Spelldown

Who will win? We handicap the spellers

Darren Rovell in ESPN.com: The National Spelling Bee has gone prime time, and we all know what that means: Sports books are now taking bets on particular letters in the championship word and whether the winner will be wearing glasses. Folks, this is not a joke anymore.

With that in mind, here are my top eight picks in this year's competition, all of whom survived Wednesday's early rounds.

1. Samir Sudhir Patel, Colleyville, Texas: This kid is amazing. It's his fourth appearance in the event and, to put it simply, he has the best credentials. As a 9-year-old in 2004, he finished third; and last year, he tied for second. He's also the most entertaining speller I've ever seen. He'll say things like "I know that one," or "Thanks, mom!" His nerves of steel should get him through the pressure of being on in prime time. Here are a few additional bits of research to support Patel's bid: (1) Boys have taken the last six spelling bees after the girls won from 1996-1999; (2) Five of the past seven champions have been of Indian descent; (3) Texas has had more winning spellers (nine) than any other state. Spelling Bee officials clearly acknowledged Patel's marketability on Wednesday afternoon by halting Round 4 just before his turn came up, meaning he can lead the ESPN broadcast on Thursday.

It should be a great night--I hope the ratings are blockbuster and prompt the network to put more 'nerd' programming in prime time. If nothing else, it should boost the pool of contestents for next yera.

There's definitely an audience for it; and if this country is serious about raising our educational standards so we can compete against the Chinese and the Indians of the future, pop culture has got to lead the way.

Speaking of Indians, of the eight competitors ESPN touts as favorites (10 years ago their column could only have run in the Onion), half are of Indian descent:
-Samir Sudhir Patel, Colleyville, Texas
-Bonny Jain, Moline, Ill.
-Nidharshan Subra Anandasivam, Harligen, Texas
-Rajiv Tarigopula, St. Louis

I've got my money on one of them to win; probably the favorite, Samir.