rhino

13% Chiyotaikai? You have got to be kidding. I think Chiyotaikai can't really compete at Asa/Hakuho level anymore, although he has no trouble blitzing through the hiramaku. For me: 50% Asashoryu, 40% Hakuho, 10% other (and by other I mean Kotomitsuki! I wish, anyway.)

I initially assumed that Asashoryu himself was planning to blame injury to protect his own image, which is what I found so unimpressive. But obviously, as you've pointed out, there's no reason to assume that this is his idea. From a business point of view I don't know which is worse- an underperforming yokozuna or a non-participating one (although I imagine that both can actually be quite good for business, since they can generate excitement). But anyway on the main point, I understand what you mean- this isn't about sumo-do and the individual rikishi, this is about the image of the sport. I guess that what Asashoryu personally wants to do is irrelevant. I stand corrected! (In jonokuchi...)

I did not know that- this shows that I haven't been following sumo long enough to see a Yokozuna not do well! Apart from when Asashoryu really did seem to be injured after Hakuho's kotenage, that is. Even if this is normal practice, it doesn't strike me as being very "sumodoh". The occasional horror performance does not make him any less of a great champion- if anything it is a tribute to his greatness that 2 losses in a row, from him, are a horror performance.

That's absolutely incredible. Did anybody notice Asa favouring his right elbow in either bout? Did Asa say anything about being injured? Has anyone heard anything about this until now? Asashoryu will plummet in my estimations if he has to pretend to be injured to excuse his losses- this is more shocking to me than the yaocho allegations (which I simply cannot believe). (Laughing...) I am now praying for Tochiazuma to keep his lead, stun everyone and win his fourth yusho. Especially since the consensus seemed to be that he was more likely than not to go intai. Go Tochiazuma! Copying SalParadise's format, I'll also go ahead and hope that Oga will kachi-kochi to stay in Juryo. In fact, Oga, for the Juryo yusho!

If you just click the last word of my original post you can see that I wasn't being serious. Apparently I really do come across as so dumb that I genuinely think googlefight is a scientific way to judge things- hurrah! I think I should give up on lighthearted forum posts. Either that or signpost them with hundreds of smilies. :-| :-/

This is just more evidence in favour of Raiden's greatness- he even picked a shikona that would enable him to win these (virtual) fights from beyond the grave. Seriously though, are you aware that the number of google hits for a rikishi's shikona is not always a reliable indicator of greatness? See my 2nd link for evidence of this fact! Besides there are perfectly good arguments in favour of Raiden's awesomeness which don't depend on dodgy search-engine surveys. I'm sure you, as a stats guru, would be more knowledgeable about this than most.

I said Raiden- dominated sumo from age 17 to 43, 80% yusho rate, zensho yusho in 20% of his career basho, 96% win percentage- the stats are untouchable. Not to mention the fact that he's still remembered today as legendary, while no other ozeki from before 1900 even comes close to his fame. However... since this is only my opinion, I thought I should go for a more scientific approach and check my results on googlefight. My research has confirmed my opinion, as Raiden beats every other rikishi on the list by miles, and takanohana for good measure. You do have do wonder though when googlefight also produces a result like this.

Hallelujah!! (Laughing...)

How do you mean that? Rolling on the floor in K1? SURE not. Why, going out with a yusho, of course. Surely he means going out with a yusho and ranked at East Yokozuna It could happen! Back on topic though, I'll be sad to see Tochiazuma retire, whenever it happens. I think he has great dignity and a good attitude. It's just a shame he competed in this basho so soon after surgery when KK was surely never on the cards, although I guess that comes with the fighting spirit. I just hope this doesn't bring about his retirement prematurely.

Thanks for the link. I never thought to search for "conehead"- my searches always seemed to lead to mainoumi. Didn't think this was *too* disruptive/spammy. Kaiguma, if you think it looks bad in the pictures, you should try looking at it in the flesh... really weird stuff. I'm glad rikishi don't have to do that anymore!

I've been dying to know this for the longest time (well, since Nagoya 05 when I saw him in person): Who is the shimpan with the large bump in his head, and what IS it? I assumed it was Mainoumi because I'd heard about his head implant, but upon further research this turned out to be totally wrong in many many ways. Any info is very welcome! PS. Great pictures, thanks a lot!

The clearest candidate for "100 yusho equivalent" career is Don Bradman, as far as I'm concerned. He played cricket though, so most people here won't have heard of him... Between 1930 and 1948 he was consistently by far the best batsman in the world, and finished with a career batting average that is 65% better than any other player has ever achieved. (Bradman's average was 99.96- 2nd place is 60) Admittedly he didn't play during WWII so maybe that counts against his longevity. In baseball terms, a player would need a career batting average of 0.392 to match this statistically (see wikipedia article on Bradman). As far as I'm aware no other sportsman in history has come close to that kind of domination over that time period (except maybe ozeki Raiden...!) I don't think this is achievable in sumo though because of the likelihood of serious injury, as discussed in another thread. There is too much strain on the body to carry on at asashoryu level power for 16 years.

