Benevolance

Hiradoumi vs Oho was probably my favorite match of day 4. Hiradoumi got under and up so quick off the start and then that semi-toss once Oho lost his balance. Beautiful. Kind of a shame that Kotozakura already has this tournament in the bank.

*slips Yamanashi his $20* That's right. Nothing to see here. There is no controversy but the controversy itself.

I'm rooting for Kotozakura, and I've spent millions influencing the judging department to assure his rise to yokozuna, but I was hoping they wouldn't make it so flagrant. I should have splurged on the 'subtle promotion' package after all.

Why didn't anyone tell me the basho had already started? SHEESH!!

Will his arms grow back if he quits sumo?

Bah. He needs, what, three words for sumo? He's got to recognize hakkeyoi, matamatamata, and be able to mumble gambarimasu. BAM! Japanese covered. I think he'll do great. In fact, I'm already putting some wheels on the ol' ozeki bandwagon.

So if I understand this correctly...when the sumo association hosts the next kids sumo event, they should serve complimentary oden to ensure the quail egg prizes keep coming.

Both are doubtlessly factors, but I suspect it's also to do with the large Indian population who use the Vancouver /Tokyo route as a stopover on the way to and from India. Lots of consistent traffic.

I still regularly see tickets for 1100 to 1300 out of Vancouver. But that said, I can also see prices in the 1600-2500, depending on how close it is to departure.

That makes a lot more sense, thanks!

Is he really likely to drop that far?

I finally managed to catch up the matches for days 11-14. I'm kind of disappointed with Kotozakura's results, but not his effort. I think those matches probably could have gone either way. I still have hopes that he'll make it to yokozuna.

[pauses reading sumo script] Terunofuji has been so awesome this tournament, that it will be EPIC when Kotozakura steals the yusho.

The Ura vs Terunofuji match up is my favorite bout of the tournament so far.

Aside from day 1, Terunofuji's matchups mostly looked like helpful wrestlers lending their chest to the yokozuna for warm up. Are they worried about injuring him with any rough movements? Do they know he is done, and this is a friendly send off? Did Terunofuji finally perfect the "Sumo Moth" technique, which mesmerizes rikishi and draws them in to a double-hand belt grip?

Because it would be way too ridiculous if it went otherwise, Onosato will beat Abi tonight and spare us all from having to watch a tournament that ends with an 11-4 yusho. This would be my preferred yusho winner.

At this point, it's looking like either Onosato or Daeiisho in the winner circle.

All that match needed at the end was John Cleese to announce "And now for something completely different."

Not idly do the ranks of sumotori fall.

Hakuho not being in the heya enough was the problem to begin with!

This has been the worst Kotonowaka yusho I've ever seen.

I saw it a bit differently on the replay. Wakamotoharu was setting up for a throw at the edge, and Takerufuji wasn't falling for that two days in a row. Takerufuji pulled back from his opponent to deny the throw, and then had to resume his forward momentum which resulted in the final shove. Since Takerufuji waited and watched at the edge while Wakamotoharu wandered up the aisle, I took to be a good finishing instinct and not malice.

Okay, I'll admit, I did not expect Takerufuji to beat Kotonowaka.

I'd wager that Kirishima will still get his 8 wins. What folks need to remember vis-a-vis Kirishima's performance this basho is that Kotonowaka is scheduled for winning the yusho, getting the rope, discovering a cure for cancer and going to Disneyland. So Kirishima needs an early deficit so he can fight hard the second week and make Kotonowaka's victory look more convincing without threatening the yusho. Also I heard that while on a secret mission for the Queen of Sweden Harumafuji was in disguise in a mawashi on a yacht in the Mediterranean and at a dinner part was struck upon the head in a freak champagne bottle accident and lost his memories and fell overboard and washed up on the coast of Japan and was recruited by Tokitsukaze beya and is none other than Shodai. You can tell it's true because the tachi-ai are almost identical.

Nope.