And I just did a quick search on Princeton's web site and she is INDEED there. Graduating class of 2005!
Man, she's 2 years younger than me and in my class. So there's a video of her winning, is that how she spelled every word? http://www.cnn.com/US/9705/29/spelling.bee.final/bee.39.espn.mov
They showed it on ESPN Classic a few days ago. Not sure why, but I ended up watching it. She spelled every word the same without yelling. She would say a letter, then put her hands over her mouth, then say a letter, etc. The trophy presentation was classic. She grabbed it out of the guys hand and lifted it above her head. She looked like she was possessed or something.
Rebecca was the only cool person ever to win. she was almost rock star like in her delivery. one of the reason's I watch year after year is to see if anyone can capture that enthusiasm and weirdness like rebecca.
Hell! I just learned that word yesterday, and I'm freakin 21 years old! How the heck is some kid in Jr. High supposed to know it?
The spelling bee is the single stupidest contest/competition known to man. There is no point for it. What's worse is that ESPN airs it yearly, and calls these children 'athletes'. How in the world will knowing how to spell never-used words be beneficial to anyone in their future??? At least make it a Coabulary Bee where KNOWLEDGE is being used. The National Spelling Bee (or any spelling bee outside of I guess district) is the single most overrated and hyped crap known in the history of the country and television. ESPN has not only an announcer, but a word-by-word commentator. What. The. ****????? I'd like to know of a strong reason why a spelling bee at this level is useful to anyone, even compared to a USEFUL vocabulary contest.
all the kids are such geeks, the whole idea of the spelling bee being on TSN (in Canada, or ESPN in the States) is r****ded, yet somehow for some reason unknown to me, if i see it on - i can't change the channel. i never look up the times or anything to plan on watching it - but when it's on - i can't turn it off - i find myself competing with 8 year olds and if i get one that one of those geeks misses, i feel pretty damn smart for a few hours.
I'm going to have to agree with Mr. Mooch. Whether or not the kids appear to be geeks is not the point. Flat memorization of words ... what exactly does that prove other than you didn't go outside for months? Worthless competition. Dig up a word that's not on their list of words to memorize and tell them to spell it...
I won my 5th grade spelling bee. I got second place for my 4th grade one for spelling "flamingo" wrong. I wanted to repeat the "m" but they thought I meant it as a double "m" so my rival nerd won it instead. b*stard.
Thank you, i was going to make a thread asking why the hell it was on ESPN at all. Stupid channel, go to hell, can't you play like top 100 moments in basketball or something. I swear i hate those kids parents and the kids, and also those kids are soooo phony, go to the website and read their profiesl. "I like long walks on the beach, and I love to swim, play the piano. My fav. sports are basketball, baseball, tennis, golf and polo. I love Math, Science, Reading, Writing" WTF... You are a kid, live your life like one... Ofcourse I too am a previous class spelling bee champ, but I never went to the regionals because the new sonic game had come out and I spent too much time playing that.
My daughter won it in the 2nd and 3rd grade, but decided not to enter this year do to the pressure. She hasn't missed a spelling word on her tests in three years.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure this is the extreme opposite of the Miss Universe competition. hard to believe the Spelling Bee got higher ratings by far over Miss Universe. And I wouldn't have such a big problem with it if it were on Discovery or PBS...but ESPN??? I'm actually writing a letter to the editor of USA Today with more points and suggestions; whether or not it will be printed is at their discretion. The geography bee should is too far underrated compared to the spelling bee.
[EGO ALERT] I never watch it. It would just make me irritated. Because, in seventh grade, I won the city spelling bee and came this close to going to nationals, then blew it by doing something stupid. Oh well. Studying those words does get kind of tedious after a while. And, at the higher levels, the words don't necessarily come from that little book. So you don't know what to study. You know your chances of actually studying the words you're going to end up getting are very slim. Since it's one mistake and you're out, there's a lot of pressure. Also, I hope we didn't all look as nerdy as those kids. They're great at what they do, but I wouldn't call them "athletes" since it's not physical activity.
Ok, I'll admit it - the real reason I hate the spelling bee is because I lost to a future Houston Oilers cheerleader in 5th grade. I also spurned her elementary advances at me, too, 'cuz I thought she wuz a COOTIE POT. Damn.
At the higher levels, words do NOT come out of a little book. See "Spellbound" and you'll see how hard-core some of these kids are. It's a GREAT documentary. Also, ESPN airs it not because the kids are "athletes" but because they want to put the emphasis on *competition*. That's why they also show the World Series of Poker. It's the whole "thrills of victory, agony of defeat" thing. Don't hate on good spellers. God knows we need more of them today.
in fourth grade, i entered a spelling bee and i spelled 'cute' wrong. i spelled it with a 'q', i knew how to spell it it just came out of my mouth wrong. no biggie. id rather have a childhood than sit around spelling words all my life. it pains me to watch these kids, because i know their lives sort of suck.
3 time school champ and once district back in the day in Alief and HISD. and now for the words that will haunt me till my days end: possessor worrywart itinerary those motherb!thes!
I've heard a couple of people on the radio say they think that kid faked it. I didn't see it so I don't have an opinion.
Nah, this was definitely real; no way the kid faked it. Wasn't really a big deal. Looked more like he all of a sudden felt dizzy fell backward and then flat on his back for maybe a grand total of 2 seonds. But when these kids are under that much pressure that they faint...yeah, they might want to rethink how they do this contest. The only remaining factor that these kids can be called athletes (believe me, I saw, read, or heard something from ESPN or ESPN.com that did refer to them as athletes at least once) is that these children have (for the most part) absolutely no social skills, yet are still able to stand up in front of millions and...spell. Mind boggling. Oh, and someone just sent me a link for the video. View it here. Actually kind of impressive under the circumstances.
