rzombie1988

Aoiyama is never good. That's why he's where he is at. Once the intial tachi-ai slapdowns are done he's done. Thoughts: - Not a real exciting day to today. - Eagerly awaiting Hakuho/Harumafuji. Been watching Hak and what he does is this - he does a right forearm then slips both hands under the belt and goes forward. Harumafuji always works to the left so if anyone can beat him, it's him. - Wish Terunofuji would just take the last two days off. He got the KK and he has no other purpose right now. - I think we've shown that the Koto basho win was a fluke. I didn't see much of it, so of course he won that one - just too many days off that kept me behind. We know what his strengths are(can get low, grabs the belt and has a solid belly pushing game) and we know his weaknesses(going too low, not looking and really being limited overall). - Thought Satoyama should have been able to pull off the win today. He needs to use his submarine move to grab the belt under better and then lift up some to get the best leverage. - I saw that Ishiura match and was rather impressed. - I liked seeing Ikioi out slap Gaga. Nice job. - Kyokutaisei is staying alive at 6-7. Tommorow: Not expecting any real surprises as a whole. Hak should be able to beat Koto easy, Goeido should be able to take out Ikioi and Kisen should pick up the win. Curious to see who wins the battle for the 3rd yokozuna this basho with Kak and Harumafuji.

Hopefully but a slim chance. This basho's Haru and Kaku have less than 20% of chance to beat Hakuho and Geeku has about 5%. Less than 50% even added together. The chance of one of the two-loss rikishi to win the remaining 3 is about 70%. So the chance of seeing a play-off is about 30%. Thank You very Much for taking the time to compute the odds ;-) 30% is 1 out of 3, that's actually not so bad. If this was last year, might be less than 10% (Eh?) //Old-School Pro-Wrestling Fans// -Imagine trying to compute the odds with Scott Steiner Math (Laughing...) //Back to Real Life// Perhaps the 3 yusho drought has gotten to the GOAT Scott Steiner was exactly what I was thinking but you beat me to it Scott Steiner's sumo commentary script: And here's the math promo referenced above:

Thoughts: - Hakuho just blew Goeido out of the water. Goeido lost at the style he's been doing and badly. I think Harumafuji's style is going to clash with Hak though. - Kisenosato was fine but should have won. He's back to hoping for people to lose...again. - Notice how Koto won today. He didn't blind rush in. He looked where he was going and saved himself from a henka. Aminishiki didn't even think to try it because he knew. - Terunofuji hit a Harumafuji special today in a surprising turn of events - Ichinojo went back to being passive today. Because the stalling was so helpful in knocking him down to the lower half of the banzuke. - Sokokorai was really good today. I don't know if he has the body or style but he seems smarter than the average sumo.

Some quick thoughts on today: - Hak was just too fast and really blew Kisenosato out of the water. It's not over though at all. I do think Hak will take a loss between Kakuryu, Harumafuji and Goeid0, whereas I prefer Kise's chances over Goeido, Harumafuji and Terunofuji. - Yay, we remembered how to beat Kotoshogiku again. - As I said, Goeido never touched on the tachi-ai and it shouldn't have even gone on. - Terunofuji's got an uphill battle ahead of him. - Thought Amuru won today - Ichinojo was back to being passive today and good job by Ikioi to push him out despite the size differences.

Goeido only touched with one hand.

