Sumo Spiffy

And if precedent is ever going to mean anything, you'd think it will when Takayasu was 6-9 at K1e in that one and this one.

I don't like how the whole thing has gone down, but this needs to be pointed out to anyone who thinks Hakuho will be missed for his coaching/stablemaster prowess. Even if you wanted to look at the Hokuseiho situation as a singular egregious mistake, one that could be overcome by a good coach who better learns how to handle his charges, nothing up to this point indicated he was a good coach. Although we'll never know the alternate history, I fully believe Hakuoho has made it further back working with Isegahama than he would have solely with Miyagino. He essentially needed to re-learn sumo in a way that fit his current body, on top of not unnecessarily stressing his injury while it was still healing, and given the aforementioned state of so many Miyagino wrestlers, I'm not confident Hakuho was the guy for that job. Maybe he would have become that level of coach, but he wasn't there yet.

There's no way Ryuden stays. Even if they were willing to do it at the expense of someone coming up, and drastically split up him and Shonannoumi despite them both being 5-10 at the same rank, they would also have to ignore the fact that by rights he should be behind Shishi and Nishikigi regardless of where they all specifically end up. There's just... no way.

Yep, that's what I missed.

I was kind of amazed by this, so I went and looked... and I think it's more. 722 is 48 straight bashos plus two fights, but I count 49 bashos. Kitanoumi was right at 653, so I didn't go beyond that.

If we're thinking about injuries, Kyushu 2021 was the last time nobody missed a match; the only kyujo was Asanoyama due to suspension. https://sumodb.sumogames.de/Banzuke.aspx?b=202111

If Metasumo was like a fantasy game with roster swaps and such, I'd recommend anyone who took me sell high now. But you're stuck! HAHAHAHAHA

I almost said no, but then I remembered there will be two of them. So, yeah. Aonishiki v. Hoshoryu on day 1, Oshoma v. Onosato on day 2. I'd be down to see more goth wrestlers. In any case, a skinny ankle can still be a strong one, but it'll take real, targeted effort. Regular sumo exercise probably won't be enough in his case. Fortunately, Isegahama has the resources to have someone who can point this out and help; whether or not that happens, we'll see. Uh... obviously Aonishiki is promising, even though he may not be ready for the jump in level of competition yet (since K1w has arguably the hardest schedule in sumo). But Oshoma? He got his cheeks double-clapped at M4w, and looked like he ran off his 10-5 this time by going above and beyond in his level of effort near the end with a potential (and, against Abi, definite) san'yaku spot on the line. If he's going to have even a whisper of a chance of holding on to komusubi, what he was willing to do in that Abi fight is what he'll need to do all fifteen days in July. He might surprise, but 6-9 would be a surprise. The biggest difference between Takerufuji and the rikishi you mentioned is, obviously, experience, but I think that messes up the comparison. Those guys generally did fine against the san'yaku they faced as they came back up (which, IMO, is more relevant than their overall records), but for them, the san'yaku were familiar opponents. Takeru went 4-2 against san'yaku-level opposition on his title run; he's 3-17 against them since. The takeaway is that he couldn't have achieved the first result without the physical tools to stand up to the best guys, but their experience has allowed them to figure out how to take it to him. His injuries could still be affecting him as well. So, now it's on him to find new ways to fight with the body he has (whether it's as capable as it was a year ago). That's the path for anyone who winds up as a top wrestler. Except his body is already starting to betray him. Given some of the other comments, maybe he was dismissive of Isegahama but will be more willing to listen once someone else (I assume Terunofuji) takes over. It might be too late for him to maximize his talent by that point, though.

Being uncoachable can change, depending on why someone is considered uncoachable. The term makes someone sound arrogant, and maybe that's true, but he could also just be a dumbass and does a poor job of grasping what's being taught. Sometimes the light bulb clicks later. As for Takerufuji vs. Tokushoryu... if you mean you don't expect him to repeat the yusho, ok, fair enough. But if you think he's going to flop around the division the way Tokushoryu did, that's a lot. I had to run these numbers for another reason, so I might as well drop them here: in seventy-five makuuchi matches, he's 7-19 against opponents who have been in the san'yaku at some point since his debut, and 41-8 against those who haven't. And one of those eight losses was to Aonishiki, who's about to get there. He's going to ping-pong in and out of the joi, not barely make it a couple of times and be doomed on the occasions when it happens. The hope I have for Takeru at this point is that, even though part of his struggles this time seemed due to him getting thrown off his game because nothing was working, he also tried tactics I wouldn't have expected. If he was actually trying things rather than constantly falling into sub-optimal situations with no idea of what to do about it, we should see some improvement against the top guys. It might just be enough to be another Abi-style in and out of the lower san'yaku type career, but that would still be improvement.

Daiouika and I, still in.

But I don't remember Hakuho ever looking like "damn, I just got spanked" either.

Would they leave Kyoku out after he beat Mudoho (granted it was only day ten), won his last match, and Miya blew his final chances to secure his spot?

Hadn't thought about it before, but Oshoma winning looks like it simplified things rather than complicating them.

If Hoshoryu remembers how to fight Abi, these bashos will get a lot more interesting.

Jesus, is Oshoma already locked into komusubi? I keep staring at it like that can't actually be possible, but I think it's reality. I know Aonishiki could get ahead of him mathematically if he wins and Oshoma loses, so I guess it's not locked, but somehow I can't see 9-6 M6e getting jumped by 11-4 M9e (specifically for a komusubi spot). The closest 21st century example I can find is Aki 2020, with Takayasu (10-5 M6e) bouncing past Kiri (9-4-2 M5e) for an open komusubi spot. But the M6 did the jumping in that case, plus they were only one rank apart. Other instances of huge jumps to komusubi include higher-ranked guys also making it (so Oshoma and Aonishiki could both reach K, especially since that would require Oshoma beating Abi and finishing 10-5). I think Oshoma's improved since his last trip to the joi, but this looks like an absolute shitshow waiting to happen.