Afrozuna

Is Peterson still around? This thread was a classic you either loved it or hated it, it obviously spawned the "Hakuho road to 100 yusho" thread. There were times when the Sumo scandals looked like the end of Sumo as a top sport.

This thread might become very relevant soon :) . Amazing reading these old comments, how far Sumo has come in a few short years

Yep Congrats to him, must, surely this is quite a topical issue so why is the forum so quiet on it, or am not seeing the thread with the endless adulations

Also has to do with the strength of ones home currency and the cost of living. In my country (South Africa) many of the rikishis with more than $300000 would be able to live reasonably well if their mortgages etc are already paid up. A 3 bedroom house in a decent surburb costs around $60 000. That is precisely why some Britons/Americans go to Asian countries (particularly Thailand) to retire because the cost of living is usually much lower than in London/New York and the strength of the British pound renders them wealthy in the currencies of their chosen retirement country.

Hi Guys Many of you will remember Doitsuyami (and maybe another poster) used to post a daily results thread during a basho showing matchups for that day, who won, match up for the following day and cumulative scores of the rikishi for the duration of the basho. Is there any reason why this was stopped by him? Is it possible for someone to continue this thread as I found it immensely useful on so many levels.

Its way too early to call HFJ a mediocre Yokozuna especially seeing as he has already won a yusho at that level, he is definately not Wakanohana. I dont think anyone expected a string of zensho yushos from HFJ considering his size and his AGE and the technique and skill of his main rival. This is the same Hakuho who stood toe to toe with Asashoryu whom many (myself included) swore would be the gretest ever. I for one never thought Hakuho would reach 25 yusho. I expected Asashoryu to keep racking them up but alas the elbow injury happened and fate has favoured Hakuho. Records are made to be broken and I would like to see the 32 yusho record fall in my lifetime. However at 28 one has to acknowledge it will require a major effort and lots of luck. Injuries are the main threat. Remember also many were writing Hakuho's obituary around this time last year despite pleas telling them to "sit down".

New names does not always equal new members. I'm a case in point and I've been here for years now and changed my name 3 times

The use of the term double standards was the wrong one here, the term should have been "random discretion" because you seem to be happy with henka when it suits certain random conditions which are subjective. What you might see as an occassion where henka is inappropriate someone else will see as appropriate for the exact same reason For Example: Sumofan A: Henka was inappropriate because Yokozuna was on a winning streak Sumofan B: Henka was very appropriate because Yokozuna was on a winning and that was the only way Rikishi x could have beaten

Very funny actually, did he have rikishi charge at him while he jumped out of the way. Seem silly if you already know its gonna be a henka. He couldn't possibly be practising ALONE could he because that would have been a sight to see.

Despicable

But according to you and your friends you would not have a problem with that since a Yokozuna is supposed to be expecting a henka especially from one of the few low rankers he faces. Regardless of rank we just can not have double standards. Henka sucks. Periiod. It's not a skill (certainly not one that requires training). Can you imagine the rikishis practicing henkas :)

I must be dreaming because on the other thread when I complained about how Henka sucks the energy out of the stadium, every one was bleating about how the other rikishi should be expecting it, its the other rikishi's fault they fell for it blah blah blah. Now here you all are whining about the exact same thing. You think all those people paid to see a henka. Daylight robbery. I dont have a problem when smaller rikishi avoid head on contact but henka is an abomination. Should be banned period.

Are there rules banning fans from rhythmic clapping in unison or singing at the venue? Because that's one way to get fans sucked in on the action, and it comes across very nicely on the TV. The other gimmick used in tennis very frequently these days and has been VERY effective is to have the camera occasionally zoom in on seated fans who are obviously thrilled to see themselves on the big screen. Now people go to the tournaments because they know there is a chance of being on the big screen and hence a chance of being shown on Live TV. The camera can also zoom in on celebrities attending the basho lending a coolness factor to the TV spectators as well. Can you imagine how much excitement, cheers (maybe even some boos) we would have if the camera zoomed in on Asashoryu big smiling face during a basho.

Allow gambling in Sumo? It would attract all sorts of dodgy type Yakuza characters. Not to mention rikishi deliberately throwing their bouts just to cash in especially when they have their 8 wins already. Care to elaborate, I dont think anyone here in Africa sees Japanese people as the crazy people you describe. In fact all the Japanese I went to high school and varsity with were very intellectually gifted people with humble deportment and gentle disposition. But you might be exposed to something else in your country. While I'm not thrilled with the idea of spotlights, I feel the Kyokugikan(sp) venue does lend itself too some strategic manipulation of the lights. Such gimmicks are currently being done at the World Tour Finals in London (Tennis). They have smoke coming out when the athletes enter the court. They have multicoloured displays showing "Ace" all around the venue if a player serves an ace. Some people like it I'm sure but to me it just feels way over the top. What I would like to see is a ban on henkas, they really suck the energy out of the excitement created by the pre-match rituals

My fear is HMFJ might end up overtraining in a bid to avoid the yokozuna debut jinx, only to end up injuring himself