So Paul or no Paul – Well done to the Sharks!!!

I wonder what Paul the Octopus would have predicted on the big shark WP game yesterday. Had he lived in his natural habitat and seen Sharks in action maybe he would have gone for the clam under the less offensive blue WP colours. Quite frankly I never did understand this whole Paul the octopus thing and before I even got to understanding – it’s dead. My fascination is with those people who would want to fly it as an esteemed guest from Germany to Spain to honour the fact that he ate a clam under a flag and in so doing predicted a match win.

What would have happened to dear Paul after the match had he chosen the clam under the German flag before that fateful semi final when they lost to Spain!!

An Octopus has a fairly short lifespan of 2 and a half to 5 years depending on the species and in this time females can lay up to 100 000 eggs. The octopus is considered by some to be the most intelligent of all invertebrates!!!

The octopus Paul, who lived in the Sea Life aquarium in Oberhausen Germany, was born in Weymouth, England in 2008. He was called a traitor to England when he apparently ate the clam under the German flag predicting that Germany would beat England during the Soccer World Cup!!

For the prediction, two boxes were lowered into the salty soothsayer's tank, each containing a mussel and the flags of the two opposing teams. Astonishingly watched by a myriad of reporters, Paul would head to one box, wrench open the lid and gobble the tasty morsel and that country represented by the flag under which the box was placed was predicted the winner!! This two-year-old octopus that had been likened to having possible psychic powers turned into a worldwide celebrity for accurately predicting the winner of Germany's five World Cup wins as well as their two defeats. Paul also tipped Spain to beat Netherlands in the final!! Some of his predictions were hence carried live on rolling news channels in Germany. He was even given a replica of the World Cup after the final as a reward for his perfect eight-for-eight record in picking matches as camera crews watched!!

And it’s actually been said - "There's no rational reason why he always got it right!!!" Are we even questioning that he got it right or that he happened to eat a morsel!!

Can you believe that even bettors from around the world made small fortunes based on Paul's uncanny picks, said Graham Sharpe, media relations director at William Hill in London, one of Britain's largest bookmakers? Sharpe said he had at first been sceptical about the oracle octopus. But he soon became a believer.

"I suspect that Paul's predictions could have made about a half a million pounds," Sharpe said, adding he estimated William Hill paid out £100 000 pounds on his picks at its 2 300 outlets.

"We had people coming in asking who Paul had picked before they placed their bets," Sharpe said. "I'm sure there were a lot more people too who were too embarrassed to tell you they made their bet based on what the octopus said." But he kept getting it right," said Sharpe.
"I've seen a lot of things in my lifetime but this is the first time in 30 years I've ever seen people making their picks based on what an octopus tells them – a non-human tipster," Sharpe said that anyone who had placed a £10 accumulator bet on Paul's picks from the start of the World Cup would have won £3 000 by the end of the tournament.

Sharpe said he, unfortunately, did not follow Paul's advice. He deemed it too embarrassing and said he was going on holiday soon to the seaside where he intended to eat as much octopus as he could possibly cram down as revenge!!

Some Germans where upset at the treachery of their octopus Paul predicting Spain would win and with people threatening to eat him, Spain’s Prime Minister Jose Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero called for octopus bodyguards. – I ask any sane person out there to relook at this statement!!! And on top of that Spanish Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian called for the creature to be given an "immediate" free transfer to Spain to "ensure his protection." A businessman from Spain also offered €30,000 ($40,000) to buy Paul, but Sea Life declined. I bet they are kicking themselves now. They would have €30,000 in the bank and that business man would own a dead Octopus!!

The madness didn’t end there - the world's most famous octopus had also joined several other prominent English stars David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand, Lewis Hamilton, Noel Gallagher and Sting in supporting the English 2018 World Cup bid because he was born in England. Are we supposed to take these people and this bid seriously!!

Paul’s fame was short lived when management and staff at the Oberhausen Sea Life Centre found he had passed away overnight of natural causes. The high life and fame definitely did not prolong his life!! Within an hour of his death, more than 150 messages of condolence were posted on Paul's "official" Facebook page.

In Argentina they tried similar predictions by using Sayco the dolphin. A psychic parakeet in Malaysia picking Spain and penguins picking Durban July winners!! They even tried to get a shark in the aquarium in Cape Town to predict a WP win over our men in Black. I ask you, using a shark to eat the food from a man in either WP or Natal colours!! Tempted fate they did by using a Shark!! They didn’t tell you did they that he nearly gobbled the WP man and the food all up!! – If only they had used another sea creature then maybe WP might have won!!!

So Paul or no Paul – Well done to the Sharks!!!