Stephanoshima

A while ago, Toki had a 10-5 as M4 and even became Komosubi for one basho. Judging by his previous bashos, he should have been happy even with a 7-8 or 6-9 from M4, yet he pulled off a 10-5, a rather sensational result for him from that position. Yet, it was all a fluke, a statistical aberration. Maybe he was in truly great shape that basho, maybe he was lucky, maybe (rather, surely) there were favorable psychological effects at work, and what not. With all those and many more, mostly minor, influences, if you take a large enough sample (many rikishi over many bashos), you will get all kinds of those aberrations.

Aren't we straying a little off topic as this is now a general discussion rather than thinking about Osh's interview specifically? We are, indeed. Oh boy, you're dropping a short comment on a wacky answer, and next thing you know, it has turned into a full-blown discussion about homosexuality in general.

In the last basho he appeared strong and self confident and motivated. Is it possible that his recent "training" with Asashoryu (losses, slaps on the face, "insults" and so on) has broken his confidence in himself and his sumo, too ? Sure, it's all Asashoryu's fault. Simply ignore the fact that the last time - previous to May 2004 - Hokutoriki managed two consecutive KKs was March and May 2002, that's a full two years ago. Also don't mention that he moved from M14 (5/2002) to M1 (5/2004) with a perfectly balanced record of 90-90. That's right, he moved from the bottom (not the very bottom, but quite close) to the top of the Maegashira ranks while not winning even one match more than he lost. Hardly a remarkable rikishi in my book, not only as far as statistics go, but also based on what I've seen of him on the dohyo. I regarded him as one of those one-basho wonders, just like Asasekiryu in the tournament before, and so far I've seen nothing that would me change my mind.

infact they should be thankful for the lessons from Asa. That is the only way to learn. Exactly. I don't see much value in training with the best (=Asa) when both sides are not giving everything. I can't think of a single sport or profession where it is not considered a great honor and opportunity to train with the best. Yet, as soon as Asa gets involved, everything's different, as always - against him, it's considered punishment, humiliation and what not. Also, those guys aren't amateurs - they have learned how to avoid getting injured, and injuries in training happen in all sports (ok, most sports, even though I can imagine some nasty things that could happen with a snooker cue (Proverbial apple...) ), all the time - you just can't train casually all the time and then reasonably expect to deliver a 100% effort when it counts.

Ah, thanks. (Holiday feeling...) The "Sylvester Stallone" answer still seems a bit strange to me, though. (Applauding...)

26. Who's your #1 rival? "Hagiwara. But he wouldn't mention my name" What does mean by that? (Applauding...)

When demand exceeds supply, price should go up. Why don't they set a maximum number of kensho (say, 30) per match and auction them off if the number of kensho would exceed that limit? Of course, it's all Asa's fault, as always. :-(

Young rikishi are sweating alongside the construction workers in a 30 degrees centigrade atmosphere in order to try and get it ready. Sounds like Mr. Miyagi's training method... :-O

Raiden Tame'emon, a living legend Having died in 1825, he's not exactly a living legend. :-) :-|