sildan

There's precedent for denying a sanyaku slot to a 12-3 record at m7: Tamanoshima in Osaka 2005. In that case there were three open sanyaku slots, and three candidates ahead of him. There's only one precedent for promoting a 12-3 record at m5 to sekiwake, and that was in 1957. I think that if they open up any new sanyaku slots, it will be a komusubi slot for Kokkai only.

I think I first noticed the change in Nagoya last year. It took a while for Kokkai to learn to new style, but it's nice to see the hard work paying off. I hope he can keep it up.

Asa: Maybe if I pretend I'm a statue, no one will notice what just happened.

Unfortunately, I did it already before I saw this reply. I'd been set to do it for a few weeks and was just waiting for an opportune moment, so I didn't check here first. Oh, that's fine. I don't know how much time I'll have to play the admin in the long run, so it's probably better for the long-run admin to be in charge sooner rather than later. I just thought it would be a pretty convenient way to get started without spending too money much up front.

Well, if no one has bought the web space yet, I'll gladly offer mine. It's already paid for for the next two years, and not really being used (one of those great ideas that never came to fruition...). Anyway, it's only 15GB but unlimited transfer, and the domain could always be transferred at some later time. If someone wants to register the domain I can transfer it, or I can register it myself. Also, I can use fantastico to install either TikiWiki or PhpWiki, or a variety of CMSs (Mambo, Joomla, etc), and I'm sure I can manage to install something else (i.e. MediaWiki) if it is chosen. Anyway, no sense in spending money that doesn't need to be spent. If this seems reasonable, I can get it set up this weekend.

I think this is an important bout for the both of them. Obvious reasons for Asa. For Hakuho, he still has won only one yusho with Asa present and healthy, and that was the infamous henka. If Hakuho is ever going to be as good (or maybe even better), he needs to start beating Asa straight up, head-to-head. Now would be a good start, particularly since he had the early lead. As for Asa's condition: he's had some close calls this basho that he certainly wouldn't have had under normal conditions (e.g. Mickey), and the first few days in particular were pretty sloppy. Safe to say he came in a bit rusty. As for convincing people, he doesn't have to. He might win his 22nd yusho today: everyone knows he's good, one of the best of all time. But that doesn't mean we have to like him.

Well, as an Irish dancer, I must say their technique is terrible: their feet are nothing like crossed, heads down, shoulders not square, riding their knees, and they clearly have no control over their arms. I don't want to know what criteria the auditioners are using. At least they're not as fat as Michael Flatley.

(Bow...) Kokkai=Oshisumo guy, not so often gripping the Mawashi but in September he finished 4 of his 7 wins by the way of yorikiri (2x) or yoritaoshi (2x) Adicionally, his recent stats He doesn't win every day, but when he does "yori" techniques are a common part of his repertoire. Kokkai really seems to be trying to reinvent himself. He was starting to have trouble winning with his tsuppari, so he started going for the belt. I've been enjoying his transformation the last couple basho, even though he hasn't been winning too frequently. I hope he can find his metaphorical and physical balance and move back up the banzuke.

Kurosawa got 5-2 at Sd32w, which will give him his highest rank so far.

The last rikishi to be promoted to yokozuna with only one basho at ozeki was Nishinoumi in 1890. (See this query) Don't think it's going to happen this time, even if Micky gets this yusho and the next. (The possible exception is Miyagiyama. I couldn't readily find details on his career in Osaka, and I didn't bother digging since it would be irrelevant anyway.)

If anything that basho demonstrated that Kotooshu completely cracks under pressure. Two wins ahead of Asashoryu with three days left and he still lost. Your recollections are no doubt more accurate than mine.

He needs something, surely. But would ozumo, with it's only grudging acceptance of sports medicine, accept sports psychology?

I too have only really been following sumo in what we might term "Asashoryu's era", but no withdrawal here! In these new times, we will have experiences that we only have heard about in the past, like not being sure who's going to win the yusho by day four. I can hardly wait for the first Yokozuna-Yokozuna bout that I will get to watch as it goes down. Here's hoping for a kettei-sen! It is new and different and not quite normal yet, but very very exciting! Yes, the past is nice, but the future holds so much opportunity.

