Takanobaka

Well, his knee finally does seem healed, and he appears to have gained quite a bit of weight, which would suit his style. I guess we'll have to see if he can avoid the inconsistency bug that's plagued him through his career so far, keep building his confidence, and avoid giving himself a concussion or brain damage while getting himself pumped up.... (Giggling...)

As of January, he was doing color commentary. Not sure what he's up to now, but that's where I last saw him...

On this one I'm still waiting to see the replay, but I really hope he's turned the corner here. Two Kinboshi (albeit one of them almost doesn't count) and an Ozeki scalp is pretty darn good for a guy who historically has never been able to hack it against sanyaku. Seemed like his biggest problem before was confidence, so maybe he's actually not that suprised if he truly feels he can pull of these upsets...

At what time do you start trying to access the stream? Is your Windows Media Player (and/or equivalent Mac app) recent enough version? Re-downloaded WMP for Mac last night (so it's the newest version available), and tried accessing the stream at about 4am EST (Maegashira had already started), but was still getting messages that it was unable to access that platform (mms://)... I feel like this part should be in some tech support forum... Fortunately, I'm still able to get to most of the stuff on Banzuke.com the next day :-)

Retarded question but.... Both on the PC and Mac I use, I am somehow unable to access the live webfeed from NSK. This has really been peeving me....I just keep getting error messages....anyone have any tips??? Any help would be greatly appreciated :-)

asf format....wish I could check em out....curious as to how Sentoryu's looking, especially since he may be returning to Sekitori next tournament I need to get off this Mac and get home to my PC... (Protesting...)

Never mind....finally got the front page to load with instructions....

Hey all.... Once again, I cannot log into Sekitori-toto. While this has happened 4 times before (twice last basho and the first two days of the present one), the problem seems different today, saying that it failed to establish a connection to the site. Just wondering if anyone else is having these problems (i.e. maybe the server is down?), or if the computer I'm using is just on crack.

He did look really horrible vs Takamisakari.....looked like he really just wanted to reach out with his left arm and toss the guy across the dohyo, but there's no way that wrist was anywhere near 80%. I guess we'll see....

Is that possible with the new rules? Wouldn't they need 2 kks to go Kadoban now? I'm probably totally wrong here....not 100% sure if that means coming off a losing record or in danger of falling out of Ozeki with another losing record....

Doh! Wish I could report that I got it, but alas, I did not....

I said he'd seesaw between sanyaku and maegashira...he has done well of late, but he's definately hit the age around where he'll be more injury prone. Especially with the new no-kosho rule, I can't see him sustaining himself long enough to make Ozeki, and even though he may have the talent (if not the spirit), he probably won't be able to stay healthy long enough and thereafter get sent back down only to yoyo again...

One that particularly annoyed me (some guy in the box in front of me was doing this very loudly and drunkenly)... During a Takanohana/Wakanosato match, screaming "TAKANOSATO/WAKANOHANA GAMBARE!" at the top of your lungs... Other recommendations: - Don't try using the salt on the Dohyo to flavor your yakitori... - When running into a rikishi while using the lavatory, don't ask him for a piggy-back ride back to the stands... - After a Kinboshi, don't throw ALL the pillows in your box, and your neighbor's box...

Not my thing.... However, I did find a sumo flash game once that I can't seem to find anymore....it had strange characters you fought against (a moose, a woman with a bike, a cow, etc). Anyone know where that one is?

Rankings hold over in Tennis, and in certail situations they will hold a person's ranking (see: Monica Seles). Only the money leaders start anew every year, and that doesn't have much to do with rankings (which regard any given 12 month period).

:-D roar....3 days (including the last) where I was the first person out of winning and 2 days I couldn't log in = blah. Looks like I'll be needing a long time to work my way to the top.... Had fun though. Next time, I'll try not to embarrass myself quite so much. That, and my g/f wants to start up as well and have some kind of friendly wager to see who finishes with the better record, so things could get interesting.... Oh, and congrats to Kintamayama for taking home the Yusho :-(

If Musoyama and Kaio weren't best friends, I'm not sure that would have been the right answer.... Feel free to argue. Maybe I'm just cynical...

He'll probably be better off for it in the long run. He still seems just a little too skinny to compete at that higher level, although, if I'm not mistaken, he'll still have a chance for the Sandanme Yusho tomorrow....

Having problems logging in here.....wasn't able to a couple days ago, can't again today... ....not that it really matters. I think a chimpanzee could have randomly picked rikishi and done about as well as I've been doing so far....

Couple things I disagree with.... First, I don't see the Futahaguro comparison. I think that if heavy pressure actually comes down on Asa, he'll buckle down; on the other hand, while it goes against tradition, NSK KNOWS that it needs some fiery personalities to revive the popularity of the sport. Thus, they haven't really tried to make Takamiszakari cut back on his own antics. A decent simile is golf, where the establishment was somewhat against Tiger Woods when he first came in, but they soon realized that they needed him the way he was much more than he needed to tone down, and the sport became much better off for it. I think you may see a slight turning point here, so long as it doesn't turn into anything like WWE....besides, Futahaguro was a REALLY exceptional case of belligerence. Losing your temper once in a sporting context falls nowhere near the level of what he did to get booted....Futahaguro was literally the Latrell Sprewell of sumo, only the NSK isn't as willing to give second chances as the NBA. Second, ALL of the most recent Yokozuna got promoted when other high ranking rikishi were either injured or struggling. It's just one of those things that happens, and that's no excuse... Finally, I don't believe 2 Yusho in a row should be a hard and fast rule. It's improbable, but someone could theoretically win 2 Yusho in a row with 11-4 records, and that would be hardly deserving of gaining rank. On the other hand, someone could get two 14-1 JYs in a row, with their only losses coming to Yokozuna, and could prove worthy of promotion. There's really no reason to limit promotion to that specific criteria, especially since that criteria was almost specifically invented for Asahifuji (who it seemed like NSK and the promotion council really didn't want to gain rank; on the other hand, there were already 2 other yokozuna, both of whom were still very active and fighting very well until just before his promotion). In any case, no need to push it. Personally, I just don't see Taikai as a Yokozuna, and since the committee judges on a more subjective basis than objective basis (historically), I can't see why he would get promoted until he can at least string together 3 good basho....

Either way, barring injury or other disaster, he's on his way back up. M11 is a little too low for this guy. Hopefully he'll be able to put it all together soon and get over that hump; otherwise, he'll be bouncing around Maegashira for quite a while....

Yeah, but you gotta love the all-chops match..... And just a quick blast from the past. Not quite the same Toki, but only a little less hairy than Takanotsuru...

Looks like the 6-9 Bulgarian Kotooshu is continuing to do well...I'm just waiting to see how he handles things a little higher ranked, especially since he's built more like Dirk Nowitzki than a rikishi....