2nd greatest event on ESPN behind the hotdog eating contest.

Some GOAT moments to get you pumped up:








And here are the 9 Finalists:



Speller No. 19, Snigdha Nandipati
U-T San Diego, San Diego, California
Age 14, 8th grade
School: Francis Parker School
Hometown: San Diego, California



Speller No. 30, Frank Cahill
The Denver Post, Denver, Colorado
Age 14, 8th grade
School: Ave Maria Catholic School
Hometown: Parker, Colorado



Speller No. 44, Stuti Mishra
Orlando Sentinel, Orlando, Florida
Age 14, 8th grade
School: Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy
Hometown: West Melbourne, Florida



Speller No. 89, Gifton Wright
Jamaica Gleaner, Kingston, Jamaica
Age 14, 8th grade
School: Kingston College
Hometown: Spanish Town, Jamaica



Speller No. 136, Jordan Hoffman
Jackson County Spelling Bee Collaborative, Kansas City, Missouri
Age 14, 8th grade
School: Pleasant Lea Middle School
Hometown: Lee's Summit, Missouri



Speller No. 145, Emma Ciereszynski
New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester, New Hampshire
Age 14, 8th grade
School: Dover Middle School
Hometown: Dover, New Hampshire



Speller No. 162, Arvind Mahankali
Daily News, New York, New York
Age 12, 7th grade
School: Junior High School 74 Nathaniel Hawthorne
Hometown: Bayside Hills, New York



Speller No. 193, Nicholas Rushlow
Lancaster Eagle-Gazette, Lancaster, Ohio
Age 14, 8th grade
School: Lakeview Junior High School
Hometown: Pickerington, Ohio



Speller No. 213, Lena Greenberg
The Philadelphia Tribune, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Age 14, 8th grade
School: Home School
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

My money is on Nicholas to take it all:

^^^ SICK LIFE

I'm kinda hoping that fainting video is him cheating by having someone whisper the spelling to him while he's on the ground, or something.

they need the sklar brothers commentating

Where's the 6 yo?

This is a fascinating event to watch, tho.

The 6 year old girl just missed making it to the next round. Bummer.

http://m.npr.org/story/153907406?url...ant-would-know

that negus clip, omg lol.

The Cheap Seats episode on the Spelling Bee is a classic

lol omg i had forgotten about that show, need to get those episodes ASAP

I'm going to pick Emma Ciereszynski, who has elite stats:

Season	Age	Tm	Lg	G	MP	PER	TS%	eFG%	ORB%	DRB%	TRB%	AST%	STL%	BLK%	TOV%	USG%	ORtg	DRtg	OWS	DWS	WS	WS/48
2009-10	12	DMS	NH	45	1712	23.7	0.584	0.534	1.3	11.9	6.5	45.4	2.9	0.4	13.5	22.2	122	109	5704	1617	7321	20.4
2010-11	13	DMS	NH	80	2880	23.7	0.578	0.502	1.6	12.3	6.9	45.8	3.5	0.1	13.9	21.1	122	103	9551	4433	13984	23.2
2011-12	14	DMS	NH	60	2181	27	0.581	0.522	2.3	9.4	5.8	43.8	3.8	0.2	10.8	24.3	126	104	10402	2340	12742	27.8

27.8 words spelled per 48 minutes on only like 24% usage is pretty sick. That's 2nd in the league this season, and #1 has a history of screwing up in clutch moments.

Damn I didn't realize they had already gotten down to the finals.

I expect this to go into overtime because these kids are just getting too good at spelling - it will take some rigged swindle trick words to eliminate the last few

So why is a Jamaican kid in the national spelling bee?

show has been on for 15 minutes and a total of 3 words have been spelled

The six year old is just going to destroy this competition when she gets older, getting all this experience on the big stage prior to entering her prime spelling years is such a huge advantage. We're going to be in for a treat, I'm thinking fivepeat from ages 10-14

OMFG AT THE ****ING BUZZER

Damn that was intense

Edit: I don't think you can win multiple bees - one and done rule AFAIK. So she should just try to become youngest champion. I think she takes down that record.

This AFAIK.

She needs to protest the system. Spelling's Maurice Clarett

So far I've gotten them all wrong

i gotta be honest on that second video i was hoping for a different plotline

Whaaaa?

Jordan is pretty cute

I got that last one.

After we found out he was a Tim Tebow fan - insta-gone

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.

MELAPIA