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diamond we need another fixed match. fill us in palComment -
I tailed him all World Cup and won a ton!!
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it was a joke, even if I tailed him too.Comment -
Las Vegas "interests" finally got to him.
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RIP little guy, see you on the other side.Comment -
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RIP. You were the best.Comment -
RIP buddy
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Guy was picking 100% winners during the WC he definately deserves to RIP.Comment -
What a legendComment -
I wouldn't be surprised if foul play by a German fan was involved here.Comment -
My buddy still gets his EPL picks via Ouija boardComment -
German Service of Intelligency killed him! He was against Germany. Traition to the nation!
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Hell of a capper he was. RIP.Comment -
RIP Paul we will miss you mate
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I read about this, too bad, he was probably the best in the buisness. RIP Paul, you will be missed.
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I wonder if they put him out to stud and made Paul, Jr.?Comment -
Best life time record for sureComment -
One can only hope there is a Paul jr.Comment -
damn, right when the nba season starts.....does he/she have any kids?Comment -
I just hope he's in the big aquarium upstairs now
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I hear the mob finally got to him.
They found a flaw in the security.[quote=jjgold;5683305]I win again like usual
[/quote]
[quote=Whippit;7921056]miami won't lose a single eastern conference game through end of season[/quote]Comment -
Did anyone know if he died from natural causes or foul play is suspected?Comment -
Books have to step in somehow hahaComment -
amazingly light on details of the death.
mysteriously passed away overnight ?
those death threats may have been legit !Comment -
Would make a good dinner.Comment -
The conspiracy theories are starting
Paul the octopus is dead – but conspiracy theories are thriving
Death of psychic octopus who proved a hit during the World Cup triggers claim of cover-up
- Tania Branigan in Beijing, Kate Connolly in Berlin and Sam Jones
- guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 26 October 2010 18.19 BST
- Article history
Paul the octopus swimming through his aquarium in Oberhausen, western Germany, during the World Cup. Photograph: Patrik Stollarz/AFP/Getty Images No sooner had death's tentacles slackened their grip on Paul's squidgy body than the first conspiracy theory concerning his demise emerged like a cephalopod from a crevice.
Not everyone, it seems, is prepared to accept the news that the "psychic" octopus – who made such a splash over the summer by successfully predicting the results of World Cup games – passed away on Monday in the comfort of the German aquarium he called home.
According to Jiang Xiao, the director of a forthcoming thriller entitled Who Killed Paul the Octopus?, the creature had really been dead for the last three months. Jiang told the Guardian she was "60 to 70% sure" Paul had died in July and been secretly replaced by his keepers.
Explaining how such a deception could have been perpetrated, she added: "[Octopuses] all look the same. It is impossible to tell the difference."
Jiang said she thought it was "kind of strange" that news of Paul's death had broken not long after the Oberhausen Sea Life Centre in western Germany had contacted her team to say they were keen to co-operate on the international distribution of her film.
"We have been keeping in touch with the German aquarium ever since the beginning [of production] but it seemed to me that they were afraid," she said. "The movie is about unveiling the inside story behind the octopus miracle, so they felt nervous.
"For the movie, we had done quite a lot of investigation and I am 60% to 70% sure that Paul died on 9 July [two days before the World Cup final] and the Germans have been covering up his death and fooling us for a long time."
Jiang declined to explain why she believed Paul had died in July — or to say more about the revelations in the movie. Her allegations of submarine jiggery-pokery met with polite bafflement in Germany today.
"It's certainly not true that Paul died in the summer," said a spokeswoman for the aquarium.
"We can absolutely assure you that he died last night. He was about two and a half, which is the average age for an octopus. He died a simple and straightforward death."
Paul is due to be cremated in the next few days. His ashes will be placed in an urn and displayed in a shrine, along with a portrait and video clips from his life, the spokeswoman added.
"We've already set up a condolence book where people can write their tributes to Paul," she said.
But what of the rumours that Paul had pulled off one last magnificent psychic coup by predicting his own death?
"If he did, he kept it to himself," she saidComment -
R.I.P. Paul the Octopus
Your were a true legend.Comment -
Made me a nice profit on Spain vs Germany. The second to last game.Comment -
World Cup prognosticator Paul the Octopus dies
World Cup prognosticator Paul the Octopus dies
FRANKFURT—Paul the Octopus, the tentacled tipster who fascinated soccer fans by correctly predicting results at this year's World Cup, died Tuesday.
Paul had reached octopus old age of 2½ years and died in his tank on Tuesday morning in an aquarium in the western German city of Oberhausen, spokeswoman Ariane Vieregge said.
Paul seemed to be in good shape when he was checked late Monday, but he did not make it through the night. He died of natural causes, Vieregge added.
“We had all naturally grown very fond of him and he will be sorely missed,” Sea Life manager Stefan Porwoll said in a statement.
According to a report in the Guardian, Paul will be cremated in the next few days. An urn containing his ashes will be put on display.
"We've already set up a condolence book where people can write their tributes to Paul," a spokeswoman told the Guardian. “We may decide to give Paul his own small burial plot within our grounds, and erect a modest permanent shrine.”
After rising to global prominence during the World Cup in South Africa in June and July, Paul retired from the predictions business after the final between Spain and the Netherlands — the result of which he also forecast correctly — and returned to his prime role of making children happy.
The blogosphere erupted in sympathy for Paul, although some saw him more as a tasty morsel than a departed friend. “Will they cook him Galician-style? I wonder how much a plate of Paul with a beer must cost,” wrote Jordi, alluding to the popularity of octopus as a dish in the northwest Galicia region and much of Spain.
Others were more philosophical on hearing of Paul's death.
“For the next month I will go to class dressed in mourning, wrapped in a black suit and with my gaze lost in the horizon, as this calamitous event deserves no less,” wrote 'relojero' which means watchmaker. Another blogger, Pedro, saw a sinister hand at work. “An autopsy should be carried out, it's certain some betting office killed him.”
In July, the Sea Life aquarium in Oberhausen said Paul was stepping “back from the official oracle business.
“He won't give any more oracle predictions — neither in football, nor in politics, lifestyle or economy,” said spokeswoman Tanja Munzig. “Paul will get back to his former job, namely making children laugh.”
Paul correctly tipped the outcome of all seven of Germany's games. He made his predictions by opening the lid of one of two clear plastic boxes, each containing a mussel and bearing a team flag.
After his World Cup soothsaying skills were revealed, the English-born Paul was appointed as an ambassador to England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup. He had English roots, having been hatched at Weymouth Sea Life Center on England's south coast in 2008.
Imitators sprang up all over the world, including Mani the Parakeet in Singapore and Lorenzo the Parrot in Hannover, Germany.
The latest was a saltwater crocodile named Dirty Harry, who predicted Spain's World Cup final win and called the result of Australia's general election by snatching a chicken carcass dangling beneath a caricature of Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
“El Pulpo Paul” became so popular in Spain that the northwestern Spanish town of O Carballino tried to borrow him and made him an “honorary friend.”
In response to hundreds of requests to bring Paul to Spain, the Madrid Zoo asked Sea Life if it would be willing to make a deal to bring him in as a tribute to the Spanish football team's victory, either temporarily or for good. But the German aquarium turned down that offer, too.
Paul also had an agent and Paul's name will live on The Greek island of Zakynthos, where a permanent sea turtle rescue centre funded in part by donations generated by the famous octopus is being established.Comment -
RIPComment -
the mob finally took him outComment
