Buzz Buzz...It's a Spelling Bee!

Flipping between the Red Sox and Magic games, I happened to come across the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee. First of all, why is it on ESPN2...is this a sport?? Sameer Mishra was the 2008 winner, and yet still no Gatorade commercials?? Bring back Australian Rules Football!! Sorry I digress...

Anyhoooo...what is the real benefit to these things? OK, so these kids can spell circles around the average person, but do they even know what the words mean? Obviously, the answer is no, since every kids asks the definition of the word! Personally, I don't need to know how to spell words whose meaning I don't know...because chances are I'll never use them in a sentence!! Then there is the geek factor. There is certainly nothing wrong with being a geek, but these poor kids are on track to being super-geeks! I think I actually saw one with a pocket protector!

What kind of life are the parents of these kids allowing them to have? They spend every waking moment for years studying the spelling of words. In Sameer's case, his sister is also a past winner, and between the two of them it was 7 years of studying spelling words! Sheesh...let a kid be a kid why don't you. The pressure is immense, and yet, these kids just keep plugging away, all the while the eyes of their parents boring into them from the side of the stage.

But there is one thing that puzzles me more than anything else. Why is it that despite all the things I noted above, when they finally announce a winner, I get a little choked up seeing the smile on his or her face? Hmmm...guess I'm just a big softy!!

(But it still shouldn't be on ESPN2!!)