Bart Sez: "Ouch!"

[madorosumaru]

Latest media report.

Baruto re-injured his knee in his bout against Kotoshogiku. Immediately after the bout, he was checked at the clinic in the Kokugikan. "It appears to be a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)" was the preliminary diagnosis.

He is going to have further test, including MRI, on the 10th at a hospital in Tokyo. He is scheduled to face Tochiazuma on Day 4, but it is most likely that he will go kyujo.

Edited January 9, 2007 by madorosumaru

[Asashosakari]

"Ouch", indeed:

[Jakusotsu]

Wish Kaikitsune had been a bit less right than usual... :-D

[ilovesumo]

So that's it....honestly, anything else would be a surprise...it looked very bad and Bart couldn't even stand on his leg. Aminishiki yesterday wasn't that bad injured, so he could go on today, but for Bart- over... :-D

[madorosumaru]

Some more reports.

Bart could not walk after the bout and had to be wheeled to the clinic. "The pain is very similar to what I felt in Aki [when the knee was first injured]."

The Estonian put on a brave face: "I will try to gambaru tomorrow." His shisho, Onoe Oyakata said, "[At this time] I intend to have him [go on the dohyo] tomorrow. But, I'll think about it after I see the results of the check-up in the morning."

Kotoshogiku won convincingly just as he did last basho. He got into a moro-zashi [position] and forced his way forward with gaburi-yori. Just as Baruto used his long arm to grab an uwate and tried a wild throw, Shogiku leaned his weight onto his aite for an abise-taoshi.

"That's the only way I could win," explained the young Sadogatake rikishi. "Since my opponent got hurt, I have mixed feelings [about the victory]."

[Jonosuke]

Initially I thought he re-injured it after he fell down but looking at the photo, he did while still on the dohyo.

He never gives enough time to rest his knee so this time around I hope he will take the time to get it fully healed. If not, he will keep re-injuring it. Even if he falls down to a low Juryo or Makushita, it's well worth to give it enough rest as he is strong enough he can come back up quicklly if healthy.

Baruto appears to gain weight easily as well and with this recurring injury, he could be the next Konishiki if he does not take the proper care.

[tympsa]

Baruto - Kotoshogiku video is here

http://rapidshare.com/files/10997124/Barut...hogiku.mpg.html

[madorosumaru]

According to sanspo, Bart is out--kyujo as of Day 4.

[Asojima]

According to sanspo, Bart is out--kyujo as of Day 4.

It has now been posted officially on the NSK site. Out on Day 4.

[slt]

Injuries on the knee... this is something that's going to follow him throughout his career. Jonosuke is right - he should really take the time to heal.

Given his Oyakata's comment, I wonder if it's always the rikishi who insist on ignoring their injuries and fighting on, or if they have strong pressure from the heya. I understand, of course, that there is a tendency to minimize the damage, so that the other rikishi don't take advantage of the injury, but I often feel that the rikishi aren't prudent enough.

I think every one of us knew very well, as soon as we saw poor Baruto struggling to stand, that he would be out on day 4... hard to understand why his oyakata would even CONSIDER letting him go on with the basho.

[Coo-cook]

A sad day for Great White. I have the impression watching slow motion that his foot work was so awkward as of he is stepping on a prostetic left leg (so wooden and stiff)

His knee wasn't recovered from previous injury at all. He should sit out at least for couple bashos.

[Asojima]

From a review of the new video on Banzuke.com, it looks like his knee just gave out on him. It was gone before he went down, and it doesn't look like he was getting undue pressure from K'shogi.

Edited January 10, 2007 by Asojima

[Yuriyama Ren]

A sad day for Great White. I have the impression watching slow motion that his foot work was so awkward as of he is stepping on a prostetic left leg (so wooden and stiff)

His knee wasn't recovered from previous injury at all. He should sit out at least for couple bashos.

Indeed.

Baruto had his left leg in the air half of the time, it looks like he was relying solely on his right one..

But is the ACL tear really a hopless case or can something be done with an operation?

[Kotoku]

This guy is great on so many levels, that I hope he just takes the time to get it fixed. He could go to one of the top specialists for knee injuries in the USA -- American Football deals them out by the score every year. Even if he comes back at Jonokuchi, he'll be back in no time.

Sorry he's gone...

[madorosumaru]

Kaikitsune was correct in that sooner or later this would have happened. It happened very much sooner. ACL tear is a common injury in sports, including sumo. In America, the injured athlete would have an operation almost immediately. Rikishi, for their reasons, try to hang on for as long as possible.

It all depends on the extent of the tear, but it looks like Bart would need surgery. Even then, he will never be the same as before, but at least the knee would be functional. The ACL link above states that after surgery, "Today's athletes have greater than a 90% chance of returning to their pre-injury level of sports participation.

