_the_mind_

dont be too hard on yourself, but also dont take any back talk from yourself. you will not tolerate any of your shenanigans :-)

You sure know both well to make such an accusation. (Showing respect...) I surely do not know them at all, but the fact is that they are not suing the Kyokai for the sake of their tarnished honor but for a quite good buck of fivers... and how and where exactly would someone sue to regain their honor?

usually linemen are wearing helmets and sumotori do not.... i guess that makes a biiiiiig difference if we are going to nitpick here, Linemen rarely get hit in the head at all, ever. its illegal to hit a guy in the head in football(or to tackle leading with your head), and as far as linemen go they rarely are in a posture to actually get hit in the head with anything other then a slapping motion, which isnt directed at the head at all. the people in danger of getting hit in the head are the skill positions because the defenders are looking to take them down, both players will have a running start at eachother. running backs(especially), and recievers(to a much lesser amount) generally put their head down in an attempt to bull over the defender. in an attempt to get leverage, the defender leans into the impending hit to stop him and is running just as fast at him. the speed at which the collisions happen is where the real problem happens. concusions can also happen on plays where the player wasnt even hit in the head, just the force of being stopped or hit while running extremely fast can cause injury to the brain. http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/s...physics/4212171 thats a good link to illistrate the forces involved with NFL tackling. the helmets help but by no means make it safe, not even close. dont forget these guys also practice every day and hit eachother hard from the start of camp to the end of the season.....its not 365 days a year like sumo, but id guess the forces in football are significantly stronger given the speed and force involved but generally poor technique is what gets guys hurt

Why do people think changing nationality shows nothing? That's illogical. he didnt say it shows nothing, he said it doesnt show proof of devotion, and it doesnt. its illogical to assume everyone does a certain thing for the exact same reasons.

Do you want to see people in ozumo who are only there for the money for a few years and intend to feck off out of Japan afterwards? how many years is the average sumo career? what percentage of rikishi that retire do not stay with the kyokai? ...for them, why does it matter if they stay in japan after their sumo lives or not? what does it matter to sumo(there is no shortage of oyakatas)? what does it matter to you? if they choose to leave the kyokai why should it matter to you? japanese rikishi or not. what is the difference if they are in japan or not? i dont personally care if they intend to stay or go once they retire, i care about what they do while they are in sumo. they are entitled to have a life after they retire....it sounds like you are suggesting you would rather have inferior fighters just for the sake of your pureist ideals. ...thats really not the way to broaden the general appeal of this sport we are all a fan of. thus crushing the support even more then it already is.

You are "forced" to change nationality now if you want to become a cop in Japan (or an oyakata), but you don't see people screaming and tearing their hair out about that. Getting nationality is a long and difficult process in Japan. Far from being forced people who change want it for the benefits it brings to their life. It's usually only people who have a deep connection to the country who apply. That should include rikishi. Do you want to see people in ozumo who are only there for the money for a few years and intend to feck off out of Japan afterwards? first, it IS being forced if you make a rule for it(isnt that what you suggested initially? or did i misread it), thats what rules are. if it wasnt a forced action then it wouldnt be a rule. your post suggests that no one would go through the process of obtaining citizenship just for the sake of work/income. it doesnt matter how long it takes, people will do it for money. you would be VERY surprised to know the lengths people will go to make money. as was just suggested in the post above, you cant say why people do what they do. to assume it would make them more dedicated is just wrong. it just is. ...and as also said, why does this bais get thrown on foreigners ONLY? no japanese ever came into sumo, got paid, and bailed on them before? where is their inate devotion to sumo? the kind that you only get from being a japanese born rikishi as for the comparison with a cop, i would say that is well off base as im sure cops dont function under the "entertainers visa" for a probationary time period. law enforcement and "entertainment" are extremely different by nature. the same way a president or prime minister MUST be native. its apples and oranges. are those japanese cops still functional cops if they come in a group to another country? no. is the kyokai still the kyokai if they go to another country? yes. so its different and a bad comparison. ...further, i think pretty much every country is going to not hire you in their law enforcement if you arent a citizen. but what countries force you to be a citizen to entertain in their country? as for the oyakatas having to be citizens, there isnt a lack of talented oyakatas to make them rethink that rule yet, so it is also apples and oranges when comparing the rikishi themselves.

anyone who was forced to take citizenship and then had a less then happy parting with the kyokai would be the ones to blow this up in the court. ....roho comes to mind very quickly. someone who is looking to get back at the kyokai and willing to take it to any length to do so. they could try to claim in court some sort of damages (emotionally or financially) that were encoured by being forced to change nationality in order to work(i.e. i cant go back home now, they wont let me.....or i face ridicule now).....whether it would hold up in court or not i dont know. it would surely also have a discrimination case wrapped up into it. and as a (now)japanese citizen, he would have the right to make these claims. ....i dont know japanese law at all, but that kind of court case would be a big winner in the US. lawyers would be lined up to take that case.

Seems to me (=utter layman) that at the speed at which the rikishi come out of tachiai, one can avoid a butt only when one has some prior idea where the opponent's head is moving I think the heads are colliding far more often than we are aware of it. It all happens so fast an d unless the replay is focused in the upper body at just the right angle we might miss it. This is of course possible, but why then don't we see more blood (from cuts) or swollen foreheads on the dohyo? just a thought here, but the lights above the dohyo look like they are probably hot, hot enough to make you sweat....that plus the warm ups before your match would be that maybe you are sweaty already. if the head area is sweaty, the heads would probably slip easier then they would with dry on dry skin contact. so less friction? = less cuts? i really dont know, just a thought.

the fact that taka might be a drama queen and might be mean and rude to others doesnt negate the fact he might have good ideas on how to help the kyokai's system and such. ....just because you dont work well with others doesnt mean you dont have good ideas, it only means you might not get others to accept said ideas, it doesnt invalidate them though.

I really cant believe the nerve of some people acting like someone who is an ozeki for over a decade is a disgrace to their rank.

when he breaks the record for most losses, then your snide comment is necissary, but as of right now 531 losses is nowhere near 808 wins, even only getting 8 wins per 7 losses

between his wrestling abilities and hers, greatest wrestling offspring ever?

i think this slightly exaggerates the point, which wasnt to take off a year every time you get a bruise. but that there should be an option if you blow your knee out instead of just retirement or attempting to fight through it when you need some kind of reconstructive surgery. similar to your broken arm, i wouldnt have called that "every time you get hurt" but something major enough that you should not fight through it, but might try to do it prematurely if you had no other option and the doctors said all you need is 6 weeks of rest. (however legiments dont heal on their own like bones do so the example isnt the best but the point is still valid) with the knee issues specifically it seems like if you tear one of the more necessary tendons, if you dont get surgery and attempt to keep fighting through it that you are infact putting more strain on the rest of the join and making it more likely to do further damage and eventually get to the point where you simply have to have surgery but at that point you need a whole knee reconstruction, which could mean you never fight again. where as getting it fixed initially might have cost you some time fighting but you could actually come back from it, rather then the degeneration of ignoring it costing someone their career.

Right ankle sprain with ligament damage, estimated recovery time three weeks. can someone tell me how it is that in sports like the NFL, legiment damage (especially in the knee) generally means you are done for the year, requires surgery and months of rehab, but in sumo it tends to be only a few weeks? and rarely requires surgery is it the degree of injuries being significanly different between the sports? or do rikishi just fight through the pain while likely needing surgey that the kyokai wont allow them to miss time without a huge demotion?

was all of that necessary? really. we got this gist of your comment after the first sentence