Getayukata

I am thinking that if I were Abi, this would make me all the more determined to leave the sport ..... and I'm not at all sure that that is not precisely what the NSK intended it should do.

The person I'm feeling most sorry for is Shikoroyama. If Abi isn't living in the stable, how was he supposed to know what his rikishi was doing in the evening? The pay cut for him seems rather harsh, no?

For the second time this basho I could not get my picks of the day entered last night. The site kept timing out on me. Has anyone else had similar problems? None of my other games gave me any trouble putting in my entry.

Easy fix - change it from 'smile' to "big smile' and you are out of the difficulty altogether.

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!

Hakuho would be my second choice after Chiyonofuji. I prefer the lighter fighters as I find they have the more interesting belt battles. What has struck me particularly watching some of the old film of rikishi from 30+ years ago, is how many more really heavy rikishi there are these days compared to back then. I do not think this trend improves the sumo.

Chiyonofuji for me too. I was lucky enough to be living in Japan when he won his final yusho in November 1990 and remember the excitement it generated. At 127Kg he must also surely be one of the lightest of modern day yokozunae, and his technique was super.

So, what happens now? Do the few rikishi that were in Izutsu stable return there, including yokuzuna Kakuryu I believe? Or will they remain in their new stables, and the new Izutsu oyakata has to start recruiting from zero?

It's a great tune to exercise to at home, in these stay at home days! I really worked up a bit of a sweat!

There are certainly rice bales in these last two videos, but I would be concerned about how small the room is. Anyone flying off this dohyo is going to slam straight into the walls!

The thing that I noticed immediately, was that there were no rice bales at the edge of the dohyo. Of course this is just a practice ring, but I would have thought that learning how to use the tawara to your advantage, and to be able to do the tawara two-step, were essential things for a rikishi to learn and practice.

Terao J13E

My thoughts exactly , although I would be glad to be proven wrong.

What I find slightly mistifying, is that Izutsu is run by ex-Sakahoko, who is the elder brother of ex-Terao, the boss of Shikoroyama beya, which appears to be one of the larger and better run stables.

I would say Terao, Kirishima and of course, Chiyonofuji. I must be getting old!