Paul the Octopus in brighter days (Patrik Stollarz/Getty)

Today, we mourn the loss of a giant from the world of clairvoyant animals. Paul the Octopus, age 2 1/2 (old in cephlapod years), died last night at the Oberhausen Sea Life Center in Germany. In a statement, staff of the aquarium assured fans that Paul passed away "peacefully in his sleep." Paul, known to some as the Oracle Octopus, gained worldwide fame for correctly predicting all of Germany's seven matches in the 2010 World Cup and Spain's surprising victory over Netherlands in the championship game. He even made some enemies, including Iranian dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who accused Paul of spreading "western propaganda and superstition" with his psychic predictions. Presumably exhausted from international pressure and fame, Paul retired this past summer as the go-to soccer psychic and was even given a replica World Cup trophy to keep in his tank. Additionally, the mystical cephalopod was named an official ambassador for the Britain's 2018 World Cup bid, a tournament he will never see.

For some, Paul was just a farce, a silly animal that chose the winner of the matches based solely on the size of the tasty mussel in that team's respective plastic case. However, to many he was the voice (or tentacle) of authority on who would win the next match. Countries awaited his picks with bated breath and quickly turned against him if he made an unfavorable prediction. The Dutch fans even threatened to turn Paul into calamari after the Netherlands loss to Spain in the finals.

On a personal note, as a former overnight producer here at MSNBC, Paul kept me going through a lot of exhausting and draining nights. I would look forward to his early-morning predictions that were reported from overseas like the most serious of breaking news alerts. It will never cease to amaze me how Paul, a regular ol' octopus born in England, captivated the international sport community from behind glass at a German aquarium.

The staff at Oberhausen have not decided on how to honor Paul, hinting at the construction of a statue or a "modest permanent shrine." Either way, Paul's predictions will surely be missed during the 2014 World Cup Brazil. We at the Last Word can only hope he continues his mystical work in Octopus Heaven, or maybe even his very own Octopus' Garden.


Source: http://thelastword.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/10/26/5354383-paul-enters-octopus-garden-in-the-sky