Wednesday, April 23, 2008

DO YOU WANT THE GOOD NEWS, THE OTHER GOOD NEWS, OR THE BAD NEWS FIRST? We here at ALOTT5MA have the best Spelling Bee coverage in the world -- a product of the enthusiasm of a great group of commenters (some of whom are Bee alums or parents of Bee alums), high-wattage guest posters, and regular contributors who are unafraid to spell words frequently and usually correctly throughout the year.

I believe that the consensus here at ALOTT5MA was that the worst thing about the spelling bee last year was the condescending, anti-intellectual commentary by ESPN's Mike & Mike. So the first good news here is that Mike & Mike have been fired. That will probably give us an extra hour, cumulatively, of time when Mike Golic won't be telling us a story about how he can't spell.

The other good news is that Erin Andrews is joining the coverage. I think Andrews is a good pick -- she's smart and professional, won't seem condescending to the kids, and has enough ESPN star power that she'll probably make a few kids feel like rock stars just because she's interviewing them. The boys in the Bee may have to work extra hard on their concentration, though. Focus, Gartke, FOCUS!

The bad news: Tom Bergeron. He's kind of the anti-Erin Andrews. Not that I have anything against Tom Bergeron (I have an irrationally deep love for home video clip shows), but if you're trying to make a Spelling Bee kid feel cool, get a restraining order on Tom Bergeron. Tom Bergeron is right between Chuck E. Cheese birthday parties and writing your name on your underwear in the list of things that are cool to a young adolescent.

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