Scripps Spelling Bee Winner Doesn't Celebrate Victory at All

Esteemed actor Paul Rudd once said that "the less you do, the more you do."

This young man apparently took notes.

Barstool Sports noticed that Arvind Mahankali didn’t do anything after winning the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee. I watched the tape for my own sake and, sure enough, nothing.

He didn’t even smile.

It’s important to note that Mahankali won the contest by spelling “knaidel”—which Dictionary.com defines as “a dumpling.” It was a Yiddish term of German origin.

Germanic words have been Mahankali’s bane in the Scripps Spelling Bee, according to the New York Times, and knocked the 13-year-old out of the competition the last two years.

In short, Mahankali won the competition he’s been trying to win for nearly a third of his short life by conquering a term from a language that had been his sworn enemy and kryptonite.

I’d say that’s time to celebrate.

(GIF via Gifrific.com)

No, not Arvind.

The kid sat in stoic silence, peering at the adoring crowd through the confetti storm as if he were invisible—like the Ghost of Christmas Present had swept him up and brought him here to look at someone else's blessed life.

ESPN's Samantha Ponder asked Mahankali how he planned on celebrating. His response?

"I shall spend the summer, maybe the entire day, studying physics," Mahankali said.

I’ll give him credit—he seemed somewhat animated prior to winning. I guess it's just a product of an inherent humbleness this young man was raised with. In that case, it’s admirable. It really is.

Upon further review, however, there's something a tad ominous about the way he stares out at the crowd like a newly crowned monarch surveying his subjects.

Be a kind ruler, Arvind. Remember that 10 years down the road.

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