Sumoforum and sumo thing

[Kaikitsune Makoto 203]

It is long overdue but now I really need someone to take over sumoforum as Rijicho and also take over the administrative side with or without Exil. I am not sure where Exil is or what is his current interest in this forum but for me there is nothing much left here.

I have lost interest gradually with increasing pace in discussing sumo on forum. Also, the fact that there are quite a bundle of facts and saddening/irritating details in Kyokai and in the whole oozumo, makes it quite difficult to be in charge of this forum. I fully accept and admit the fact that my opinions or role in the world of oozumo is totally insignificant (which is naturally true for any individual fan) and that my ideals or principles of how to manage something as great as oozumo are totally irrelevant as oozumo is Kyokai's world and is defined largely by that organization. Still, the way things are done is such that it is just saddening. Same is true in many many areas of life and sports and so on, but since oozumo is number one for me, it has big impact.

When one looks at sumoforum or sumotalk or just the online sumo circles, it is evident the circles are naturally small. Do you really need this forum? Kintamayama could easily also post his news to his own forum or website or even set up his own little closed forum. Or there could be some news site where the active ones could translate news if they so wish. Many of the active users can translate the Japanese news texts themselves anyway. Doitsuyama's database gives answers to all statistical questions and so on.

Little by little oozumo has become comparable to a situation where in a marriage or just general long term love affair, everything else is becoming total shit and disappointments follow each other day after day but the actual sex is better than ever. Total immersion in satisfying pleasure which should be difficult to do though if feelings otherwise turn into coal crap. In any case such is the relationship of mine towards oozumo becoming. In these times when there are truly a great bunch of rikishi in makuuchi and sumo bout quality is great for the most part and am really looking forward to Nagoya basho, it is sad that I feel more and more negatively towards Kyokai as a whole and so. if aforementioned situation regarding that couple with amazing sex but nothing otherwise (quite hypothetical though in longer than 1 year relationship where they actually live together), I'd recommend a break-up and just meeting each other to have that amazing sex and if that amazing sex fades away, they have nothing but semi-warm memories or just cooled off piece of memory left. Nothing takes away the enjoyment of the actual one on one bouts when the intensity is great but otherwise why bother?

Before August there should be some solution to this forum problem. I think I have paid 252 euros (+ some other small fee, maybe 20 for some registration thing) per year. It was easy to change the ownership when Kotoseiya turned it over to me years ago. Some phone calls with the company and double checks and so and that was it. Don't know if it is as easy still, even if foreigner takes over the contract and payments and everything. Will check these things out. If nobody wants sumoforum, then it is a bit of a problem. I just paid for next 3 months so not a rush in that sense at least.

[Sokkenaiyama 76]

I'll take over the Sumoforum from ya. Where do I sign? (Henka!!!)

[Orion 431]

It is long overdue but now I really need someone to take over sumoforum as Rijicho and also take over the administrative side with or without Exil. I am not sure where Exil is or what is his current interest in this forum but for me there is nothing much left here

Many thanks for your long concern. My own personal problem began with the Sumo Mailing List, which looked about to be taken over by one or two trolls. I have faced this problem several times before, and dealt with it by assuring the bad guys that instead of opting out, as they constantly urged me, I would stay in. Every time someone opts out of a list that's bad, you are handing it over to the bad guys, right?

The SML, despite all its problems, mostly by outside making, comtinues to be a decent forum for decent people, right? Let's keep on winning, people!

Now, what is the problem with Sumo Forum? Is it lack of interest? (I don't think so.) Is it the regulasr trolls? (I don't think so.)

So please spell out your problem and let us all try to help.

Orion

[Naganoyama 5,807]

It is long overdue but now I really need someone to take over sumoforum as Rijicho and also take over the administrative side with or without Exil. I am not sure where Exil is or what is his current interest in this forum but for me there is nothing much left here

Many thanks for your long concern. My own personal problem began with the Sumo Mailing List, which looked about to be taken over by one or two trolls. I have faced this problem several times before, and dealt with it by assuring the bad guys that instead of opting out, as they constantly urged me, I would stay in. Every time someone opts out of a list that's bad, you are handing it over to the bad guys, right?

The SML, despite all its problems, mostly by outside making, comtinues to be a decent forum for decent people, right? Let's keep on winning, people!

Now, what is the problem with Sumo Forum? Is it lack of interest? (I don't think so.) Is it the regulasr trolls? (I don't think so.)

So please spell out your problem and let us all try to help.

Orion

Orion is right. We don't want to see you leave this forum if there is something we can do to fix the problem.

Sumo wrestling is a very good thing, no?

[Kintamayama 44,197]

Too bad. I agree with everything you wrote, and I already have my mail-list up and running as I have been anticipating (with apprehension, as I do like it) this forum's demise in its current form. Nothing is what it used to be, sadly, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. Best of luck in your future endeavors, and I hope you see the day Kisenosato finally delivers, although it will never happen. I'm willing to bet my farm that this will be KaioU's last basho as well. Kind of like my leaving the SML as Ichinoya retired.

