Xris

Well if you measure the photograph she looks to be 160cm (roughly 5 feet 4).

Coo-cook, just one point to put your mind at ease (if I can). I don't think many people see mongolians as brutal barbarians. I mean, any people who has a racist mind will find ways to discredite any people they want to discredite. You can always see bad things in people (French or Mongolians or Japanese or any others). For me, Mongolia is a rather unknown and mythic place in Asia, with a name that ring a huge bell in history, but more in a nice way than a bad way (after all, a few centuries ago most people were "barbarians"). But what is more important is that I don't think that the behavior of one men is the behavior of all his people. Even is Asashoryu was really a bad guy with a mean streak (which I don't think is true), it would not make think anything less about other Mongolian people. So please take some ease, I don't think that image you are so afraid of is as strong as you think. And if it is, let them cry in the void.

If you look at other historical examples, such as Terao, there is no reason why he could not become sanyaku a couple of times in his carreer.

I remember having the same feeling and thinking about Asashoryu: he may be fierce with his tsuparri, but this will never get him through sanyakus and above. So I'm certainly not able to predict the future of anyone in sumo, but it seems to me that Roho's sumo is improving (in comparison with Kokkai and Hokutoriki for example). So I hope it will continue to improve. If it's the case, he certainly has ozeki potential. Finally, he may be 25 years old, but you cannot compare just age. You also have to take into account the number of years spent in professional sumo. He could peek (physically) later than other sekitoris.

I think it's close to what Roho did in his first four bashos, so it's certainly good and Baruto's future still looks good, it seems (Shaking head...)

Well, we can sympathize with each other. Rooting for the little guys isn't always easy. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I don't know why Kotoryu looks little. I mean, I aggree with this feeling because I have the same, but truly he is exactly as tall and one kilo heavier than the yokozuna, who never looked small to me! :-S

Doitsuyama, many thanks once again :-S

Well this would prove that Chiyotaikai is a competent Ozeki as four times already he has been makekoshi, following by an absence (which would mean Sekiwake with the present rules) and went back with 10 or more wins: July 1999 : 10 wins May 2001 : 12 wins January 2002: 13 wins March 2003: 12 wins By the way, the only time when Chiyotakai went back from makekoshi without an absence, he had 11 wins (may 2002). I just hope I didn't get confused with my statistics :-O , otherwise some fans of Chiyotaikai's will react shortly and quickly, I'm sure (I was stupid...)

Thanks for the answers. I don't where I got this idea about 12 wins :-O probably a bad dream somenight (I was stupid...)

Well, if I remember correctly, before 2004, sekiwake (ex-ozeki) needed 12 wins to come back to ozeki rank, so it's bound to be easier now than before (which does not mean that Tochiazuma is not doing a great performance). By the way, I have a question: has anybody ever returned to the rank of ozeki by the hard way (33+ wins in 3 bashos) ?

Now for me it's the opposite. The better I understand sumo, the better I like it and I found the bouts more interesting today than 5 years ago when I started to watch sumo. It's true that at that time, I thought that henka was OK, but now I'm (a little bit more) able to understand why Asa's technique (and others) is so impressive. (Sign of approval)

Another possibility is that Hakuho will remain komosuki with a 11-4 (or maybe even 12-3), but komosubi east (of course if there is no available slot at sekiwake). And the next basho, he would be an "official" ozeki candidate, without ever being a sekiwake! :-)

Is Hakuho overconfident ? Well, maybe a little (and the comments from others could not do anything but helping him to keep his perspective) but I certainly would be disappointed if he did not get a kachikoshi now, so I think feeling secure about that is to be expected. I mean, you have to be confident to win. Look at Kaio. Either he plays down his chances to get some relief from the press, or his lack of confidence may remain his own nemesis. When I compare Hakuho with Kaio, Wakanosato, and Asashoryu, it is clear that he has the confidence of Asa, not of the others (even if personnally, I prefer the modesty and not-so-occasionnal brillance of Kaio and Wakanosato (Sign of approval) ).

It looks worrying to me... Just for the information, this piece of info (extracted from: http://www.anabolic-bible.org/ShowPage.asp...e=side_effects) "ACNE: Rampant acne is one of the more obvious indicators of steroid use. When taking anabolic steroids, an adult will commonly be confronted with this same problem. This is because the sebaceous glands, which secrete oils in the skin, are stimulated by androgens. Increasing the level of such hormones in the skin may therefore enhance the output of oils, often causing acne to develop on the back, shoulders and face. The use of strongly androgenic steroids in particular can be very severe, in some instances causing blemishes on the skin or spots. By washing your face and always showering after exercises it will reduce this effect. If you have very severe acne see your dermatologist, but in most instances even a dermatologists can't do anything until your cycle is over. " Don't mean to say that Roho is using anabolic steroids (this is no proof at all, and I'm not a medical doctor to know all other reasons that could cause acne), nor will I say the same from Asashoryu last year, but they are both quite old to have this strong acne problems. This is a just a sign that there could be truth behind the rumors.

