In a continuing effort to bring my American friends up to speed on all World Cup 2010 news, I bring you Paul the Oracle Octapus!OK. I'll be honest. "Paul the Oracle Octopus" is not his real name. I made that up. His real name is "Paul the Octopus" and he lives at the Aquarium Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen, Germany. His current claim to fame is being able to accurately predict the winners in the World Cup.
Paul works his magic after his handlers have placed two glass boxes containing mussels for Paul to eat with the appropriate flags on the front. Paul chooses the box-- and the winner-- by selecting it, opening the lid and eating the mussel.
He is, above all, an honest octopus. Even though he was born in England, he still picked them to lose to Germany, which they did. Yesterday, during a LIVE broadcast before the Germany-Spain game, he picked Spain to win (see above), even though he depends on Germans to feed him.
Paul the Oracle Octopus also correctly predicted that Argentina would lose to Germany, angering the Argentinian fans, who said they would put Paul into a paella if given a chance.
He has a very good record. The only time he was wrong was in 2008, when he predicted a Germany win over Spain in the European Championships, which Spain won 1-0.
Will Paul the Oracle Octopus pick the correct winner in the Spain-Netherlands match on Sunday? Only time will tell.
1 comment:
That octopus is very talented. Hope I have one in my aquarium.
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