Archive for the ‘World Cup’ Category

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A shrine for Paul the psychic octopus

January 17, 2011

Paul the psychic octopus who shot to fame in the 2010 World Cup passed away last October. Now his former home is to erect a shrine in his honour.

Photo: DPA

Paul in action during the 2010 World Cup: image thelocal.de

Paul, a ‘psychic’ octopus who shot to fame last year for his ability to predict World Cup matches, will get a shrine three months after his untimely demise, his German aquarium said Monday.

The tentacled tipster will on Thursday be honoured with a “Paul Corner” at his former home, containing his ashes and a “huge memorial,” the Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen announced.

“There will be a statue around 1.80 metres high (six feet) of Paul, on top of a football, in the middle of which will be a see-through window with the golden urn containing Paul’s ashes,” spokeswoman Tanja Munzig told news agency AFP.

Paul thrilled punters and cost bookmakers a small fortune during the World Cup in South Africa in June and July by defying the odds to tip correctly seven German matches and Spain’s 1-0 triumph against the Netherlands in the final.

 

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Paul the Psychic Octopus of World Cup fame has passed away ! RIP

October 26, 2010
Ein Weltmeister nimmt Abschied

Paul the psychic octopus

Paul the Psychic Octopus of World Cup fame has passed away !

“Management and staff at the Oberhausen Sea Life Center were devastated to discover that oracle octopus Paul, who achieved global renown during the recent World Cup, had passed away overnight,” the aquarium said in a statement.

“He appears to have passed away peacefully during the night, of natural causes,” said Sea Life manager Stefan Porwoll.

“His success made him almost a bigger story than the World Cup itself… We had all naturally grown very fond of him and he will be sorely missed.”

 

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Ahmadinejad does not like Paul !

July 29, 2010

I had expected that Paul, after his World Cup exploits would enjoy a peaceful retirement. Poor chap.

Unfortunately he has been taken to represent all that is reprehensible in modern culture by no less an authority than Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  Poor chap!

The Daily Telegraph reports that Ahmadinejad claims that the octopus is a symbol of decadence and decay among “his enemies”

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attacks Octopus Paul

Considering that octopuses only have a 4 year life span let us hope he does not have to face any fatwas or assassination attempts. He deserves a peaceful retirement with a surfeit of mussels – preferably 5 times a day.

A Russian bookmaker is offering the Sea Life Center in Oberhausen, Germany 100,000 euros ($129,800) for the octopus. Given that the Sea Life Center recently turned down offers from Spain to buy Paul, it’s unlikely he’ll be moving anytime soon.

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Back again

July 19, 2010
  1. Watched the World Cup final at a bar in Bilbao. Spain were worthy winners but watch out for Germany in the next 2 Cups. Thank goodness it did not go to penalties. The Dutch approach was a little disturbing. The celebrations in Bilbao were not as exuberant as shown on TV in Madrid. Not too many Spanish flags to be seen.
  2. Paul (Pablo) the psychic octopus can retire with flying colours. He should be granted free Spanish mussels for life. A psychic elephant (named Bua) has been discovered in Sweden!
  3. Southern hemisphere suffering from a cold wave. Even after the record winter in the Northern Hemisphere, alarmists still persist in believing that 2010 will be the hottest year ever!!! But the “homogenisation” of data to show this is less than convincing.
  4. La Nina conditions are establishing themselves and cool temperature for the next few years are likely. However, also coming is major drop of .5 to .7C in the global temps which will take us below normal for a time. In addition, the reason for the drop will easily be linked with the cooling of the Pacific, which will remain in its cool stage for the next 30 years. Once the Atlantic, still warm, goes into its cool stage in 10-15 years, global temps will fall even further, back to where they were in the 1970s. Some of the warming alarmists of today were alarmist about a coming ice age in 1976.
  5. The sun is remarkably quiet and undershooting even the low predictions for Solar Cycle 24 for flux and sunspot numbers. Perhaps SC24 will even undershoot SC5. Landscheidt minimum probability is increasing.

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Germany 3 Uruguay 2:

July 10, 2010

Paul (or Pablo) the octopus gets it right again. So far a 100% record for Paul in this World Cup.

A good performance by both teams and especially Germany without 3 key players. Germany are going to be a force to be reckoned with for the next 2 World Cups.

I have to travel to Spain on Sunday and should arrive in time for the final. I am looking forward to watching the match in a suitable bar.

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Spanish citizenship for Pablo the Psychic Octopus?

July 10, 2010

Though Paul, who was born in the UK predicts that Germany will win tonight’s third place match, he has also predicted a win for Spain in tomorrows final.

In Germany there are now various suggestions of how Paul should be sliced, squashed, marinaded, fried, broiled, grilled or baked.

