Spelling Bee

A few weeks ago, Luigi (in 3rd grade) said that he wanted to compete in his elementary school’s spelling bee. His brothers never participated, so this was uncharted territory for our family. When I was in third grade, my teacher divided us into three teams for a spelling competition, but it definitely wasn't an official spelling bee. I remember spelling the word "usually" correctly. The only problem was that the word was usual, not usually, so I was eliminated. My team lost. That was the extent of our spelling bee experience except for watching Akeelah and the Bee (when Keke Palmer was a kid!) several years ago.

A few days before the bee, we realized that maybe we should ask Luigi some words for practice from the school spelling bee study list. Mixed results. Luigi also decided that he wanted to write his words out first which is definitely not permitted in the bee. The day before the event, I figured I should probably review the rules. They are super intense! I realized that the televised Scripps National Spelling Bee championship has specific procedures, but this is a junior bee for grades K-3! And yes, you cannot write words out first!

We arrived at his elementary school for registration, and then Luigi went into the cafeteria. Besides the contestants, the only adults permitted in the cafeteria were the judges and a few volunteers. Parents and other family members were banished to the library in a completely separate part of the school where we could watch the bee on a screen via Zoom. There is a separate bee for kids in 4th through 6th grades in a few weeks, and the winner of the junior bee gets an entry into the "senior" competition. 

Initially, it was a little awkward sitting with everyone waiting for the bee to begin. Our kids were competing against each other! Once the bee began, the room became more relaxed, particularly since kindergartners were the first kids to answer. We were supportive of the kids, but we also bonded on the spotty Zoom link. At one point, we thought the word was happy. When the announcer spelled the word T-A-F-F-Y, we all laughed and said taffy out loud like we were in the audience of Family Feud when they show the answers on the board. 

As for Luigi, his word was hoist. He spelled it h-u-i-s-t and was eliminated in the first round. I think he's going to remember the spelling of that word now! The words immediately before and after his were baffling and remind. He said that he knew both of those. 

Luigi wasn't at all discouraged by his early exit. About half of the 47 kids were eliminated in the first round, and we were able to watch the rest of the bee at home. He was happy that a friend won and said that he wants to try again next year. Sounds g-o-o-d to me!

Passing The Brimley Line

As of earlier this month, I officially passed the Brimley / Cocoon Line. For those of you not familiar with arguably the fourth most famous line after (In no particular order) the Mason Dixon Line, the 38th Parallel, and Whose Line Is It, Anyway?, actor Wilford Brimley was 18,530 days old (50 years, 9 months, and 6 days) when the movie Cocoon debuted in theaters on June 21, 1985. This is a picture of Brimley from Cocoon from the Brimley/Cocoon Line Calculator website.

The premise of Cocoon is that a group of seniors swim in a pool with alien cocoons and regain their vigor and energy from their younger days. In the film, a 50 year-old Brimley easily passed as a senior citizen and someone at least 20 years older than his actual age. While I remember enjoying the movie, I was a kid when I saw it. I don't know how it holds up today, but more importantly, I don't think I had a concept of what "normal" 50 year-olds looked like then. I mean, the film had Brimley portray an elderly grandfather, not someone who was 50. 

To me, this is what 50 looks like in 2026.

I don't know if I look like a regular 50 year-old or not. I mean, I don't have much hair, but I've been balding for years. A colleague recently shared that they thought I was 43 or 44, so I'll take that as a win. 

Well, for some reason I feel like I should have some oatmeal now!

I Got Media Credentials!

For many years, I have applied and been rejected for media credentials for the Oscars and Academy Awards. The Washington Nationals regularly ignore all of my requests too. My brother-in-law suggested that I go even bigger by applying for the Super Bowl, World Cup, and Olympics. My response was that maybe I should go local, so I submitted my application for a George Mason University men's basketball game. And I got approved!

