Graduation

For all students who are graduating from grade school, middle school, high school, college, or even law/medical/some sort of graduate school, congratulations. You made it. Obviously, lotsa people have great things to say about graduation; my words are far from the most articulate nor meaningful. However, the fact remains that graduating from ANY school is an accomplishment itself: it means you applied yourself, went through the rigorous curriculum of an accredited school system. Having gone through many school systems and graduated many times now, I know: graduating from a school is the end of an era, the end of a period of your life. Your life will basically never be the same. You won't do a lot of the things in your life again: you won't take that same route to the school anymore, you won't use your locker anymore, you won't go to Professor X's class anymore, you won't be a (high school, college, grad, whatever you are) student anymore.

But along with the end of an era, comes something much better: new opportunity. The start of a new era, a chance to do something great with the rewards you earned through getting through school. They say that after high school is when your life really begins: you leave your old friends, you go to college, you leave the home you grew up in, etc.......So for many students everywhere, this is where your life really begins. Enjoy.


Inevitably after getting through a school year, summer ensues. Some people go on to work interesting summer jobs; some go abroad; some take EXTRA summer classes; some take the summer off. High school graduates in China go on to take the biggest exam of the their lives: The college entrance exam.

For me, it's BarBri. (Studying for the California Bar).

BarBri's been going on for 3 weeks now. Spirit Waning. Mind tiring. Endurance deteriorating. Body weak. My team is all gone. Don't know how long I can continue doing this. Running out of air. Living on bare biscuits. It's only a matter of time now

.....Haha, not actually that bad, not the Armageddon end of days I described, but BarBri is definitely taking a toll.

I know I'm nervous about the test when I read BarBri outlines while I'm eating... A lawyer friend of mine said she thinks about certain topics on her runs, so I might have to do that. And when July comes around, it's really gonna be pressure-cooker time. Sigh. I have just begun to fight.

Fortunately (or not), my roommate has the MLB Extra Innings Mix, so i put that on mute, study my notecards, motivates me to sit down. But it also distracts me. I miss going to the gym, I miss going outside, I miss doing the normal things in life.....that part of my life has ended; BarBri is my life now.


Subject I feel worst about? Contracts. Lotta stuff I didn't learn. Subject I feel best about? Evidence. I'm on top of that. Does it matter? Not really..all you need to do is pass.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

National Spelling Bee Finals

Finally, in Round 9, we got some really tough words. They’re really getting away from commonly-seen words now…..this is getting into the nethworld, the outer limits of the english language.

First time Sriram Hathwar seemed like he was a little troubled, but no problem.


This Arvind guy has been very unheralded by me today, but he’s a contender, man. He really is. Can’t tell if he’s more prepared than Sriram Hathwar, but they’re both REALLY good.


This bee has played out very much as expected, something I couldn’t say for the last 2 years. I’d say that’s actually an indication of good work by the bee: narrowing it down to the very best spellers. For me, the casual viewer, it actually DOES seem like the rounds are getting progressively harder. Early on some random easy words, but none in Round 9 here. This is getting REALLY hard.

Quick work of “schokker” by Joanna Ye. O man. Sukyana Roy and Joanna Ye might be sitting next to each other at the end of this night. I see this final in 3 pairs: Team Canada (Newcombe-Penny), Team New York (Sriram-Hathwar) , and Team Older Girls (Joanna Ye- Sukyana Roy)


When your favorite comes up, your heart beats a bit faster. You’re nervous too. Doesn’t help that she’s always the first speller up.

It’s a numbers game: You’re on a train full of familiar faces, but eventually you meet a word you haven’t met before. Nothing to be ashamed of,


Dakota Jones smiles like he’s got it, he seems like he’s got it, his mom’s worried but he’s got it. Looking a little lonely at the end of that bench over there. Dakota from Vegas is the wild card. The green on the roulette table, if you will.

Sriram on the brink again……Is this it? He’s stumbling….yes. He’ll be disappointed, but upon further reflection, he’ll be there. Whoosh. He gone!!!! Wow the Hathwar train gets derailed.
So I guess the Arvind Express > Sriram Subway this year at least. Arvind moving on..he sounded confident.

Sum YELL or sum yell? L-o- l………

Dakota Jones doesn’t laugh when he thinks something’s funny, he laughs when he thinks he’s found out what the word is.

….and at this point my DVR cut out, with Dakota Jones getting knocked out in Round 15, and then Arvind and then Joanna bowing out in Round 180. Well, it felt like 180, it was more like 180. I had to find out later that Sukyana defeated Laura in what seemed like triple-triple Overtime.


