Umigame

I told you that IPF record 283kg bench was non-equipped. That means no bench shirt. The equipped record is 410kg, which is an increase of over 100kg, not 100 pounds. So your initial statement "260 kg in a bench press is something that no one in any drug tested powerlifting federation has ever achieved" still stands as a lie. I don't know what compels a troll to come to this forum and spread disinformation, but I won't debate any more with a liar since there is no point.

Nonsense. The IPF is a drug tested federation. Their world record bench in the over-120kg weight class ("classic" i.e. non-equipped) is 283kg, lifted by Boughalem Ilyes at a bodyweight of 154.9kg. http://www.powerlifting-ipf.com/championships/records.html Terunofuji is 30kg heavier, so it's not surprising that he could lift almost as much.

Please add me to the thread, if you can figure out how to add someone. I'm not attending the basho, but I'm interested in going to watch keiko before the basho.

Six of eight. Current official status of the six Nishikido rikishi absent last basho: Gokushindo: On the banzuke at Sandanme E8 Not listed as kyujo Mitoyutaka: Retired after summer basho Kaminoyama: On the banzuke at Jonidan W23 Listed as kyujo Homarenishiki: On the banzuke at Jonidan W37 Listed as kyujo Daigofuji: Retired after summer basho Shinshunishiki: Jonokuchi W13 Listed as kyujo Also, there are a handful of negative comments on the Nishikido blog post announcing their banzuke for July.

There’s a short, cryptic dispatch about Homarenishiki on page 88 of the May issue of “Sumo” magazine. “He injured his left shoulder and went back to his hometown in early April and had surgery. His return is in a state of flux.” [...] A bewildered Nishikido oyakata said, “I heard he has a personal physician in Canada so I let him go. Haven’t been able to contact him…” No mention of the other 5 kyujo rikishi.

Japanese wikipedia has a list of about 100 rikishi who died while active, stretching back to yokozuna Maruyama who died in 1749. As for active sekitori rikishi who died since Okitsuumi, there was also Matsuragata and Toyoshima, who were killed in the bombing of Tokyo.

Ah, so we're getting the annual appearance of that urban legend out of the way early this year... is that not true? thats what happened in the Harumafuji- Aoiyama match last basho. Aoiyama lost because his heel touched the sand outside the tawara first. You can see it here: This is why the judges check for traces in the sand in a decision like this.

Thanks for the banzuke work! btw I can't understand why Fantasy Sumo is so much more popular than Toto (In a state of confusion...) Toto is the only game for me.

Kintama Yameta?

If Terunofuji wins then I see like 1% less effort from Harumafuji, since Harumafuji will definitely be out of the picture. Don't forget Terunofuji and Harumafuji are from the same heya. If Harumafuji's yusho chance is gone, I think he will want to help his kohai win it. While they may theoretically be from the same heya, Terunofuji is not originally from Isegahama, and I recall he is in the last-resort slot in terms of being an attendant for Harumfuji's dohyo-iri. That says to me that they are not truly integrated and merely are forced to tolerate each other. I'm kind of getting the impression that Harumafuji, Aminishiki, etc from Isegahama are doing a bit more than just "tolerat[ing] each other". For example, last tournamentTerunofuji was wearing Aminishiki's kimono for good luck while waiting for a potential playoff against Hakuho and before this tournament it seemed to me that Terunofuji's more senior stablemates were putting a lot of time and effort into helping Terunofuji train. Sometimes I like to imagine what Ichinojo would look like with similar training efforts, considering both youngsters are built like oak trees. Yes, actually the reason he's not an attendant for Haruma's dohyo-iri is pretty interesting. When Terunofuji overtook Takarafuji on the banzuke he was really excited to become an attendant, but it was the oyakata who refused. "If you want to be in a yokozuna dohyo-iri so bad, become a yokozuna" is the oyakata's unspoken tough-love message. http://www.zakzak.co.jp/sports/etc_sports/news/20150312/spo1503120730003-n1.htm

If Terunofuji wins then I see like 1% less effort from Harumafuji, since Harumafuji will definitely be out of the picture. Don't forget Terunofuji and Harumafuji are from the same heya. If Harumafuji's yusho chance is gone, I think he will want to help his kohai win it.

3rd from right -- Ichihara. Tochinoshin? I don't ever remember seeing him this small! He packed on a lot of muscle in 10 years.

Chiyootori is out with influenza. http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXLSSXK10054_S5A110C1000000/

Ryuden J4e

To me it seemed like Kakuryu was surprised to see Goiedo just rushing forward without any idea where he was going, so he just decided to shown him the way out. I may be giving Kak too much credit here, but that was a good example of how a henka is done to an opponent who isn't maintaining his own balance. As expected, Kakuryu's henka yesterday did not go over well with many Japanese fans. The sports news sites report that the arena was in an uproar and Kakuryu was jeered repeatedly. (Protesting...) (Being thrown tomatoes at...) http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/20141120/sum14112020220008-n1.html http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/sumo/news/p-sp-tp3-20141121-1398864.html