Mom of spelling bee loser fights for instant replay. Threatens USSC action

[DS1]

:eyes:

Yeah, the kid got screwed, but in deference to our Steelers fans "You lost, get over it!"

Parents of an O'Brien Middle School eighth-grader are demanding an instant replay of the Washoe County Spelling Bee after their daughter was eliminated despite spelling a word correctly.

snip

"We were trying to be respectful by not interrupting," Wood said. "Sara started crying because she knew that she had the word right. Her teacher was saying, "Hey, this (judges' decision) is not right." Cindy is saying, "Hey this is not right." We rushed down to check a dictionary and came right back to let them know, and they still would not change it."

Sara Beckman finished third but the judges' mistake denied her a shot at first place, her mother said.

"I'll take this to the U.S. Supreme Court," Cindy Beckman said. "I will take this to the International Court of law to fight for my baby's rights."

http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060208/NEWS10/602080350/1002

[Hugin]

1. "I'll take this to the U.S. Supreme Court"

Someone else said this recently... I'm trying to remember.

Hmm.

[Debi]

2. I wonder if the word was "litigious" n/t

[matcom]

3. That's what you have to expect when Dan Quayle is the judge

:D

[LaraMN]

4. "my baby"

yikes.
If my Mom made a stink like that and referred to me as her "baby" to a media outlet, I'd have socked her with my Scripps Howard Paideia.

[SOteric]

5. My cat could have spelt that word as a kitten!

Oh.

Wait.

Wrong thread.



Nevermind.

[skygazer]

6. That is a bummer for the kid

But a way over the top reaction in response. And all it's going to do is foster resentment in the kid instead of instilling a lesson that hey - sometimes, life isn't fair. :shrug:

[ucmike]

7. maybe congress can open a special session and pass a law

protecting this individuals rights.

in the words of jim breur, "walk it off, dick."

[WildEyedLiberal]

8. What is the "International Court of law"?

I don't think they hear spelling bee disputes at The Hague.

That said, I totally feel the kid's pain - when I was in eighth grade my scholastic bowl team got screwed in a similar situation. It was the sectional championship and the other team answered a question incorrectly, but the moderator decided their answer was "close enough," so they won the game and went to the state tournament. Life blows sometimes.

[DS1]

10. What's dumb is this "judges decisions are final" even if they

are completely wrong. I see that kind of attitude a lot these days, and it's crap

[WildEyedLiberal]

11. The only right thing to do is give the girl another shot

Let her spell a "championship" word to see if she can advance to the next level. If she misses it, then oh well, but if she's good enough to go to the next round, she should get that chance.

And best of all, the International Court of Law won't even have to get involved.

But that would be logical and morally right, so of course they won't do it.

[deadparrot]

9. *blink*

Poor kid.