ScreechingOwl

Looks like I'm a day late (must be the time zone difference) and a dollar short - best belated happy birthday wishes, Panda. New year, new house, same dai yokozuna. Cheers.

In the first Tochinoshin-Tamawashi bout it certainly looks like Tochinoshin had a hold on Tamawashi's hair with his left hand, as his fingers aren't just pushing down but are actually curled, as they would be when holding something.

1 B 2 B 3 B 4 B 5 A 6 A 7 B 8 A 9 B 10 A 11 A 12 B 13 B 14 A 15 B 16 B 17 B 18 B 19 B 20 X 21 B

Given that Simon has gone down under (and also seems to be in Australia), I've attempted to do the final figures for Sumo Game for my fellow centipedes. Four Mukade gamers were searching for kachi koshi on senshuraku and two achieved it. Congratulations to Simon who prevailed over Ozeki Yamashiro in a hard fought tie and removes his kadoban status by achieving his well deserved kachi koshi (with an impressive haul of 107 points overall) and to Ronnie who also won a tie, although against much easier competition. Condolences to Miyako and Renaud who went mk on the final day, each losing with a 6. Congratulations go out to Jan and the much ribbed Eric for finishing with 10 wins, worth a tie for fourth place. Similar congratulations go to Stephan in Juryo, who also garnered 10 wins and seems likely to move up to the top division in September. Eight centipedes fell just short of kk with 7 wins, including Miyako, who faced almost unbelievably difficult competition. Perhaps we'll have better luck next time. I'll see you all in about seven weeks in Aki and I hope you all enjoy the remainder of your summer. Rank Wins Points AADs Opp AADs 10 8+ 5- TB TB+ Who? SG shikona EY1 8-7 107-104 11 11 1 6 2 4 2 Simon Pandaazuma EK1 10-5 103-97 13 6 0 3 2 3 0 Jan Kuroimori EM1 10-5 89-87 7 7 0 2 3 4 4 Eric Sebunshu WM1 7-8 102-110 7 12 0 2 3 6 5 Miyako Chankoyama EM3 7-8 100-100 9 12 0 7 5 5 2 Douglas ScreechingOwl EM4 9-6 102-98 11 8 1 6 4 6 4 Gary Chocshoporyu WM4 7-8 96-100 8 10 0 3 5 5 3 Rupert Rupatengu EM5 9-6 101-100 10 10 1 5 3 6 3 Scott Haidouzo EM7 7-8 95-99 9 11 0 4 4 6 4 Renaud Kotononami WM9 8-6 101-103 9 11 0 4 2 4 3 Mark Fujiyama WM11 7-8 104-97 12 8 0 6 2 3 0 Sergio Chishafuwaku EM14 7-8 92-103 7 12 0 2 3 4 2 Hal Chisaiyama WM14 7-8 101-103 12 12 0 4 2 5 2 Alexander Ganzohnesushi * WJ3 10-5 97-94 11 8 0 5 4 4 4 Stefan Sagi EJ9 9-6 98-91 9 5 0 4 2 4 1 Seisset Hakubayama * Wms7 7-8 86-93 5 6 0 0 6 5 4 Jezz Jejima Ems9 8-7 88-93 3 6 0 1 7 5 5 Ronnie Gawasukotto

I've bombed out in almost all the pre-basho games, in part because I relied heavily on Hakuho and Tochinoshin (although I made mistakes as well). I'm doing reasonably well in the daily games. I'm very fortunate to be 9-2 in Quad (where wins are going to be very difficult to get for everyone over the final four days) and Bench (again, without Tochinoshin). I'm in 4th place in Odd with 50 points and would really like to finish in the top ten (which I haven't done in over two years, I believe). And I'm in a 5-way tie for 2nd in TTT. So I have real chances in all those games, although four days is a long time, so we'll see. I'm 7-4 (and kadoban) in Toto, so one more win for my kk and probably three more required to get points. I'm 5-6 in SG: I've faced some stiff competition (although isn't Panda always unbearably stiff when he faces me?) and also forgot to make an entry on day 1 (I got a phone call and forgot to press enter). I'd like to get a kk there too. I fell one day short of points in Chain and am doing poorly in ISP and Tip-Spiel. Sometimes you're the dog, sometimes you're the tail. Good luck to everyone over the final four days. Gambare!

The shimpan were awful yesterday. No mono-- in the Abi-Kagayaki bout, which looked to me like an Abi win, or, at worst, a torinaoshi. I know both rikishi are going nowhere this basho, but as long as they are wrestling the shimpan might devote a wee bit of effort to attempt to check if the outcome was correct. (No criticism of the gyoji intended, as it was very close and hard to tell, even on the replay, if Abi stepped out, although it would appear that he did. Oops - I'm sorry. I meant wouldn't. It's a double negative thing that we Americans do sometimes. Although really, almost anyone could have done it.) And it seemed to me that the shimpan decided the Tamawashi-Ikioi bout incorrectly too. I thought that Ikio won the first time around pretty cleanly. Of course, Ikioi won the toriaoshi too, in almost the same manner. But still....

