Jul 10, 2010

Octopus Predicts a World Cup Win for Spain


Ah summer. Don’t you love it? Summer is my favorite time of the year with the exception of a few other seasons. This summer, I am beside myself with excitement about the World Cup. Spain will face an unknown opponent tomorrow at 2:30 Eastern time, 7:15 military time. I can't wait to see the match!

I am secretly rooting for Spain. I have nothing against the Netherlands. Who doesn’t like wooden shoes, windmills, Jackie Chan, and everything else stereotypically Dutch? But Spain is a well oiled machine that deserves to win, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. I just learned that Germany’s Paul the Octopus, a credible sea-life psychic, has predicted that Spain will prevail, and to have my humble opinion seconded by none other than Paul the German Octopus means Spain is certain to win. I go so far as to predict a final score of 13-1.

Wait. Do you know much about Paul? He’s a real octopus (not those fake ones you see in restaurants and aquariums) who has accurately predicted the winners of the last six World Cups. Paul was born in England, but chose to emigrate to Oberhausen, Germany as a young squid. Paul is well traveled, so he must be intelligent and have psychic capabilities.

I tried to create my own “Paul” by capturing a squirrel in my backyard and asking him to choose between Spain and the Netherlands, but the squirrel was wild and made too many demands for nuts and special treatment. He also chattered constantly and barely spoke English, so I finally got rid of him. We cooked him and ate him. Anyway, soccer is the real subject here, so let's not lose focus.

I'm looking forward to the World Cup final, and I hope you are too. If you weren't planning to, you really should watch the World Cup -- it's the "Super Bowl" of Futbol!

Also, don't forget to take the survey at the top of this blog to let me know which team you think will win. I suggest you choose Spain. If you have friends, ask them to vote too. I'll write again soon. ~ Jackie

P.S. Sorry I haven’t written in a while. The squirrel monopolized all my free time.

Click on the title of this post "Octopus Predicts . . ." to connect to an article about Paul in the Vancouver Sun, my first source for reliable information. I just fixed the link. It wasn't working before. You can also scroll to the bottom of the article to see the U-tube video of Paul making his exciting decision. (Note added 7/14/10.)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You were right. Spain won!

Anonymous said...

Loved the riveting video of the octopus making his decision. Nice addition.
~ John, Salisbury, MD

Anonymous said...

I am amazed that Jackie Chan is from the Netherlands. He looked so oriental in The Karate Kid.
~ Karen, Philadelphia, PA

Jackie S. Phillips said...

Yes, he is Dutch. Just goes to show what a little Hollywood makeup can do!