Sue

12 makuuchi basho on the way up plus 21 on the way back down, topping out at Sekiwake -- that qualifies our hypothetical "KK first half of his career, MK second half" rikishi to buy a kabu when he finally goes intai at the end of those 17 years, doesn't it?

Do the experience and number of different winners numbers count as of the beginning or end of the basho? Kotoshogiku's intai should affect the total of both, unless you're not counting him as intai until the next banzuke comes out.

He gets a "deer in the headlights" look on his face, visibly gives up, and gets easily shoved out. That's what I mean by "checking out." When he's on, he's Akebono; when he's off, he's Hattorizakura.

When he actually brings his A game, he's a monster. It's getting him to bring his A game, and not check out completely, that's the trick.

Yutakayama went all the way out the hanamichi a few days ago. (Good job to YY for salvaging a 6-9 after that awful start he got off to, by the way.)

No, I'm finding this basho fascinating. I just tend not to post when I don't have anything interesting to say.

If Yutakayama could ever get consistent about finishing his wins when he's almost won, he'd be laughing his way to a KK. As it is, he's in trouble.

They're out for injuries, not for coronavirus.

The makuuchi yusho will take an extra week to decide, due to delays in results from mail-in matches.

Isn't Hattorizakura's stable the one where the oyakata takes in troubled youth? It may be that the heya is the one stable place in his life, and he has nowhere else to go. I could imagine him becoming the chanko-ban at some point, and sticking around to set records for losses in a career.

Thanks again, @Sakura, for doing this! This thread (and @Asashosakari's in past bashos) is one of my favourite regular features.

And now I can say this with no trace of irony: congratulations to the next Ozeki, Shodai.

The ugly start to the basho probably meant that already, alas.

I've made a lot of "Next Ozeki Shodai" jokes in the years when he struggled. Might that actually be true now?

Zero positive COVID-19 tests.

Four sekiwakes on the November basho banzuke.

Hattorizakura Jonokuchi zensho yusho.

I did. Sorry, wrong three-letter shikona.

Well, we just had Ura Abi, so....

I'm going to cheat, and say that I'd rather have a seven-way playoff, won by the J14w rikishi.

If Abi is forced to retire, as is being reported, does the additional open Juryo slot go to Kitaharima (Ms3w 5-2) over Sakigake (Ms3e 4-3)? And who goes up from Juryo to Makuuchi?

We barely missed another "never happened" occurrence -- if Mitoryu had won the Juryo yusho, it would have been the first time that the top two divisions had winners from the bottom rank of the division at the same time. (Terunofuji was east, not west, but still on M17 nonetheless.)

Hattorizakura: the Baby Shark song.

This is the kind of basho that we would have if there weren't a jungyo circuit -- everyone well-rested and healthy enough to bring their very best. All of the "feast or famine" rikishi have been bringing their A game -- Next Ozeki Shodai, an awakened Mitakeumi, first KK in a year for Tochi and Geek, and even Ichinojo down in Juryo is flirting with a double-digit win total. (And we had a brief appearance from Kais-A before he reverted to form.) And now we have two Ozeki runs, a possible tsuna run, and a possible tomoesen on senshuraku. Attention NSK: you'll bring more fans in with sumo like this than you ever will from barnstorming around Japan and wearing everyone out.

I would expect someone in the joi to suffer in the first week, and someone in sanyaku to suffer in the second week. But why does Mitakeumi have such trouble on nakabi?