Althouse: Paul was right!

July 11, 2010

Paul was right!

"If Paul gets it wrong tomorrow, nothing is going to happen to him, to Paul. Paul has proven his mettle so far and there is nothing bad waiting for him round the corner if he gets it wrong. It could happen to anyone. Even an octopus can get it wrong."

64 comments:

Bob_R said...: He's ready of the grill now.; 7/11/10, 4:28 PM
Bob_R said...: May I never hear another vuvuzela as long as I live.; 7/11/10, 4:29 PM
rhhardin said...: An octopus could pick the winner from the final eight.; 7/11/10, 4:41 PM
Brian Day said...: May the vuvuzeka immigrate to South Beach to support the king.; 7/11/10, 4:42 PM
rhhardin said...: Usually octopusses are economists.; 7/11/10, 4:42 PM
rhhardin said...: Check out Vicki Hearne on octopuses

link and click page 7.; 7/11/10, 4:49 PM
Right is right! said...: Soccer rose in popularity at the same time Communism became fashionable across Europe and South America. And just as Communism denies man's humanity so does soccer where players can not even use their hands! That which separates us from the beasts.

I am glad to see that outside of making fun of soccer Mrs. Althouse has not been sucked in like so many others in this country. The main stream media has spent the last month trying to ram it down our throats. I hope my fellow traditionalist conservatives out there did not support it by watching and they do not let their children play this godless sport. I did not let mine!; 7/11/10, 5:09 PM
tim maguire said...: For some reason the sound didn't work. Even though the BBC dial goes up to 11. Seriously.; 7/11/10, 5:11 PM
Peter Hoh said...: I was enjoying the last bits of the big burrito and sipping a real Coke at a Mexican restaurant when Paul was proved prescient.

Then the rains came and the cable went out.; 7/11/10, 5:35 PM
traditionalguy said...: Tighty...Quit wasting our time with drivel. Soccer has many good points. Soccer is great fun to play because of men's inherent need to express controlled aggressio; and Soccer also lets 5 ft 6 in 135 lb men aggresively compete on strength and balance instead of height and weight alone.; 7/11/10, 5:43 PM
Big Mike said...: Any sport that has a rule that can't be explained in less than 30 seconds (as for example the soccer offside rule) has something seriously wrong with it.; 7/11/10, 5:52 PM
Right is right! said...: TradGuy, great soccer is the great equalizer. Small men can play with bigger men and the girls can play with the boys. Like I said soccer is closely associated with communism. Why do we always ''need to be more like Europe and the International Community?'' Soccer sucks and you know it. Don't the main stream media fool you.; 7/11/10, 5:56 PM
knox said...: Give him a keyboard, let's find out what he really thinks.; 7/11/10, 6:08 PM
themightypuck said...: Soccer may be a metaphor for communism among egg heads but as it is run as a business it is far more capitalist than such operations as the NFL with it's draft, salary cap and wealth redistribution. If a billionare wants to buy a team and win the league without pesky regulations getting in the way, soccer is the play.; 7/11/10, 6:11 PM
Peter Hoh said...: @ Big Mike: infield fly rule.

C'mon, quickly.; 7/11/10, 6:12 PM
kjbe said...: The offside rule is pretty staight forward - if you're on offense you have to have either two defenders or one defender and the ball between you and the goal line (and agree it seems simpler than the infield rule :).; 7/11/10, 6:38 PM
rhhardin said...: Nice bit pertaining a little to Constitutional interprepation, if you find good lines helpful, here. Via Classical Values; 7/11/10, 6:40 PM
As my whimsy leads me.. said...: "Give him a keyboard, let's find out what he really thinks."

Knox, would that be for typing or composing? Maybe the little fella would prefer music to sports.

Toy; 7/11/10, 6:53 PM
Cedarford said...: The octopus did pretty good. Obviously it was just random 5-50 chance unless a little "cheating" was done to associate German flag colors with food before each official pick or vid was done to cover several food picks. And a human oddsmaker ultimately selected and the World Cup pick, not "Paul".

If it was pure 50-50 mollusk choice, then with six choices, the odds against "Paul" being perfect through the World Cup were 1 in 64.; 7/11/10, 7:09 PM
themightypuck said...: The problem with the offside rule has nothing to do with the rule as written. It is quite simple as pointed out above. The problem with the offside rule is that it requires a linesman to see two things at once. This leads to much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.; 7/11/10, 7:10 PM
Mark said...: Knox, do you really think giving a psychic cephalopod a keyboard is a smart idea?

