maxim

The problem with anti-conspiracy theorists like Kintamayama is that they're even more cocksure than the conspiracy theorists. When something is even remotely plausible (Asashoryu being provoked is quite plausible and the Yamaguchi-gumi's involvement in Sumo is definitely plausible), for the sake of good information, a thorough and public investigation is to be carried out to determine the extent of the alleged crime and then document the results in a publicly available report. Bashing people for daring to suggest that there's more to the story is anti-intellectual. Accepting press-statements by the authorities as the complete, unfiltered truth, is also very naive. Right now we're dealing with plausibilities, and potentially - with people who want to keep things from being publicized. At the very least we should respect those who are doing the job of the authorities and the inactive prosecution to make things more transparent. Mister Adelstein's work is incredibly brave, because he continues to investigate the Yakuza despite threats on his life and attempts to intimidate him. He doesn't have the same access or power as the police, so his investigations can't be as conclusive. To bash him for that is simply missing the point by miles. His findings have been more revealing, informative and useful to the public than what the Japanese prosecution and authorities have ever dared to show.

The original text actually says "fatally" (фатално) so it sounds just as stupid in Bulgarian. Anyway, this surgery is long overdue, so I'm happy it's finally being done. If it's just a torn meniscus without any damage to the cartilage, he'll be up and running in a month. Otherwise he'll require "microfractures" to the bone to form new sort-of-cartilage, and partial recovery will take about 3 months.

Goueidou sounds like a fine French cheese. Why not just write them as they are on sumo.goo.ne.jp?

I also read this, but I didn't pay much attention, as it seems like another one exaggerated babbling of the Bulgarian sport press when it comes to sumo. You simply don't appreciate the journalistic prowess required to use words like "тръшна", "(пре)метна", "пльосна", used on sites like topspot.bg... (for the non-Bulgarian readers, we like to use words like "hurled", "dumped" and "splattered" when describing Kotooshu's techniques in our press). Seriously, I like Kotooshu and all, but stuff like this makes me blush in an embarrassed way.

Day 15 will be a meeting point between the Ozeki back-scratchers theory, the Mongolian back-scratchers theory and the Yokozuna back-scratchers theory.

He has ligament damage, but it's not as serious as Takanohana's injury. Someone suggested that full recovery would take 6 months, while Takanohana skipped a whole year. I agree with the surgery rule idea.

I think it'd be a lot less stressful if he was promoted to Yokozuna. He could have that operation on his knee and skip two-three tournaments without being demoted.

Well, "disgusting" is a bit of a stretch. It's about as ignorant as any other news article about Sumo. Anyway, from one Bulgarian to another, you know how we just love to talk about foreigners acknowledging our country, so this shouldn't be a surprise. (Sigh...)

I just don't see how that would happen. A pain in the leg would cause it to give way, not jump along with the rest of the body. Plus Baruto wasn't in any pain just 5 seconds later when he walked back into the dohyo. The motion actually starts from his left arm and his torso, with both legs completing the piruette. It's a conscious movement directly away from the opponent and out of the ring. It'd actually be less embarrassing for Baruto to admit cheating than to admit he made such a clumsy move.

He looked super calm on the dohyo as well. I guess I should revise my 70/30 number. It's more like 90/10 Btw, since the video was removed, if you look at the GIF, check out Chiyotaikai's right hand. It could be Jedi power.

To be preserved!

Seeing Baruto's leg spring on the slow-motion replay, this is what I think: - 70% chance the match was rigged. Considering that Baruto's relatively inexperienced, it's possible that he can't fake a fall very well either. I don't believe someone can jump so awkwardly in a direction opposite to the one he's being pushed. - 30% chance Baruto was genuinely trying to compensate for the slap-down that was never finished, so he flew away in the other direction. Hard to believe, especially considering Chiyo's situation, but a faint possibility. And a funny one too.

Wow, now I see that Hakuho was pulling on the cords on his mawashi.

Congratulations to Harumafuji. I wish he had kept his previous shikona, but a yusho will do. The yokozuna road is in front of him now. Then we'll have all the time in the world to talk about a Mongolian Yokozuna back-scratchers' club. Anyway, great win! Hats off to all Mongolian sumo wrestlers. They're at the peak of the sport, much like Brazilians are in football and ex-Soviets are in fighting sports.

Wow, Kotooshu almost doubled his money on the 14th day of the tournament...