As it happens, both J1s are doing very poorly. However, that is rarely the case. Juryo rikishi are matched against makuuchi rikishi, but only against the lower ones. An M16 can, if need be, face an M1. A J1 can never face even an M10. I suggest we'll see next week how disfunctional the pairings in this basho get because of the shortage of makuuchi division rikishi.

These withdrawals highlight the damage done by permitting Kisenosato's extended absence from the dohyo, thus starting each basho with only 41 (at most) rikishi. I'd like to see the macuuchi division expanded to 44 rikishi (it hasn't always been at 42). That would alleviate a lot of the pressure in the basho with high kyujo rates. It's going to be exciting to have an unexpected yusho winner, but there are going to be some awful pairings in week (weak?) two.

bench-sumo@googlegroups.com bench_sumo@yahoogroups.com

Well, Jürgen, perhaps you always knew I'd make it, but I honestly never dreamed I'd get this high. It seemed to take me forever even to make the bottom rung of the sanyaku, and making Ozeki seemed to me to be a reasonable approximation of my talents. Still, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, except at Derby time.... Sincere thanks go to David Benjamin, whose Sumo: A Thinking Fan's Guide to Japan's National Sport was instrumental in aiding my understanding of sumo, and whose power rating system I have used in a modified form over the past decade. Many other people were helpful in helping me develop a basic understanding of sumo, including Mike Wesemann of Sumo Talk. Although I stopped reading Mike's column years ago because I disagree with more than I agree with, it was very helpful in the naughts. All the analysts and play-by-play announcers at NHK and the sumo writers for the Japan Times have been informative. And without Kintamayama's videos I don't even know if I'd be able to compete, because I can't watch sumo live from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. very often. Thanks also go out to all the strong sumo gamers who techniques I analyzed retroactively in attempting to figure out strategy and how to play the various games. Foremost among them are Pandaazuma, Randomitsuki, Flohru, Norizo, and Susanoo - but honestly, I've looked at how almost everyone in the top 100 has played at some point, and I owe a debt of thanks to each of you. I make far fewer mistakes than I would have if everyone else wasn't such a good player. Additional thanks to Simon for encouraging me to take my play to a higher level. I don't mind being the unretired Harumafuji to his Hakuho. And finally heartfelt additional thanks go to Jürgen, both for tallying and reporting all the sumo events he does, and retiring (hopefully temporarily), without which I have no doubt I'd be at most in third place. Now let's all go out and nail some points in Nagoya!

The day three Makuuchi division torikumi has an almost unbelievable match up pattern: There are 14 top division rikishi with a 2-0 record, none of whom are matched against a rikishi with a similar record; there are 14 top division rikishi with a 0-2 record, none of whom are matched against a rikishi with a similar record; and there are 13 top division rikishi with a 1-1 record, none of whom are matched against a rikishi with a similar record (that includes 1-1 Ryuden, who is matched up against a 2-0 Juryo aite). Now what are the odds of that?

Well, I've been kicked out of better places, as any of my relatives will tell you (because they've done the kicking). Mukade! There are 100 reasons I like the name. Now if I can only remember it. Thanks, as always, to the bear for righting the ship.

1 A2 B3 B4 B 5 A6 A7 A8 B9 A10 A11 A12 A13 A14 A15 B16 A17 A18 A19 A20 A21 A

I look forward to participating again. And my daughter, KikoCookie, does as well, although this will be her final basho in all daily games as she will be matriculating at university in September.

Danke to Randomitsuki for all the work he puts in on the numbers which make this all possible. And to Kakuryu surpassing expectations when I picked him in all the pre-basho games and Bench. I had good play, so so play, and awful play in the various games, but enough good play - and luck - to be wearing green for awhile. I'd like to dedicate my yusho to the memory of Doreen Simmons. When I first was learning about sumo I was able to watch the NHK broadcast on a one day delay, and her vast store of knowledge was fascinating and informative. I wrote her a few emails later on and she was always timely and thoughtful in her replies. Although I congratulated her on her award in the thread on Sumo Forum, and I'm sure she saw that, I meant to send her a personal congratulations as well, and neglected to do it. So if there is anyone out there you want to tell something to, be sure and do it now. We never know when the opportunity will pass. I look forward to matching wits and luck with everyone again in Nagoya and wish everyone a happy and healthy start of their summer. Thank you again, Randomitsuki.