Takanobaka

Are you for real?! (Bouncing group) :-P This has to be a joke.... Edit: I was under the impression that Johnofuji is an amateur sumo.

Actually, the U should not be pronounced... Japanese used to pronounce o-u combination as o-u, but in time it has became long o (in Romaji usually written with a macron, -, on top of the letter). So, although it is spelled Kaiou in kana, it is pronounced Kaio. Right. We're taught to pronouce "ou ( in kana )" as "oo" which I think sounds almost like "oh" in English. We write "Otousan( dad )" but pronouce "otoosan". Sometimes when I need to write Shikona in romaji, I just don't know how I should differenciate the "o" - like Oginishiki from Onokuni? Or Terao from Kasugao...? So I'd always so much appreciate Doitsuyama's romanizing method. I'd just like to point out, as well, that the official transliterations have changed over time for the 'o'. For example, my girlfriend's father's name is Ando, while my girlfriend is Andoh, while her younger cousin is Andou.

A really good intro book, even if all the rikishi (wrestlers) are out of date since it was written in 1989, is The Joy of Sumo. Read around the forum a bit and you should learn a lot. There's also bits and pieces on the Kyokai's web page at http://www.sumo.or.jp/eng/index.html Welcome!

Well, I still think he'd need to rise pretty quickly to face Takanonami before he retires...

Usually during the hours that the day is televised, 2 - 6 pm JST (I think that's about 5 - 9 am GMT).

I agree....as I pointed out elsewhere, his technique is very poor and he's able to get by on brute strength up to this point. In some ways, I hope he rises quickly so he can be beaten badly a few times and start taking his Oyakata's pointers more to heart.......

Look at him, he already is....

No, Nada just hasn't had his mawashi washed in a while :-P

Think more like what the NBA did with Dikembe Mutombo and the finger wagging...not necessarily illegal, but he took it a bit too far. Not a great analogy because finger wagging isn't a part of basketball, but still... (Clapping wildly...)

So, Asashoryu's elbow doesn't worry you? Not even against the Elbow-breaker?

Don't forget that Kotooshu is only 20 years old right now, and from the looks of him, he has gained about 30-40 kilos in the past year (he was under 90 kg when he won the Jonokuchi Yusho...I'm guessing he's about 135 or 130 right now) even if it is mostly muscle mass. Over time his metabolism will slow down some and he'll gain mass naturally. In the meantime, however, it might be to his advantage to stay slimmed down because of his height and because he's primarily a yotsu guy...the angle that a big belly creates for some other rikishi just wouldn't be there for him because he's so tall unless he was able to already lift his opponent off the ground (which I wouldn't doubt he could do), and his more even distribution of weight might help him maintain better balance as he refines (or learns) technique. In any case, he seems to be doing just fine at the weight he's at, never having suffered a KK, especially considering that he has very little technique and is getting by as almost a pure physical specimen at this point. As comparitively small as his waist is, check out his thighs and biceps; they're probably as big as anyone in Ozumo right now. Thus he's certainly developed plenty of strength to compete in Juryo for a little while, and at the rate he's already gaining weight, I'm sure he'll be plenty big naturally to face the Maegashira when he gets there in about a year. Personally, I still think he looks like a future Yokozuna, especially once he learns better technique and becomes better able to utilize that awesome body of his. He may not be quick, but he sure is strong and with his build he projects to be pretty darn close to unmoveable by the time he's 27 (i.e. he will fill out fine).

Thanks for enlightening me guys! Despite what some people say, you can depend on the Stattos! (Cloverleaf...)

Congrats, I think (Applauding...)

You're a stat guy, you might relish this challenge: how often in the past few years has someone suffered a bad MK (0-7 or 1-6) at the last position on the Banzuke and was still around for the next Basho? I don't know myself, but I always believed that this was grounds for 'mandatory' retirement, either because the Oyakata is to embarrassed to have someone so inept in their heya, or because the Kyokai itself sort of pushes them out, ESPECIALLY if it's someone who is somewhat of a veteran.

