Churaumi

Kadoban is kadoban, be it 7-8 or 0-15. Sucks about the tsuna run but it seemed like an outside chance even if he’d won the tournament. If he’s really yokozuna material, the chance will come back around if he doesn’t pull a Kisenosato and not take care of his injuries properly.

My coworker and I refer to ourselves as “The Office of Sports No One Cares About.” He is a fan of Bayern-Munich, so we have the Champion’s League on. I’m partial to Real Madrid now, but we may be the only Oklahomans that know those are teams that play a sport. Every other month, we watch sumo (thanks Kintamayama, you make it easy to evangelize the good word of sumo). We have a seasonal guy that helps out sometimes, he makes us watch swimming occasionally. Other people come by and get sucked in, certainly helps having someone that can explain what’s going on. People tend to take to sumo faster, by the way.

But he’s so brittle...

And, they replace Tate-gyoji at a glacial pace. Isn’t it usual for a year or more to go by before they finally appoint one after one retires?

I wanted to see how many cuts they could get from his mage. I guess I’ll just have to wait for Aminishiki.

Also a little guy.

Harumafuji changed the game a bit with his HNH. I’m pretty sure he didn’t invent it, but he perfected it. Is it yokozuna worthy? I don’t know, they are supposed to have dignity above doing tricksome things. Is it also a reason he made it just short of dai-yokozuna status? Absolutely. I am a little disappointed when I see it, but it’s a legitimate strategy. It helps those smaller guys even the field. And, watching Harumafuji do it was a thing of beauty, even if it’s not my favorite move.

The kyokai probably won’t say much until after the next riji meeting. The pre-basho riji meetings are starting to seem more like court dates for wayward rikishi each basho.

He hurt his PR, time to heal: until someone does something worse.

So, did they change since Isegahama beta has no yokozuna, or was it just time?

It is counterintuitive, but helmets have made head injuries worse over time. There is something of a sweet spot where helmets were good enough to protect heads but not so good heads could be used as weapons. Same thing with boxers and MMA fighters; boxers have “safer” gloves, but pound each other over and over. MMA fighters have lighter gloves but don’t grind each other down the same. Bonking noggins can’t be great for rikishi, but I doubt it adds up the same as NFL players. As for the dohyo, I think you’re preaching to the choir here.

Looks like the finger injury is the problem this time, although I think his back and his ankle are going to be recurring problems dragging down his performance for the rest of his career.

...while getting out the ink for the “no yokozuna left on day 5” stamp.

I won’t be surprised either way. He’s hurt, and he’s been broken for a long time now. But I also wouldn’t accuse him or his coaches of showing good judgment the last year or so.

I think Tochinoshin will have a target on his back this time, I think more guys will train to beat him. Also, they tend to perform poorly after big performances like making ozeki or winning a basho unexpectedly. I think Abi and Ryuden are not going to have the benefit of newness this basho, and will be high enough up the banzuke they’d better come with more than they had last time. The yokozuna are all circling the drain at this point, I seriously doubt we’ll ever see a 3 yokozuna basho until some newer, healthier guys get promoted.