And the winner is .. Octopus 'superstition' Paul

Superstition is more popular than Science. This is precisely what had happened in the Octopus Paul phenomenon .One thing is for sure. After Germany have come third in this World Cup and Spain are crowned the champions. Apart from this tournament will be remembered by will not be any spectacular goal, a player's magic(obviously we have only flop stars this time except few) or a controversial refereeing decision. Paul the Octopus, which has until now correctly predicted the outcomes of seven German games in a row, is set to be bigger than any star, depending on the results of the last two matches.

Social media have helped spread Paul's popularity. What started off as a sideshow somehow threatened to become bigger than France's early exit or Ghana's amazing run. Almost every Thai newspaper had Paul on the front page on Friday and Saturday whereas twitterers awaited anxiously his two final predictions. Time magazine has written an article about Paul, whose photos also featured on the homepage of The Guardian's football site. The craze was understandable, but where it will lead us to is a bit unimaginable.

Paul's rivals have started to emerge. In Singapore, a crowd of football fans gathered around Mani, the island nation's World Cup-forecasting paraot, at the weekend. He crept out of his small wooden cage and, choosing between two cards, picked the one with the flag of the Netherlands. Mani would have steal fame from Paul in what will tantamount to robbery in broad daylight if holland were the winners. Meanwhile, Thailand's panda Lin Ping joined the fray on Saturday morning, picking a bowl of Spain "milk" as opposed to the one with Holland flag attached to it.

The emergence of Octopus Paul and Parrot Mani are a welcome addition to World Cup, whose power to invoke cultural charms has never been so obvious as in this tournament. South Africa, as has been editorialised by some, has shown the world how football should be celebrated. Now, the world's most popular tournament has exposed the superstitious side in us and may change the way we look at, say, villagers who worship trees in hopes of lottery jackpot numbers.

Superstitution and sport have long been bed-fellows. Many athletes are known to be very strict about wearing lucky clothing, carrying good-luck charms, eating a special meal before the game, or practicing crippling routines and rituals. Fans are no less superstitiously obsessive. Many will never change sitting positions when their teams are playing well, which also dictates that a toilet break is a no-no.(remember one of indian cricketer spent half day in toilet when sachin was batting)

Octopus Paul has just reminded the world that even the "most sophisticated" beings harbour this feeling inside that maybe we are powerless to change destiny. And come to think of it, Paul is not at all a phenomenon. The real phenomenon is the fact that many newspaper readers turn to the horoscope page the first thing in the morning, that "spot-on" fortune-tellers gain faster fame than emerging good writers, that "prophecy" has to be key part of most religions or cults.

Uruguay's national team coach vowed to put Octopus Paul to shame by having his players clinch the third spot, but that may have just served to amplify the world-wide hype after Uruguay lost 2-3 with a potential equalizer rattling against the bar in the very last second. Holland's players, when stepping onto the pitch for the championship match on Sunday, also faced a battle to change a destiny as laid down by an octopus. How Paul's predictions would weigh on Holland's players especially when, for example, the game went to two extra time allotment must have been known by now.

This World Cup has left unique memories. Not only do we have a brand-new champion, a national team that has never won it before, but we have had animals overshadow footballing stars on the front pages around the world. Good-bye South Africa and see you in the "Football Nation", Brazil, in 2014. How great will that be? In the meantime, a four-year break will allow all the zoos across the planet to perfect the art of sport prophecy among their star forecasters.

Anyway Octopus paul will not be there for Brazil 2014 since octopus's life span only three years. Paul already crossed 2.5 years. Let us see, who will be the next sports prophet in this world..?



~Sudhan.

PS : When i was writing this post today morning, i read news about another octopus in Australia who chosed the president for Australia before people cast their vote. (elections to be held in august).. Another political prophet in making...!!