Haidouzo

Day 2: Daishomaru Kyokutaisei Chiyonoumi Azumaryu Takanosho Kiribayama Wakatakakage Tobizaru Wakamoto

With the usual exception of Odd, it's a clean sweep for day 1! ~~kimochiii~~ GANBARIMASU

Oh, please. Yes, I've had several yushos, but I haven't had one since November 2017. So even just one would be really nice this year! And yes, Panda on day 1 in SG.

Day 1: Takanosho Wakatakakage Sokokurai Daishomaru Daiamami Takanofuji Tsurugisho Enho Tobizaru

Would just one yusho be too much to ask for? ...this year? And no Baka Cup in my basement? ...ever again? GANBARIMASU!

KOKO DESU!

It's not what you know. It's who? Yanou.

SG: Lost on senshuraku for a 4-way tie for J-Y instead of a tiebreak loss in a two-way yusho play-off. 9 points instead of 12. Quad: 7-way tie for 6th. 2 and 1/7th points. Chaingang: 1/19th of a Master's point. Not the first time I've gotten a small fraction of a point here. TTT: From 8-3 to 8-7 and a tie for 12th. Toto: Lost on senshuraku to tie for 12th. DST: Tanked on senshuraku to drop from 11th to 15th. Bench: A 4-4 tiebreak win for KK (8-7). ISP: 5-10, 157th of 183. I may have never gotten Master's points in this game. Odd: 4 points not bet is all I have to show there. 52nd of 60. Not good from M11. In pre-basho: Juryo Game: Top 10 the whole basho until the end. 12th. Oracle: After a promising run all basho, tied for 17th of 54. Norizo Cup: 7-8 Roto: 50th of 88. The rest of the pre-bashos are too horrible to mention. Approximately 11.2 points from 3 top 10s. 5 finishes from 12th to 17th. Still no yusho. This seems all the Machine is capable of anymore. GANBARIMASU

I don't think my basho has been THAT bad. I'll have a similar feeling of relief when it's over, though.

I'm giving this topic a 172% chance of continued humor.

Looks like I'm out of all yusho races now. Since I'm facing Andonishiki in SG, a win means I'll get the jun-yusho (possibly shared). I still may share it, even with a loss. That will almost certainly be my best game this basho. Perhaps a lot of small points elsewhere. Including, of all things, Toto. GANBARIMASU

I am not opening ANY links.

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?

Looks like my most recent yusho will still be 2017. GANBARIMASU

Made it with approximately four minutes to spare. I believe I would have literally screamed.

I never imagined I would say, "Thank goodness I was wrong on both picks in TTT," but thank goodness I was wrong on both picks in TTT, because I JUST missed the entry deadlines to bring the fusen bout into play, and if I lost another yusho (or KK or what have you) over missing a fusen bout, I was going to go into a blind and/ or depressed rage this morning. Otherwise, a mixed day, with a horrid 3 in SG to keep my head-to-head record with Seb even more horribly unbalanced, another loss in ISP (for 5-8), my 13th miss in Odd, and a miserable 2 points in Bench for 6-7. I don't know if a 6-9 from M14 would keep me in Makuuchi, so I'd better get at least one more win. And I think I'm on a four-day losing streak in TUG. But another great day in DST actually has me within striking distance of the top 10 (with two more great days). I'm now also in a 6-way tie for the jun-yusho in Quad. Also secured KK in Toto. I feel like I've never done better than 9-6 in Toto, but don't hold me to that. Looking like quite possibly no points from Oracle. 4-way tie for 6th in Juryo Game. GANBARIMASU

A good day. Fought back to 6-6 in Bench. Well in the yusho race in SG with 9-3. A strong day in DST should make KK quite manageable. Won in Quad for a nine-way tie for 4th. Won in Toto for 7-5 and a large tie for 15th. Losses in Odd, TUG, and ISP. Only the TUG loss has any yusho impact. The slow slip continues, to a four-way tie for 5th in Juryo Game. GANBARIMASU

Not to say that it's not good advice (because it absolutely is), but it would have made no difference in that bout. The tiebreak just would have come down to Takakeisho being lower ranked than Goeido in position 4. Which is to say, it's still a tiebreak loss, even with proper placement.

Quite the basho going on here. Now in a five-way tie for the SG yusho. In a 13-way tie for 6th in Quad, only one win behind the leading group of five. With my two compatriots tied for second in TTT not taking the freebie day, I'm now alone in fourth place, one win behind the leading group of three. I seem to be slipping in Oracle and Juryo Game. Snagged a recovery win in Bench, for 5-6. At M14w, I cannot afford many more losses. With a fair day in DST, I'm now over a point above the KK/MK line. Also recovered in ISP, also for 5-6. After taking advantage of the fusens, I was betting on literally only Chiyotairyu, and still lost. It seems I won't make anything happen in Odd this time around. Slipped to 6-5 in Toto, which is fairly well out of the running. No word on TUG, and I can't remember who I picked, but I was alone in 2nd place going into the day. Can we get this on the Masters list already? GANBARIMASU

I also learned something masochistic today.

I learned something new today.

Only Daieisho for me—and I already had him picked for today!

This is turning into just the kind of basho that fills me with hope, which I like but also don't like. In the running in SG, TTT, Quad, and even (somehow) on the edge in Toto. With an extraordinary amount of luck, I could make almost as many points as I made all last year. GANBARIMASU!

Glad I'm not the only one with webcam trouble.