Yesterday The E.W. Scripps Company crowned Evan M. O'Domey the 2007 National Spelling Bee champ. I saw media coverage on at least 10 channels. It raises two questions for me. Does the Spelling Bee belong on national television and what is the significance of the Spelling Bee?
Before I get ahead of myself let me give you a little background into why the spelling bee interests me.
From 1st to 7th grade I was my school's spelling bee winner. I qualified for the state tournament as a 5th grader but didn't have the talent (if you can call spelling a talent) to compete with the nation's best. Now let me make something clear. I am not bragging about this. Saying you are the spelling bee champ is about as cool as being an Eagle Scout in high school. And thank God I was smart enough to get out of boy scouts in elementary school. I can only sigh in sadness for the socially awkward boys I saw who wore high khaki shorts and the boy scout bandana in high school.
One reason I quit was there is a lot of pressure on a child in the event. I learned how competitive I was when I first competed. I cried and would be frustrated when I would lose. Luckily I had a family who supported me whether or not I went to the Nationals.
The second reason I quit was a social issue. It all came together when a friend of mine said, "You're competing AGAIN? Don't you want to be popular?" That day I was forced to make a choice. I put the spelling bee trophies away and instead put my competitive focus on sports like football, baseball, basketball, and track.
I can honestly say I have never competed in something quite like the Spelling Bee. It is a fun event for younger children who, to be honest, may not excel in the world of athletics. But while I liked competing in it there were two reasons I ultimately quit.
As I watched "highlights" of the Spelling Bee I saw Samir Patel get knocked out on the word clevis. His mother went on a 40 minute tirade and blamed the judges for mispronouncing the word. While I have been involved in an incident like that where a word was mispronounced I have to say that parents need to relax in these events. This is as bad as the little league dads who attack the umpires for calling balls and strikes they don't agree with. Leave it to an adult, who no longer has their youth or innocence, to ruin what should be a fun time for a child.
As odd as the event is I can honestly say I loved competing in it. There was a lot of admiration from other kids when I would win. I remember in 2nd grade when I won the school event and was lifted up on other 2nd graders shoulders because I had "upset the 3rd and 4th grade spellers. We had had our first taste of sticking it to the man.
But the main reason I loved spelling as a child is that it made my mom and grandmother proud. When my grandmother passed away I asked for my spelling bee trophies to be placed in her casket with her. So the event can be greater than what it seems.
For many of these spellers, who are home schooled, it represents a rare opportunity to be rewarded for their time and efforts to study. A common misconception is that spelling is a natural talent. It is more the process of memorization and understanding of phonetics in a word.
And I totally realize how much of a nerd I sound like right now. haha
The Spelling Bee does have its place as a party enhancement also. Some of my friends have watched the event and placed bets on their favorite to win. Here is a fun game. Get a group together , turn on the Spelling Bee, and take a drink every time a speller asks for the origin of a word. Take 5 drinks if the kid spells it out onto his hand. You will be blitzed in no time.
If you want to better understand how odd and compelling this event is I would recommend renting "Spellbound", a documentary that chronicles the lives of some of the national competitors. These kids are funny, quirky, and give you a truthful glimpse into a very bizarre and tense event.
Is spelling a sport? I wouldn't say so. It doesn't require physical rigor. Does it belong on ESPN? I also can't answer that. Is it any less entertaining than a Strongman competition honestly? I do know this. The Spelling Bee is a piece of American culture that is definitely odd but also entertaining to me. It doesn't have the same entertainment value as watching Lebron James go off for a magical 48, 9, 7, statline. But it fits somewhere into American society.
Ariel Meredith
Cintia Dicker
Heisman Winners: Best NFL Careers
SI's Pictures of the Week
Comments (12) Add A Comment
Nice post, these kids always amaze me. I remember geting materials in school to practice for the competition as I was always one of the top spellurs in my school. As I looked at the practice words i quickly realized that I was going to be way out of my league so I made an executive decision and headed for the ball yard.
DavidSternBlows
Los Angeles , CA
Total Comments (1802)
Spelling rules.
chrono8008: Gone…
A Place, IL
Total Comments (4838)
To each their own, I competed in 4H dairy for 8 years. I see how you can enjoy something many look at as social suicide! 4H for me was just that I missed Nationals all 8 years by one spot, only 5 go in my state! I to had to turn my competitive side over to sports, track,x-country,football and wrestleing! I never understood how being smart was socially crippleing!
"The…
Nooksack , WA
Total Comments (483)
Yeah nice post. I do not think it belongs on ESPN though because there is no athletic ability involved in it. It belongs on a channel like ABC or something. I will admit its fun to watch though because I like watching them spell those rediculously hard words!
VIDAL
Terre Haute , IN
Total Comments (679)
Great blog. I find the spelling bee interesting. And, on a sad but funny note, I have watched the movie, "Spellbound." haha
G.O.A.T. is back?
Scranton, PA
Total Comments (12360)
Nice post. Very interesting. Unfortunately, when I got "Spellbound," I didn't have the attention span to make it through.
DJTG_2010
Total Comments (5120)
I have seen at least twenty references to the movie Spellbound since the conclusion of this year's spelling bee...I gotta see this show!
Newt
Orem , UT
Total Comments (43)
Great writing. I think it's on TV because these are young kids who are talented at something that is pretty amazing to most of us. And for the most part some of these kids don't look like they do much else.
QuadrupleDouble
Baton Rouge , LA
Total Comments (85)
Spelling has always been a piece of cake for me. Most people ask me first how to spell words. I've never competed in Spelling Bees (I don't think they really do them in Richmond, but I think I'm wrong because I've heard of people who have won, but I've never been invited and I don't think I would want to be...I would rather concentrate on football). Also, responding to QuadrupleDouble, in my opinion spelling is easy and really isn't all that amazing...what is amazing is the fact that many people are so incredibly unintelligent that they misspell even the easiest of words.
Big Ben68
Total Comments (20639)
Great post. I too, enjoy the spelling bees, and I like the exposure it gets on television. With any luck, It will help literacy, which as Big Ben points out, is sorely lacking on this website. I just don't understand why so many people misspell so many words. Sometimes they even misspell the same word two different ways in the same post! That leads me to believe that it's carelessness, not intelligence.
And I was that Eagle Scout in high school, hah. I was never dumb enough to wear the uniform to school though.
FMWarner
Sherman Oaks , CA
Total Comments (296)
America has become one of the dumbest nations in the world and spelling is a lost art form. With the new age of text messaging and variations of the english language, such as ebonics being accepted in America, it's only going to get worse. Eventually a kid will be asked to spell "ask" and when they spell it "a-x" it will have to be reviewed. the kid will then say, "The boy raised his hand to ax a question." Hence the work is spelled correctly.
cdbbigdaddy
Stockton , CA
Total Comments (165)
Maybe he wanted to 'ax(e)' the question...as in he didn't like it and decided to throw it out.
Big Ben68
Total Comments (20639)
Comment
Remember to keep your posts clean. Profanity will get filtered, and offensive comments will be removed.