Give me a C, no wait a Z!

Spelling bees. Sigh.

I HATE spelling bees. I have since the 6th grade, when I misspelled a simple 4-letter word in the county-wide bee. I've never been a great speller, but I promise I knew how to spell my word. It's just that, at the time, I had a paralyzing fear of having to speak/perform in front of others. I don't know, but I'm willing to bet I'd have misspelled my own name that morning.

Needless to say, I have not taken to watching ESPN's broadcast of the Scripps national bee, nor did I watch that documetary about it. Nonetheless, this story out of Cullman caught my attention:

FAIRVIEW, Ala. (AP) — Krystian Doss says he knows how to spell "kudzu," and he's positive he got the word right during the Cullman County spelling bee. Just like in the NFL, though, the final call came down to a video replay.

Christiana Oanca was named the winner of the annual competition on Monday when judges determined Doss spelled "kudzu" with a "c" where the "z" should have been. After an initial protest they reviewed a video of the event — a byproduct of a past miscue.

Yes, they now have instant replay for spelling bees! Of course I wasn't there, but based on nothing more than uninformed opinion, I say the kid was robbed! C'mon, what Alabama kid does NOT know how to spell "kudzu"? Geesh!