Daily thoughts: - One of the best sumo days we've had in a while. Awesome stuff from top to bottom. - Kisenosato was great today. He has his chin gripped so he slaps the arm away. Somehow Kak gets him on the edge and literally just has to push in but can't get it done. Kisenosato then jumps with his foot he has clamped down. Kisenosato grabs the right arm, turns his right hip just a bit and turns it into a throwdown. Awesome job. Not so awesome for Kakuryu. He had the match won twice but came up blank. This is one of the best comebacks I've ever seen along with Harumafuji's rebound jump to win the basho for Terunofuji a few bashos ago. Kisenosato's footwork was unreal. - TAKARAFUJI bulliying Tochinoshin. The man who never looks imposing outmuscled one of the stronger rikishi. Could not believe he lifted him. Again Tochinoshin just has awful form. As he is finding out, THERE IS NOTHING TO GRAB AT THE SHOULDER LINE. He just stands further straight up where he loses all of his power and leverage. - Goeido and Hakuho are both looking super strong and aggressive. Where has this Goeido been for the last year? I can't understand how these wrestlers get into slumps where they got nothing but then get aggressive and become unstoppable trains. - Hakuho has to be looking like the favorite at this point in time. He's just running over people. - Koto went wrong today. If you watch the video he was standing straight up and had no grip whatsoever, which is very different from how he wins. - Harumafuji basically lost when missing a thrust today. One of the faults I've been seeing with Harumafuji this basho is that if he attacks and it misses, he looks just dumb founded and ends up in crouched stance, reduced to pushing people off. Toyoshima was smart in turning to the left hand side today. Watch Harumafuji's fake henka's, they are always on the right side. - It's getting hard to watch Ikioi. I feel like I've seen this with him a million times. Strong first week, complete explosion in the middle when he gets the contenders and then back to beating on people lower than him. Kaisei was really good today though and does what I want to see Ichinojo and Tochinoshin do - get up close, use your mass to grab the inner belt and just push to victory. Good job for Kaisei. - Again, when Ichinojo is actually aggressive and not stalling, he wins! Although he is a bit down, he has a shot at a playoff if he avoid any losses. I like aggressive Ichinojo, that's the one who got the Jun-Yusho, not stalling Ichinojo. - Kotoyuki is the perfect foil for Aoiyama. All Aoiyama does is stand up straight and slap. Well, Koto is really short so he gets a ton of leverage when Aoiyama tries to stand. Good job too in beating Aoiyama in the slap downs. - Am honestly concerned as to whether Terunofuji can KK or not. His best hope is that Myogiryu and Ichinojo keep winning and get an Ozeki or Yokozuna match. Then he might be able to avoid a Yokozuna or Ozeki match and have a shot at an easier win. - Ura should be concerned. That Sato loss hurt him bad. He can't afford to lose again. Tommorow: Hakuho vs Kisenosato - The championship match most likely. Kisenosato wins this and I'm ready to call the tournament his. It's gonna be a hard one though. What I noticed today was that when Hakuho grabbed the belt of Terunofuji, he turned his head blinding himself. Kise's gonna have to get a palm strike or a chin grip ready and he's going to have to be ready to turn. With Hakuho's aggressive and striking nature lately, I think this is the way to go. Both Kisenosato and Hakuho have Goeido left. Kisenosato has the easier schedule with Goeido, Harumafuji and Terunofuji. Hak's got Kakuryu, Harumafuji and Goeido. Kotoshogiku vs Terunofuji - Koto's likely out of it but I think if he does what got him here - getting low, grabbing a belt and shimmying to the edge, I think he can get the win. Terunofuji is just too slow and not there right now. Goeido vs Harumafuji - Anything can happen but I see a Goeido win here. Ichinojo vs Ikioi - Ich has been dominating him 4-1. If he is aggressive I think he wins. If the matchmakers forget about him he might be able to sneak in.

Yeah bull, he knows what he is doing. He's been exceptionally rough all tournament. If he truly didn't know what he was doing, he would have been continuously doing these things for years and he wasn't.

The basho's have definitely been more interesting. We had 4 different basho winners last year. That's the most since 2012. We have about 5 possible contenders this time around. Hak has at least another year or two at minimum. He's not going anywhere.

Koto beat himself. He would have fallen if Kisenosato would have stupidly sat there. Kisenosato would have been the only thing holding him up.

Thoughts on today: - Truthfully, Kotoshogiku beat himself. He was too low and Kisenosato barely moved. - Terunofuji was not good today. He was standing straight up and Toyonoshima should have beaten him. - Goeido's looked pretty decent all basho. I guess the threat of demotion has fired him up. - Shodai was brilliant today against Gaga. - Ichinojo actually wins when he doesn't wrestle passively. Will he figure this out? - Was surprised there was no henka from Aminishiki today. Going inside was not the right call. - This is Kisenosato's best start since 5/2013.

Almost forgot everything as soon as I watched it but I'll try to add some comments: - Koto's win today was legit. I watched it a few times and thought it was legit. - Kisenosato really needs a Hakuho loss. I think he can win the tournament if Hakuho goes to 2 losses before the Ozeki/Yokozuna matches. I expect Koto to rush him tomorrow and if it is a legit match, I think he can throw him. Kakuryu is not at his best in my opinion, Harumafuji is possibly out of the picture and there's no way Goeido goes under 3 losses. - Terunofuji has hit a cold streak after looking like a contender early. He seems a bit tired or weak. - Hakuho was my favorite wrestler for a while but I hate to see him abuse other wrestlers for no reason at all. Let's see how mighty he feels when his kids start watching him basically take cheap shots after the match someday and have questions. I don't think he will win the basho though. He is using a completely different style than usual which makes me think an injury is hurting his usual style. - Was checking out Tochinoshin's match history and it's pretty consistent around the M2 level and above. He rarely gets more than 2-3 wins in the first week. I seriously hope a coach can assist his weakpoints. I don't think he's getting the KK with no losses to give. - Ichinojo is back to his usual ways again with his passiveness. He should be able to get the KK though. - Aoiyama literally had the win and then gave up the slaps. He has no belt technique at all so he basically gave it up when he went in. - Big credit to Sokokurai for hanging in there today. I don't know if he would have had the same luck vs Hakuho but that was not a bad loss at all. Like Amuuru, I think he's too small and doesn't really have the style to make it much further than Maegashira. - A total shame that Osunaarashi is down in Juryo this basho. Yes he is against weaker competition, but I've never seen him look so good. Excited for tommorow. Kise/Koto is potentially the championship match. Will the OBSC(Ozeki Back Scratchers Club) come together? Hoping Ikioi can pull off an upset.

