THE ULTIMATE GAME

I note that Sukanya Roy, a fourteen-year-old Indian-American girl, won the National Spelling Bee last night. The winning word was CYMOTRICIOUS, meaning "having wavy hair", as any idiot should know. I often describe myself as being cymotricious. O.K., I'll put out my funny cigarette and get serious.

I happened to watch some of this spelling bee at lunchtime on ESPN2, while I was hoping to see the French Open, but found it fascinating and. in its unique way, suspensful. Sukanya Roy was the fourth straight Indian-American winner of this event. By far the largest proportion of contestants were of Indian or Oriental descent.

Why do I note this? Am I a racist? Hell no, it simply goes to show that the work ethic and desire of students whose parents had to struggle to achieve the "American Dream" (which is currently a bit of a nightmare, I might observe) passed on these achieving genes to their progeny. For many years, it's been the same story: at most high school graduations, the valedictorian of the class is Indian- or Oriental-descended. It has been this way for thirty years or more. I remember when my kids graduated from high school in Ohio thirty-odd years ago, the valedictorian was either Korean, Chinese or Indian.

What do we have to do to light this kind of fire in other kids, Afro-American or Caucasian? I know there are many notable exceptions, but as a rule my theorem holds true. I also realize that in today's world where stay-at-home moms are a rarity and both parents are working and struggling to make ends meet it is not so simple. I know Arne Duncan, the excellent Secretary of Education, is fighting hard to lift academic standards, weed out deficient teachers and to challenge students and their parents to strive for excellence. If only we could make academic achievement as important as sports. And I love sports, but I try to remember they are games.

Achievement in life is the ultimate game. I hope more American kids from a wide range of backgrounds learn to play it well.