Rocks

Yes, the answer to the Yokozuna status is simply to treat then as regular rikishi at this point, a 7 or 8. Thanks to the games scoring. In the past 2 years or so Hak and Kak have only finished the same basho about a 1/3 of the time and it will only get worse. Picking 7/8s for them means at worst you get a minus 1 out of those picks. Which is probably the best you can hope for in the future. BTW, I came up with a even better way to shake up the scoring.

Pretty weird watching Takayasu and Goeido fighting this basho. Basically only putting up real effort against other Ozeki or former Ozeki. You would think they were still cruising through the rest of their schedule like in the past instead of losing left and right.

Unbelievable. Losses everywhere. What a time to have 2 bad days. Lost a tiebreaker in SG to a higher placed winner in position 9. I can not catch a friggin' break this basho.

Chalk one up for the Kyokai.

Wow, tough guy. Good career. Best of luck to him.

Tokushoryu-Shodai Day 14

Well, I picked a heck of a time to go into a slump this basho in dailies. I think my pre-basho lineup for this basho is probably the worst I've ever picked.

So sad to read another article full of cynicism and lies just to promote feminism. For the sport to grow, and for his dojo to flourish, it can’t afford to create barriers. He thinks there’s room in Japan for two versions of the sport: one filled with rituals and theatrics — and only men — and one that is open to both genders and focused on athleticism and competition. “That way, the tradition can be observed by the professional sumo group," he said. "And in the meantime, sumo as a sport can prosper separately.” I wonder how it must feel to be a pro rikishi and have someone who trains rikishi think what you are doing doesn't focus on athleticism and competition. Or that you aren't concerned with it's prosperity. No one involved with any part of this article, outside the female wrestlers, cares in any real way for the sport of sumo or wrestling. Read this article on wrestling and compare to the Washington Post's about the future of any type of wrestling and what focusing on getting women involved leads to: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristidosh/2016/03/17/the-future-of-collegiate-wrestling-isnt-at-division-i-level/#53e79d162fcc

I think that is right. Meisei is technically higher on the banzuke than Enho at M5e to M5w. Was the translation right. Was it supposed to be higher than M5? @Susanoo

How old is he?

60-40 split favoring Kagayaki. That's about what I figured. But I was pretty sure those 60% would be wrong. Kagayaki went against type and pulled it out. Yesterday was a tough day to pick to find a match that could be even AND wasn't a snoozefest like a match between 2 low rankers with losing records. I'm not suggesting the ISP match needs to be evenly split every day. Just that the pick presents some kind of real option for the players to pick either rikishi. Kagayaki is higher ranked and had 1 more win this basho. He should attract more picks. But he and Tochiozan are pretty evenly matched physically. They have both done well this basho and last. They both won the last 3 matches. Tochiozan had a slight edge face to face. Tochiozan was going for KK and Kagayaki had his. There was plenty of reason to pick Tochiozan. He just didn't win.

Yeah, but don't forget he has been manhandled by the best of them. I'm sure to him it was nothing special.

Damn, I knew I should have picked Mitakeumi instead of Kaisei in SG.

Tough day. I wanted Shohozan-Yutakayama but only if Shohozan won. He didn't. Tochiozan - Kagayaki would be my pick.