Chankomafuji

Your comment is a prime example of this being a political question. Read this statement of yours - "I support a shift toward more egalitarian treatment of all human beings in sumo ...". Not only I find this extremely political and populist, but above all I find it dangerous. If one is still questions the political nature of this topic, please read the quoted passage few times if needed.

I just want to say that I'm shocked to see this topic. I check daily for news and info from the sumo world and seeing this being the last commented topic on the "Ozumo Discussions" subforum, without any over exaggeration, stunned me for couple of minutes, making me stare at the monitor with an open mouth and asking myself "Did I enter a wrong website by any chance?". I ... I cannot describe this!

Let's imagine this is the kind of response by the NSK. But what about Hakuho? The negativity surrounding him has tremendously increased over the last 2 years. His popularity is at rock bottom level. How can one join the ranks of others who criticize him so much lately? This whole environment is why I question how beneficial for Hakuho is to become an oyakata. Which leads to the next question, In my opinion I see a dramatic difference concerning the attitude towards Hakuho at the time of his Citizenship application (and we all know it takes a while) compared to today. That kind of tension was just not present back then.

It surely will be yet another unpopular opinion, but I start to question myself why would Hakuho pursue a career as an Oyakata at all. Imagine a day where Hakuho announces his retirement and completely cuts his relationship with the NSK and instead do some private project for his future, denying this pseudo-zealous clique that is the NSK many opportunities to defame him. I want Hakuho to give them a small hint of such possibility just to see what the reaction will be.

This occurrence is nowhere near curious - there are plenty of examples in life where hate (even if "hate" is certainly not the most appropriate term in our Hakuho example) is vocal and support (even if majority) is silent. Now the way you name both sides as the "general fans of ozumo" with the "recognizable SF usernames and avatars" and the "dedicated fanboys of an individual" with the usernames & avatars you barely ever see implies quite hard lines of understandings. And perhaps the beyond-YDC level of zealotry of the group that you so precisely named "general fans of ozumo" (and I too absolutely believe that many of those see themselves as such) is exactly what keeps others who, again as you perfectly name it, "popped out of the bushes to make themselves heard" to bother and comment. Thanks for your post!

I am absolutely certain that part of the Hakuho-criticizing group has motives completely outside of his sumo. There are not too many people who can be called "great" nowadays and since the dawn of time greatness always gives birth to jealousy, envy, suspicion, defensiveness and you name the rest. The status of greatness which Hakuho earned himself can give people hundreds of reasons to hate him; probably the biggest one being the fact that he stamps his name so much over anyone else that creates a feel that people will not witness greatness in sumo ever again (knowing the bar that Hakuho set). I also grew to doubt the sincerity of people judging rikishis' qualities as, in my very own opinion, moods or trends seem to affect that judgement quite often from what I've seen. I am sure the moment he announces his retirement most (MOST, certainly not all) people will forget his "ugly sumo", "antics" and all that arguments used to defy his greatness. I always watch the NHK live with the original Japanese commentary. I do not understand much, only the basic sumo words a non-speaker gets to remember; not only I replayed the superb bout over a dozen of times, but what I'll certainly never forget is when the commentary man said "forty-fifth yusho!". Replay it and let it sink in. Because I realize I may never hear this again. And, again, here is the real question - do we take pride and joy for witnessing the greatness of Hakuho (not only great in sumo but sports in general) or do we let the feeling of "I've seen everything, he'll never be matched, sumo is no fun anymore" take over us. See, greatness is complicated. What is undeniable is that we don't get to associate someone with "greatness" too often. Some take pride in witnessing Muhammad Ali's greatness, Usain Bolt's greatness, Ronaldo and Messi's greatness and many others. I take pride in witnessing Hakuho's greatness and I thank him for that.

The answers to this question change fundamentally every other basho. The trend or popular opinion changing around here are as entertaining as the basho itself.

I believe I have all three correct.

1.B 2.B 3.A 4.A 5.A 6.B 7.A 8.A 9. A10.A11.B12.B13.A14.B15.A16.A17.B18.B19.B20.B21.B

1. A2. A3. B4. A5. A6. A7. A8. B9. A10. B11. B12. B13. A14. B15. A16. A17. B18. A19. B20. A21. B

1 A2 A3 A4 B5 A6 A7 A8 B9 B10 A11 A12 A13 B14 B15 A16 A17 A18 B19 B20 A21 B

1. A2. A3. A4. B5. A6. A7. A8. B9. A10. A11. A12. X13. A14. B15. B16. A17. B18. B19. B20. A21. B

1. X2. B3. A4. A5. A6. B7. A8. B9. A10. A11. B12. A13. A14. B15. A16. B17. A18. A19. B20. B21. X

1. A2. B3. A4. A5. A6. B7. B8. B9. A10. A11. A12. A13. B14. B15. B16. B17. B18. B19. A20. B21. A

It should be clear enough that it is Ozumo that we are talking about, where one has to join a stable, unlike the amateur sumo. Maybe a better answer will you receive by oyakata who run stables with 2-5 rikishi, shockingly one such has a current Yokozuna in it. How do we as fans explain this, who would not want to grow up as a rikishi watching and training with a Yokozuna? Izutsu in an interview I read some time ago said plain and simple that it is hard to make children join a stable. Mind not the sarcasm in my "WWE post" above (I could not resist the thought of how many people would take it serious). The idea is adapting to modern day requirements. Few years ago one might not take a "violence prevention committee" serious, but it happened. Just like the rikishi adapt to oshi-zumo we too have to as viewers. Like it or not, times change.