"ACL reconstruction is a highly successful operation. With good rehabilitation, 90% to 95% of individuals who undergo this surgery can expect to return to full sports participation within six months."

[Fukurou]

"ACL reconstruction is a highly successful operation. With good rehabilitation, 90% to 95% of individuals who undergo this surgery can expect to return to full sports participation within six months."

Not only surgury, but if it's an ACL Bart needs to get to someplace where he can do *proper* rehab of his injury as well, rehab being at least as important, and maybe more so, than the operation itself. I suspect this place may well be nowhere near a sumo heya, and may very well not even be in Japan.

No, I don't know how often ACL operations and rehab happen in Japan. I do know that some countries seem to "specialize" in certain medical treatments more than others. Example: according to things I have read, transplant surguries are rarely done in Japan for various reasons, some having absolutely nothing to do with the state of medicine in the country. But they're still rarely done there. It depends on the case and the patient, but sometimes ACL operations involve a cadaver transplant replacement (especially if they can't take a donation from a different part of the patient's body). At least that's what the doctor told my brother when he had his ACL done (with cadaver transplant)

So, does anyone know what the state of sports medicine is in Japan? Because I hope Bart gets to a sports medicine specialist ASAP. Doing so might save his career. Now all he has to do is talk the old men in charge into letting him get proper treatment and staying off the dohyo as long as necessary (usually 6-12 months).

Of course, the powers-that-be have always seemed reluctant to me to let even the very high ranking guys get proper treatment, and Bart's not a high ranker. It seems that nearly everyone is given "1 month for recovery", even for injuries we all know take longer than that to properly heal. Instead we get guys shoved on into the next tournament, regardless of if they should really be there or not (look at Tochiazuma so far...). I wonder if this sort of thing was what they intended when they changed the kyujo rule a while back?

Edited January 10, 2007 by Fukurou

[Manekineko]

On the brighter note, Wakanosato, IIRC, returned from depths of juryo (or lower) after a knee surgery, and rose to his eternal sekiwake role. I think it was those same ligaments in his case, as well.

Search is your friend, and so on. ;-)

[Kintamayama]

Officially, they are saying 2 months rest, which seems to mean that he will miss Haru as well.

[SalParadise]

Example: according to things I have read, transplant surguries are rarely done in Japan for various reasons, some having absolutely nothing to do with the state of medicine in the country. But they're still rarely done there.

That's because of the Japanese medical law which requires people to be far beyond dead before being officially declared dead, preventing donors from giving their organs and the like while they're still good. The laws in other countries about when organ harvesting becomes acceptable are far more lenient.

[nipponnate]

Wow, I guess that pic says it all, I understand the whole concept behind "going back to the dohyo even when injured" because God forbid these guys act acordingly to medical advice, but seeing how hes Baruto, if he skipped the next couple basho he could come back fine, and even quicker than before. Though if he was demoted, I doubt the other rikishi in his stable would play up the whole "abuse the lower ranked guy" ;-)

[maxim]

Baruto keeps injuring himself and it's his own fault. He just can't fall correctly. When pushed from the front, Baruto somehow twists his leg just so his knee bends and his ligaments tear. He's lucky he didn't break his leg, which has happened to people who bend their knees to take the weight. He did it twice, and the third time he will retire permanently, or become crippled. I won't be surprised if we don't see him in Haru basho.

[aderechelsea]

you cannot allow yourself being abisetaoshi-ed when you are 198cm/170kg. Period.

if you do, you eventually break something.

pitty....

(At least he will get another Juryo yusho while coming up ...)

[kaiguma]

Officially, they are saying 2 months rest, which seems to mean that he will miss Haru as well.

I read this somewhere else as well. The magical 2 months rule usually seems to mean that they intend to wait and see if he can walk on his own by Haru basho, in which case they's go ahead and put him in. Foolish, but we've heard it before.

[maxim]

Two weeks ago, I saw a StrongMan competition on Eurosport, where the athletes had to do a Wheel of Conan competition. Something like this:

The goal is to carry the weight in a circle for as long as possible. So, one of the athletes was pushed down by the weight. He did EXACTLY the same thing Baruto did - instead of falling backwards or sideways, let his knee take the weight. So naturally, his leg was broken, and it was a very gruesome sight.

[marujama]

In Estonian televison's telephone interview Bart said, that if a 22-year old's knee can't hold a man, it have to be cut off. Some rough words followed this saying. He also said that he will be back in Osaka, but said that the knee needs a total repairing before coming back.

As I'm not sure about my translation from the intreview, I'll hope some (estonian-speaking) members can modify or approve my translation from the video.