Basho Talk - Haru Basho 2016 +++ Spoiler Alert! +++

[kuroimori 1,634]

Amakaze's face was priceless. The commentators too were like. ''Look at Amakaze's OH SHIT/DAMMIT face''.

In replay you can see Ura fake attack forward with a tsuppari aimed at face, only to turn into Harumafuji and drive Amakaze out of the dohyo. It worked better than I even predicted, not only did he get the back he grabbed the leg too.

From what I saw, Ura put his right hand in front of Amakaze's face to irritate him by blocking his vision, not a tsuppari thrust.

(I only realized this in the slow motion replay though...)

[Dwale 419]

Ichinojo didn't show up today, it was Ichinoslow.

Ichigoslow?

[Asashosakari 18,670]

Ichinojo didn't show up today, it was Ichinoslow.

Ichigoslow?

Ichinnorow. Wait, what?

[CT3* 331]

I wish more rikishi would take Kotoyuki's approach and nullify Terunofuji's mind games at the tachiai. He will almost always wait for his opponent to put his hands down before doing so himself, but Kotoyuki refused to play ball and stared him out. Terunofuji couldn't handle it and stood up. At the second attempt, Kotoyuki initiated the tachiai as if to say, "NOW we start." He won the bout both psychologically and physically. Great to see.

Thanks for pointing that out. I used to think that Teru was simply being a bit lackadaisical at the tachia, but over time came to realize that it was a total mind game. He looks almost nonchalant as he crouches at the shikiri-sen, but as you noted, he usually waits for his opponent to touch first. Baruto used to occasionally employ the same strategy.

[Dwale 419]

I wish more rikishi would take Kotoyuki's approach and nullify Terunofuji's mind games at the tachiai. He will almost always wait for his opponent to put his hands down before doing so himself, but Kotoyuki refused to play ball and stared him out. Terunofuji couldn't handle it and stood up. At the second attempt, Kotoyuki initiated the tachiai as if to say, "NOW we start." He won the bout both psychologically and physically. Great to see.

Thanks for pointing that out. I used to think that Teru was simply being a bit lackadaisical at the tachia, but over time came to realize that it was a total mind game. He looks almost nonchalant as he crouches at the shikiri-sen, but as you noted, he usually waits for his opponent to touch first. Baruto used to occasionally employ the same strategy.

And Terunofuji's quote on the match as to be found in Kinta's "Ample men" thread confirms it emphatically. Kotoyuki got all up in Terunofuji's head, and he won.

[Atenzan 1,074]

With Teru done and dusted, Kotoyuuki will only have Sekiwake and below to face. How many wins can he get? I say 10.

[ScottyJoyJrBebe 97]

With Teru done and dusted, Kotoyuuki will only have Sekiwake and below to face. How many wins can he get? I say 10.

It would be very fresh and pleasant to see Kotoyuki be the breakout performance this basho. All bowing and barking aside, a KK should net him at least a Shukun-Sho. If he could get 10 or more, possibly a Kanto-sho as well, not trying to jinx him, but the crowd is DEFINTELY warming up to him. HHHHUUUU!

[Senkoho 552]

So we've already stopped caring about Homarenishiki??? He won his 3rd bout against Fujinokaze on day 6.

[Gurowake 3,886]

So we've already stopped caring about Homarenishiki??? He won his 3rd bout against Fujinokaze on day 6.

No one cares about Musashikuni any more either. I wasn't around when he debuted, but especially with his pedigree I'd be surprised if he wasn't watched similarly at first, and he even had a better overall start. They are both just hanging around Sandanme, so there's not much more you can care about after the hype dies down and they're clearly just average.

[hamcornheinz 839]

So we've already stopped caring about Homarenishiki??? He won his 3rd bout against Fujinokaze on day 6.

Haven't stopped caring, but at this point its a bit predictable. There are a lot of things he could easily do better which I will keep to myself, being that it's my amateur speculation. It seems to my eye at least, that disregarding if hes improved or gotten worse, he hasn't changed that much.

[Kishinoyama 582]

I am still following Musashikuni and Homarenishiki. I am hoping that their skill levels will improve and with more experience they will move up.... (On the banzuke...)

[d_golem 213]

So we've already stopped caring about Homarenishiki??? He won his 3rd bout against Fujinokaze on day 6.

Not at all. Just at a less bruhahah way about it. Not everybody can do an Ura and skyrocket beyond people's expectation like that. Homarenishiki might loiter around sandanme/makushita for years before something suddenly clicks and he start bumping that big body around, taking him up to paid levels.

[sekitori 492]

With Teru done and dusted, Kotoyuuki will only have Sekiwake and below to face. How many wins can he get? I say 10.

His record is currently 3-3. He always has been an inconsistent rikishi and I doubt very much if he will get 10 wins. 8-7? Possibly. 10-5? I don't think so. But I never thought that Kotoshogiku would ever win a yusho. So much for my predictive abilities. :-(

Edited March 19, 2016 by sekitori

[ALAKTORN 346]

I'm going to say something very unpopular. Regardless of what I or others want, it's Hakuhou's yusho. I understood that today.

Stake.

I think this will finally be Kise’s time to shine.

[Pandaazuma 1,310]

No one cares about Musashikuni any more either. They are both just hanging around Sandanme, and they're clearly just average.

The only valid view in sumo is a long-term one.

LOL! Here comes my pop-up!

I must admit I want to say this in response to about 60% of the posts on the main basho thread!

