Jon Pennington, who rocketed past both Miller and me to become the 1986 victor on the word "odontalgia, " came to the Bee possessed of a tremendous passion for spelling and spelling bees -- as well as a lower-than-average fear of public speaking -- and his mother's sunglasses.
The 86th Scripps National SpellingBee inched round-by-round toward a conclusion Thursday night, with 11 finalists remaining from the 281 contenders who arrived to compete for the title of champion speller of the English language.
There is a general principle within elite performance systems, including everything from Scripps National SpellingBee Championships to world-class modern dance companies, scientific research communities and professional sports.