Morty

Dude, we all stayed home for two months which is what killed it dead. The virus had already got in but it was a disciplined population and good leadership from the State Premiers (not the PM - he wanted to keep everything open) which recognised that lockdown was necessary early and so we all did that. I left the house exactly three times in nine weeks, for groceries, and I wore a mask and sanitised every single thing that came in the house. So did most other Aussies. The island thing is what is keeping it out now we have beaten it, not what saved us in the first place. But it got into the most remote parts of the country - as a result we locked down early before it got out of hand, and stayed home until it was safe to come out. I recognise that I am extremely lucky to live in Australia while all this goes down, but I'm lucky because we have a high level of scientific literacy, a world class free public health system, and as a populace we are used to dealing with major disasters so we are prepared to do what is necessary, as a whole community, to get the whole community through it. We have our share of idiots but they are in the minority and the vast majority will do what is right. I am proud of my fellow Australians through this because we all came together as a community and looked after each other, and we have a system that allowed that to happen.

This is incorrect. Here in Western Australia we have eradicated it, as have other parts of Australia. There has been no evidence of community transmission for a couple of months and the borders remain closed to everything except essential travellers (and they have to stay in enforced quarantine - if they don't they go to jail for 90 days - a couple have already). The only cases we have come from returned travellers and they are not allowed to mix with society until they are clear of it. General society has pretty much re-opened for everything, albeit with social distancing in place. We are pretty isolated compared to most other places, but our success comes from closed borders, two months of lock-down to stop it spreading when it originally got in, and the community doing the right thing and complying with very reasonable instructions. The State Premier has a 90% + approval rating because he is keeping the borders closed despite pressure from the Australian government to open them. It can be done, it just takes everybody to get on board and do the right thing, and it takes quality leadership.

You don't need many spectators to create an atmosphere. About 100 in the KK spread out appropriately would do it

I've heard Cornette talk about this a few times. The period of Frank Gotch and George Hackenschmidt (up until about 1915) was apparently entirely legit, and Gotch was as big a star as Babe Ruth in America. But by 1920 some, but not all matches were works, mostly because it was better for business that way and everyone involved could make more money. It's complicated though through this period and right into the 1950s when Thesz was champion, because there was always the possibility of people "going into business for themselves" and not following the script. This is why the champion was usually a legit shooter who could legitimately win a shoot match if they needed to. People like Thesz, Ed Strangler Lewis, Karl Gotch (no relation to Frank), and Billy Robinson were apparently very scary men who could really legitimately hurt their opponent if they wanted to. The NWA world champion was always someone who could look after themselves right up to the 1980s. So yes, fake is entirely the wrong word - even scripted is wrong for most of wrestling history because only the finishes were ever determined beforehand - the matches were always called in the ring in an organic fashion. It is only recently since Vince McMahon totally killed kayfabe and turned pro wrestling into a joke, that entire matches are laid out beforehand.

They would need a few days to build the Dohyo and then go through the blessing ceremonies etc. But other than that you are right, a Tokyo basho would be very easy to run at short notice

Personally I don't think we'll see another basho until there is a vaccine available. That could be as early as September or not until next year.

It would be hugely, massively irresponsible to hold any basho until the crisis is over, which won't be until a vaccine is developed. Almost every sporting league in the world is shut down until this is over. So is everything else that requires lots of people to be in one place at the same time. Large aggregations of people is what spreads the virus. Until a vaccine is developed the only defense we have is social distancing, which you can't do while having a sumo basho. Some things are bigger than sumo, this is one of them, and they should recognise that and just shut up shop until this is over, like every other responsible sporting organisation in the world has done. The powers that be in sumo are well known for making dumb decisions, but I can't see how they would be allowed hold a basho, even if they decided to go ahead with it (against all common sense). Get ready for the next three or four basho to be cancelled, because that's how long it will be until an effective and widespread vaccine will be available.

He looked really punchy, like he has a concussion or a virus or something

Ideally it would Hak which would really seal the deal

I think Asanoyama is going to do this. Yutakayama has really impressed me this basho. He seems to come in with a different strategy for each opponent, and has shown incredible patience in executing what he wants to do, not rushing things, and waiting for his opponent to make the mistake. A new favourite I think.

He got a morozashi today as well right at the start of the bout and still couldn't win. He has zero power going forward - it's painful to watch. What is also painful to watch is the number of headbutts Tamawashi puts out there in each bout. He hit Sadanoumi with about six today, all clearly deliberate. His brain is going to end up like Swiss cheese (if it isn't already).

Ishiura essentially henka'd Ikioi three times during that bout: once at the tachiai, then once in the middle, then once at the end to get the win.

Nah. Look on Youtube for Kenta Kobashi and Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue, Jan 24, 1995, greatest tag match of all time. Apologies Mods if this is getting off topic.

This is your chance to go back and relive all those great sporting events from years gone by. There is an awful lot just on Youtube. I'm planning on watching all those great Japanese pro-wrestling matches from the 80s and 90s Misawa, Kobashi, Hansen, Kawada era . Weeks of entertainment right there.

The Australia-New Zealand One Day Cricket tournament has been cancelled as of today, primarily because of the New Zealand travel ban. Here in Australia, the Australian Rules Football (AFL) season is due to start but they will be playing in empty stadiums. The Australian Rugby League however is still playing in front of crowds, but only for this weekend. The Federal Government has implemented a ban on gatherings of more than 500 people as of tomorrow.