yorikiried by fate

Surprise guest rikishi on a wildcard. [In all shame and honesty, I'm laughing tears here that I seemingly cannot count to seven...]

Four Sekiwake and three Komusubi. You read it here first! [which might be a lie, as I didn't read the thread...]

Hakuho was the ultimate absorber. The absolute best in neutralizing any tachi-ai offset right from the start. In a way, the empirical opposite of the other dude I'm always sh*tting on. Anyway, as of now, the overall GOAT, no doubt. Nevertheless, I will never forgive him for henkaing the 13-1 Hokutoriki on the final day of his (Hakuho's) Makuuchi debut basho, where he was 11-3, kanto-sho secured, nothing to gain. Hokutoriki, the people's Yokozuna, who had worked his ass off in the lower divisions for half his career had his once-in-a-lifetime shot at the pot(s), even defeating Asashoryu in regulation, just to be sent back to the mad dragon in a play-off redo (which he lost, of course). Shame on you, Big H...

Or so the Germans would have us believe...

That's very readable. Thanks!

I'm currently teaching a couple of kids who had to flee from Ukraine. Breaks my heart...

Ahahahahaha. Oh, wait. You are serious! Ahahahahahahahahahaha.

They press horses?

Noooooo! Not the quasi-namesake of my erstwhile sumo games shikona!! Never saw you fight bro, but peacefully RIP. I won't forget you.

Question: How short-sighted is Hoshoryu? In some of the pictures his glasses look pretty massive, but it might be a trick of the light. Anyway: A thousand thanks for the pictures!! [off to some nostalgic Asashoryu videos browsing...]

Top 5 of consecutive basho without a sub-Ozeki yusho: V.68–XI.71 22 basho XI.76–XI.80 25 V.86–V.91 31 V.93–XI.98 33 XI.01–V.12 63 Tough times to be Wakanosato...

I totally get where you are coming from. Nothing worse than Hakuho's total dominance after Asashoryu was retired. That being said, personally I enjoyed the phase before that, when two to three high performers were fighting for every single yusho, allowing the required wins for winning the thing to slip below 13 only once in eight years. It also made Harumafuji's and Kotomitsuki's Ozeki runs, as well as Kotooshu's yusho so much more memorable. Now you see historically low wins-to-yusho averages. While that can be a source of entertainment, I really don't enjoy the constant threat of Neverheardofazuma yushoing with 12 from M23.

Maybe something banal? An evil draft and back muscles acting up?

Not that I have much to say about sub-forum usability, but to me it feels pretty natural to place this thread type in Honbasho Talk, as the content always becomes available within three days of the basho conclusion. In some way, it cleans up the aftermath. This together with YDC talk and then it's back to general stuff in the other sub-forum. IMHO.

I really like how you explain the history of "dai-status" and also your reasoning for re-evaluation.