Am I the only one who noticed that since Hakuho's heya announced that he would be a Shiranui-style yokozuna, nothing has gone his way? First he loses to Asasekiryu on shonichi of the Nagoya basho, then gets snubbed for promotion for no good reason, then crumbles to an un-Hakuho-like 8-7, then gets a serious injury and will now be kadoban for the Hatsu basho. It can only be the curse! Discuss.

I'm a bit of a sumo newbie, so some of what I say may be wrong, but here goes! I went to the 9th and 11th days of the Nagoya basho in 2005, and both times I was able to buy cheap tickets on the day itself. Not only that, I was also able to sit in the best section of the stands all the way until the final bout. Unfortunately I think Nagoya is the least popular basho in terms of crowd numbers, and sumo has undergone a (slight) revival since then, so it may not be so easy for you. You are correct in thinking that the later stages are more popular, and weekends are too (making the final weekend a deadly combination). As such, if you're keen to attend later on or on a weekend, it's certainly safer to order ahead. However, when I attempted to order online, I discovered that they would only deliver to Japanese addresses, and worse still, that they took payment on delivery. You may be able to arrange for the tickets to be delivered to your hotel while you stay there- I had some e-mail exchanges with them and they were very helpful and accommodating, although in the end buying on the day was the easiest option. I think the provision for special arrangements through their standard website forms is limited or nonexistent, so you will probably need to personally contact them if you wish to take this route- unless you have friends in japan. Perhaps some SumoForum members could help you with that, I know several of them are based over there. Tickets for a basho go on sale at some point during or after the previous basho. I'm not aware of any price difference between earlier and later days of a basho. Finally as you probably know, you can sit in any seat you like until that seat's "owner" turns up, and until makuuchi starts you can just move to some other free seat. After that the staff get a bit tetchier about it, and you will probably have to go back to your own seat. Based on my experience, you have a chance of making it all the way to the zabuton throwing if you sit in the front section, but in the back row and towards the side. Having said all that, towards senshuraku the arena may well be booked solid, so if you're desperate to be at the front then you might need to fork out. Watch out for low-flying rikishi, I saw an elderly lady risk death when a hulk from Makushita landed within inches of her! Anyway enjoy the basho! I hope to go back as soon as I can afford it... Charles "the other place", UK Incidentally, I think this is indeed in the wrong forum, but I'm not sure what the right one would be! Mods help please?

He means Hakuho's chances of beating Asa are 44%, 71% chance of beating Chiyotaikai etc... If Hakuho does somehow win all his remaining matches, I will bet my house on him being promoted whatever Kitanoumi is saying right now. (However, I don't actually own a house)

(Whatever above, it is funny...) (Whatever above, it is funny...) (I am not worthy...) I never want to see anything like that ever again... (Censored) Really the word "risque" should have alerted me!

And, in fact, english users can access the same videos in english by following this link: historic matches Edit: And it turns out I'm an idiot! Doh. What a pity that the NSK doesn't consider non-japanese speakers worthy of the full range

This is all awesome- congrats and thank you! (Whistling...) Any chance of seeing a video of Mickey's izori? When I first read about this kimarite, I barely even believed it was possible to do!

Right, I'm going with: Asasekiryu Hakuho Ettoryu And if that's not your top 3... well... it should be!

The news is hot off the presses in this thread!

I would personally love to see him score 13 wins but not yusho, just to hear the YDC say things like "For yokozuna promotion, nothing less than 2 yusho in a row will do- he must start again next basho" after offering the royal road to Tochiazuma less than 6 months earlier. Actually, I'd much rather he just won and got promoted, but this would certainly amuse me. Edit: Well, apparently they do remember bringing back that rule. Glad they're being equitable!

I must say I have higher hopes for the Hack attack than I did for Tochiazuma. If Asashoryu isn't back on top form, this is Hakuho's to lose. On the other hand, vs a genki yokozuna he may have his work cut out. I don't see the Kyokai promoting him without a yusho- he doesn't have the benefit of a long time at Ozeki and several yusho under his belt like Tochi. He also doesn't have the advantage of being the long-sought-after next japanese yokozuna. Anyway, go Hakuho! (Yusho winner...) (A topic for another poll- who IS the next japanese yokozuna? My money's on Yoshikaze... I wish)

I recall in almost exactly the same situation, the decision has gone the other way before, such as in this match (Asashoryu-Kokkai, Nagoya 05 day 11) Time to break out all the anti-mongolian conspiracy rumours again (Neener, neener...)

Isn't the torikumi always decided 2 days in advance?

Hakuho takes the brunt as the crowd runs out of zabutons and starts throwing Kyokushuzans