Thursday, June 2, 2011

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

1 comment:

panettonea said...

"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."

That's true. And while that may sound great on paper, look at Samir Patel. He got 3rd in the 2003 NSB at the tender age of 9. It seemed like a no-brainer that he'd eventually win the title, but he never did. Let's face it--spelling bees aren't necessarily about the best spellers winning, because luck plays a huge part. (If everyone had to spell the same words, then luck would play a much smaller role.) Anyway, there are no guarantees in life. I wish Sriram Hathwar the best, of course, but there's no such thing as a lock at the NSB.

Incidentally, I feel sorry for the poor kid. If he's that young and knows that many words, how hard are his parents driving him, I wonder???