The TV Zone

Scrabble is the latest “sport” to hit ESPN, the channel that has us already glued to such competitions as spelling bees and the rock-paper-scissor championship.

We kid you not.

ESPN will air the National School Scrabble Championship on Aug. 18 at 3 p.m. (Definitely do not make outdoor plans that day, folks.)

The promoters of the event say ESPN “truly presents the championship as a gaming spectacle, using footage of tense elimination rounds and close-to-the action camera shots (like those in televised poker).” No word whether Chris Berman will be doing the play-by-play.

And did we mention there will be some local kids among the Scrabblers? Although a show spokeswoman says it’s unclear how much camera time the youngsters will get during the final broadcast.

For the record. our home-grown boardmasters include three teams from Rockville Centre’s South Side Middle School; three teams from Hampton Bays (Elementary and Junior High); two teams from Our Lady of Victory in Floral Park and a squad from Portledge Middle School in Glen Head.

Good luck to all of you. Hope you get a lot of X’s. Z’s, J’s and Q’s.