shumitto

Do you really believe he was destined for greatness? I don’t mean to quibble, but I think he had exactly the career that was expected of him. I remember some excitement when he first entered Juryo and won 14-1 with a Yusho, but for an accomplished amateur, that alone wasn’t enough to set him on a path to real success. That’s just my two cents, though.

With his retirement, Tenichi (47), who had his debut in Haru 93, will be longest serving rikishi. And we still have Yoshiazuma from the 1977 class.

How many ranks do you think Shimanoumi will drop with a 5-10 from J9e ? Maybe two ? But he shouldn't worry, though, a solid 8-7 will probably bring him back to Makuuchi.

Of course Shimanoumi deserved his sekitori slot at some point. This is not a collective sport that allows one to hide his mediocrity behind a star-studded assembly and be successful. Even banzuke luck or outright help can only bring you so far. It is also obvious these days are long gone. Why he and Tsushimanada were allowed to stay is very, very hard to explain.

One thing they like to do is underpromote or overpromote a recently punished rikishi just to extend his punishment, so to speak, even when said rikishi was not forced to sit out a certain number of basho. Another thing they like to do is to forget how they dealt with a particular situation in the past. That's why we get inconsistent outcomes in similar situations.

I get your point, I guess. You expect a punishment to be all bad things, but there is a good side to it that is part of almost any such punishment in sumo, like the time to rest the body a little after so many years of hard work - losing fitness in the process, nothing comes for free -, gearing up with softer foes before rejoining the big event, picking up a couple of Yusho on the way just an additional booster to one's self confidence , and maybe a good re-entry spot in Makuuchi. It simply can't be helped.

Fighting lower rankers might be a small advantage but given the huge disadvantage of being unable to fight in his prime for a rather extended period of time against a not superbly strong field, is like getting 5 box after losing 50. So not a great deal IMHO even if we consider he brought that on himself.

Miyabiyama's last demotion in 2013 was not baseball-gambling related though. He gave it a last try and busted. Number's wise, Asanoyama's stay in Juryo makes sense, but sumo-wise I'd rather see a possible Yusho contender racking up wins against lower rankers, than see strong but somewhat slow-tachiai Hokuseiho trying to adapt to the speed of the big show.

As far as Juryo videos are concerned, Youtube is your friend. It is easy to find them and there are a myriad of sources elsewhere too. Promotion/demotion discussions have their own topic. Some people, like Kintamayama, believe that Asanoyama will be denied a Makuuchi return on the grounds that the Kyokai like long, informal punishments. But there are other opinions. There are posts about Ochiai, as well. I would start my search here. If you happen to know some Japanese, his wikipedia entry might be of some use.

I have a hunch they will somehow keep Terutsuyoshi in Juryo. It doesn't make sense, but I've been frustated by so many such underpromotions that I've learned to expect them. That said, I hope you are right. I would love to see Talkshowryu again in Juryo, and who doesn't want to see Ochiai mingling with the "big guys" ?

He is a kind of white wrestler from the former Soviet Block (even though he was born after the USSR collapsed, before another academic points that out). I used the Eastern European concept - not entirely inaccurate - to refer to both ideas. I am deeply sorry if I offended our stand-by Scholars. But that is a good reminder of why not to post. From the Wikipedia: "Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental landlocked country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. [bold is mine]" Yes, it is a tiny part, but it is there.

When I think of these Eastern European rikishi, the first image that pops into my mind is that of a tall, strong and rather technically-challenged type of lad, not to say clumsy. I haven't seen all his of bouts yet, but Kinbozan clearly doesn't fit this description. His college pedigree most likely plays a role here, because his balance is quite good as well as his composure. He seems to know where to target his attacks and how to time them accordingly. I look forward to seeing him in Juryo.

Asanowaka will eventually leave this list. I am less confident about Dairaido though.

You beat me to it. Kotokuni had a pair of nice 9-6 records before crumbling. I actually don't expect much more from Chiyosakae, but then again I'd never expected him to get there in the first place. Anyway it was enjoyable to watch him even flirt with a double-digit score after starting 1-3.

He isn't that small, though I agree that a couple of inches more would do no harm. I tend to see him as a Musoyama without A/C, Navigation and all the fancy stuff they add to cars these days. He is the basic version, but it is a good version.