Josephine Kao

More than a week after the 2008 National Spelling Bee, I have some lingering thoughts about it, especially to a certain "sphendone"-ousted speller.

But first, just wanted all to know I will be at the Chicago Cubs- LA Dodgers game tomorrow. I'm expecting a cubbies win after consecutive losses to the Blue Crew to split the series, but it's Jason Marquis pitching, haven't been too impressed with him all year.

Btw, right now is a great time to be talking about that "buy low" stuff in fantasy baseball. So many great opportunities present themselves, and chances are you have a dude on your team right now who's done quite well that will go into a slump soon that you find saying, "what am i still doing with this guy?"

Anyway, guys I'd target nowadays are Carlos Beltran ( those homers have gotta start coming), Alex Rodriguez ( uh, he's was a monster last year, guys), Jose Reyes ( should be super-thief in 2nd half), Matt Holliday ( while injured), and Jake Peavy on the pitching front ( again, while injured).

Btw, JD Drew is a solid pickup as he will try to be the new David Ortiz of the Boston lineup, which he won't do but he'll have the same number of run-scoring chances.

Okay, so after reading some news on the National Spelling Bee that came across an article that described Josephine Kao as being devastated after being eliminated in the 7th round at the NSB and "having to process all of it" before deciding whether to compete in next year's bee ( She was a 7th grader this year and has one more year of eligibility left). I apologize if these statements were taken out of context by a reporter, Josephine, but here's my message to you if the above was true:

Do the spelling bee next year. I don't purport to know what it feels like to study for the national spelling bee year after year like you have, nor what the pressure is in washington D.C. during competition. However, I do know a little bit about missed opportunities. I would sacrifice a lot to go back in time and be able to compete in the NSB. I, unfortunately, never had a chance to be in the NSB. If this is something that you truly love, that you want to compete, the opportunity won't come again. Never again will you be able to compete in the National Spelling Bee, and if you quit now all your life you'll wonder, if I studied that last year for it, would I have won? It might not seem like a big thing to bypass now at age 13, but being a national spelling champ will carry with you throughout your life, something you can look back on and say, "I achieved that, I succeeded." And that's a mighty thing to be able to say you did. I personally can look back and say, " I achieved straight A's or I won individual awards in state chess," but nothing compares to the prestige of being the ONLY WINNER of THAT YEAR in the COUNTRY. You will truly be, quoting a winning word of a spelling bee, "nonpareil."

Your motivation doesn't even need to be just winning. You've gone 3 times, finished in a better position every time, and ending your spelling career w/ a top 10 finish will be nothing to scoff at, coupled with your 4-year resume of work: A 47th, a 16th, a 13th.

But if winning is your main motivation, you got a good chance. Look at the spelling bees from 2005 on. Every time, the favorite didn't win, but a repeater who was had substantial experience did win. In 2006 and 2007, Samir Patel was the favorite, but got out, and long-time repeaters Kerry Close and Evan Dorney took it home. In 2008 a trio of favorites ( Thomas, Evans, Shivashankar) all fell, but a 4-timer Mishra won. In 2009, Kavya Shivashankar will be the ESPN favorite, the crowd favorite, the odds-on candidate, whatever, but she will get all the attention, and you can quietly operate under all that pressure, knowing full well you're probably just as prepared as she is even though she placed slightly higher the last few years.

Truly, there's a reason why every winning speller in the last decade had at least some experience in the previous years. It takes a lot of time and energy just to GET to bee-ready level, going through the Consolidated Words List of 23,000 gnarly words, as well as learning essential Greek and Latin roots. However, for returners, especially FOUR-TIMERS, you've already done all that. All you have to do is review those words, make sure you don't forget them, then focus on your weaknesses, or new words in the addendums, or anything you want, building on your skill level. It's truly a great advantage, and next year you'll be one of few to have it.

Therefore, don't be afraid of pulling a samir patel or matthew evans and placing worse than you did the year before. That happens very rarely, as the first 5 rounds are jam packed with CWL words, or at least words you can figure out using roots. It'd take something very serious to knock you out, and there's probably one in a thousand words in the first few rounds that can. After that it's all on your own, with a little luck involved. Hey, luck worked against you this year when you got a tough one w/ sphendone while others got some fat pitches to hit. All you need is a little recompensatory luck in 2009.

Why am I saying all this, you might ask. Well, as a recently-turned 21-year-old, I should be worried about a lot of other things. However, when I see a competition like the NSB bring out the best in spellers, allow their intelligence, skill, and spelling savvy to shine through, I feel a sense of pride and yearning for each of you to do well. Selfishly, I also like the storylines of "who's coming back next year," who's determined this year, basically the journey of one's experience leading him/her to one of the most prestigious awards they can ever receive. O and I'd like a fellow Californian to win it ( and fellow Asian/oriental at that, haha). So, Josephine Kao, I encourage you to pursue your dream of becoming the national spelling bee champion for one more year. You'll have at least one ardent fan here.

Fantasize on,
Robert Yan