Zuikakuyama

I'll second that. It's a fun way of judging the general sentiments.

Hey, how about none of the above. It'll be 3 Ozekis, but only Muso gets demoted. Waka doesn't get promoted.

Thank you for the translation. Too bad I spent 5 minutes trying to decipher the computerized translation first. (Feeling guilty...) Anyway, kosho is getting out of hand, really, and they do need to tighten the rules a bit.

thanks everyone for their comments. I sure learned alot. I think everyone would agree that it is almost impossible to compare rikishis of different era. It would be like comparing apple against oranges. But what makes the Ake-Taka bebate so unresistable is that they are from the same era, and have the same career. There are just so many different common criterion which one can compare them, and each yields different results. So it's a bit like comparing green apples vs. red apples. . . there are some similarties, but there are also differances. Sorry again for bringing up this unresolvable topic again. (Feeling guilty...)

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, so I guess we will have our disagreements. Just to point out some facts. The example matches I cited were based solely on opponents ranked Ozeki or higher, not sekiwakes like Takatoriki and Akinoshima who were always in danger of falling out of Sanyaku, despite the advantage of not having to face the big guns in their own stable. So just counting the numbers of Waka and Takanonami against Akebono, it is a bit less than 80 matches. So the difference between the two in facing "tough" opponents is a bit over 20 matches in favor of Akebono. And against these "tough" common opponents, Taka did better (Musashimaru, Konishiki, Tachi, Dejima, Miyabiyama), with the exception of Kaio and Musoyama. Also, Taka actually had more sit outs compared to Akebono (201 vs. 181). So I still maintain that there is some correlation between the missing Futagoyama matches and the "tough" matches I mentioned earlier. Doitsu, I didnt say that Taka had a harder schedule. Just that the difficulty of Ake's schedule is sometimes exaggerated. I dont understand your methodology, but accepting its accuracy at face value, I counted 22 bashos where Ake was ranked #1 and 34 where Taka was ranked #1. Even by your methods, Taka was higher ranked for longer. Sorry if I have hijacked this thread into another endless, resolutionless debate. (Oops! )

Initially, I only wanted to look at the big picture, but if you want to harp on the toughness of competition, I don

I think the general point I was trying to make is that Takanohana was more consistent against lower ranked opponents (megashira) in general. That shows consistency, and is more indicative of a great rikishi. Picking out individual records is not really reflective of the real situation. Their style might just not work particularly well against a particular opponent. Look at their overall Makuuchi record. Takanohana 701-216 (76.4%) Akebono 566-198 (74.0%) Yokozuna record. Takanohana 429-99 (81.3%) Akebono 432-122 (78.0) You may say that is only a couple of percentage differeance, but statistically speaking, when winning percentages start to get high, the numerical difference becomes compressed and less noticeable. Let me give you an example. For their Yokozuna record, their wins are essentially the same (429 vs. 432). But Takanohana had about 20 less losses, which is in turn 16% less losses than Akebono's losses (20/122). This is a more telling statistic about their differances. I think their overall consistency is reflected in their perfect yusho records, which is commonly used as a mark of a great yokozuna who dominates all opponents. Taka had 4 and Akebono had none.

I would agree to some extent that being in futogayama helped the Hanada brothers (and Takanonamii) a bit, but I would not go as far to say that Takanohana would have had only 14 yushos or that Akebono is his equal. Of the 2 times that Takanohana played against Takanomai (both playoff situations), he lost both. He lost a playoff against Wakanoha as well. That is 3 potential yushos. Although I have absolutely no proof on my following statement, I would think he took it easy on his stablemates in order to let them win some glories too. Also look at the overall records between Akebono and Takanoha a bit. Even for subtracting the games Akenbono had against the best Futogoyama opponents (35-5 vs. Takanonami, 21-18 vs. Wakanohana, which is about normal .700 batting average you would expect against a ozeki/sekiwake level opponent, so he was not against harder opposition by having to play against them). Takanohana had much better overall win percentage. He was just more consistent against the lesser opponents. And in view of Akebono's records against the Futogayama opponents, they were really not that big a factor against Akebono. Maybe it would have made a few yusho differances, but certainly not to the level you suggested. (BTW, Akebono and Takanohana is about evenly matched in their 23-24 record in favor of Akebono). And as against Musashimaru, Takanohana had a 34-19 record. Akebono had a 24-17 record. I do agree that Asashoryu's sumo is very impressive right now, and he certainly deserves to be Yokozuna. But I also think it is premature to crown him king. There is no quality opposition that I see that was the case during the Hanadas vs. Hawaiian era, or during Chiyonofuji's long reign. He is also relatively light right now, and that could subject him to some injuries later on as the wear and tear of sumo accumulates.

Very True. Losses against opponents such as Asasekriyu, Toki (plus understandable later losses against Kyokutenho and Chiyo) in the first 3 days of the tournament really hampered his last run, and showed a lack of concentration. He has all the right physical tools and skills to be a good sumo. Basically, he is built like a brick like his oyakate Takanosato. He did improve later on in the tournament with some very good wins. His win over Asashoryu was particulaly impressive. (In a state of confusion...)

I also think that a plain 12 win situation should be enough to win him promotion. His sumo has been impressive lately, and his record has also steadily improved in the last few bashos since becoming sekiwake. If he is able to achieve 12 wins, he will have 3 straight tournaments with 10+ wins (unlike Kotomitsuki 9-6 record) But I also think he needs to work on his consistency and concentration some more so he won't lose too many matches against lower-ranked opponents. I just hope that he can do it in a tournament where the yokozunas and ozekis are not sitting out of the tournament.