~Anthony Constantino
There are some things in life that have been taught to us, and other things we have to figure out for ourselves. There are many things I have figured out on my own in life. For example (I will stick to sports examples because I am primarily a sports writer), I have learned that Dan Marino is the greatest quarterback without a Super Bowl win to his credit. I know that Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky are the greatest players ever in their respective sports. I can also say I've learned that Tom Brady is not the best quarterback ever, nor is he the best quarterback of his era. Of course these are all topics for other blogs, but you get the idea.
I've learned a lot in my life, but I cannot figure out why the Scripps National Spelling Bee is on ESPN every year.
For as long as I can remember, there has been an annual spelling bee on ESPN. The early rounds are televised in the morning and later that day the finals air. The contestants must be under 16 years old and in 8th grade or lower. Year after year I find myself land on this channel, not knowing that the Spelling Bee is on that day, and I end up watching it. I don't always watch it until the end, but I am good for at least an hour of viewing. What makes this even more bizarre is that these children are spelling words I've never even heard of. However, I still continue to watch.
Even though it doesn't make sense, I am so glad that it has a home on ESPN. From a young age, most of us idolize athletes or actors or musicians. For those of us who idolize athletes, we are taught or we choose to learn certain things about idolizing athletes. The first thing we learn is that intelligence means nothing. If an athlete can't correctly spell "potato" or cannot say the word "ask" the way it is supposed to be said, who cares? That takes a backseat to their athletic ability or knowledge of the sport they play. We idolize the select few that are fortunate enough to play a game and get paid for it. These athletes are often paid gross amounts of money because we watch, day after day.
Some athletes that we idolize just happen to be the right size to play their sport. In a sense, we give praise to someone that just happens to have a physical gift. For example, Hasheem Thabeet plays Center in the NBA. He cannot shoot a basketball to save his life. He cannot defend, he cannot run, he has no real talent. Thabeet was a Top-5 draft pick in the NBA for 3 reasons: he can rebound, he can block the occasional shot, and he is 7 foot 3 inches tall. The last reason is the biggest reason that he was drafted. I guarantee that he is the most popular man in his native country of Tanzania. Thabeet has done nothing more than grow to become an NBA player, and still he is idolized. This is what makes the Scripps National Spelling Bee so refreshing.
In this world we never pay homage to those who are gifted with inteligence or the ability to learn things easily. We look at those who can play a sport at an extremely high level as god-like figures at times. We call them "saviors" or argue about who is the greatest ever. When is the last time you overheard a conversation about the greatest doctor of all time or the greatest bio-engineer ever? We place high value on skating ability over SAT scores, batting titles over bachelors degrees, and jump shots over GPA. These children are gifted and work as hard as any athlete to learn how to spell a word like "appoggiatura" or "smaragdine" or "guetapens" in order to win the National Spelling Bee. It is as grueling a competition as any. There is little physical demand involved in the competition, but the mental challenge is unparalleled.
For me I find the Spelling Bee to be the most refreshing program on ESPN. Praising education and a thirst for knowledge sets the best example possible. I applaud ESPN for televising the Bee and I think that I may have outlined the main purpose for airing it on the channel. This program is an excellent change of pace that gives education the spotlight on a channel that often inadvertantly sways the youth away from the classroom to pursue a career in athletics.
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