Which is why I guess they allowed the National Spelling Bee to be broadcasted on primetime network television. Which turned out to be quite compelling television. What was more amazing is that they actually hauled out the High Def cameras into the Hyatt/Hilton to have all the dorky/geekiness of these awkward kids and their parents reactions to their spellings to be beamed directly into my home in crystal clear 1080i resolution.
First realization of the night, my vocabulary and spelling skills are subpar. Where do half of these words even come from? I also figured out its good to use words that only medical doctors would know although probably not know how to spell. How many different medical conditions are completely unspellable? Also, german rooted, latin rooted, greek rooted, and persian rooted words are the best ones to stump 'em. Especially greek. Those tricky bastards!
"Can I have the etymology of the word?" I love how the kids completely try to kill time while their little gears are grinding in their small little skulls. I'm not even sure half the time they are listening to the guy giving out the answers. They keep rattling off more monotoned questions even before the mediator is done telling them the answers.
"Are there any alternate pronunciations to the words?"
"Are there any alternate definitions to the words?"
"Can you please use it in a sentence?"
"Does it have the greek root coli-"
"Can you say the word again?"
What's even funnier is the parents reaction to all of this if the kid spelled the word wrong. Everytime we saw a non-white family's reaction, MM would scream out, "You've brought dishonor to our family name!" Which I would have to say is somewhat true. I felt bad for Theodore Yuan since he sorta reminded me of how I felt when I was his age. Bad haircut, awkwardness, deep pubescent voice that didn't seem to match the baby asian face. What was hilarious was when he mispelled and they flashed over to his parents, most parents would've just felt bad for their kid, but not Theo's mom, she looked pissed that he got it wrong. Her son is number one! What was he thinking?! heh. He did bring dishonor to the family and they can never show their face again! Its funny because it might be true.
In any case, I found this article kinda funny because there is a twinge of disapointment that an indian kid didn't win. Or should I saw "South-east Asian" which is so ridiculous that why don't we subdivide and segrate and compartmentalize races more?
Also, a great headline from this Canadian paper about Canada's own entry into the Bee. "Word whiz Finola Hackett, 14, learns the true meaning of weltschmerz when she can't spell it."
Who knew spelling would be televised like Dodgeball on the ocho?