A National Spelling Bee for the ages, I would say. I don’t know if it was cuz of the new facilities, the new TV arrangement with ESPN, the quality of the spellers, whatever, but this year’s spelling bee was really intense and satisfying, dramatic…..and hard. The spellers really got to show off their abilities to spell some hard, hard words in front of a national television audience.

In reflection, that’s what I like about the National Spelling Bee. I’ve had to fend off a lot of half-hearted jokes about why I like watching young kids spelling words ( suggesting that I have a tendancy for pedophilia, no doubt), but I like it because it rewards some really ambitious, intelligent, and motivated kids to show off their abilities and let their hard work finally bear fruit. After hours and hours of preparation and memorization and strategy games, you finally get to use some of that hard work and spell in front of people, say, “HA! I worked damn hard to know that word, and now I got it on national TV.” That has to be a great feeling for a kid, to know that you’re capable of something big, something beyond just yourself. That’s what the National Spelling Bee allows kids to do, and I love it for that.

Plus, I love some of the great stories that the Spelling Bee brings in every year. Sure, most kids have similar interests and hobbies like music, some kind of sport, a favorite word, a favorite movie star or sports star, but you realize from the diversity of geographic regions that these kids are from how many kids around the country are prepping for the national spelling, representing their respective cities and states. Just this year we had a kid from Las Vegas (Dakota Jones) competing against a girl from Ontario, Canada (Laura Newcombe) competing against a girl living right outside of Disney World (Grace Remmer) competing against kids form the Big Apple (Arvind) competing against a Midwest girl from the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes (Anna-Beth Swoap). They all live in their own little world, their own little bubble, but they come together every year to compete and represent their areas as well as themselves. Great event, the Spelling Bee is, and I hope it continues for the foreseeable future.

Btw, how do I feel about Sukyana Roy winning the National Spelling Bee? Congrats……I knew it was possible, and after watching her during the semifinals and early in the Finals I dare say I knew it was probable. I was rooting for Laura Newcombe all the way, and she did great too and could have easily won too, but like every year, I think the winner is the winner for a reason, there are no fluke winners. Congrats, Sukyana Roy, you go down in Spelling Bee history and have a great future ahead of you. As for Laura Newcombe, this was her last year, but she’ll go down in spelling history as one of the more entertaining, charismatic, and memorable non-winners, maybe spellers, of all time. After the end of what I like to call the “Shivashankar Era” in 2009, Laura Newcombe really defined 2010 and 2011 for the National Spelling Bee.

Quick look forward to 2012?

Man we are going to have a PACKED field of favorites next year with some legit claim to being the top dog. We got Nicholas Rushlow who should come back as a 5-year repeater, first time we’ve had one in a while, we got the surprise-out-of-nowhere Dhivya Murugan from Denver, and some dark-horses in the field that we gotta watch out for. But the 2 co-favorites next year will almost certainly be, IMO, the 2 boys from New York, “The Arvind Express” v. “The Sriram Shuttle,” get out of their way cuz they’re coming through. Until next year, spelling bee!!!!!!

Spelling Bee Semifinals Coverage

Spelling bee comments

Snigdha: spellers from San Diego are always good, always dangerous. Always in the semifinals.

Yo, Paul Loeffler, Anna Newcombe, JUST a contender?

Think it’s interesting that Veronica and Laura not acknowledging each other at all……..
Smile, guys, smile.

Ahh, good work, Disney, commercial within the TV show itself for Disneyworld. Well played for Grace Remmer’s intro.

Not a big fan of the new music. Not a big fan of the new stage. Big fan of the trophy that these spellers get. That’s legit.

This Sriram Hathwar kid might not win this year, but if he wants, he can win in 1 or 2 years. If you’ve been spelling competitively since 3rd grade, you know A LOT of words.

Consider this a “warm-up round” for the contestants.

“Cicerone” may be the easiest of words in a round of fairly easy rounds, for a national spelling bee semifinal, that is. NOT tat easy.

Round 4 is all about anticipating the treachery that will come in round 5: Just when you think you’re safe, they pull you back in!!!! Seriously, though, the real action comes in Round 5 or later, for sure….that’s when you show ‘em what you’re made of. Expect lots of hard words, lots of time deliberating, lot of disappointment….just sayin’.

This Samuel Estep kid EXACTLY like Dr. Jacques Bailley! Uncanny resemblance.

Anna Newcome turning into the Rock? - using the People’s eyebrow. Awesome rooting, Lauara Newcombe.

