Sunday, July 18, 2010

Economics @ Home © Volume 2 Issue 14

A Tribute to Paul

Any self-respecting blogger should at least say a word about the World Cup and as we all know, I am full of self-respect. It must be put on record that I am exhilarated that Spain are the new world champions, just like I had hoped. Their superb fluid passing and sheer skillfulness are a sight to behold. All the sore losers can whine about how Spain is stacked with all its superstars but the fact is, the superstars are from Spain for a reason. They were not born superstars. They are products of a culture of beautiful football. And for those of you who still think that the EPL is the best league in the world, you need to be reminded that England was annihilated by the Germans with a lowly scoreline of 4-1. The English have to go home with the consolation that they “scored” a goal that should have been but never was.

If there is one thing that we can learn about the Western culture and from the World Cup, it is the fact that they love placing the blame on everything else but themselves. It is either the referee’s fault, FIFA’s fault, the Jabulani’s fault, and more ridiculously, Paul the octopus’ fault!! Not one person has thought about how the team can improve themselves.

A word of advice to all English players. You may think that you play in the best league in the world, but the fact is, you are only playing in the most popular league in the world. Your standard of football has long been surpassed by the likes of Spain, who, before 2010, has never even been to the World Cup Final! Now, all the best players are either playing for Barcelona or Real Madrid, while you EPL-ers can only bitch about how Real Madrid is “cheating”, forgetting that the EPL was the one who started overpaying for the players in the first place. Now, the big names like Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Villa, Kaka, Alonso, Benzema (No, I refuse to acknowledge Christina Ronaldo as a real football player) et al. are playing in the man’s league. Christina, please return to your little girl’s league.

As a final word, and on a much lighter note, there is a rumor going around that Goldman Sachs is offering a USD4 million package to acquire Paul’s services in its proprietary trading team. The benefits are said to exceed the meagre morsels that were offered to Paul for the World Cup. Merrill Lynch has also indicated their interest with intentions to replace their whole trading desk with Paul. 8 out of 8 calls is most certainly something to shout about. My professor once told me that in forecasting, if you ever get it right, never let them forget it.

Paul, this is my little contribution with hope that your contribution will never be forgotten.



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