Oh yeah – it’s time to dust off that dictionary and linguistics degree…

…it’s Spelling Bee season again!

It’s been going on all day. The finals are tonight on ESPN, because TNT must be covering the final nail in the Warriors coffin. Much like the Westminster Kennel Club show does, it should actually draw better ratings.

For all you stats folks, here’s your data fix:

Number of Spellers: 285

Age Range

This year’s age statistics are typical of previous years’ age statistics. ^source

Here’s the six-year-old; he’s already been on TV with Steve Harvey:

And here’s your word:

Keep in mind that, while fame & fortune do not follow each of these kids much beyond this evening, they do go on to some pretty interesting, mostly academic careers. Business Insider (apparently your key spelling bee source) had a good write-up on past winners in May 2015. Have a gander at the successes some of them became. and maybe let’s all chip in to get WCS some dictionaries & thesauri.

But some moments – as in all competitions – are destined to live on forever. Cracked had a pretty good article on this topic in 2015, outlining some of the more bizzare things that happen – including protests – during the two days of the spelling bee. Business Insider has a 2015 story about the racism that follows the tournament because the majority of recent winners have been Indian-American.

But who cares about serious matters. Remember this kid?

His name is Akshay Buddiga. This happened to him in 2004, but gets shown at least once per year on things like a SportsCentre Top-10 list of “fails” or “unexpected falls” or some such theme. He actually came second. Well, 12 years on, he’s graduated from Stanford with a Masters in Engineering. His brother, Pratyush, a former champion, is a professional poker player.

And don’t forget “the Screamer”: (or “the Spaz”, as some sites called her)

Her name is actually Rebecca Sealfon. She went on to get a Masters in Computer Science at Columbia, and she’s now a software engineer. She’s also 30 now, so it wasn’t at all creepy trying to find out anything about her, unlike those prudes at “Project Runway Junior”. There is also a conspiracy theory & reddit dedicated to proving she didn’t spell the word “exactly”, because her euphoria added some syllables to her pronunciation. Aaaaaaaaaaand that’s why she stays off the internet and hasn’t done an interview since 2005.

Oh sure, there are other, possibly more important sporting contests this evening, but Super Bowls of other sports only come around but once per year. Drink it in, my pretties.

Tonight’s tense elimination matches!

NHL: GAME 7 – Tampa @ Pittsburgh – 8:00

• late update: The Bolts may have Stamkos back

NBA: Game 5 – OKC @ Golden State – 9:00

Scripps National Spelling Bee: Finals – 8:00 (ESPN)

Tonight’s Open Thread will be dedicated to following the madness, especially if the hockey & hoops become laughers. (Pour another one out for KSK – here’s 2015’s liveblog if you desire a trip down mammary memory lane.) Last year’s Bee ended in a tie, when they ran out of “championship-round” words. They’ve changed the rules for this year, so that shouldn’t happen. But there is no rest in competitive spelling! More importantly, every time a little kid gets a word wrong,

YOU MAY FEEL SUPERIOR!