Dude, Veronica Penny is SO nervous right now. Smile, breathe!!!!
Mom’s ALSO not smiling…..Geez.

Man, what did I say about Angela Beth Swoap? Maturity…….could be a dark horse here!!!!!

“conteur” for Connor…….seems like you could just guess that. Am I wrong?

So far, Round 5 not the bloodbath I was predicting…….this might go longer than 3 hours, folks. Just sayin’.
GET MIKE PELFREY OUT OF THE METS GAME!!!! Guy is giving up hits everywhere to the Pirates, and Andrew McCutchen going off. C’mon, guys.

People, listen: Sriram Hathwar is FOR real. Won’t be surprised to see him go deep into the night tonight.

Sriram and Arvind……Tick and Tock?????

Syringadenous………long word with a rich history, I believe (2006, Theodore Yuan?). Winning word from awhile ago……..Is Tony a spelling bee fan?


Nicholas Rushlow and Joanna Ye going back-to-back in the later statges of the rounds…….sheould be a force for the rest of the day. East Coast division v. the Canadian division at the beginning of rounds. So far, no favorites out yet. All going according to plan……..

“OK, I think I got this.” --- No, Anna-Marie ddidn’t get this. Oops. Tough ,though…..at least she was confident.

Anna Newcombe to start each round now……..Round 6. Chlorthalidone…….uh-oh, she’s having troubles with the word again……is this another 2010 situation?

WHEW…….sometimes championships are won in the last round, but sometimes they’re won in Round 6…….that might be the bullet she dodges.

Lol, renminbi……….geez, my parents, my aunts, my grandparents, EVERYONE in my family could get this correct. Love this word. MONEY!!!

Lily Jordan

Welschmerz….ANOTHER word with a long history…………2006 Finola Hackett, the word that got her out. Man, not a historian of the bee. If I’d gotten that word, I would be moving on.

Sensing a shift here……they’re dropping like flies!!!!!!

Dakota from Nevada…..may be in the spotlight tonight.

Sriram Hathwar: PURE.

Sensing some love on the right side of the stage (high fives, etc. fist pumps, etc.) for the nervous spellers yet to go, as opposed to the isolated Canadian/East Coasters on the other side who have already gone this round.


Nicholas Rushlow facing his first test……he doesn’t seem to know it. Guess on its way? Yes, and it looked educated. That’s one of the tough short words you either know or don’t know………..Woo. Things getting good.

David Phan…..impressive, but not up to the task.

Who is Dhivya Senthil Murugan? One word away from the finals as a 10-year-old. Wow!!! First name remind you of anyone? (like Kavya?)

Ah…. Grace Remmer. Tough exit. One of the first frontrunners to go out……

“Sleeper” alert: Lily Jordan, from Portland, Oregon……called it.

Sriram Hathwar liking Aaron Rodgers………quite a surprise. The favorites really showing up tonight.

Joanna Ye has literally been up on the stage for a minute total….get the word, know the word, spell the word. Sit down. Seems like an easy formula.


Alright, 13 Spellers left. Good field for the finals tonight. Should be some compelling stories with young spellers, spellers from exotic states (Oregon, Nevada), etc. Rankings for tonight in order of likelihood of winning:

1. Laura Newcombe
2. Joanna Ye
3. Sriram Hathwar
4. Sukyana Roy
5. Veronica Penny

That Sriram kid looks determined, man. Scary. Gaining momentum. We'll see tonight. Can't wait.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

'Twas the Night Before the Spelling Bee...

And the semifinalists are in. And already Darren Rovell (self-proclaimed spelling bee handicapper) is off on one of his picks!!!! Miss Juliana Canabal-Rodriguez, a general-consensus favorite, who unfortunately will not be representing Puerto Rico this year in NSB, coming up short in the preliminary rounds. Honestly, Miss Canabal-Rodriguez, and any other spellers who felt like they worked long and hard all year and should have had that work validated in a trip to the ESPN stages and a possible shot at the Spelling Bee Crown (which is as wide-open this year, btw, as it has ever been, I agree with most people on that).........this happens all the time. The Spelling Bee is fun for us watching at home, it's a nice annual event that allows all of America to see the wonderfully talented and intelligent 14-year-old-and-unders spell, but the competition is inherently flawed: The "rankings" for each speller do not perfectly reflect who is the best speller: The speller that makes it to the final rounds is not necessarily better than the speller who didn't make it, spellers who make it to D.C. are not necessarily better than a speller who tripped up in the regional rounds......some years, even the winner of the competition isn't the best speller in the nation....she or he just won the competition. So I wouldn't be too upset or disappointed.....the National Spelling Bee, after all, is just a bridge to bigger or better things: Life does not end at 14, or after high school, or even after college: It's only beginning. This is just one of the beginning of a series of moments that set you up for the rest of your life.

