Benevolance

Oh, ho ho! The sanyaku are wearing their big boy mawashi this basho.

I always remember Chiyotairyu for backwards moving sumo and being an endless source of wins for Goeidou. I'm not sure how this will translate well into an MMA career.

To clarify, he was 0-4 vs Kotooshu, not 0-4 all time record against rikishi ranked at ozeki. Though, I suppose he also went 0-4 against all Bulgarians ranked ozeki, too. And 0-4 against all rikishi who later became Naruto Oyakata and came to congratulate him on the final day of the Fukuoka Basho. A lot of losing records there. Wow. He must feel pretty blue.

I don't recall Hakuho doing anything quite as egregious?

If it's any consolation, scheduling Kirishima vs Atamifuji was the nail in the coffin of Takakeisho's hopes, so after the tournament Takakeisho and Atamifuji can go somewhere, split a 40 of whisky, and bitch about the lousy match makers.

Ah, I see where you're coming from. Also, I was thinking that Takakeisho might have a bit more give in the standings than he does, but looking at it now, he cannot possibly win. It's either Atamafuji or Kirishima with the yusho. The best he manages is the jun-yusho. Interestingly, had they not scheduled Kirishima vs Atamifuji, Takakeisho would have still had a shot.

If Takakeisho wins against Daieisho tonight (odds are in favour), I'm assuming that we're going to see Takakeisho vs Kirishima on senshuraku? Or is there a chance Takakeisho draws Atamifuji?

Someone on the committee will always declare something like this. Eventually we all learn that it doesn't matter. It's a sort of back-handed encouragement. If Takakeisho ever gets back-to-back yusho, he will get promoted. But sadly he won't be getting that this tournament.

Based on his history, the odds were always against, but I think it's a tad early to stick a fork in him. He's one win back from the trio of leaders, and even a weak yusho like last time would net him the promotion. Edit: This is not to be misconstrued as an endorsement of Takakeisho!

Kaio also had good looks and a serious arsenal of techniques that let him cruise at ozeki for as long as he wanted. Takakeisho is better off completing the tsuna run. Tell him I said so.

Naruto is former Kotooshu, right? He was constantly getting injured in matches. I seem to recall tiny balls of fury like Toyonoshima would dislocate his shoulder on a regular basis, and he'd always bounce back next tournament no trouble. Maybe to him injuries simply are business as usual?

Only because Britain didn't have karaoke bars when Rabid John's parents took him out for underage carousing.

Chiyotairyu demonstrated aptly that a rikishi could have a career despite rarely moving forward, provided they did not aim for the sanyaku.

I was more disappointed with the quality of the henka than with the fact of the henka itself. Takakeisho barely even moves for the initial contact. Basically just stands up and puts one hand on Atamifuji's head, pulls his arm with the other and a little shuffle. And Atamifuji is charging heedlessly forward like the 'Giku Express.

I've enjoyed Takakeisho's aggression this tournament. He looks like he wants to win. His extra shove on Atamifuji last night to take a co-lead was *chef kiss* - perfect combination of making sure his opponent was out, whilst saying, "This is MY basho!" I doubt Hoshoryu is going to get any sort of OBSC hand-out tonight from Takakeisho, and it'll be interesting to see how Atamifuji fares against Abi. Match ups are in Abi's favour, but he's already secured his kachikoshi and is too far back to be in contention even if he wins.

No, it's physically impossible for an uninjured rikishi to gambarize properly. It's written into the Code of Conduct.

Shikona change: Takanomojo.

Aoiyama is playing the long game. If you convert his win/loss record into binary, it says "You Suck Hakuh". But since we have no idea who this Hakuh character might be, we'll have to wait a few more tournaments to see what is revealed.

Takakeisho had a yusho-->jun-yusho in his ozeki run and so when he followed that up with the jun-yusho --> yusho in 2020, I figured as a Japanese rikishi that'd be enough to get the rope. And then in 2022-2023 he had 2 jun-yusho and a yusho over four tournaments with double-digit wins in all; I figured he'd get the rope for sure. But obviously he didn't. The problem seems to be that every time he competes, he ends up injured and effectively misses the next tournament as a result. It's probably just as well, though. He's certainly done alright in spite of the injuries so I'm always surprised when people scoff at his yokozuna chances. Edit: By 'competes', I mean that every time he gets healthy enough to actually challenge for the cup, and not those tournaments where he's obviously still injured, and simply trying to scrape together the wins to maintain his rank.

If watching sumo has taught me anything, Kotonowaka will drop four of his first five and guarantee the discussion moot.

We all only wish we could be greeted entering a room the way the ladies greeted Kaio every time he stepped in the ring.

I think Waka misunderstood my Fozzy bear proposal. I wanted them to wear Muppet mawashi, not be jokes on the dohyo. :(

I'm not sure that either Waka or Daieisho will be able to pick up their necessary three wins in their final two matches without some rather preposterous ringside antics involving a botched matta, at least three complicit shimpan, and an explosive ikebana arrangement.

Daieisho clearly showing his Ozeki chops there by helping out a fellow future Ozeki in desperate need of a win. I think that (and three more wins) should clinch the promotion for him.

Junsan's post was almost a good haiku. I edited it down to this... Kinbozan's henka functionally effective lacking aesthetics