RabidJohn

Mr Gould does do a good job with these: Toyonoshima retirement event (exclusive footage): 豊ノ島の断髪式 - YouTube

Is that 'next', as in 'not the next'?

Terunofuji's knees prevent him from being completely dominant all the time, so I think we'll see at least one other rikishi bag a yusho before the year's end. Quite a few former winners in makuuchi still, and I'm not a statistician but my feeling is that they're a bit more likely to win than someone new. I'd love to see Hoshoryu, Kiribayama, Mr 66DDDD and a number of others yusho, though. I don't recall seeing one won by anyone I thought undeserving, so I'm always happy for the winner.

Which is why I always disagreed with the notion that he was a choker, tbh. That was the rep he had here, though... He was an exceptionally good rikishi who could probably have been a dai-yokozuna, if only he hadn't had the Mongolian contingent to deal with. I didn't expect such a large tangential discussion on this topic!

It was terrifically unfortunate that he succumbed to a career-ending injury just 1 basho after finally putting to rest his reputation as a choker. Maybe not that specific result, but I said it for comic effect rather than as fact. Nowt wrong with my memory in this case.

The ozeki Kisenosato I remember would've gone 11-0 then choked and lost 4 straight.

I've been wondering about Terunofuji being given Shodai, an already kadoban ozeki, tomorrow. Does the recent revamp of the judging department mean the traditionalists are back in charge of torikumi making now? It would look odd now if he didn't get Mitakeumi on senshuraku.

There I was thinking Mitakeumi would have a very hard time avoiding kadoban, but considering the recent trend for senshuraku match-ups to be more relevant to the yusho race than banzuke position you're probably right. If he can beat Takakeisho tomorrow, he could well be given a lower-ranked contender on Sunday to have a better shout at a KK. Still, not a brilliant outing for him this time. I thought Takakeisho looked as good as I've seen him recently. I loved the nekodamashi and the fact that he kept trying throughout what was quite a lengthy bout for him. I've got to fancy Terunofuji for the yusho now.

Have you considered that Shodai may be the one actually raking in the pay-off money?

No, it was five independent botched decisions on whether or not to raise a hand. I thought there was a mark in the sand where Kotonowaka's heel touched out first. Some seriously iffy judging from the revamped crew. I'd like to see more rikishi taking a well-if-you're-not-going-to-I-am stance, like Hakuho did that time (successfully as I recall).

One day I'll remember what happens when it's the 1st post on a new page...

The top guys haven't been showing much quality, but there has been some quality shown further down makuuchi ranks; Aoiyama and Tamawashi have both brought their A-game, for example. I think that's reflected in the topsy-turvy day 8 leaderboard. Six co-leaders on 6-2 looks more like juryo, but I quite like the suspense. I've got no idea who is going home with the yusho.

I also appreciated the Oho-Yutakayama bout. A bit of everything in there. I'm not disappointed with Wakatakakage, though. I've no doubt everyone likely to face him will have been studying videos and noticed his tendency to come in hard and low. Some have managed to take advantage of that. I'll only be disappointed if Wakatakakage doesn't adjust to make himself less vulnerable in future. Aoiyama and Sadanoumi as day 7 co-leaders - wut? Very different commentator format today. I saw Magaki was there, but who was the lady?

It was an interview with KONISHIKI (either with Moti or John) where he talked about the mid-bout henka being a valid tactic, but cheap/bad when used at the start. I was surprised to hear him refer to mid-bout sidestepping as henka, but I also listen to the Japanese commentary and often hear mention of henka in bouts where the tachi-ai was perfectly straightforward but other sidestepping took place.

Ooh, Tamawashi really is in beast mode! Btw, a henka is simply sidestepping at any point in the bout, not just at the tachi-ai. Most of you seem to admire nifty tawara footwork and never think of it as henka, but it is. Current leader Aoiyama uses the henka as his main technique: push and thrust, henka and pull - really, how many times have you seen him do just that? The henka that is so disliked is one that avoids the impact at the tachi-ai. I get that: we want a show, and bouts like Hoshoryu vs Wakatakakage and Mitakeumi vs Hokutofuji don't give us that. What I don't get is why no one whines about Ura. He may not henka at the tachi-ai very often, but he nearly always avoids any tachi-ai impact. That's not sumo.