KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 2010 / SPORTS / 27
SOCCER
Octopus Paul predicts Germany to win over Argentina in World Cup
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BERLIN — Octopus oracle Paul on Tuesday hesitated but ultimately picked Germany to win — again — this time over Argentina in their quarterfinal matchup at the football World Cup.
Paul, who rose to global fame after correctly predicting all four of Germany's games in this year's tournament, indicated that Saturday's game will be a tough battle and that it may even end in a penalty shootout.
While English-born Paul made a snappy decision to pick Germany over his native country, this time it took the octopus about an hour to approach a water glass containing a mussel marked with a German flag, said Tanja Munzig, a spokeswoman for Sea Life Aquarium in the western city of Oberhausen.
Paul ignored a similar glass with Argentina's flag, but he also did not reach inside the German glass with his tentacles to grab the seafood goodie.
"Paul kept staring at the German glass and only when we wanted to take out both glasses, he finally jumped inside the German one and gulped down the mussel" Munzig said. "All of his behavior indicates that Saturday's game will be very tough and it may even go into extra time and penalty shootout — but in the end Germany will win."
Despite being a naturalized German, Munzig said, Paul is not a biased octopus and "he may even have some relatives in Argentina, who emigrated there many generations ago."
Octopus Paul on the boxes contain match to be played in The Octopus has proved to be F.
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averaged more than 23 minutes per game and never averaged more than 5.3 field goal attempts per game.
But Vaughn played 12 seasons at basketball's highest level, and he finished his career with an NBA championship courtesy of his time with the San Antonio Spurs.
The point is, Vaughn made himself into a role player in the NBA a transition certainly easier for a pass-first guard.
The second thought that crossed my mind though, dealt less with anything on the basketball court, and instead focused on Collins as a person.
But if Collins wants any type of NBA career, he too must transition his game and develop into a more traditional point guard. He must improve his passing and sell teams on the idea that he can help them with small energy spurts off the bench.
When sitting in during Collins' press conference before Senior Night against Kansas State on March 3, the diminutive guard with a big heart consistently talked about the changes he had made in his life while in Lawrence.
He talked about the rough situation he encountered back home in Chicago, and he credited Self
and the Lawrence community with allowing him to grow as a person.
Every major local news outlet ran a story relating to the theme, and at the time it was an incredible feel-good story. But the story wasn't complete yet.
Collins leaves Kansas after four years and now his true story begins. If Collins doesn't make it with an NBA team, how will he respond? Will he responsibly support his two kids? Will he avoid off-court tempations?
And if he does sign with a professional team, whether in the NBA or overseas, will he answer those same questions in a positive manner?
During his time at Kansas, I always found it amazing that so many people pulled for Sherron Collins, the little man with a gigantic will to win. There was something inspiring about his story and about the way he played basketball. Fans wanted to see him succeed.
He made mistakes both on and off the court, sure, but he always seemed to bounce back. That's normally the true test of character.
Here's to hoping Collins continues down that path in his life after Kansas.
Online college courses offered by Barton Community College
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