Morty

I noticed she specifically didn't clap when a rikishi won after using a henka.

Great drama at the end, thoroughly enjoyed it. But Takakeisho's win in the replay was decisive and the second bout was really one-sided - that tachiai and first thrust was pretty brutal and what won it for him. Great basho - even without two Yokozunae and two Ozeki it was still entirely entertaining.

In the lead up to the basho he attended degeiko and beat everyone else up, and then still sat out the basho... At this stage he doesn't have to follow the same rules the others do. Kak does, and I doubt he lasts beyond the next basho. But the only way Hak is going Intai is if his shisho puts the papers in, which he won't do unless Hak agrees. Hak will retire when he wants to, which will be when he can't be a contender anymore, in his own mind. So to go back to my original point, he won't do survival mode, he'll just kyujo if he can't compete and the YDC will whinge and he'll ignore them.

It's Hak, the normal rules don't apply to him. He won't give a damn what the YDC says and they have zero power to force him to intai anyway. He could sit out the next three basho and the YDC could grumble about it the whole way and he will just ignore them like he always does. If he is in he will be contending. If he loses two of the first four he'll go kyujo. If he isn't fit he'll sit it out for another basho and come back when he's ready. If he can't win he doesn't compete, simple as that.

Hak doesn't do survival mode. He is the Alpha Male of sumo and he goes out there to win yushos and put everyone else in their place by showing them that he is better than they are. He doesn't know how to do survival mode. Regardless of how old he is, or how injured, or the carrot of the Olympics, he will still do what he always does - go for the yusho, because that's who he is and that's what he does and his pride won't let him do any less. If he is in it until the end he will be contending for the yusho or at least making it hard for other contenders to get it. The only way he is going down is by making other people beat him.

In teams sports it is more internal to a team rather than within a league. I know nothing about ice hockey, but lots of good examples in cricket. Shane Warne, the greatest leg-spin bowler Australia has ever produced, ruined spin bowling in Australia for a generation. Everyone assumed his genius would create a golden period of Australian leg spinners who would dominate the world - instead it did the exact opposite because no-one wanted to compete for that leg spinner spot, and there was a complete absence of decent spin bowlers for ten years after he retired. Likewise when Greg Chappell, Dennis Lillie and Rod Marsh all retired at the same time, the Australian team went from world beaters to laughing stocks in just one season. But it obviously isn't a universal analogy - a great team who dominates for a while can be replaced by another great team, or they can change the game so much that there is a period after they decline when it is open season for everyone. I think it happens more when an individual is so dominant (like Hak) that they legitimately change the sport they are part of

It is not unusual for great champions to create a vacuum behind them. It happens in many sports that one individual or team is so dominant for a long time (in the way Hak has been) that there is a period of disruption after they go, or when they go into decline. Hak missing more than half the time qualifies as either of those right now for mine. Hak is more than just a once in a generation rikishi - he has been so dominant that that dominance shapes the sport around him. I'm really enjoying this period of ... *uncertainty... where anyone seems capable of winning. While the period of Hak dominance was draw dropping to watch (particularly 2007 to 2015), it could get predictable. The sumo now isn't as good and the rikishi clearly transitional, but the unpredictability makes it hard to look away and I love it.

I'm just as interested as I ever was, but there is an awful lot going on in the world right now which means I can't give it as much attention as I'd like. I suspect a lot of people are in that boat.

Enho must be one giant bruise after that fall. That made me wince, then wince again.

Takarafuji - Hokotofuji was epic! The first one was enough, the second one was the icing on the cake. The camera's zoomed in on both their faces when the torinaoshi was called and they were both like "Bugger. We really have to do that again?". I think they would have preferred a result, even if it meant they lost. (for the record I thought Takarafuji was clearly throwing Hokotofuji at the end of the first one and that the latter should have been called dead body, but what do I know?)

None of them. I'm not insane. I was just trying to say (possibly lost in translation) that Daieisho seems more up for the fight than many of the others. There are a lot of rikishi who come across as really nice guys who don't want to hurt their opponents. But Daieisho goes all out. He has that "scary" vibe that many of the others don't. This isn't intended as an insult (it's a combat sport)

Of all the current active rikishi he is the one I would least like to meet in a real fight* - never gives up and always goes for the head. Terunofuji relies too much on brute strength and against someone like Daieisho who won't back down that isn't always going to work. *(Apart from Hak of course).

That's two days in a row where a tricky little guy (Terutsuyoshi yesterday and Enho today) tried a sneaky move that came undone through one shove from a big slow guy.

Awesome news, really pleased

Bingo. They always do what they want. There is no logic, only sumo.