HOW TO AVOID BECOMING A DEEP FRIED APPETIZER: APPLIED PSYCHIC GENIUS

Octopus Paul must be the most famous octopus in the world right now. He has correctly predicted the outcome of every one of Germany's World Cup matches, plus he called Spain's win in the championship final.

It would be a solid bet that many bookies would like to see Paul on an appetizer plate at happy hour. But Paul will retire as a winner and now gets to enjoy a leisurely life, so he will die of old age as a hero to many.

We would like to thank Octopus Paul.

He gave North America a basic reason to follow the World Cup. Not enough to actually watch soccer, but enough to follow the win streak of an uneducated ocean dweller that handicapped the games better than every soccer expert on the planet. Octopus Paul was certainly modest about his uncanny ability to beat the odds of probability, but he won't let it go to his massive head.

So now we just have to ask that Paul's achievement be put in the right perspective: Paul got lucky. The random nature of his achievements is a testimony to the same long math equations that baffled us in high school-well at least some of us.

As a result, there is no pressing need to start a Church of Octopus Paul movement or turn him into an eight-legged Ouija board. We can leave that program to the tabloids and small pockets of wing nuts that will find a way to make a paranormal celebrity out of Paul.

That may be rougher than a deep-fried appetizer gig for him.