Haidouzo

Sounds like I may have saved myself from demotion in SG, too!

I would have assumed I would keep the Baka Cup by default. Perhaps you two could have a Dummkopf Cup or a Verrukt Cup.

Sorry, STI. Just put in my kyujo/kosho for the head-to-heads. My data still isn't ready yet and I will have no time for it before more deadlines, and I'm not sure I really have the hour-ish every day for the 15 days of the tournament. Also probably slightly demoralized from demotion to juryo in Bench. I'll see about May, I suppose.

Uhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... No. Thanks!

Schade.

A miserable basho topped off by a 5-10 in Bench from M14W, which should surely spell demotion. Thankfully safe even with 3-12 in SG (though I've seen what 7-8 does from sanyaku so perhaps I'm speaking too soon), but if I manage to end up in Juryo there this year, that might be just the inspiration I need to intai. 4-11 in DST after a 0 on senshuraku. Already in the bottom group there anyway. 7-8 but 85th of 182 in ISP, so I suppose that might squeak by as effectively a KK for a top 50% finish. 49th of 68 in Odd. 36th of 61 in Salarycap will take me out of sanyaku. 5-10 in Quad will send me well away from sekiwake. Blew it on senshuraku for 7-8 in Toto. Back to old 7-8 8-7 7-8 8-7 tricks there, I suppose. Also blew it on senshuraku in TTT, for a 12-way tie for 8th and the only Masters point... half-point for me this basho. Dead last in Hoshitori for 0-15 from J1. 29th of 75 in JG, which is surely my best pre-basho showing. Just horrible in NC and dropping out of makuuchi there, too. 4-11 in Bingo will send me back to makushita there. 3-12 in POG should have me back in Juryo. 69th of 88 in Roto. 28th of 65 in Oracle for my only other certain pre-basho KK. 9-6 in UDH as of day 13--shouldn't take a lot of luck to keep sekiwake there. I can't imagine it can get much worse. ...only half a point worse. GANBARIMASU for an anniversary of The Greatest Show on the Dohyo in March. (I'm not holding my breath.)

If he's still in WA, it's 5:53AM there right now.

I declared long ago my strong belief that it's easier to yusho in makuuchi than it is in makushita from Ms1-10 (or so). I was strongly disagreed with by many. Here's one more data point.

A win only in Toto, for 7-7. In a tie for 6th in TTT now, thanks to the Machine overly liking Goeido's chances. 3-11 is an absolute nightmare in SG. I may not even face the Panda in March. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET ANOTHER KINBOSHI NOW? GANBARIMASU

Almost all losses. Only a win to hold off MK in Toto. (Plus TUG, where I think I'm looking at another Ozeki-worthy KK. I'm not sure I've had more than one MK.) GANBARIMASU

75 points against. Sick at home today so that's all I've got for now. (Okay, fine--now in a jun-yusho herd in TTT.)

Tiebreak win in Bench, perfect day in DST (far too late...), and a win in ISP. Overruled the Machine again and it cost me the win in Toto, but 5-6 instead of 6-5 shouldn't make much difference. Also cost me a point in SG, but that only brought me another loss in the Baka Cup. Lost in TTT but still tied for the yusho lead, now with two more in the mix. TTT is it. GANBARIMASU

I read the news and assumed Chiyo was withdrawing, so I played the games that way--thankfully. I suppose this ends up counting as overruling the Machine, which is not the first time this basho. Turned a TTT loss into a win. Wins in DST, ISP, Quad, Toto, and TTT. 5-way tie for the yusho in TTT thanks to a no-show from Kotononami. TTT has been one of the strongest games for the Machine. I'd want to guess that much is just dumb luck, but this is years of playing now. GANBARIMASU

Evidence suggests so ;) It has one strong (mid-basho) adaptive variable, but it's obviously not cutting it this time around.

Wins only in Quad (and TUG), which will end in 0 Masters points. Thankfully, only three people won in all of TTT, so I'm still going strong there, at least. For being second-to-last in total points, dead last in AAD for, and alone in the "lead" for AAD against, 3-6 isn't all that much to complain about. The Machine may be a little slow on the uptake when it comes to sudden changes in overall abilities (or just "results") from a rikishi, but is that really going on on a large scale here? GANBARIMASU

For what it's worth, I had it as the second strongest pick between both divisions, with Endo better than 69% to win. I was surprised to see it selected for both games, and I'm not all that surprised by the disparity in pick choices, either. Whether harder-to-call bouts make for better fantasy games is an entirely different question.

Wins in Bench, TTT, and the Baka Cup. Looks like I escaped day 8 a little less bruised than some of my cohorts here. I think I only see real yusho contention in TTT. GANBARIMASU

FYI, if you use(d) the Surveymonkey for your entry, you can simply make another entry. He'll always use the last entry you submit.

Won in Odd (modestly), Quad, Toto, TTT, and DST. Good enough for a disturbingly large tie for 4th in TTT, which simply must be my best current chance for points. How late did Irodori withdraw?! I checked the NSK list so late I thought I knew they couldn't possibly get listed any later.

Lost everywhere but ISP and TTT. This is getting sad. Completely randomized DST entries would almost surely have a better total score right now than I do. The Machine has lost it in DST over multiple basho. I'm near the bottom of the bottom group now. GANBARIMASU

Lost in every single game but Bench. And that includes TUG, where I somehow put in my 3rd choice as my backup, which broke the Yok-run winning streak I had going on. After missing TTT on Day 1, this is the kind of thing that just kills me. GANBARIMASU

When you get right down to it, pandas and sloths in the wild are constantly streaking.

I believe just a beer bottle with proper trajectory and velocity should do the trick for both.

Wins all around except for Quad (1-3) and DST (and Odd). (And the Baka Cup. If it weren't for our trend of large leads and large comebacks, I'd be more worried.) GANBARIMASU