And then there were five.

[Jakusotsu 5,725]

Am I the only one thinking this forum is in better shape than ever before? Or are you all bored now we finally got rid of most trolls?

[Kotoviki 16]

I don't see anything wrong with the forum either but I haven't been a member for that long...

I wouldn't want to see it closed down!!!!

[Asojima 2,870]

Am I the only one thinking this forum is in better shape than ever before? Or are you all bored now we finally got rid of most trolls?

The founding group of the forum were individuals with a deep interest in sumo. They had varying levels of knowlege about it and varying levels of Japanese language skills. They exchanged questions and views on sumodo and became very knowlegable about it. The forum attracted new waves of members with varying interest and knowlege, and the initial group reeducated each new wave, but got diminishing returns of new info. They also got bit by the occasional trolls. The challenge they started with is gone, and they are ready to move on. Those of us in the later waves are enjoying the fruits of their labors and are still being challenged. If the forum survives, we now become the new educators and the new enthusiasts.

I will now climb off my soap box.

Edited July 11, 2009 by Asojima

[Gusoyama 93]

If all else fails, I can set up a free forum on a domain elsewhere. I wouldn't be able to afford the 250 euros(500 dollars)/year, and the forum would be PHPBB insetad of IP.Board, but the sumoforum would continue to exist. Just an option if none other can be found.

Edited July 11, 2009 by Gusoyama

[Zentoryu 154]

Am I the only one thinking this forum is in better shape than ever before? Or are you all bored now we finally got rid of most trolls?

Not if we're talking about current poster volume in comparison to when the forum was first founded, with or without trolls. To say its in better shape than before is... questionable. This place has gotten quieter and quieter over the last couple of years, slowly going down the same path as the SML. Though I'm more inclined to believe that this is due to a drop in foreign interest in sumo due to the various scandals than anything specifically wrong with the forum.

[Manekineko 200]

I don't think there is any reason for panic, as the moderator oligarchy has been running it lately. If it's only the money/ownership problem, I daresay we shall be able to find a satisfactory solution. I also don't think that the Forum is dying, only changing, and we with it.

[Info-Sumo 0]

If it's only a question of hosting cost I can host this forum on my server for much cheaper than 250

[ilovesumo 12]

I fully understand those feelings...

but I would miss this forum very much - for the people I like very much. Most of em I meet only here...

[Kintamayama 44,197]

This forum is not going anywhere soon. Personally, I have some issues with it but this forum is bigger and stronger than any of us individually-I'm sure someone (or everyone) will step up and do what's necessary to preservative it. We shall overcome the leaving of our esteemed Rijicho with dignity, as we overcame the leaving of his predecessor.

And no, I don't agree with Mr. Jack Sotsu that we are in better shape than ever before. People-wise, maybe, but content-wise, we could do a lot better.

[Taizeniki 0]

I fully understand those feelings...

but I would miss this forum very much - for the people I like very much. Most of em I meet only here...

Though I am not chatty on the forum, this is the place I go multiple times a week to keep up with ozumo for better or worse. I too would miss the connection to the larger sumo fan community. I don't have the monitary nor time resources to run/moderate the forum. Wish I did. Hope this or another viable forum/community option can be maintained....

[Fujisan 530]

I cant help technically but I dont mind contributing financially....

[Asashosakari 18,651]

And no, I don't agree with Mr. Jack Sotsu that we are in better shape than ever before. People-wise, maybe, but content-wise, we could do a lot better.

Conversation-wise, maybe. But content-wise? I think it's just one of the enduring ironies of the internet - the easier information comes by, the less talk there is about it. When only bits and pieces of information are finding their way in, there's naturally lots of talk as people try to figure out what the hell is happening, whereas (as it pertains to this forum) with today's comparatively easy availability of news and other info thanks to you and all the others (in conjunction with the easy access the online papers provide) conversation tends to be a bit abbreviated except for really big-time topics. But what we had a few years ago - and that also applies to the SML's heyday in the mid-to-late 1990s - was the one-eyed leading the blind, nothing else. Maybe things aren't so chatty anymore, but I sure wouldn't want to trade places again. And really, "not so chatty" still means there's probably about five times as much talk here as in all the other major sumo places combined...

It just boils down to "more basho discussion would be nice, yeah", but that's the same thing that was already hashed out last month. Not sure I'd go as far as Jakusotsu did in his assessment, but all the doom'n'gloom in other posts seems a bit over the top to me.

Edited July 12, 2009 by Asashosakari

[Kofuji 0]

Now that I'm used to using it, I'd prefer SumoForum.net to remain as it is. I signed up for SumoTalk too and although there seem to be more subscribers over there, the conversation seems to degenerate rather quickly. I'd certainly contribute to the annual maintenance of this site.

[Kintamayama 44,197]

And no, I don't agree with Mr. Jack Sotsu that we are in better shape than ever before. People-wise, maybe, but content-wise, we could do a lot better.

