What do you get when you combine a room full of hyper-intelligent children, the biggest dictionary you have ever seen and a bell purported to be haunted by the ghost of E.W. Scripps?
Yeah, you guessed it, the best damn frat kegger this side of the Mississippi!
Okay, it’s really the Scripps National Spelling Bee and I made the ghost thing up. Children from around the world compete in the annual quiz show-esque spectacle but it has become a truly Americanized event. The final round airs in primetime on a national television network. The coverage seems more like a superbowl then an event created to foster good spelling skills in children. They even do locker room like interviews with those who have been eliminated. Just replace the three hundred pound line backer saying him and the guys gave it a hundred and ten percent with a twelve year old kid crying for his mommy because he missed that damned silent “v”.
After working his way to the final round Evan O’Dorney of Danville, Calif., claimed his victory after correctly spelling “serrefine”. It’s a ” small spring forceps used for approximating the edges of a wound, or for temporarily closing an artery during surgery” for those of you who don’t stay up late at night with your dictionary. While being interviewed after the competition O’Dorney was asked what he thought about the Spelling Bee, O’Dorney Said: “Are you saying I’m supposed to like it more? Yeah, I do a little bit.” And then went on to explain how much he is looking forward to math camp.
At least he will be able to comfort himself with the $35,000 cash, the $5,000 scholarship and a $2,500 savings bond he won. You can comfort yourself with the endless re-runs that will air on ESPN 2 for a long time to come.
Click the image below for the slide show.
that one with the girl on her dad’s lap is cute… as is the one with the girl covering her face with her number