Here, another note: Props to all the spellers at the National Spelling Bee. I can't imagine how much dedication and hard work it takes to compete at a National Spelling Bee level; I never was part of that world. From all I've read and heard and can imagine, it's gotta be hard, arduous, and many times unfruitful. You have to have some resolve to get through it, tenacity, and endurance. For many spellers, it's been years since they started studying for the bee, a lot of afternoons spent poring over dictionaries, memorizing words, studying their minds off. And I imagine it's not the best activity to attract peer recognition. The captain of the junior high football team or the cheerleading squad is easily more popular than a spelling bee competitor, so it takes real resolve to fight on without much promise of resolve. But I think only later on will a speller (much like myself, who only appreciated sitting through so many violin lessons and chess games later on in life) truly understand how special doing the National Spelling Bee was: it's definitely a huge accomplishment early on in life, something a speller had to work hard at to achieve, and it will stay with them forever.

....Ok now to the good stuff. Who's gonna win National Spelling Bee 2011? I've been "handicapping" for 3 years (this is my 4th) and I'm due (haven't really gotten it right). OBVIOUSLY the same rules still apply: Experience, experience, experience. Age. Amount of words. And how many times you've been to the finals. So key. There's ALWAYS surprise newcomers (almost a pun on Newcombe) who make it to the finals, but the winner is ALWAYS someone who's been there before in one capacity or another. So you only got about 10 kids each year you're picking from.


I've given this a lot of thought and considered many scenarios this year. I first thought about the unlikely scenarios. Would a random speller like Hanif Brown, Jr. from Kingston, Jamaica finally recapture the Bee for Jamaica after a 13-year hiatus (last done in 2008)? Unlikely, the Jamaicans always show up to the semifinals, but lack the extra "oomph" because the individual spellers they send don't get to repeat. Will an eighth-grader like Lily Jordan from Portland, Maine or Anja Beth Swoap from Minnesota, without finals experience use age and maturity to get to the finals? Probably, but not win. Will a young phenom, like Sriram Hathwar, age 11 but in his 3rd bee already, channel the energy of Samir Patel and win? No, too young (sorry bud, you can still come back though).

Then more likely mid-tier scenarios: Veronica Penny, an old-school veteran of the bee, use her status as the "other" great Canadian speller to rise up from obscurity? It's definitely possible, but from 2008 and 2009, she's always seemed a little meek, a little timid and wary of the bright lights. Great speller, but a long shot when the going gets tough. Will Sukyana Roy use her 20th and 12th place previous places to vault her into the top spot? Definite possiblity, very dangerous player in the late haves of the rounds (#214). Will Nicholas Rushlow use his 3 previous years of experience to win in the "golden 4th year" of the spelling bee? Maybe, and he's always wearing yellow, a good sign if you're superstitious. (Btw, man the kind is smart: Star Wars, Stratego, Scrabble, chess, AND swimming. Holy cow, how does he have time for spelling?)


All of these possibilities went through my head, but my overwhelming feeling about this year's bee is this: at the end of the night tomorrow night, when the dictionary has been effectively ransacked, the spellers are all worn out, the parents have shed all their tears, the funny sentences have all been given out, the ESPN coverage guys have all pumped up the audience as much as possible, Laura Newcombe will be standing on the red carpet holding up the National Spelling Bee trophy for all to witness her ascendancy to her place in spelling bee history. Sure, she's the consensus favorite. She's the highest-place finisher from last year who's returning this year. But that's not why I'm picking her. When I wrote a post more than 2 years ago entitled "A New Star Rises in the East" chronicling Laura Newcombe's win in Canada's Spelling Bee of 2009, I thought I was onto something. A young, 10-year-old girl with a family background in spelling had just reached the top of Canada's spelling ladder, and she was headed to Washington. Seemed promising. But plenty of spellers, upon reaching that level at a young age, fizzle out, or just pursue other interests (justified), find something else to do, or, unfortunately, don't get better from there. But since 2009, Laura Newcombe has made steady and consistent progression: from going out in the "suicide round" of 2009 that also took out blog favorite Josephine Kao, to mishearing a word in the finals last year that kept her from possibly winning the whole thing, she's all the time been getting better, and frighteningly, better. Since that 2009, she's won the Canspell Bee ANOTHER TWO TIMES. I can't say I know what the Canadian bee is like, but there's been some great Canadian spellers, and being the best at that bee 3 years in a row is an accomplishment in itself. Rumors are she got 25-out-of-25 of the written quiz (I got 17 out of 25). This is the year. "Laura Newcombe, you are the only speller remaining in Round __. If you spell this word correctly you will be the champion. Your word is........."