I don't think the expansion argument holds water with the NBA (like it does in some other sports) simply because at the same time the league began expanding, the pool of available players expanded as well. The number of foreign players in the league now more than compensates for the extra roster spots. I can't name a single Euro in the NBA as of the mid-80's (Detlef Schrempf is the first one I can think of [and he went to a US college for a couple years], followed by Vlade Divac, Sarunias Marcialonis, and Drazen Petrovic). There are at least 55 foreigners in the NBA right now (and the number is growing), while there are 6 new teams since the glory days. Figure that even back then there were 8 NBA-quality players on a team and 4 - 7 roster fillers, and the same number of good players are still on each team. A few other things, however, have hurt the league in certain respects. First is the defensive matter you already mentioned, but more concerning to me are instability and youth. Since the salary cap came in its latest incarnation, many players never get a chance to develop with a team simply because their salary cap number matches up to make a trade. Some good players are born overnight, while others take time to develop, and since the second category of players are usually traded a couple times before their 5th season, denying them any chance to gel with a team. On the same note, the coaching carousel is out of control (23 of the 29 teams have replaced coaches within the past 18 months, and I think 15 have been fired this season or this past offseason), so young players have no time to learn a coaches philosophy. All of this is compounded by the fact that the league is going young right now with most players getting drafted in their teens rather than their early 20's. This, of course, means that most players are a few years away from contributing, and aside from this season with some very good rookies, it's rare to see any fresh blood making an impact. While this literally just replaces aged veterans at the end of the bench with young kids, it does make things much less interesting when owners push the coaches into giving the kids more playing time (which has contributed to so many firings of coaches). Very circular problem.... And, yes, I did do a tournament bracket. I'm probably the only crackhead who picked Mississippi State to win it all (over Pittsburgh in the finals), but I think Lawrence Roberts is a man on a mission, especially after the whole flap at Baylor this past offseason. I think I also picked St. Joes to get knocked off in the second round.

How do you access non-sekitori profiles from the NSK site? I know I've done it before through google, but is there a way to do so on the site itself?

Ah, it appears the question didn't really get answered then either.....now I'm even more curious....

Well, The Onion is definately a spoof paper, but is amusing nonetheless, and is great here since they actually print copies of the Onion for Manhattan (so I have something fun to read on the Subway). Often funnier from that section, in my opinion, is that they always use the same six pictures (for the people answering the question) but change the names and occupations under them....some of the occupations they use can be pretty hilarious. Favorite all-time Onion headline: "Jesus Comes Out of Retirement, Joins NBA" with a picture of Jesus wearing a Hawks uniform dunking on Patrick Ewing....

Other: Chiyotaikai; reason being that all the other guys listed have only "choked" while injured, or have only done it once. While Taikai has never fallen off a cliff like some of the other guys, he ALWAYS seems to lose individual bouts that he shouldn't whenever he's in a potentially good situation. Thus, while he's probably not a bad pick for full-basho sumo games, he's generally a horrible pick for the daily games.... Edit: Takamisakari also falls into a similar category there (and has also fallen off a cliff before as well), but he's not as prominent as Taikai so I went with him.

Question for those who may know: what's up with Daimanazuru's beard? I was always under the impression that facial hair wasn't allowed in Ozumo (but that Sideburns were ok because they're not actually on the front of the face). Is this true, or is it just a tradition without any hard rule or religious purpose, or is Daimanazuru's beard just low enough that it circumvents the rule? Just curious, especially since I've never seen another rikishi with a beard before....

(I am not worthy...) I get to be a nitpik! I get to be a nitpick! (a nitpic who doesn't even know how to spell nitpique) I think you meant to say 'sekitori debut', and not 'sanyaku debut'. (Bleh!) (Bleh!) (Bleh!) (Sigh...)

No, but 7'5" is still 7'5" (*and he could still squish Shawn Bradley to death if he were to sit on the Stormin' Mormon)

Yeah, 242 cm does seem a bit outrageous....what's that, about 8'5" tall? Considering that's only a few inches shorter than the tallest man recorded in modern times, I'd say that's a little out there....but then again, Peter the Great was supposedly about 7'8" around the same time....

Yeah, but even that might take a small miacle at this point, considering his own tenuous back health status. I have a feeling that 30 years from now he will still be remembered as the guy who often fought like a Yokozuna but was never quite able to make it... Hopefully Tochiazuma can get back on track, but I doubt the turn of events surprises many people....after the way things were a year ago, if definately would have been a much bigger surprise had he been able to pull off the feat.