On Wednesday evening, I drove to the George Mason University campus, parked in the special parking lot (away from the commoners in general parking), and entered the arena. Except that I went to the wrong door. I got stopped by security entering with my iPad, and when I said I was a media member, I was directed to another door with a clearly marked media member entrance sign. This time, I was all good and received my media badge. I was then directed to press row where I introduced myself to the Sports Information Director. He showed me my assigned seat which ended up being directly behind the Duquesne broadcasting team. There was good and bad to this. The positive was that the seat was amazing, and I could clearly hear the Duquesne coaches. I also got this inside look at a message that likely aired on the Duquesne broadcast. Happy Birthday Dan Unico!

The negative was that Duquesne head coach Dru Joyce III blocked my view throughout the game!

I was seated next to Jason, a communications major with a concentration in journalism who is graduating from George Mason this spring and writes for Mid-Major Basketball. Jason was incredibly helpful, and I enjoyed talking with him. I wish him lots of luck in the future and hope he makes it in sports journalism. I also introduced myself to the guy to the right of me at halftime since it was loud during commercial breaks. I said my name is Sean, and I shook his hand. He never told me his name (maybe he said hi?), and that was the extent of our conversation. 

There was a media room filled with water, soft drinks, and snacks. I got a bottle of water, a bag of Chex Mix (which will be part of Thursday's lunch) and a bag of Pirate's Booty. By the way, why is there only one Pirate's Booty? I guess he worked alone when he found the popcorn treasure. Seems more likely that the pirate was with others during the popcorn discovery, so it should be Pirates' Booty!

I guess I should probably share some thoughts about the game. George Mason was 20-2 entering Wednesday and were undefeated at home. With Duquesne winning 71-65, is it my fault that Mason's first home loss was the first time I had media credentials? I better not share this with Coach Tony Skinn or the SID!

Duquesne has a player named John Hugley IV who seemed really familiar (and really big in person). It's because he spent three years at Pitt. His first season was 2020-2021, so he is now in his sixth year of playing college basketball!

I really enjoyed getting the official basketball box score print-outs at halftime and after the game. In this case, the stats didn't lie. Duquesne made 16-21 free throws compared to 8-15 for George Mason. Duquesne had 9 turnovers compared to Mason's 17, which Duquesne turned into 25 points. That's the game. 

I attended the postgame press conference, and Coach Skinn was not happy with the team's turnovers and play to end the game. Mason was up 65-61with less than 2 minutes remaining, and Duquesne finished on a 10-0 run. Speaking of the press conference, I asked one question (at the 8:30 mark) about the status of Kory Mincy who left the game briefly due to an injured finger. I sounded really nervous since I was. 

Tony Skinn played on George Mason's Final Four team and is in his third season as the men's basketball coach. Being in the DC area for many years, I wanted to ask him about his thoughts about The Washington Post disbanding its sports coverage. The press conference ended immediately after he concluded answering the final question in the video, so I didn't have the opportunity.

Overall, I enjoyed the experience. I don't think I embarrassed myself, and I was professional by making sure not to cheer and by introducing myself to "colleagues" and thanking the SID for the opportunity. While I would definitely do this again, I prefer attending Mason basketball games with my kids. Although our seats are significantly worse, it's a fun activity being able to see quality basketball close to home together as a family.  

I Wanna Be

Over the last week, much of the United States has truly experienced winter. Lots of snow and really low temperatures. In Northern Virginia, we received about 7-8 inches of snow last Sunday. While I shoveled initially in the morning, as the day continued, snow turned into freezing rain and ice. I spent parts of Monday and Tuesday clearing out my driveway and sidewalk and digging out my car from one of the parking spots. It was so much harder to shovel than regular snow. Trying to clear my steps was futile. So over the last week, we entered and exited our home by going through the garage.

Yesterday morning, The Moose woke me up saying that the internet was out and his alarm clock didn't work. We lost power. I can probably write a separate post about dumb questions my kids asked related to the power outage, but I'll try to spare them the embarrassment. Anyway, leaving through the garage was no longer an option. I talked with a neighbor a few days ago about borrowing some equipment to work on my stairs, but now, it had to be done. I went out my front door and literally slid down my stairs like a slide to then walk to my neighbor's house. I borrowed a sledgehammer and naturally had this song in my head the entire time.

I felt like the USFL Pittsburgh Maulers mascot.

After hours of work, we can now successfully go into and out of our house through the front door. And my back and arms are extremely sore!