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Your Word is “SEC”
by Chris Paschal
I had my first out of body experience last Thursday. I thought I had one a couple of months ago when I found out that my favorite Columbia watering hole, the Salty Nut, had raised the price of ice-cold Pabst Blue Ribbon bottles by 50 cents, but that just turned out to be shortness of breath. No, last Thursday was something different. What started as an evening intended to be full of friends gathered to eat barbecue and watch the NBA Finals slowly turned into something so much more important.
A group of us were gathered at the new Home Team BBQ location in Columbia, which has a plethora of television screens. As baseball games and basketball pre-game shows were displayed throughout the restaurant, our table noticed that hidden amongst all the mayhem of professional sports was a TV featuring young teenagers battling it out for the title of supreme nerd of the world. Yep, the Scripps National Spelling Bee was on and nobody was paying it any attention. Except us.
Enter Erin Howard. Erin was a participant in this year’s Spelling Bee, and by the time I was watching, she was one of about a dozen kids left. Something that was noticeable about Erin was that she looked out of place. And no, I am not talking about the fact that she was not of Indian descent, even though that did make her unlike most of her fellow competitors. (In fact, the last 14 champions have been Indian-American. That’s a dynasty that even Nick Saban would have to tip his hat to.)
No, what was noticeable about Erin was her bio that popped up every time she came up to spell a word. Erin was not only from Huntsville, Alabama, but her dream school was… The University of Georgia. After seeing a bunch of Ivy League schools listed as dream schools from the other participants, to see an SEC school listed as Erin’s dream school was somewhat shocking. I have a lot of friends that have attended SEC schools and the University of Georgia, and while they are all capable human beings, they weren’t competing for Spelling Bee championships in middle school. When I saw Erin wanted to don the red and black in Athens when she was older, I thought to myself, good for her for making it this far, but she ain’t got a chance.
Yet as the night went on, it became clear that Erin was really making a run at this thing. With each trip to the microphone, I was convinced this was it. That it had been a good run, but that it was about to end. And each time she nailed the word. I started to get lightheaded. Could this really be happening? At one point, I felt like I was watching myself watch the Spelling Bee. Erin looked shocked, as well. She would always go up looking like she couldn’t believe she had made it this far. In fact, she told NBC’s Craig Melvin in an interview the next morning that she expected to hear the bell dinged (indicating a wrong answer) after every word she spelled. That bell never dinged, though.
By the end of the Spelling Bee, eight champions were crowned. The competition had gone on so long that there were literally no more words the pronouncer (the person asking the words to the competitors) could throw at them. Left standing were eight kids who didn’t spell a single word incorrectly. One of these “octochamps”, as they have been called, was Erin. This Alabama-livin’, Bulldog-lovin’ kid had actually won. I haven’t confirmed this yet, but rumors that an “S-E-C” chant erupted at the end. As one of my friends said the next day, “Erin isn’t the hero we deserved, but the hero we needed.” So take that Ivy Leaguers, one of our own took down the lot of you. Or at least was left standing when it was all over. I wish the best to Erin as she continues in her quest to defy all odds and accomplish everything she faces. And I won’t hold it against her when she accepts that full ride to Yale in a few years.
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Did You Know?
Georgia Tech holds the record for scoring the most points in a single game. In 1916 they beat Cumberland College 222-0. Makes you want to treat FCS schools with a little bit more respect…
Team Updates
Alabama: News came out that the Crimson Tide will kick off the season against the Duke Blue Devils on ABC at 3:30. This does not need to be televised. Please protect small children from this blood bath.
Auburn: The Golden Nugget released opening weekend spreads for all of the prominent college football games. Auburn is a three-point favorite over Oregon. A win over Oregon isn’t going to save Gus Malzhan’s job. He needs to win five SEC conference games to have a shot at coming back in 2020.
Arkansas: Former Buffalo Head Coach, Turner Gill, accepted a position with the Hogs as an Executive Director of Student-Athlete and Staff Development. Good hire that won’t translate to wins.
Florida: The Gators have been getting hammered in the recruiting process lately. Chris Steele left Gainesville to head to Eugene after rumors flew around that Dan Mullen mishandled some personal differences between Steele and former Gator, Jalon Jones. Then, on June 1st, defensive tackle and 2020 recruit, Warren Brinson, picked Georgia over Florida after being considered a Florida-lean for a while.
Georgia: After last week’s SEC meetings in Destin, FL the debate on the location for the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party has flared back up. For decades, the game has been held at a neutral location in Jacksonville. The only problem is that Jacksonville is in the same state as the Gators and significantly closer for Florida than it is for Georgia. Personally, I hope this debate dies down just like it always does, but it’s worth keeping an eye on.
Kentucky: Don’t think Coach Stoops is building on the momentum the Wildcats have built in the past few years? Think again. Kentucky received a commitment from Michigan-native, Justin Rogers a few weeks ago, one of the best offensive linemen in the country, and a prospect that everyone wanted. News has come out that Rogers is still going to take official visits to other schools, so we will see if Kentucky is able to hold on to this blue-chip recruit.
LSU: Continuing on the recruitment talk, Rakim Jarrett is considered a five-star talent out of our nation’s capital. Not only that, but he is one of the best wide receivers in the country, and he is committed to LSU. Tennessee is expected to get an official visit, though. This could be a battle between two proud SEC programs for a game-changing wide receiver prospect.
Mississippi State: Joe Moorhead is snagging some key transfers to bolster a roster that is losing a lot of talent from last year’s team. First was former Penn state offensive weapon, Tommy Stevens. Then just recently, news came out that former Kansas State wide receiver, Isaiah Zuber, will be joining the Bulldogs in Starkville. Good news for an offensive-minded head coach.
Missouri: The Tigers will start their season off with three straight night games. Kelly Bryant will be finishing his college career with an offense that is poised to score a bunch of points. The nation will have a lot of opportunities to see him start the season with CBS Sports Network and ESPN covering two of the first three games.
Ole Miss: Jerrion Ealy learns either today or tomorrow where he will be drafted in the MLB Draft. The five-star running back will then have to choose either playing in the MLB or playing football for the Rebels. Stay tuned.
South Carolina: The Gamecocks are starting to turn up the heat on the rest of the SEC on the recruiting trail. In fact, when you look at the average ranking of the prospects committed to each program, only Clemson, Ohio State, LSU, and Georgia have higher averages. That’s right, the average prospect currently committed to the Gamecocks is higher than the average prospect committed to Alabama, Florida, Michigan, and Texas. Whenever the Gamecocks are in the top 5 of something football related, it’s time to celebrate, even if it’s just for a moment.
Tennessee: Freshman offensive tackle, Darnell Wright, has arrived on campus and is enrolled as a Volunteer. The Vols hauled in one of the best offensive line classes in last year’s recruiting cycle. Between Wright and Georgia-native, Wanya Morris, the Vols are about to have two studs in the trenches.
Texas A&M: The top running back in the state of Texas, and one of the best prospects in the country, Zachary Evans, does not have the Aggies in his final list of schools he is considering. That being said, neither are the Texas Longhorns. Interestingly, when asked why Texas didn’t make the cut, Evans said, “at the moment [Texas is] not quite there. You beat Georgia, but you barely beat Georgia. What about when it comes to Alabama or Clemson?” Ironically, Georgia made Evans final five schools.
Vanderbilt: The Commodores are going to renovate the scoreboard at Vanderbilt’s football stadium. This was announced when news came out that renovations would be done for multiple sports facilities in Nashville.