Fantasize on,


Robert Yan
Robert Yan

Mario Kart Items

Today was the official start of the spelling bee with the written round, but tomorrow is the big day: the Preliminary rounds where all 274 spellers go up to the podium and start spelling. More to follow later today, but can't wait........the best 3 days of the year coming up!!!!


Anyway, in the marathon of life, as with in the game of Mario Kart, there are different types of runners/racers: some start fast but level off (Toad, Koopa) and some start slow but gain momentum quickly (Bowser, Wario). Sometimes, though, I wish life was more like Mario Kart: you get items every 1/3 of a lap or so to help you along your way, take out your competition, and make a dramatic change in the race. Alas, we humans in real life don't really "see" the speed-up mushrooms or the triple red shells in our life, but they're there: we sometimes don't appreciate them.

More Mario Kart analogies: my life, I feel like, has been more Toad than Bowser (Btw, for those of you who don't know the analogy because you were deprived as a child and didn't get to play when one of the best video games ever created, Toad and Kooper were smaller characters relative to Mario/Luigi class, who were relatively small in their own right to Bower, DK, Wario, who were BIG but stumbling): I started off pretty fast as a youth, flying ahead in the game to many awards, achievements, and high grades, but ever since college started I've felt a slow-down in my development, whether it has to do with realizing how small of fish I am in a big pond, realizing there's a LOT of people who are smarter than me, or just me not progressing anymore, there's definitely been a leveling off, and I have a sick feeling of other racers in this game of life (and life in general) passing me by, especially with this legal employment thing.

However, the great thing about the Toad/Koopa class of racers is, when they trip up and have to start their motor again, they're still at the same rate of speed: As opposed to the stumbling, bumbling DK/Bowser class of racers who take a long time to get their engine revving again, I can recover nicely: I'm still well positioned to begin anew, get right back on that horse, plow ahead once more. It just takes dedication to continue forward, whether I need to re-invent myself or just continue pushing in the same direction, I can recover, which is what I intend to do. (And then when I get those mushrooms/lightnings/stars, whatever item, I'll be in position to put them into the greatest use possible).

Btw, here's some fantasy baseball analogies to "items"

1.) Mushroom: If you need a burst of speed, you can do no wrong with Michael Bourn, who's on pace for 60 steals, or Rajai Davis, who tries to steal EVERY time he gets on basis, but if you're really pretty desperate, grab Jason Bourgeois, the French-sounding guy on the Astros, who's coming back from DL.....not so high on Desmond Jennings, the guy hasn't even hit the majors yet.

2.) Red Shell: If you need the blunt, brutal force of knocking someone down via the home run/RBI, pick up the aged one, Raul Ibanez: ALWAYS reliable, ALWAYS better in the 2nd half.

3.) Blooper (squid who throws ink at you): If you need an arm, think about Jeremie Guthrie: perenially underrated, always sub-.400 ERA, sub-1.20 ERA.....even if you don't get the W's and K's out of him that you'd like, he's a safe play cuz he won't blow you up in the peripherals, and his 95+ MPH fastball is a nice insurance policy.

4.) Banana peel: If you need a guy to protect leads (in Kart, you use it primarily to stop the racers behind you), closers have been actually popping up at a pretty steady pace of like 1 new closer a week since the first week of wild swings......so when news (like this week) came available that a closer (Joakim Soria) is injured or pulled, grab the replacement quickly. The next position I see opening up: Kevin Gregg, who's been bad, replaced with Koji Uehara in Baltimore.

5.) Star: If you need to trade for a star, look no further than Jay Bruce/ Justin Upton. Profiled in my pre-season selections, these 2 guys are really becoming mainstays in the lineups, and they are going to be here for many seasons. Sell an aging veteran like Kevin Youkilis or Mark Teixeria for one of these guys, especially in franchise leagues.

6.) Lightning: If you need an arm that can literally throw lightning at you, look at Alexei Ogando. Seriously, ever see him pitch? It's 95, 96 MPH heaters all game long.....he's like Justin Verlander except younger. And the Rangers will probably give him AT LEAST 15 wins this season.

Alright, spelling bee coverage starts tomorrow! Can't wait!!!!!

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan