Sriram Hathwar lives ~25 miles from here
Posted on 05/31/2014 5:27:04 AM PDT by Dave346
Who knew that the Scripps National Spelling Bee could end with the crowning of co-champions?
It’s been 52 years since it happened last, and I, for one was dismayed to learn that the final spell-off between Sriram Hathwar, 14, and Ansun Sujoe, 13, Thursday ended in a tie.
What is this, soccer?
It turns out that when the field of competitors is winnowed to two or three contestants, they move on to “the 25-word championship section of the word list,” according to the official rules posted online. “If a champion does not emerge in the course of administering these final 25 words, the remaining spellers will be declared co-champions.”
Admittedly, the championship list is extremely difficult words. Skandhas, hyblaean, feijoada, augenphilologie, sdrucciola, holluschick, thyemelici and paixtle were among those that the young men nailed before concluding with stichomythia and feuilleton. But there are thousands of exotic, technical, absurdly useless words in the grand lexicon, and no reason to limit the championship section to just 25.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.chicagotribune.com ...
These spelling run offs have become ridiculous. So you can spell odd and useless words. Big whoop....Go outside and play.
Sriram Hathwar lives ~25 miles from here
I’m fine with a tie when the kids get to that level. This isn’t the same as throwing “cat” or “ball” into the contest to keep things equal.
The point of spelling is to be excellent, not to just win titles. Once two people have proven excellence far and above the rest of the field, I have no problem with both being able to claim the win.
they should be required to wear appropriate helmet and shoulder pads....spelling bees could be the next sport deemed by the POSOTUS to be too dangerous.(yes Virginia...Sarc.)
spelling at this level is about a whole lot more than just spelling….the etymologies, histories of the word, and so on, require and inspire a whole lot of other more useful knowledge than spelling. It also requires on the spot detective work…the way the kids question the moderator on the word. It's much more than a living breathing spellcheck.
That's why I like the tie in a situation such as this. The contest planners wrote a reasonable list of what they believed would for sure determine a winner. Both contestants exceeded expectations.
The tie in a case sends that message....they've mastered this, move on.
Can you spell “there are bigger fish to fry”?
It’s been 52 years since this happened last, and the author is all upset over it? Give me a break.
If you HAVE to do something, give them each the same word, and whoever correctly spells it the fastest wins.
When I played little league in the 70s we had a 10 run rule. If one team got to 10 runs ahead of the other team it ended the game. The games were for fun and there was simply no point in humiliating the other team.
Quite right!
I’m aware. But it’s only one little pocket of learning....pushed to the highest power....and therefore ridiculous. The knowledge is unusable.
Instead of asking questions, the speller should have to use it in a sentence....and it should be part of a 100 word paragraph.
My thought, too. The boys may think it’s pretty cool that they tied since its such a rarity!
With due respect, you are not aware, or not aware of the point I was making. I used to sort of think like you did about this, until I watched some of it. It's a LOT LOT LOT more and one little pocket of learning. Did you totally not comprehend what I said about etymology and history and - other languages I might add? Did you miss the point of operating cooly and thinking clearly under pressure? What planet do you live on where none of this us "usable???"
Wow dude, you are clueless on this, and obviously have never seen one of these things. By the time they take apart the word in their questioning, they could write many paragraphs with the word.
You got your attitude on this morning and you just refuse to learn. No wonder you resent these folks.
What kind of school did they attend? Public, private, homeschool?
I demand affirmative action in spelling bees. They are clearly racist.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.