Conversation-wise, maybe. But content-wise?

I shall clarify- By people -wise, I mean less trolls. Content-wise- I mean more discussions about sumo, not more information/stats. There are many, many lurkers who can chime in every now and then- I'm sure there are those who have a lot to say but for reasons of their own, don't. Once, we had many more individuals participating in the lively discussions. I miss the arguments.

[Jakusotsu 5,725]

Once, we had many more individuals participating in the lively discussions. I miss the arguments.

And that's where we differ. I don't care a lot about endless half-educated ramblings whether Asashoryu is the best/worst/make-your-pick, or whether "we" should do better with or without Ms. Uchidate. I appreciate streamlined facts which don't make me feel like wasting my time*, and you, Sir, are the epitome of delivery on that account. :-)

(* I'm fully aware that my own posts don't meet that standard)

[Gusoyama 93]

But I do think we are missing some of the "Does Kisenosato have what it takes to make Ozeki" discussions, or "Whats wrong with X rikishi", or "Will YMY be able to succeed in makuuchi or does he need to lose weight". Its pretty dry around here lately.

[Asashosakari 18,651]

But I do think we are missing some of the "Does Kisenosato have what it takes to make Ozeki" discussions, or "Whats wrong with X rikishi", or "Will YMY be able to succeed in makuuchi or does he need to lose weight". Its pretty dry around here lately.

Somebody kick at least two of the aging trio of ozeki out of the rank, and we'll surely get lots of performance-based discussion going again. (An Asashoryu intai would probably enliven the place, too...) Things have been kind of in a boring holding pattern for the last couple of years...the actual tournaments have become more exciting as Kisenosato et al. have matured, but on the macro level we're still basically in the same situation as we were two years ago.

[tarako 3]

If sumoforum did not continue I'd be really sad. I appreciate it so much and would miss it.

I mainly just read sumoforum and don't post much, except to ask questions.

Sumoforum is the main way that I'm learning about sumo, what's going on in the sport and what fans think about. I bet that there are other people like me who you don't hear from, but who rely on you guys and your conversations to keep us up to date.

I don't want go to the other forum. Noooooo!

[Chisaiyama 11]

If sumoforum did not continue I'd be really sad. I appreciate it so much and would miss it.

I mainly just read sumoforum and don't post much, except to ask questions.

Sumoforum is the main way that I'm learning about sumo, what's going on in the sport and what fans think about. I bet that there are other people like me who you don't hear from, but who rely on you guys and your conversations to keep us up to date.

I don't want go to the other forum. Noooooo!

Now, now I belong to both forums and the Sumo Mailing List (SML) and I can assure you that a lot, though certainly not all, of the information you will find being discussed here you will also find on one or both of them. I will admit however, that, overall, the degree of civility is far and away not the same on Sumo Talk as it is here. I find having said all of that though I would probably be greatly disadvantaged by the loss of any one of them. As I say while a lot of the information availabale is on all three each one of them has provided me, over the years, with unique bits of knowledge that was not mine before. I would not like to see this list go by the boards and I am personally saddened as well by our esteemed Rijicho's mid-life sumo crisis. He has provided some of the most memorable posts I have had the pleasure to read over the years and I have noted with gread sadness the paucity of them in recent months.

If he must leave us I hope it will be with the thought in mind that it must just be a sabattical rather than a true parting of the ways this forum would just not be the same.

As far as the lack of fresh commentary in this forum over the last year or so, yes it's true that from day to day, except during hon-basho, it gets harder and harder to find more that just a few cursory bit's marked TODAY when one visits as I do on a daily (and often multi times daily) basis but the SML is a veritable trickle compared to this forum. Even STDB while remaining relatively active that activity is pretty much confined to a core group of hard-core participants, maybe 30 or so in all.

This whole Yaocho scandal followed by the death of Tokitaizan followed by Soccergate followed by the OBSC (if it exists) has pretty much put a damper on the enthusiasm of many English language and ESL followers of the sport. But sumo has had scandals before and survived, it has survived wars (even a World War) and it will survive this as well. We as fond devotees just have to have the patience and endurance to see it through and keep supporting our favorite heyas, rikishi etc.

In that immortal battle cry of the 70's: Keep the faith, man! That's all we've got to do, Keep the Faith!

[Oimeru 0]

Somebody kick at least two of the aging trio of ozeki out of the rank, and we'll surely get lots of performance-based discussion going again. (An Asashoryu intai would probably enliven the place, too...) Things have been kind of in a boring holding pattern for the last couple of years...the actual tournaments have become more exciting as Kisenosato et al. have matured, but on the macro level we're still basically in the same situation as we were two years ago.

I'll echo this. Frankly, I'm quite fed up with some of the current ozeki (althouhg Mickey is a nice surprise right now) and would love to see some fresh blood up there. It's always more interesting to see rikishi that still have some ambition. I know for a fact that my personal interest in sumo (which seemingly decreased over the last year or two) will certainly get a boost from that.