Sue

It's going to be twice as confusing if they have a match on his way back up.

The punch line is that I have naturally very straight hair that absolutely will not curl, and have never worn curly hairstyles as a result.

Does the NSK have a concussion protocol? Given their rather retro stance on injuries in general, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that they don't, but Ura's interview today shows just how urgently they need one. Ugh, and they're feeding him to Terunofuji tomorrow. Poor guy.

Hey, if Next Ozeki Shodai can actually make it, why not Non-Disappointing Mitakeumi? I'm sure Charlie Brown can kick that field goal.

Mitakeumi zenshos, and that stray comment about his ozeki run comes back to haunt the NSK.

The top of the banzuke? Or the most recent Makuuchi yusho winner?

It will? That's news to me.

Oguruma? I hear he's a really big wheel.

Among other things, they're likely to insist on him changing his shikona to something with a bit more hinkaku than "#74."

That won't necessarily prevent it from becoming a long series....

It's clearly the next one in a long series of Ozeki runs from Next Ozeki Mitakeumi, and potentially not the last one.

Oh, good, Shohozan won. I had hoped he'd win that final bout at home, especially if we don't see him again.

Clearly, the title of "Next Ozeki" will be at stake in that match. I can't quite figure out whether it goes to the winner, though, or to the loser.

If Kagayaki survives and Shohozan retires, that'll be two intai and one suspension opening up the three promotion slots in Makuuchi, and nobody going down on the strength of their own record. How often does that happen? (And who gets the extra open slot in Juryo?)

Wasn't there a thread fairly recently ("recently" as in "during TnoF's tsuna run") analyzing proposed tsuna runs, and didn't that thread conclude that J->Y and D->Y tended to yield favourable results? He'd need to Y outright, but a Takakeisho yusho in January might merit at least a thought in that direction, especially if it's a 13-2 J and not a 12-3 J that starts it.

And he'll likely carry that torch all the way into Makuuchi on Christmas Eve, just in time for the lighting of the new torch.

He's kind of heavy, and not easy to throw very far.

It's almost as if they had schedules that forced them to face all of the top Sanyaku guys, in a basho in which all of Sanyaku was healthy.

In less bright news, stick a fork in Shohozan. Perhaps Santa might bring him a snazzy blue jacket?

From the first angle, it didn't. From the second angle, it did. Tough break either way.

"Takayasu, what's wrong with you?" I wish we could have Murray Johnson on commentary every day.

The woman in the upper left holding up the black-bordered photo of her dead husband (or father or brother) during the musubi no ichiban was poignant. Was she there on her own behalf, or to vicariously let her loved one see the basho?

He didn't seem very jinxed against Shodai today.

Apparently, Tochinoshin didn't get the memo about everyone being healthy this time 'round.

D'oh! That's what I get for only watching the sekitori.