.
How can you not love a spelling bee? There are no drunk spectators, it’s a civilized show of preparation and skill and you just want to hug the contestants. The person giving the words is called the pronouncer, reason enough to love this sport. And if they broadcast it on ESPN, it’s a sport, no?
This year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee boasted a record 273 spellers ranging in age from 8 to 15 years.
This year’s winner was 14-year-old Anamika Veeramani, from Ohio, who correctly spelled “stromuhr” in the final round. Just to get to the final, she and other youngsters had to correctly spell words like confiserie, ochidore and leishmanic—and do so with poise and composure under the pressure of live television, bright lights and the presence of fierce competition for a national prize.
These kids today.
Word Nymph 