What exactly Kotoshogiku has done to expand his range of offense and especially defense in the last six months I don't know, but it sure as hell is working. He beat Hiroshima from a situation he would haven't even reached last year. He hasn't slipped/fell on his face in a while. He did that on multiple days in bashos in the last year. I also think he is looking a bit more at his opponent to avoid henka's.

He's 2-2 now after another win today. Has lost a lot of muscle / weight since he joined which isn't uncommon. Needed to break down and resculpt that stiff body to a sumo one. It's been tough but it always is. So much stuff goes on in sumo that never makes that news. Suffice it to say that it's a hard life and not for most people. He's pretty much on the schedule I imagined when I helped him join. The injuries and surgery were setbacks but you have to expect them given the nature of the thing. He needs a year or two more before he can start to put it all together I think. Probably another 30-40 kilos too eventually. In my opinion he has to stick with the long slaps aka Akebono. Not liking his posture at all. He also has to stop going for the back of the belt like Tochinoshin.

Some thoughts from the last two days: - I do think Toyonoshima threw against Kotoshogiku. His flip is unexplainable, especially at the speed he did it. - I've figured out why Tochinoshin loses. Every match, he wraps his arms around and goes for the back of the belt, never the front. You can't do anything solely with the back of the belt. You need the front or side of the belt as well. He never goes inside for the belt, always around or outside. - Ichinojo actually looked liked he cared near the tail end. - Amuuru looked strong the last few days. If he can get inside before he gets knocked silly he has a good shot at winning. Don't know if his style can work in the upper ranks though. - Felt bad for Sokokurai against Terunofuji. Soko had no shot of winning that whatsoever. - Ikioi vs Kisenosato should be exciting tommorow. Ikioi is 0-10 against him, so he's gonna have to be on the ball. - Also checked out all of Osunaarashi's matches. His slaps are lighting fast right now and he's totally in beast mode. Would not be shocked at a 14-1.

I guess i was misread there. What i was trying to say was exactly because Aoiyama seemed "prepared" for Hakuho this time that his was struggling. And yes, is because with Aoiyama at least he used to dispatch him in a matter of seconds. Aoiyama really wasn't that good today. A decent start but he was completely out of ideas after Hakuho got close to him. He should have been able to win it but he didn't even try for the belt.

Some thoughts today: - What has gotten into Hakuho? I'm waiting for him to just nut shot someone at this stage. I guess he's thinking he's deteriorating to pull some of the stuff he is pulling. - Aoiyama really showed his limits today. He had Hakuho hugged to him. Does he try to grab a belt or at least an arm? Nope. Once his oshidashi plan fails he's lost in space. I believe he could have won had he either grabbed the belt or tried to lift Hakuho. It's amazing to me how you could be doing sumo for so long and not even have the basics down. - Today's loss was probably the end of Koto's Yokozuna run. I'm thinking the winner of this tournament goes 13-2 and he's going to lose at least one when it's Ozek/Yokozuna time. - Ichinojo actually moved today, but he better enjoy the streak while it lasts. - Good to see Shohozan get on the board. - Kisenosato has the best shot at winning a tournament since he's had in a while. Losing early is something he does always but without losing early and with a lot of people not looking great, he's got a shot. - IKIOI lookin' good. I think we are going to have a contested tournament in the last few days. With the Yokozuna's not on the ball and some people overacheiving, I could see some tie scores going into the last day.

Kotoyuki was really smart today. Harumafuji relies on getting around you. Well he grabbed him by the chin. Your body ain't moving if your head doesn't go with it. Good stuff. Terunofuji is looking really solid. He's doing what got him here - getting a solid stance, grabbing the belt with both hands and pushing. I feel like Shohozan has given up. He looks completely different than the guy who grabbed double digit wins a few bashos ago. Takarafuji seemed to be in outer space earlier in his match today. He might have won if he were paying attention. Please don't give Ichinojo any love. His effort does not deserve it at all. He's not going anywhere by stalling. He needs to be doing what Terunofuji or Kotoshogiku is doing. I really want Ikioi to succeed. He has the talent and he's clearly around Komusubi rank when he doesn't explode. Good luck for him tommorow though against Terunofuji.

