BroadMeadow

Or Hosh wins a 3-way playoff and the YDC says, "He techically got 14 wins so..."

We all had similar hopes! All those of us not tethered to reality. The schedules makers have made it clear they are not down for that...but we can do it!!! Who will it be? Oho- only 2 losses, and he has already faced all the higher ranks. He is IN! Chiyoshoma- already being fed to the wolves...as toothless as they may be. He is OUT Kinbozan/Takerufuji/Onosato/Hoshoryu- it is going to be really tough for 2 of these to make it. I suppose Kinboslice could lose to both Ozeki and still make it, then the winner of the Ozeki H2H could get in. But I think ONLY 1 is in. Kirishima will win out thus handing Oho his 3rd loss. He is IN. So my call is Oho, Kiri, and Hosh. Kiri will beat Oho in the first match and then beat Hosh in the 2nd. Hosh with his 2nd consecutive JY. Doing just enough to remain a bother to YDC and fuel the online chatter.

I am afraid you are right. The past 2 days he has looked totally dejected. I am not sure what the honor/shame calculus is for sports psychologists in Sumo...but if he doesn't get it together quick he'll be staring at kadoban in no time.

We don't know how this tournament will end up, so it is hard to accurately judge his run. While he has had some underwhelming performances in the past year, he has never gone make-koshi in sanyaku. The last man promoted to yokozuna who could say that was Musashimaru. That says something I think.

It's Shodai. He is going to get a win when you least want him to just to ruin your fun.

CAVU!

How DARE you try to bring measured contemplation to this subject! We are here for wild speculation and flights of fancy ONLY! But seriously, if Terunofuji competes all of January and the 2 ozeki mirror this month that would certainly boost their case wouldn't it?

Pretty sure July '21 was the last time the 2 top ranked met on the last day for yusho. Re: Hosh, I think "tsuridashi" must be Japanese for, "I AM the next yokozuna!" That was pretty sweet.

What is the ballpark expectation for Enho? Is Makushita totally off the table? I think for Shodai to ever be promoted to komosubi again he should have to fulfill ozeki requirements- 33 over 3. What a waste.

That was hilarious. Thank you for drawing our attention to it!

There could be 6 rikishi at 10-4 headed into day 15!

Definitely! No way could he or should he wrestle. But if Onosato loses, being there for the ceremony isn't going to be a problem for him. If the tendon is completely torn, there isn't any more damage he can do to it by being there and being on his feet. If it is just a partial tear, that might be a different matter. In any event, very depressing.

You can walk with a ruptured Achilles. I ruptured mine playing basketball and "walked" out of the gym, drove myself home, and walked around for about a week until surgery. If it is completely torn, it is a pretty pain-free injury. At least mine was. You just don't have any strength in your lower leg because your calf muscles aren't attached to the heel any more. He might need a hand getting into the dohyo to get all the bling, but he will be able to move around pretty well.

I don't see a style similarity at all. Shishi is not nearly as aggressive as Tochinoshin. ~ Will they have Kirishima take the fall for Takakeisho on day 14 or wait until 15?

Nishikigi- "You think I can't go from Komusubi to Juryo?!? Hold my sake!" (I mean he did get to Komusubi with an 8-7 from M5...) The young guns took home some nice cash today! Onosato might have been the least surprising upset ever.

THAT was a fun day of sumo! The Kotoshoho-Kitanowaka bout was bonkers. It seems like one of Kotoshoho's biggest obstacles is discouragement. Sometimes he just looks like he loses his heart. Great to see him engaged and fighting for a win. All the bouts from the the M1 head-to-head onwards were engaging too. The top of the leaderboard has the makings for an exciting concluding week!

While he went 0-fer against the Sanyaku last basho I appreciated his approach: he didn't have the "deer in the headlights" look and he just did basic, fundamental sumo. He didn't seem intimidated and he didn't try to be something he isn't.

Can Endo retire already?

Day 14 was close to sumo at its best. Basho seems to be coming down to the most predictable outcome- yokozuna and ozeki sorting out the cup- and it still all seems to go haywire. Sets up a super fun final 2 matches tomorrow!

The Endo v. Ryuden fight seemed like an old-timers match at the end of a holiday picnic. Kinda sad. I don't know If 10 or 11 wins from M17 can at all be considered a quiet basho, but Shimazuumi seems intent on helping me find out. Looking forward to Terunofuji v. Kirishima on Sunday! You bring the marbles, I'll bring the popcorn.

Terunofuji has only had 1 match this basho against someone even approaching Kotonowaka's level (i.e. Wakamotoharu): and he lost. He has been able to more or less cruise so far. Tomorrow the storm is coming. If Kotonowaka can stay out of his own head...

It is surprising to see two of the O-boys still fighting at the top when neither are realistically in yusho-contention. It would be nice if the next banzuke would match the in-tournament reality though. If you have an M14 and M15 spending the last third of the basho fighting sanyaku their rank next basho should represent that. From the looks of things right now, there is going to be PLENTY of room for them in the M1-M5 range.

Shodai looked legit upset when he was initially declared the winner. Guess that was one of the matches he was trying to lose to get/keep the rank he really wants. Day 10 schedule is crazy at the top! Moving early to clear the O-boys out of the way.

Midorifuji seems like the new Endo to me. A fan favorite with a lot of tricks in the bag who should just always be ranked M3-M5. He is going to do well enough to deserve M1 and even an occasional komosubi, but generally suffer an immediate makekoshi at those ranks. Even though there are 7 wrestlers at 4-2, it seems the basho is going to one of the first 8 in the standings right now. Seems like there are 2 tracks going now: the upper (Y,O,S) and lower (the O-boys and Kotoshoho) with Asanoyama firmly between the two. Kotoshoho has shown some spirit, but I don’t trust him to keep it up- that leaves 7. Onosato and Oho faceoff tomorrow so that will leave 6. If Oho wins wins, I can see them matching him up with Onosho (who has the day off tomorrow) on day 8, that will leave 5: the surviving O-boy, Asanoyama, and the 3 Y,O,S. Bring on day 11. I hope Tobizaru doesn’t bump into Terunofuji in a dark alley. Which is to say I totally hope he does and would pay decent money to see it.

Great to see Ochiai and Gonoyama come out with so much piss and vinegar. Neither won, but both stated they belong. Hoshoryu gets criticized for his henkas, but he has also made fools of two guys who tried it on him. Kudos.