The 2019 Scripps Spelling Bee Finished in a TIE??

What has the world come to? It’s tough to stomach, but the 92nd annual Scripps National Spelling Bee ended in an 8 way TIE. No matter how hard I try, I can’t conceive how the Scripps rules committee could have possibly reasoned that this was an appropriate end result of the competition. Obviously there’s no defined time limit for the competition so it could theoretically go on for months, but so what? Keep feeding these kids obscure Norwegian nouns until they collapse. Make the competition an endurance event - i know I’d be more intrigued if I knew the last three kids had been non-stop spelling for the last 20 hours. No food, no water, no bathroom breaks - a test of will to see who really has the moxie to be crowned champion. I’d still be upset if they settled on 2 co-winners, but 8 is simply unacceptable. That’s like ending the NCAA tournament at the Elite Eight and saying all of those teams are co-champions because they got that far. 8 co-champions not only cheapens the the title and the event itself, but it sets a dangerous precedent. How will these kids learn to deal with defeat when they’re used to being crowned champion for finishing in the top 8? These are scary times we live in and 8 way ties for championships are further evidence of the degradation of our society.