What? No. Everybody loses from time to time. I don't remember wich, but is not long ago since hahuko started with a loss in the first day and all wins from there. What "era" are you talking about? Last time he got a yusho after losing on the first day was 2008 I have to admit, that my first thought after watching him lose easily like that was that maybe, just maybe, the era of Hakuho invincibility is over... Agreed. The one thing I always said about Hakuho was that he doesn't lose early. Oops. Some thoughts so far: - We seem to be getting matches closer in rank than usual on the first two days, or at least it seems like it. Nice refresher from the "squash matches" that we call them in wrestling - Matches with a higher ranked wrestler vs a lower ranked wrestler resulting in an easy win. - Conspiracy theory time. Yep, day 2 and I'm gonna start it. Takayasu looked like he gave up a bit early there on Day 1. I'll be shocked if Koto doesn't get the nod. It's best for buisness if he does. 2 Yok's, with one being Hak, losing on the first day? I dunno man. - Terunofuji does look good so far - Ichinojo hasn't learned anything and might be in Juryo next basho. His stalling hasn't worked for the last how many bashos and it's not gonna work this time.

Damn they punished Osunaarashi. Poor guy. Juryo might as well be M17-M26 with all of the names there.

And Tochiazuma and Kaio long before that, too.Some people just don't want to learn anything, no matter how many times it's being explained to them. And some people will always stick their nose in at any chance they get to be nasty.

How many people seriously believed that Kakuryu was going to convert his tsuna run? I wasn't around back then, but his record didn't seem very Yokozuna-like up until the point he won 28 matches in 2 tournaments. Now he averages just a notch above Kisenosato, and Kisenosato isn't doing too well himself. If there really had been lingering problems from injuries that are now cleared up, there's no reason that he can't put up another result as good as the last one. The question of whether he actually will is up in the air, but his most recent performance shows that it's certainly possible, and he didn't exactly win his matches by flukes; he showed good quality sumo. Even if he is a bit of a one-trick pony, it's a very solid trick. Conversely, judging from the polls taken at the beginning of 2014, there were lots of people that assumed that Kisenosato would convert his own tsuna run, or at least manage to get promoted some time during that year, but that didn't even come close to happening. Kak didn't deserve the nod. They literally changed the rule for him, since every Yokozuna prior for the last 15 years had to win two in a row. His last cheapskate tournament win didn't exactly justify his promotion either.

If he wins the next tournament I think they would have no choice. If he finishes in a tie and losses in a playoff with a 14-1/13-2, I think he would get promoted judging by Kakuryu's promotion. This is what I was afraid of. The new standard is now a win + a 2nd place finish. Anyone who gets it and doesn't get promoted only has to say "But Kakuryu...". IMO, Koto needs 3 strong tournaments in a row to show he is Yokozuna worthy since his wins for the last year have been 9, 8, 6, 8, 11 and 8. I'll be the first one to raise a stink considering Terunofuji got a 2nd + a title last year and didn't get it because he was Sekiwake. I didn't see the tournament but if Hakuho is losing tournaments to Kotoshogiku, he's really dipped.

He's going to get smoked. Seriously stands no chance whatsoever. He should have looked into going in to pro wrestling instead. Don't see much interest for the Akebono/Sapp fight. Both are a lot less famous than they used to be and it's already been done. Plus everyone knows neither one is really good at kickboxing. They should have tried to get Asashoryu instead as that would be fresh.

As long as he gets his weight up a bit, I imagine he will get into Juryo by default. Gaga and Aoiyama aren't very good but stay in Makuuchi, so I think that's a reasonable goal. He will have to get good at all aspects of Sumo and not rely on the usual style for bigger guys if he wants to be an Ozeki or a Yok though. I did see someone bring up Kagayaki, but the thing is, he's a foreigner in Japan and he HAS to make it over a Kagayaki who can back to real life without much a problem. I realy wouldn't worry about him.

I don't think you could jump Ikioi over Yoshikaze, not with Yosh getting the KK. I think Tochiozan S Yoshikaze Ikioi K Aminishiki would be the best set up and I do like me some Tochinoshin. I'm no expert on this and probably shouldn't be doing this, but for fun maybe, I'd do: Tochiozan S Yoshikaze Ikioi K Aminishiki Tochinoshin M1 Kotoyuki Kaisei M2 Kyokushuho Aoiyama M3 Ichinojo - Thought this one seemed fair. Osunaarashi M4 Tokushoryu Myogiryu M5 Shohozan - Myo could probably go lower, Shohozan could probably go higher. Kind of rough with M1-M4 being weak and M6-M11 doing rather well.