[Jyuunomori 226]

There are few Dark Horses people do not mention often. Hirotsukasa being one of them. People, get this:

He is 168 cm, weighs in at 102 kg. And is going 3-0 at this basho winning against Oazuma (197 cm and 151 kg) and Masakaze (184 cm and 174kg) via YORIKIRI.

And not once in his career has he won with less wins than 5 wins per basho. Oh and he never has a losing record as of now. He is not as dominant as Ura but I can see him getting to top Makushita by the end of the year.

EDIT

I need to talk about the darkest horse of them all, people who face him fear his name: Eater of Worlds, Hattorizakura!

I mean this kid has the guts, but what is going on here? Is he being starved or something? Lesser men would have already run away.

Edited March 19, 2016 by Jyuunomori

[Pandaazuma 1,310]

Excellent!

[hamcornheinz 839]

Definitely hope I'm not one of the naysayers. I think Brodi will have a great career, and we will probably see him on tv in a few years. Always rooting for the guy.

[Pandaazuma 1,310]

It's not whether Brodi will be great or not that's the problem. He may or may not be! We can hope so, of course, because it ain't easy coming into that alien world as a young lad without the lingo etc. and it would be nice to see him rewarded for his persistence and bravery. The problem of course is that no one can be judged on one basho. Remember Ikioi's 1-14 and 2-13? Look at the lad now. There are thousands of other cases. Some are late bloomers; others early ones.

One thing one can look for is potential, but that can also come to nothing because there are so many other factors involved. Here Osunaarashi comes to mind - he has awesome potential and anyone with any appreciation for sumo could see glimpses of his talent pretty early on (and I remember one particular clueless individual regularly writing him off)...but he's been plagued with injuries. I predicted ozeki for him a while back...would love to get that one right!

I know this sounds like a contradiction - predicting ozeki for a rikishi based on glimpses - but I actually based that on watching him over his first year where he showed enough consistency and power to convince me he could go far with the required luck against injuries. Let's hope he gets through this basho without hurting himself and rests well for Natsu.

As for Brodi, it's way too early to tell! He's still learning the basics and every loss now will be valuable experience.

I wonder how many of the lads are aware of/read this forum! ;)

[Gurowake 3,886]

If Homarenishiki gets to be as good as Kaisei, I think my point will be proven: he is average. If Kaisei is the long term view you have in mind, I don't find it a reasonable refutation. Yes, Hakuho started with an MK. At 15. Brody is much older, and actually somewhat experienced. When he improves, then I'll start caring about him again, the same as I'll start caring about Musashikuni when he improves. I don't live in Tokyo and thus am not able to mingle with the wrestlers and whatever it is that you're able to do to keep tabs on them there. I have absolutely no care at all about an average Sandanme rikishi that might some day be as good as Kaisei. Not one bit. Throw your wall of red text in my face all you want, but you cannot get me to care. I have enough other things I could care about, and me caring about them doesn't help them one way or another. Perhaps you expect me to be a rah-rah guy who openly supports people vaguely similar in demographics to me for absolutely no reason, and you think I'm a traitor because I'm not taking a long view. I don't give a damn about your long view. I'll give a damn when there's reason to give a damn. When I say no one cares about Musashikuni, please go ahead and find the last time he was even mentioned on this board in a positive light. "No one cares" is never literal, it just means that there is a profound lack of general interest. And I don't recall ever seeing anything on this board hyping Musashikuni that approaches the hype for Homarenishiki, and the latter is about at the point in his career that Musashikuni was when I first joined this board. So the way I see it, no one cares about either of them at this particular moment, simply because there is nothing to care about. They're putting in their dues, working their way up, fine. Doesn't mean anyone actually cares.

I'm sorry that we can't all live in Tokyo and be involved intimately in the Sumo world to actually get to know the rikishi more than just as athletes viewed on the monitor. That's all they'll ever be to me. Perhaps I'm too ruined by how American sports are incredibly popular where an average fan could never expect to even know someone who knew the athletes, so there's no way that I'll ever be able to consider them more than just abstractions. So abstractions they will remain, and I will care about them in proportion to their results and no more.

Un bon mot ne prouve rien.

[Morty 1,480]

How do you upload a picture on this forum? - I can't seem to manage it

[Pandaazuma 1,310]

Well, I wouldn't say Kaisei is average - he reached the apex division of a group of hundreds and stayed there long-term. He is therefore far better than average. If Brodi reaches Juryo even, that would be a fine...and better than average...achievement!

As for not caring, well of course that is up to the person! ;)

[Kuroyama 715]

How do you upload a picture on this forum? - I can't seem to manage it

You upload it to some hosting service like Photobucket or Imgur and link to it with an img tag or by using the button in the toolbar.

Edited March 19, 2016 by Kuroyama

[Jyuunomori 226]

Nishinoshima, how is Brody doing by the way? Is he eating and training alright?

Despite having two defeats this basho his posture during tachiai looks better in my opinion.

I would love to get some news about how he is dealing with his heya duties and how much training he is doing or is he having a hard time?

If he managed to turn this basho into a winning one I think access to Internet would boost his confidence.

[hamcornheinz 839]

Has lost a lot of muscle / weight since he joined which isn't uncommon. Needed to break down and resculpt that stiff body to a sumo one.

It's been tough but it always is. So much stuff goes on in sumo that never makes that news. Suffice it to say that it's a hard life and not for most people.

He's pretty much on the schedule I imagined when I helped him join. The injuries and surgery were setbacks but you have to expect them given the nature of the thing. He needs a year or two more before he can start to put it all together I think. Probably another 30-40 kilos too eventually.

I get why they would lose fat weight, but is losing muscle weight common?