Of course, just as some people still look to Alinsky for inspiration, I suppose some might look to Lovecraft...; 7/11/10, 7:24 PM
KCFleming said...: "If Paul gets it wrong tomorrow, nothing is going to happen to him, to Paul. ...Even an octopus can get it wrong."

Gawd, I thought it was a Beatles reference and wondered if the 60s would never be over.; 7/11/10, 7:29 PM
Anonymous said...: I lived in Spain for about a year, and I'm happy for the Spaniards. THey don't even know how to throw, most of them. But they've got good football skills.

Sadly, here in Seattle, they're planning on selling the Mariners and Seahawks to OK city as well. Then, we'll have a nearly empty monorail (doubling as a homeless shelter) that shuttles lesbians and hippies between the three women's basketball teams they're planning on.

Attendance: 2000 per game. Gaia welcomes you and your 84 Volvo/Lesbaru Outback/Prius progressive future!; 7/11/10, 8:06 PM
sane_voter said...: @BigMike "Any sport that has a rule that can't be explained in less than 30 seconds (as for example the soccer offside rule) has something seriously wrong with it."

How about the "Tuck" rule in the NFL?
Or intentional grounding.; 7/11/10, 8:16 PM
Anonymous said...: Read: 'to the' progressive future. Get on board, it's your money!; 7/11/10, 8:17 PM
The Scythian said...: Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!; 7/11/10, 8:30 PM
Cousin Bob said...: Hey! Hitler has his own plans for that critter.; 7/11/10, 8:33 PM
cathy said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/11/10, 8:34 PM
cathy said...: That's why I was for Spain, They're shorter.; 7/11/10, 8:35 PM
Peter Hoh said...: k*thy wrote: if you're on offense you have to have either two defenders or one defender and the ball between you and the goal line

The latter half of that is incorrect. If the ball is between you and your opponents' goal line, the position of defenders does not matter.

To be fair, it is a confusing rule, especially if you are not familiar with the game. Simply being in an offside position does not result in an offense. One needs to be in an offside position when the ball is sent forward by a teammate, and one also must be somehow involved in the play.

The wikipedia entry does a good job explaining the complexity.; 7/11/10, 8:43 PM
Paddy O said...: Good for Spain.

Halfway through the game I realized how it just wouldn't be right for the Dutch to win in South Africa.; 7/11/10, 8:43 PM
garage mahal said...: I scored a sweet Sony projector/84" Stewart screen on Craigslist for $400 that originally sold for $4600 just two years ago. I cannot WAIT to watch the Pack on it.; 7/11/10, 8:56 PM
David said...: Even though my heritage is Dutch, I was pleased with the outcome. The better team won. The Dutch had only size and a propensity to foul as advantages. In the end the fouls did them in, I'm pleased to say/; 7/11/10, 9:10 PM
Ben (The Tiger in Exile) said...: For the infield fly rule:

"You're not allowed to intentionally drop a pop fly for an easy double or triple play. Therefore, when there's a pop-up with less than two outs, with men on first and second, the umpire will yell 'infield fly', which will count the ball as caught, no matter what happens."

Easy. Explain purpose first, then mechanics.

Mind you, the offside rule is just as easily explained. Other name for it should be "the anti- goal suck rule".; 7/11/10, 9:13 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: But Paul was "right"...; 7/11/10, 9:16 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I'm not a die hard Spaniard fan.. but I was rooting for them..

I saw the goal coming.. I started chanting while it was in the offing.. something told me it was in the offing. I started jumping up and down and the rest did not get on until the goal had been scored..

I didn't care that I had been right.. I just cared that we had been waiting long enough and it was finally going to be decided by a field goal.

I won my bet.. I bet the final score would be one to nothing.. regardless of the winner.

One to nothing.. its always the way it turns out.; 7/11/10, 9:29 PM
HT said...: That damn octopus was right!

Te quiero Paul!!!

Lem, all Spain's games were 1-0, weren't they?

