Scripps National Spelling Bee: The Drinking Game

On Thursday, the greatest sporting event in the world will have its grand finale.  Its not the Super Bowl, not the World Cup, not the Olympics:  Its the Scripps National Spelling Bee.  For those of you who have not seen it, it is the greatest exhibition of drama and the gentlemanly spirit of competition that most all other sports are lacking.  

The basic structure of the competition is you take a bunch or smart, kinda nerdy kids, with supportive/overbearing parents, and ask them to spell incredibly difficult and obscure words in under two minutes.  If you have never seen it, you are missing a great competition.

It is a also a great opportunity for a drinking game.

I did a quick search on the topic, and I did find a few drinking games that have been created for the spelling bee, but most of them were either lame or racist.  Sometimes both.  As an avid watcher, frequent drinker and poor speller, I thought I would suggest a version that would be more conducive to the competition.   Below are the baseline drinking rules I would suggest, but as always, creative wagering is encouraged.

Unofficial Scripps Spelling Bee Drinking Game:  
Drinks are taken when....

1. If a word is misspelled (obviously)
2. If all the contestants make it through the round, with no one misspelling a word (this gets tough when there are only two contestants left in the competition)
3. If in a contestants profile, they mention that one of their favorite hobbies is playing chess.
4. If the head pronouncer, Dr. Alex Cameron, makes them repeat the pronunciation at least (3) times.  If he adds in the phrase "I think he/she has got it", finish your beverage.
5. If the contestant asks for either the definition, sentence, part of speech, language of origin or alternate pronunciation (3) or more times for any (1) word.  Subsequent requests of the same word require additional drinks.
6. If after a contestant gets eliminated, and the dad gets a hug before mom.  (don't worry; it never happens - mom always gets the first hug).
7. If after getting a word correct, they miss the high 5 from a fellow contestant.
8. If a contestant faints during the competition, finish your beverage (it has happened before).
9. If a contestant gets asked an inane question from one of the ESPN reporters that causes them to either raise an eyebrow in disbelief, or roll their eyes, have a drink.  (you can only pray that Stewart Scott gets invited back to do the post elimination interviews)

I hope this will make your viewing experience even more enjoyable!

Good speling