02.06.06

Can i have the definition please???

Posted in Canada at 12:13 pm by AB

So yesterday i had the day off. After sleeping in (because it was raining and being a fair weather trainer i decided not to get the bike dirty, after all i had just cleaned it the day before) i woke to have a late breakfast. Flicking though the 60+ channels of nothing on the TV while i was eating my attention was drawn to ESPN and their LIVE coverage of the 2006 US National Spelling Bee. Yes the stories that we have all heard about the US and there Spelling Bee for Kids up to about Grade 8 were true, and it was LIVE on ESPN.

After about 5 minutes i found myself sucked in by the whole thing. Sure these kids could spell. They could spell a lot better than most university graduates, myself included. The thing that amazed me was however, that ESPN had actually done research on these kids and had worked out who the favourites were to progress far into the competition and had done profiles on these kids. The typical American feel good profile too, showing the kid in there hometown running on the beach playing with the dog, trying to make these kids look normal when deep down we all know that too be that good at spelling they would have to be a bigger nerd then i was at high school.

The commentators trying to build the drama were explaining the rules and trying to second guess what was going on inside the kids mind, while he or she tries to spell some medical term that i have never heard off. Of course expert commentary was provided by the 1990 National Spelling Bee Champion who knew exactly what was going on in the kids mind. Then at the end of each round some guy would shove a microphone in some kid’s face and ask him to explain how he or she was handling the pressure and what was going through his or her mind with that last word.

I was Disappointed when the coverage stopped at the end of round 6. It was short liveed disappointment though as the final rounds would be live in Primetime at 8pm. Primetime for the final rounds, this was just getting better and better.

So 8pm rolled around and after spending the afternoon busy i made it back in time to watch the finals. Now i had become everything i hated. I remembered in the first few minutes in the afternoon thinking who the hell would watch this tripe, and here i was beer in hand sitting down to watch the final few rounds, cheering on the Canadian girl still in the running and supporting against any of the home schooled kids.

The coverage commenced and it was just like the lead into the AFL Grand Final Day back home. Scenes of Washington DC filled the screen over layed with kids at the microphone spelling words, some showing unbridled enthusiasm, others holding back the tears as the head judge announces the correct spelling of the word. Add in a few overused cliches and the American Flag and all that was missing was the Hunters and Collectors’, Holy Grail.

By this time i had regressed to the ‘who would watch this crap’ mentality. Sure i continued to watch but found myself laughing at these kids as their dreams came crashing down on live National TV. Sure it’s real big of me to sit on my couch in Canada and laugh it up. I’ll freely admit it’s not but that’s my choice and deep down i think i was laughing more at the whole spectacle. After all I was still riding with the girl from Alberta, Canada as she continued towards spelling’s Holy Grail.

The tension grew as the numbers dwindeled each rounds and proud parents shared in the kids disappointment. In the end it came down to a traditional Canada v America rivalry as the girl from Alberta was head to head with a girl from New Jersey with the weight of the 50 states riding on her.

In the end the girl from Jersey came away with the prize, and i was left enlightened to another piece of American culture as i watch proceedings from North of the Border.

For the record the winning word was ursprache a German - origin word that means parent language. Now where is anyone going to use that in conversation. I just read on the internet she won USD42,000 in cash and prizes for her efforts. I think i just changed my mind about spelling…

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