All of Paul’s predictions have been true in this World Cup. In Spain there are moves  to rechristen him Pablo and provide him with Spanish citizenship. Spain’s defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets said Friday that the Spaniards are in love with the octopus and and out of gratitude they want to re-christen it Pablo.

“We guess it is a Spanish octopus. We are in love with it and want to name it Pablo,” said Busquets.

Paul’s predictions require the choice of mussels but whether he will take to paella is not known. Paul’s religious and political affiliations are also not known.

But I think Paul is quite safe. His keeper’s at Sea Life Oberhausen are seeing a marked increase in the number of visitors to the aquarium and it it can be expected that Paul’s psychic abilities will be tested in new fields when the World Cup is over.

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Silly Season

July 9, 2010

It’s summer even here in Sweden and the silly stories are coming thick and fast:

  1. Speculation and fantasy become real when coated with science. Carbon emissions threaten fish populations
  2. Inquiries set up by an establishment do tend to support the establishment that feeds them. The Pearce Inquiry into the Climategate scandal found evidence that emails had been deleted to avoid revealing them but concluded that the science was sound!
  3. There is a movement to convert Paul the Octopus to calamari since all his predictions are correct and he could remove all the suspense before Sunday’s World Cup final. Perhaps his keepers should shift Paul’s predictions to something less dangerous – Global warming or the stock market come to mind.
  4. The Met Office has signed a new 5 year deal with the BBC although they might still have to correct their forecasts for a hot summer to account for floods. It is however understood to involve a “significant” reduction in cost, according to BBC sources.
  5. Rajendra Pachauri, head of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has defended his science body’s work, saying any errors in its reports were minor.
  6. Increase of Antarctic sea ice taken to be proof of the effect of greenhouse gases.

No comment needed.

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The Octopus Strikes again

July 8, 2010

I returned just in time to watch the match. My forecast (hope) about Germany was wrong and Spain is in the World Cup final for the first time ever.

Good Luck to them but I pick Holland for the final –  3rd time lucky perhaps?

Ramos was a disgrace. A great pity that he does not just rely on his indisputable skill and feels it necessary to play dirty.

Germany had their chances but Spain just edged it. The burden of beating the prediction by Paul the Octopus was just too much for Schweinsteiger and his manschaft. Özil was impressive again- but he needs a little more stamina to last the entire 90 minutes.

Paul the octopus

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Ethics in Football

July 1, 2010

Peter Singer is a professor of bioethics at Princeton University and a laureate professor at the University of Melbourne. His books include “Practical Ethics, One World,” and, most recently, “The Life You Can Save.”

His recent syndicated article is well worth reading.

Why is it OK to cheat in professional soccer?

MELBOURNE — Shortly before half-time in the World Cup elimination match between England and Germany on Sunday, English midfielder Frank Lampard had a shot at goal that struck the crossbar and bounced down onto the ground, clearly over the goal line. German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer grabbed the ball and put it back into play. Neither the referee nor the linesman — both of whom were still coming down the field, and poorly positioned to judge — signaled a goal, and play continued.

After the match, Neuer gave this account of his actions: “I tried not to react to the referee and just concentrate on what was happening. I realized it was over the line and I think the way I carried on so quickly fooled the referee into thinking it was not over.”

To put it bluntly, Neuer cheated and then boasted about it.

By any normal ethical standards, what Neuer did was wrong. But does the fact that Neuer was playing soccer mean that the only ethical rule is: “Win at all costs”?

(more…)

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Unknown Unknowns and the World Cup

June 28, 2010

After yesterdays glaring blunders by the referees, linesmen and 4th referees, first when England were denied a goal which every TV viewer around the world could see had crossed the goal-line and second when Argentina were awarded a goal when every TV viewer could see that Tevez was off-side, it is now going to be difficult for FIFA to resist bringing in the use of technology to assist referees’ decisions. It occurred to me that even though the final results seemed justified by the rest of the play, we cannot know what the impact of the correct decisions would have been. If England had been awarded their goal they would have started the second half level and in a different frame of mind. If Argentina’s goal had been disallowed and Mexico had scored first the players’ attitudes and the play could have changed in a fundamental way.

FIFA’s attitude to the use of technology borders on faith in a bygone age which no longer exists.

Like the proverbial ostriches – they do not wish to know what they do not know.

Thinking about what might have been, I was reminded of Donald Rumsfeld’s press conference at NATO HQ, Brussels  on June 6th, 2002., when as U.S. Secretary of Defence he said:

“The message is that there are no “knowns.” There are thing we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say there are things that we now know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know. So when we do the best we can and we pull all this information together, and we then say well that’s basically what we see as the situation, that is really only the known knowns and the known unknowns. And each year, we discover a few more of those unknown unknowns”.

There is actually a compelling music to the words but this quotation is often mocked especially by opponents of the US invasion of Iraq. I have quoted it disparagingly myself in discussions and presentations about the dangers of forecasting.

But of course what he said is rather profound. (more…)

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