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How do you spell 'S-H-A-D-E T-H-R-O-W-N'? Just ask the hardcore winners of this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee.
(Full disclosure: this reporter is a former National Spelling Bee contestant. I dropped out after misspelling "narcissist," which is a pretty good word to claim you've never heard before.)
For the third straight year, this year's Bee ended in a tie, after an intense 25-round stand-off between the co-winners. But if you think that stonewall sounds boring, think again: A clip has been circulating that memorializes a series of ice-cold moments near the Bee's end:
That ruthless warrior on the right is Texas fifth-grader Nihar Janga, who ultimately wound up tying with his calm and collected opponent, seventh-grader Jairam Hathwar, from New York. The 11-year-old Janga is the youngest contestant ever to win. Here he is celebrating:
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Janga's unruffled co-champ Hathwar is no stranger to the Bee's ruthless competition; his older brother Sriram was the 2014 co-champion.
Presenting #SpellingBee co-champs: Jairam Hathwar 2nd sibling champ EVER & Nihar Janga 1 of the youngest champs EVER pic.twitter.com/qUuzDuGyjy
— NationalSpellingBee (@ScrippsBee) May 27, 2016
watching the spelling bee should teach you that tiny brown people are ruthless
— Scaachi (@Scaachi) May 27, 2016
The Bee proved to be a good occasion for burns all around. The Scripps Twitter account also got in on the action after being confronted with this bit of rudeness…
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…and crafted the perfect response:
@kchapman_88 *lose
— NationalSpellingBee (@ScrippsBee) May 27, 2016
The retort was so savage that @kchapman_88 promptly deleted their Twitter account.
This is cold-blooded. pic.twitter.com/TiIQ5MYn3s
— Eli Langer (@EliLanger) May 27, 2016
But the Scripps Twitter didn't stop there, and maintained its unwavering stand for proper usage and grammar in the face of all who would tweet at it.
@themotherfanboy we appreciate the support but... *its
— NationalSpellingBee (@ScrippsBee) May 27, 2016
Yikes! If you're going to tweet the National Spelling Bee, make sure you check your attitude — and your spelling.