Surely his nerves should be settled by now? Being an ozeki is not just about talent; it's about will and demeanor. Kotooshu played his hit-off-center-at-the-tachi-ai-and-grab-the-migi-uate-and-use-his-leverage-to-move-the-opponent game very effectively to get to ozeki. I've never been a fan, but I cheered for him then because it was good sumo. Why can't he do that now? Nerves? Even though he's already demonstrated he can handle a fair amount of pressure (remember how close he came to the yusho)? Maybe he needs a new goal, something to work for. Maybe his opponents got wise to his game and he needs to come up with a new one. Maybe he's content just coasting along. I don't know. But however you slice it, it's a disappointing waste of talent.

No, no robbing. Toyohibiki just couldn't finish off the throw. His body was much lower. Great attempt, though; too bad it didn't work.

Minor diversion: a glance at Sumo Reference (w00t!) turned up Masurao with 5 Juryo yusho. Anyone know if this is the record?

(...) You should know that You can watch the stream with VLC as well... Ive tried many times with VLC. Connection refused. (...) Just did it as an experiment. All you have to do is open file mms://bpsw00.goo.ne.jp/sumolive. Pic quality is much lower than WMP 11 or WMP 10, but I guess that is the price you pay for tying your hand behind your back. @Asojima Personally, I'd rather sacrifice a little picture quality than give up my Linux boxen or my Mac. I guess I spend so much time using my computers, I actually have to enjoy using them, or I'd go crazy (and Windows drives me crazy... use it at work... 2k-Vista... and they all lack the tools I like to make work comfortable and efficient). And from my perspective, it's frustrating how much Microsoft tries to, as you put it, tie my hands behind my back. I prefer to use the software I like rather than the software that Microsoft says I should use. Just my preference. @bigfatman Anyway, I've had a lovely time using VLC on all my Linux boxen and on my Mac. I just type in the stream address in the open stream dialog and it connects every time. Never had a problem with disconnecting or with the audio getting out of sync (which happened like clockwork in WMP9). The only oddity I've had is the video is on occasion very stilted when you first connect, but disconnecting and reconnecting fixes it. Out of curiosity, what Linux distro are you using, and what version of VLC? Some distros will build VLC without WMV support for patent reasons, and that could be your problem. You might try installing an official package from the VLC website (they have a variety of binary packages) or try building it from the source. @everyone Kudos for people using different platforms. More users on more platforms means more competition, which means better software. And I think all of us would like better software. (Holiday feeling...) No need for snippiness.

Good idea. It's counter-intuitive because you have to work from inner sorts up to main sorts, but no new UI wood be needed. Thanks! I also thought it seemed a bit counterintuitive, but couldn't come up with another way to hide it in the script instead of making the user care (by setting a bunch of dropdowns). I'll keep thinking... I always like a good UI challenge.

There are more sort issues in the banzuke query output (like different sorting for groups and details in expanded groups - this one actually works in the torikumi search). Implementing your suggestions actually is easy, it's more the question how to maintain an easy user interface for the sorting. Clicking on column headers just is much better than selecting from various combo boxes. I will give that a thought. Maybe you (or someone else) can point me to an existing solution for a neat user interface for multi-level sorting? Two ways, depending on how you've coded the script: If you're querying the DB every time, you of course need to submit the sort arguments every time a new column is clicked. Instead of having a single sort argument, you could have several (sort1, sort2, etc). When the user clicks a new column, each sort argument gets pushed back one slot (sort1 becomes sort2) and the newly-clicked column becomes sort1. If the data is persistent, it's a simple matter of using a stable algorithm, like a properly-implemented quicksort. Either way, there's no new UI. The script just remembers your previous sorts as the lower levels.

It should be noted that the ML does have a digest mode. I just keep half an eye out for interesting posts, so I just look at the subjects of the digest if I have time. No indox clutter that way.

It's not exactly an uncommon idiom, at least in the U.S., to say that something quite difficult was 'easy' to juxtapose said difficult thing with an even more difficult thing in the future. If you read the comment that way, I think it's spot on: it has taken Hakuho three very strong surges to get him where he is (Ozeki promotion, failed Yokozuna promotion, successful Yokozuna promotion); the new task it to maintain that level of excellence for, say, a decade (hopefully more!). Moose's own difficulty in making Yokozuna just underscores the point.

These quotes just fit in so well with the upset discussion... They sound so optimistic.

Yes.

1) Homasho: his sumo is very stable and has been a joy to watch. I think he's the kind of guy who can regularly put up big numbers at sanyaku. 2) Kisenosato: still losing some bouts he shouldn't. Still a bit erratic bout-to-bout. But in general, good sumo, and he always seems to come back better than before. 3) Tochiozan: just don't know yet. But this basho was really impressive.