since_94

Seconded. Really looking forward to his return.

He appears to have lost a lot of weight very quickly after announcing his retirement. Must be very self disciplined. I wonder if he has a personal trainer to help with whatever regimen he’s been on.

I had a similar thought. That would be placing a huge burden on the grandchildren, what with setting up grandpa’s microphone, helping him log in, answering all those “Can they see me now?” questions, etc.

Jonidan winner 15 East Nogami looks like a monster. Massive trapezius muscles. Definitely one to watch, and I'll suspect we'll be watching him in prime time soon. Daishomaru and Hidenoumi both had very good results 11-4 in Juryo. Are those career bests at that level for them? I suspect so. Pity about Akiseyama and Kotonowaka both missing out on the sansho that were conditional, but them's the breaks. They both fought really well, especially Kotonowaka. Tochinoshin didn't bring much this tournament. See how far his 4-11 drops him from M4. Surprised to see Onosho dominate Hoshoryu as he did on Day 15. Both fighters impressed this tournament and finish very respectably on 9-6. Kotoshoho got VERY lucky to squeek out a second victory against Sadanoumi. I thought he lost. By a wide margin. The makushita kettei-sen was awesome to watch. With Jonidan and Jonokuchi tacked on, that was a whole bunch of bonus excitement on day 15. Very happy about Terunofuji being on an(other) Ozeki run. Wondering about Ikioi's future plans. All in all, a great tournament, I'd say. Lots of long bouts, some rare kimarite. No one got sick. A minor miracle in itself. Can't wait for March.

So many missions accomplished, so little time. Do we keep watching now? Yes, of course we do. We are so lucky to be able to enjoy our favorite sport—and a tournament of this quality and entertainment value in particular— in times like these. Hats of to the NSK and all the rikishi and oyakata and support staff for making it happen, perhaps against the odds and perhaps even against the dictates of prudence, from a public health perspective.

Dunno. Haven’t watched replays beyond what the stream showed but my feeling was torinaoshi was the right call. Was rooting for Akiseyama for sure, tough.

I heard broken arm. So at least not a throwing in of the proverbial towel after a MK and likely demotion.

Those 3 playoffs were certainly an interesting spectacle. Especially the 9-man knockout format Makushita kettei-sen. I’ve never seen the like. Took the sting out of Tsurugisho’s anticlimactic win by fusensho in Juryo. I hope Ikioi will heal up, but his career is winding down, methinks. Still have Makuuchi to go. This basho has already brought its share of novelty and been a real treat to watch.

Agree fully with posters opining on how entertaining today’s bouts were. Standouts, from memory: Ura, Terunofuji, Terutsuyoshi, Kotonowaka, Takarafuji. Kiribayama / Midorifuji was great, too. What a fun rainy afternoon of beer and fights that was.

Ikioi make-koshi. At J13. I wonder if that’s the last time we’ll see him on the dohyo...

Hoshoryu wins by uchigake, no less. Not a technique we see every day. That should silence some of the criticism about over reliance on henka this week. On another note, Takarafuji was toying with his prey in that one against Tobizaru.

Seriously. I was likewise shocked to think that people sink to Reddit to discuss Sumo. I can only imagine the “discourse” that transpires there. <<Shudder>>The horror. The horror.

Disagree, but would have preferred to see him prevail.

Aoiyama looking both ungainly and ungracious in a loss against a much smaller opponent in Midorifuji. Grabbing the leg was unnecessary, ineffectual and looked petulant IMO.

I think there will be a lot of divergent opinions on both bouts. Better to do them over when they’re that close, IMO.