GO SPAIN!!!; 7/11/10, 9:34 PM
Fred4Pres said...: Can I get Paul's stock picks? And how about giving me the game picks before it is over.; 7/11/10, 9:37 PM
Henry said...: Neither the Egg Man nor the Walrus. Who knew that Paul was the Octopus?; 7/11/10, 9:40 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I celebrated with strangers.. and I almost got arrested.

I said officer if you are going to arrest me because Spain won the world cup.. I'm willing to go with you wherever you see fit to take me..

But if you, as I celebrate once every four years, forbid me a chance to beat the entire world and for once we succeed you can go ahead and do whatever you want with me... I was in a rowdy state.

I was talking to a Cuban officer in Spanish.,,

He hugged me! and he told told in Spanish's We won!! we won!!

We won!! we Won!! he was celebrating too..; 7/11/10, 9:44 PM
Anonymous said...: Could Paul predict that the game would be an absolute snoozer that would make a vuvuzela concert a more interesting use of time?; 7/11/10, 9:45 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I'm back home now.

But that was some celebration.. people came out honking the horn at Bergenline Ave in Union City and North Bergen.. were I used to live..

it was pandemonium for a short time.. we all celebrated at my old bar.; 7/11/10, 9:53 PM
Henry said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/11/10, 9:55 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I want to tell you all where my favorite bar is but I'm afraid someone might want to ruin it for me.

I wish it was not that way. I wish I could tell you all all the things about me that I'm afraid to tell.

Most people here when I click on their name they are not available.

Whats the point of doing that? whats the point of hiding?

I'm sorry but I just wanted to say this for awhile now.. and i hadn't the guts.; 7/11/10, 10:06 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I'm sorry but I have very little respect for the "unavailable".

At least RH gives me something.

I'm registering a formal complaint as of right this moment!

Whats the point of coming here for years.. longer than me!! are remaining anonymous?

The word fraudulent, fake, fraud phony comes to mind.

Yes.. frauds.. that's it. frauds!!; 7/11/10, 10:14 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I had a great Mofongo after the game.. there is nothing like it after a good play or a good game.. its all in the garlic.

A good Mofongo can never have enough garlic.; 7/11/10, 10:19 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: the sauce..; 7/11/10, 10:21 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: If you ever come across a mofongo and you don't know what it is just say pass.. its not meant for you..

Mofongo is tasty, is savory.. they use pork.. chicharron.. garlic.. they mash the plantain and the meat together until you can not tell them apart.. until the smell is so overwhelming you think you already had it earlier in the day .. or something.

That's the way it is in the Dominican Republic.; 7/11/10, 10:31 PM
David said...: Lem is happy. Good.; 7/11/10, 10:38 PM
HT said...: Lem, what are you talking about and who are you talking to?

I'm sorry but I have very little respect for the "unavailable".

At least RH gives me something.

I'm registering a formal complaint as of right this moment!

Whats the point of coming here for years.. longer than me!! are remaining anonymous?; 7/11/10, 10:45 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: They take the casaba (yuca) and they mash it up too with tasty meat.. its just to die for.

they have something call bofe..

Boffe its the pulmonary ah.. the pulmonary thing of the cows.

They take that and they deep fry it, like french fries.. and its just to die for..

they call it boffe. and I had my filling while there., it has the taste of eggplant while meat all along. you have to taste it to believe it.; 7/11/10, 10:46 PM
former law student said...: Any sport that has a rule that can't be explained in less than 30 seconds...

You're just gonna hate hockey. Check out the official "icing" rule:

http://www.icehockeyrules.8m.com/offsigs/icing.html

Even the blue line and red line offsides are not what I would call trivial.; 7/11/10, 11:04 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Eggplant has a kind of hot tangy taste.. I like it don't get me wrong.

Boffe has it multiplied to a factor of about 2 to 4 times the spice and the taste.

In fact I had Boffe with eggplant.. my mother fixed it for me.

I wish I could tell you how wonderful my mother felt that I had "travelled to go to see her".. thats the way she put it to everyone and thats the way it will stay.

I love my mother that bore me for nine months in her belly...

I may not have grown up with her but she always let me know that she loved me and that she cared about me.; 7/11/10, 11:04 PM
former law student said...: lem -- the open internet is better for exchanging ideas than for making friends.; 7/11/10, 11:06 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: She emailed me.. I'm going to share it with you.

