SCRIPPS Spelling Bee May 27

Just a friendly reminder for those fans of the historic National Spelling Bee tournament hosted by the E.W. Scripps Company, the 2012 competition week is May 27 - June 1. Again the tournament will be broadcast Live on ESPN.


If you've never witnessed the tension and pressure of this spelling bee event, then I urge you to tune in to experience a competition like no other.  The combatants are 14 years old or younger, the playing field is a stage with a microphone and the only defensive struggles one might face is in his or her own mind.  It's part word memorization and part spelling skill while under the emotional duress of that all knowing fear that every competitive soul must acquaint themselves with; failure. 

We've seen what the pressure of failure can do to competitors of college age and above, imagine an adolescent making it to the national spelling bee finals and then being given a word to spell like......."cymotrichous?" The heartbreak and agony of failure looms as large as the thrill of victory ahead. Mind you, these are pre-teen adolescents performing on a national stage. It's brutal to watch folks.  The thrill of victory and agony of defeat has never been put on stage and displayed to viewers with such complete innocence.  


All competitions have losers and winners, but it's the young age of these competitors that forces viewers to root for and applaud all participants. If nothing else, it takes self-confidence and courage to stand up in front of a national audience and problem solve in just two minutes and thirty seconds or less. Who but a Philadelphia fan would root for a kid to lose?  I know, that's hitting below the belt, but they've earned it.


Last year I watched Sukanya Roy, of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., pull out a victory when she spelled "cymotrichous" correctly, a word not listed in my spell check. Sukanya had the pressure of getting close to the championship in previous years, kinda like the San Jose Sharks.  In 2011 Sukanya persevered and won the darn thing and the spelling bee world was happy for her.  Former winners are not eligible to participate in future national spelling bee competitions.


Maybe you get a bit uneasy and choked up when watching kids compete. I still find it hard to watch young girls compete in olympic gymnastics events.  To watch young competitors forced to meet and shake hands with Mr. Failure at such a young age can bring tears to the eyes of an audience.  But competition is not for emotional wimps and whether it's chess, competitive eating or a spelling bee, the participants must come to the event mentally prepared to do battle with themselves. There's no crying in spelling bees!  Well alright, maybe just this once.


2011 National Spelling Bee Photo Gallery


Animated Film Jody Ann Maxwell by fifth-grader Alexis Brown

1925-2011 Champions and Winning Words
(competition cancelled 1943-45 during WWII)