Spelling bee for the sporting set

Andrew Garib, METRO New York | PDF | Times Square. Sporting a Detroit Red Wings Steve Y-Z-E-R-M-A-N jersey, Joe Zanger-Nadis, 24, said he went all the way to his regional spelling bee finals in sixth grade, but yesterday got stumped in the first round with the name of Major League Soccer Star Claudio R-E-Y-N-A of Red Bull New York. The New Yorker was competing in the first annual Sports Spelling Bee at the ESPN Zone in Times Square, which tested fans’ skills with the monikers of famous athletes. "It’s the only soccer league I don’t follow," the defeated 24 year-old said.

Twelve other New York-area sports fans competed set for a package that included a trophy, $100 gift certificates for the ESPN Zone store and subscription to ESPN The Magazine. Jolinda Hall, 28, of Ocean Hill, Brooklyn, said she studied two days for the competition by going over a list of difficult-to-spell sports names, like Duke University men’s basketball coach Mike K-R-Z-Y-Z-E-W-S-K-I. But ESPN Zone Restaurant regular Greg Packer, 44, of Huntington, New York, said he didn’t worry too much about studying. He was out by the second round, misspelling the name of Utah Jazz star Jeff H-O-R-N-A-C-E-K. Last fan standing was Long Islander Jeffrey Feldman, 25, who won bv correctly spelling Wally S-Z-C-Z-E-R-B-I-A-K. End.