Querido hijo Lemy: Dos letras para saber como llegaste, me imagino que todo bien,
Lemy recuerda hacerle una notita a Elias, Gladys y Maty, dandole las gracias por todas las atenciones que ellos te dispensaron, no lo olvides y lo mas pronto posible.
Te quiere mucho, tu mama Raquel.

Gladys is her sister my aunt where I stayed with my cousin Elias and niece Maty.. I remember them from when I had to say with them because my father could not bring us to the States right away.. I was with them for a couple of years in the 70s.. we shared those memories.; 7/11/10, 11:17 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Going back was partly memorable but also something I needed to sort of come to terms with.

I had the idea that I could just go back and live there.

Life is tough there. I may not be ready to go back there yet.

Somehow my mother found out and she made sure in email as well as in phone call to dissuade me from that idea.

Surely I still don't really know what I'm going to do.; 7/11/10, 11:28 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Elias is in the goverment run Lottery bussissnes.. he appears to be doing very well.. in the course of conversasion I might have told hime that I might wanted to invest.. I come home and ask my "know it all" sister about it.. she tells me lottery "bancas" are run w/o any accounting.. its kind of like the wild west.

I still want in but I don't know.. how do you know.. no accounting.; 7/11/10, 11:37 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: These are the things I'm pondering after coming back.. there is also the matter of a young woman there who is expecting a laptop any minute.

I don't remember offering her or anybody a laptop but there we.. or should I say.. There I am.; 7/11/10, 11:44 PM
bagoh20 said...: If you recorded the vuvuzela hum in game 9 and listened to it backward you would know that Paul is dead.; 7/11/10, 11:57 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: lem -- the open internet is better for exchanging ideas than for making friends.

ergo Lem going back to his native country and.. trying to figure things out.

I had friends at work.. its hard to keep them when they let you go.

I've managed to keep one.. he used to be close and he has stayed that way.. when we got together it was wonderful.

I know it might have been hard on him.. he's still employed and I'm not.. but because we are friends he must have known not to shy away and to get together as I asked.

that's what friends do..

we can have a close friendship in the Internet if we want to.. We just need to overcome our fears..

I watched on CSPAN Benjamin Netanyahu speak about just this kind of thing to an audience in Washington thursday night.

The risk, the personal political risk in exchange for something everybody claims to want.; 7/12/10, 12:07 AM
Paddy O said...: "the open internet is better for exchanging ideas than for making friends."

I don't know. Maybe. But I think I'm with Lem here. I think if an open, honest vulnerability exists there's a massive potential for making friends. Especially for people with personalities, or interests, or whatever, who are out of the mainstream.

I've made some of my strongest friends online. Indeed, I met my wife online--not because we were looking for a date, or any kind of relationship. We just were on the same web forum, noticed a similar background, started talking, and being open and honest. Course, it took real life--phone calls and meetups to make it more than a friendship, but still.

Indeed, there's a lot of not only friendships but very spiritual communities sharing more than a whole lot, maybe most, churches I know.

Exchanging ideas--with a true open spirit of exchange rather than attempted domination--is a tremendous way of making friends, and friends across otherwise seemingly impassable barriers.; 7/12/10, 12:28 AM
HT said...: I don't give my personal information on the profile page, but that doesn't mean I am not honest. Why do I have to give away everything? You might be trustworthy, and others too, but you never know who else is lurking, and then of course (for those lucky enough to have jobs) there is the matter of employers.

Besides, so I don't give my information. But I usually respond to questions when people ask me, unlike Lem who I think I've commented to directly a couple of times, but who just continues with his long musings, which are interesting. So he wants honesty in the profiles, but doesn't seem to care much about direct communication. And anyway, his own profile is not that illuminating.; 7/12/10, 6:29 AM
Trooper York said...: "garage mahal said...
I scored a sweet Sony projector/84" Stewart screen on Craigslist for $400 that originally sold for $4600 just two years ago. I cannot WAIT to watch the Pack on it."

That's mighty big screen for such a tiny team.

Did I tell you lately that the Giants are going to win the Super Bowl?; 7/12/10, 2:42 PM
Trooper York said...: I sort of missed the World Cup. When they played it on the big screen on the cruise ship I was inside at wine tasting.

Did Pele score a goal?; 7/12/10, 2:43 PM

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