Vicious Rants of an Angry Yellow Man

Unbelievable, eight way tie for the championship of the Spelling Bee.  They decided before hand that  twenty rounds was the maximum for the final.  Anyone still standing after that would be crown co-champion.  I am happy for the 8 winners, who were obviously great.  I think I might have gotten about 5% of the words correctly.  So hats off to them.

But what are they going to do in the future?  It seems like every year, there are more and more kids who are capable of standing there all night and not miss a word.  So maybe there will be a 12 way tie next year.  I think it is time to introduce the time factor!

They get two minutes to spell the word now.  It is too long!  Many times, the kid knew the answer right away but ask all the questions allowed anyway.  The worst question is "Can you use the word in a sentence?"  Invariably, the sentence is of no use.  It is like the Seinfeld episode where a guy called Seinfeld a hypocrite.  He tried to calm Seinfeld down by telling him hypocrite can be a complement.  When asked to use it in a sentence, the guy said "That Michael Jordan, he is such a hypocrite."  As you can see, using it in a sentence is not helpful at all.

So let's give everyone 30 seconds to write down the answer, like Final Jeopardy.  The most right answers wins after 20 words.  In this case, spelling DOES count!  The game would move along and it would not depend on who got the easier words since everyone will get the same 20 words.

If there is a tie, then do best of 5 by buzzing in.  I know, the speed of of your thumb would matter then.  But I think it would also bring into play quick thinking.  I think the Bee would be much more exciting to watch if we change to this format.