WORLD CUP USA ’94 / THE FINALS : Spotlight : TITANIC PREDICTION

“If some goblin from this place had appeared in front of me and offered a list of the four finalists of this Cup . . . and if on this list were Brazil, Sweden, Italy and Bulgaria, I would have kicked him aside in disdain. Everybody knows that old story about the astrologer who predicted the sinking of the Titanic. The day after, he was summoned by the editors of the newspaper--and fired.

“ ‘But the Titanic sank! My prediction was accurate!’

“ ‘I don’t care,’ said the editor. ‘The prediction was crazy, and we don’t want crazies at this paper.’

“ ‘But. . . .’

“ ‘A horoscope doesn’t have to be right, it needs to be believable. Hit the road!’

“I would have booted the goblin and stuck to logical prediction: Brazil and Italy, yes, and Germany and Romania. But Sweden and Bulgaria! . . .

“Happily, Brazil and Italy re-established the . . . logic.”