The name game

0 Comments | USA TODAY, June, 2006

Suddenly sexy. For much of the Scripps National Spelling Bee's 79 years, coverage has been province of the local newspapers that sponsor the spellers. Now the Bee has gone prime time.

The acclaimed 2002 documentary Spellbound, which followed eight students to the finals, spawned the hit Broadway show The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and this spring's Starbucks-backed movie, Akeelah and the Bee.

Thursday night's championship round was carried live on ABC, the first time it has been broadcast on network TV.

The Bee's newfound appeal has less to do with the words -- most of which we've never heard of -- than with the inspirational stories of the contestants and their parents. The striving spellers represent the diversity of U.S. society, particularly...