8:00 ABC.
Little kids who can’t control their emotions under tremendous pressure live on national TV. Does it get any better?
I have money on a male winning it.
Mike & Mike are commentating.
Due to the absolute lack of anything else I’d consider watching, I’m going to give this a shot. If it’s too dull I’ll look for a movie after maybe 10-15 minutes, but I like spelling so I’ll give it a whirl.
The Geography Quiz things are more intriguing since I know so little about geography, but I like to guess the spellings and even the definitions of some of the words these kids get. I would bomb out in Round 1 I’m almost sure.
Truth to tell, I wish TV types would lean in this direction for Reality TV instead of the garbage with how gross stuff you’re willing to eat. Or Jerry Springer type stuff.
I little culture can’t be all bad. 
The whole thing was on this morning - I assume on ESPN. I suspect the highlights are on tonight.
Nope- the whole event occurs over two days. The semifinals were this morning. The finals are tonight. See the official website of the Scripps National Spelling Bee® for more info.
I’ve been watching the Bee since last year, when ABC first started carrying it (thanks in part to bee-related media such as Akeelah and the Bee and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. I watched Spellbound* yesterday, which is my pre-Bee celebration, and I’ll probably watch the second hour tonight- I’d watch the first, but I want to see if Pirate Master is any good.
[sub]The documentary about the 1999 National Spelling Bee, not the Hitchcock film. Do I sound like a musical robot?[/sub]
Replace “emotions” with “bladder” and “Little kids” with “Politicians,” and my answer is “yes.”
I’ve really got to ask (and I’ll do this in the least-insulting way possible, given that these are children competing), but why in the world does anyone other than the parents care about the National Spelling Bee? My suspicion is–given the few snippets I’ve seen–is that some of the kids (God love them) are so heroically geeky that its entertaining to speculate on the sort of a future career/social life they’re going to have once the heartless Spelling Machine has used them up and spit them out.
But seriously, the only thing this competition proves is that Americans will make a contest out of anything. Good spelling is IMO a natural by-product of a healthy interest in reading. These kids instead are spending their free time reviewing vast vocabulary lists filled with sesquipedalian obscurities and latinate monstrosities. And all this to competitively spell words that no-one–and I think this is only a slight exaggeration–has uttered in a real English sentence over the past 20 years. I’m all for giving children an intellectual challenge they can be proud of, but this ain’t it; if anything, it might actually stunt some children’s development.
I care because I’m a former Spelling Bee whiz. I bet many other Dopers have pleasant memories of briefly having been the school hero for achievements that weren’t sports-related.
Oh please; the school hero for spelling? That’s a little wishful…
Not really, and pinkfreud did qualify it with “briefly”. A bee champ won’t be remembered as long as the QB who took the team to state, but there’s still some glory.
I made it to County, placed third. Small potatoes though, in a rural area without much competition. I missed “hearsay” – I heard “heresy”. Easy one, dammit.
My oldest son did well at his middle school and went to the city bee in Seattle – missed “vicissitudes.”
I watched it, and enjoyed it. I’m a former spelling bee geek, who missed going to national by one place. I’m happy to say, I knew how to spell more than half the words tonight.
Several years ago, I was watching the National Bee, and a girl was given the word “H”. The look on her face was priceless, as if she were thinking, “What the hell? H? Are you serious?” Yes, “H”, the letter of the alphabet. (She did not spell it correctly, as I recall, but that’s a crappy word to get.)
I watched it for lack of much else on, and with a mindless “TV on” chore to do (addressing invitations).
I wasn’t one of the great spellers who enjoyed even a moment in the sun for spelling in school. And as a once and future (always) Ms. Average, I swear I could feel my IQ dropping as I watched: I couldn’t spell a single one of those words.
At this level it is the ability to remember obscure words from long lists. It is barely spelling because they will never find a way to slip the words into a paper or conversation.
I saw a little of it, and it looked like the kids didn’t even know the words they were being asked. It was actually pretty impressive.
Ummm… did she not ask for the definition?
-FrL-
Not really. At this level, its the ability to piece together the spelling from an understanding of etymological principals. (Like, for example, "Words from the Greek will generally have “ph,” not “f.” Except way more complicated and obscure.)
A healthy dose of memorization doesn’t hurt, of course, because none of the rules are going to be universal.
-FrL-
[Lisa Simpson]I’M QUEEN OF THE WORLD of spelling, that’s right QUEEN OF THE WORLD of spelling.[/ls]
Totally thought the thread title said “spilling beer on TV tonight.”
I would bet that she did. Unfortunately, the answer is not “H” but “aitch” See.
I was flipping around while watching it and I missed one of the kids making a joke. I came back and one of the commentators said something about how the contestant could be a stand-up comic if the spelling thing didn’t work out. I don’t remember the word in question, but it was defined as another word for bedbug. Can anyone tell me what I missed?
It was to the effect that he’s rather spell “bedbug” than the word he was given. Funny kid.
The Bee is great fun for kids who have a funny ear for words and spelling to do something with it before they are left with only the Times crosswords puzzle.
Cotta Offspring kept winning his homeroom but never the school in elementary. Then he shared a middle school with the state’s most over achieving achiever. Suddenly, while in the shadow of this genius, Offspring suddenly got a fire lit under his butt. Go figure. He wouldn’t study too hard for it but he did make it to a place or two short of going to state in his final year.
It was quite an experince for all of us. He learned that ‘natural talent/ability’ isn’t worth too much in the long run and I realized that compared to him, I had been blindly ambitious killer competitor in my time. We all got something out of it.