Spelling Bee Picks & More Tuesday Sports Biz
CNBC Sports Business Reporter
Who Will Win This Year's Spelling Bee?
Those who know me or have followed my work in recent years know that, besides specializing in sports business, I know niche sports better than anyone in the country does. It started with my love of the competitive eating circuit and carried over to becoming the top handicapper in the country on the National Spelling Bee.
Last year, while I was still at ESPN, I gave the betting public the top eight spellers. My No. 3 pick Katherine Close won it all and my other picks fared pretty well. So if you want to know who to root for this year, you have it all here for you.
Let me just say that it's very hard to predict the winner in the Spelling Bee because the words are so random, but trust me when I say that one of these kids is going to win. The Bee starts tomorrow, but it really commences on Thursday when ESPN picks up the coverage from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET with the Finals being broadcast live in primetime for the second straight year, from 8 to 10 p.m. ET on ABC. If you are scoring at home, I've included the number that my favorite spellers will wear so that you will know who is who.
One more note before I bring you the list. This year's finals is going to be broadcast by Mike & Mike (Greenberg and Golic), a hosting pair long overdue for an event like this one. The two can only hope to do play-by-play for something remotely close to this, the best moment in Spelling Bee history. Three years ago, eventual runner-up Akshay Buddiga fainted, then got up as if nothing happened and spelled the word "alopecoid," which -- by the way -- doesn't come up in spellchecker.
So here's my Top 10 list:
1. Samir Patel, No. 247
Patel is like the Peyton Manning of the Spelling Bee and, just like Peyton, I have to think this is his year. He's the only participant in this year's Spelling Bee that has been to this event five straight times. Patel really disappointed last year -- people who bet on him and ABC, which couldn't feature him in its primetime broadcast when he tied for 14th place.
But the Texan does have the skills and the confidence -- tying for third in 2003 and second in 2005. We should note that Patel is still angry that he was given what he believed to be a much harder word ('roscian') than the eventual winner received ('appoggiatura') in 2005. We also love the fact that, like many athletes, Patel is apparently all about the money -- in this case, a $30,000 first-place prize. "If it wasn't for the prize, I probably wouldn't be doing it." Patel told Gannett News Service.
I also put him on top because stats don't lie. The boys have won six out of the last seven Spelling Bees and five out of the past eight winners have been of Indian decent -- which makes them the equivalent of the Kenyans in marathons. A Texan has also won the Spelling Bee at least twice every decade from the '60s on. Texan Sai Gunturi won it in 2003 and Patel could make it two. The stat that goes against me? Patel is homeschooled, which was all the rage in 2000, when homeschoolers took first, second and third place. But five out of the last six winners have gone to standard elementary school.
2. Kavya Shivashankar, No. 102
Who Will Win This Year's Spelling Bee?
Those who know me or have followed my work in recent years know that, besides specializing in sports business, I know niche sports better than anyone in the country does. It started with my love of the competitive eating circuit and carried over to becoming the top handicapper in the country on the National Spelling Bee.
Last year, while I was still at ESPN, I gave the betting public the top eight spellers. My No. 3 pick Katherine Close won it all and my other picks fared pretty well. So if you want to know who to root for this year, you have it all here for you.
Let me just say that it's very hard to predict the winner in the Spelling Bee because the words are so random, but trust me when I say that one of these kids is going to win. The Bee starts tomorrow, but it really commences on Thursday when ESPN picks up the coverage from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET with the Finals being broadcast live in primetime for the second straight year, from 8 to 10 p.m. ET on ABC. If you are scoring at home, I've included the number that my favorite spellers will wear so that you will know who is who.
One more note before I bring you the list. This year's finals is going to be broadcast by Mike & Mike (Greenberg and Golic), a hosting pair long overdue for an event like this one. The two can only hope to do play-by-play for something remotely close to this, the best moment in Spelling Bee history. Three years ago, eventual runner-up Akshay Buddiga fainted, then got up as if nothing happened and spelled the word "alopecoid," which -- by the way -- doesn't come up in spellchecker.
So here's my Top 10 list:
1. Samir Patel, No. 247
I normally would not have put a second-time speller in this spot, but I was so impressed with Kavya last year as she was the youngest speller in the final 13. I liken her to a young Patel in 2003 and I feel more controlled by picking her since she writes words down on her hand with an air pencil. The stat that goes against me here is that the 11-year-old Shivashankar wears glasses and the champion hasn't worn glasses for five out of the last six years. Here's to hoping Kavya got contact lenses in the offseason.
3. Jonathan Horton, No. 5
Who Will Win This Year's Spelling Bee?
Those who know me or have followed my work in recent years know that, besides specializing in sports business, I know niche sports better than anyone in the country does. It started with my love of the competitive eating circuit and carried over to becoming the top handicapper in the country on the National Spelling Bee.
Last year, while I was still at ESPN, I gave the betting public the top eight spellers. My No. 3 pick Katherine Close won it all and my other picks fared pretty well. So if you want to know who to root for this year, you have it all here for you.
Let me just say that it's very hard to predict the winner in the Spelling Bee because the words are so random, but trust me when I say that one of these kids is going to win. The Bee starts tomorrow, but it really commences on Thursday when ESPN picks up the coverage from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET with the Finals being broadcast live in primetime for the second straight year, from 8 to 10 p.m. ET on ABC. If you are scoring at home, I've included the number that my favorite spellers will wear so that you will know who is who.
One more note before I bring you the list. This year's finals is going to be broadcast by Mike & Mike (Greenberg and Golic), a hosting pair long overdue for an event like this one. The two can only hope to do play-by-play for something remotely close to this, the best moment in Spelling Bee history. Three years ago, eventual runner-up Akshay Buddiga fainted, then got up as if nothing happened and spelled the word "alopecoid," which -- by the way -- doesn't come up in spellchecker.
So here's my Top 10 list:
1. Samir Patel, No. 247