I didn't get that, to be honest. Asashoryu'd weight development since 2000 (all Natsu basho) in kg was 106, 128 (!), 132, 140.2, 140. So I'd say, yes, Asashoryu gained a lot of weight in a single year which qualifies as a very short time. It's the time he went from Makushita 19 to Komusubi, by the way. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The 106-128 is certainly suspicious. If I remember correctly, this was before arriving in makuuchi because at that time, I was watching sumo only in Eurosport and the first time I saw him he was already around the 125 mark. So here is my mistake :-P. In a certain way, this is similar to Kotoshogiku. Both were young and growing, so it could be normal. The 128-140 in one-two years is less impressive, I think. It probably happened to a lot of rikishis at the same age, so it's difficult to draw any conclusion.

I thinking again about your arguments and it sounds a bit as well-wishing to me (you could also call me a bit cynist if you want :-P ). If the Kyoukai really wanted to stop the use of steroids, all they had to do was to ban them, starting at a certain time! This means that, after a certain amount of time to let people take their responsabilities, they would start to test. As you said, there is no ban now, so there is no reason to punish people for a past (non-forbidden) behavior. Asashoryu could be using steroids as a favorite dish now, this would have no effect to next year regulations. Speaking of suspicions, the fact that Kotogoshiku "... gained over 20 kg since his Juryo debut at this year's Nagoya Basho" is suspicious. I mean, I don't think the guy was taking steroids, but this is certainly suspicious. Paradoxically, Asashoryu who did not gain much weight in a very short time, who is young and certainly more able to do hard keiko is less suspicious (now, to be honest, looking at him, I'm suspicious. It's either bad food or steroids :-P ). Finally two thoughts: 1) Asashoryu is certainly not liked in Japan (Mongol, arrogant, better than the Japanese people, etc) so there is bound to be a lot of deragotary stories about him. 2) Banning steroids now is probably the worst time if the Kyoukai want somebody to step out and beat Asashoryu. This will forbid young people to use them too and raise higher that the yokozuna using the same tools. On the other hand, banning steroids starting next year would be a problem to Asa's future results. No? So why not do it?

I understand quite well how a matta could come from lack of concentration, but from being too fat ??? (Showing respect...)

Yes, with the usual caveat "since 1947". In older days there could be faster promotions than that. For example, Maedayama (later the 39th yokozuna) was promoted to ozeki in 1938 after only 3 basho in makuuchi. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Speaking of Maedayama, goto this page http://sumo.goo.ne.jp/eng/kiroku_daicho/me.../maedayama.html and play the second film "1947 June Basho, final day " and you will see the attached picture. Apparently, Asashoryu is not the only left hander in sumo ! (Nodding yes...)

Have you really seen the Japanese results in Judo in the last olympics. Not really anything to be ashamed of! Now Sumo is not so popular as before in Japan!, which is another problem! It's not just a foreigner/Japanese problem. They can try to protect sumo by making it a foreigner non-grata sport, but it won't change anything with their problem with sumo popularity.

I think Musoyama was the first victim.

Yes None that I know of I don't think it is forbidden, but you have to prove to be at Ozeki level during THREE tournaments, and you won't do this without becoming Komosubi or Sekiwake in the process. At that time, there was no good candidates for Sekiwake rank. Right now, there is a free slot only in Komosubi ranks and no rules in Sumo say how FAR you should be promotted. Hakuho won't be promotted far, because there is just no space right at the moment (this won't change anything to his (eventual) future promotions to ozeki and yokozuna - this may even motivate him even more).

I think Zingo was refering to Hakuho having just completed the first of the three runs (12-3 at M1), not the second already. Will a performance at M1 count or does it need to be a performance at Komosubi/Sekiwake? It seems to me that it counts, on the condition that there will be no question about his value at Ozeki rank (for example a 34 run would be OK, but maybe not a 33 run).

Well, I also think that this would be the most likely solution. But shouldn't Hakuho at least pass Kotomitsuki with his 12-3 and be on the east side? I don't think they would move Kotomitsuki to the West side since he was already a Komusubi and he had 10 wins but who knows what they will do... (First prize...) I think the rule is that you cannot demote a person who was kachi-koshi. So even with 8-7, Kotomitsuki could not have been demoted to Kw.

One upside to putting Hakuho at Komusubi is that they could really put him through the wringer by giving him the killer Week 1 schedule that Komusubi usually get. Granted, it's not quite as killer as it used to be (now that there would be only 6 other sanyaku + absent Tochiazuma), but it would still be a nice test for him. It will be a great test for him. We will see if he can be consistent against the top guys. I know two rikishi that will be more careful when facing him next time..... (Punk rocker...) What is interesting is that THIS basho, Hakuho had a light schedule in the first week, and a eavy one at the end (exact opposite to all M2, M3 and more). So I wonder if this is standard for a M1, or if they have already deceided that he belongs to list of yusho contenders that people want to see fight in the second week ?

I am willing to offer 200,000 Euro. To whom? (Applauding...)