Daigaiguma

I sincerely hope that is so. However, if he rushes back from his injury - as he probably will considering he will be a sekiwake next basho - he will risk long term injury to his knee/ankle. Look at Kotooshu and Baruto, who have both come back from a knee injury though not completely healed. It can be very detrimental for his long term development. That said, he had a tremendously impressive basho and his grit during his "comeback" matches was amazing. Jia you, Kotoshogiku!

Ama seemed to be up for a sansho, but - unless my Japanese fails me - it was dependent on a Hakuho yusho. If there was any further explanation by the Japanese commentators, i didn't understand it. Anyone care to enlighten me? Why in the world would his receiving an award have anything to do with something other than his own performance? note: edited to correct author's nearsightedness

Of all the days thus far, the sumo today seemed very rough overall. Lots of harite, vicious tsuppari, and very aggressive gappuri. Amazing stuff. Asashoryu and Goeido perhaps got a bit carried away at the end. I think the most telling was Ama's anger at losing today. It just seemed as if everyone was full of fire. Great, great day to watch.

A question. I had heard previously that the winter jungyo would be making a stop in Taiwan (specifically Kaohsiung) but I have searched for ticketing information here and have not been able to find anything. Has the foreign leg of the jungyo been cancelled?

I think Tainan is a bit more humble than Kyoto - the history is not as old or enthralling - but the food is much better and IMHO the people much friendlier. Kaohsiung is also a great city to visit. Very convenient. It has large, wide streets with readable signs. The mass transport is a bit lacking, but renting a scooter is fun. I recommend that anyone with the time and resources think about making the trip.

Yes, it is a lovely city. And only 30 minutes from where I live. If anybody is planning to go and needs any information about Kaohsiung (this is how the Taiwanese spell it) or Taiwan in general, I would be happy to provide. I also promise some pictures from the Jungyo as well - hopefully better than the ones I took of the jungyo in Taipei.

Yay! The boys are coming back! I knew they couldn't stay away from all the good food. The weather is nice here that time of year, too. Definitely something to look forward to. Any ideas about when tickets will go on sale?

I was wondering if a yokozuna's tsukebito has ever become a yokozuna himself? (I tried to search for this, but in vain) Also, what has become of Shimoda? I haven't heard anything about him recently. Thanks, oh wonderful, patient experts.

I think it's interesting that the "he shows too much emotion" rant has (recently, at least) only been leveled at the likes of Asa or Hakuho. I've watched every basho for the past three years and while there have been incidents at least every basho with either Asa, Hakuho, or both displaying too much emotion/aggression, they are not the biggest offenders. Takamisakari displays an excess of emotion EVERY time he is on the dohyo. Whether it's crying in defeat or jutting out his chest in victory. Kitazakura is also a repeat offender. He thrusts his fist about every victory, and I once saw him lay on the dohyo for an extended period of time after suffering makekoshi on senshuraku (Hatsu 06). Chiyotaikai has had his moments as well, most notably that awful spat with Roho last year. Kisenosato is forever glowering at potential opponents and then curtly nodding (not bowing) if he loses. So if we're discussing too much emotion, lets not concentrate our debate soley on Mongolian (or foreign rikishi). If you want great examples of how a rikishi should carry himself, look no further than Ama, Homasho, Kotooshu, and Toyonoshima. They carry themselves very well, especially in defeat. I know mentioning Kotooshu may get me slammed, but if you have watched sumo a lot recently, you have seen him lose at least 5 to 6 bouts a basho. Each time, he seems to stoically accept his defeat. I have also never seen him (recently, that is) pump his fist in victory. Just food for thought.

What a thoroughly disappointing Senshuraku. So many henkas and otherwise bad sumo from guys you would expect better from. Actually, right before the kettei-sen, I was commenting to my girlfriend that I didn't think Hakuho had displayed very good sumo this tournament and yet always seemed to win. Then, as if I had just spoke of the devil, his worst sumo of the tournament reared its ugly head. Arggh! Not that I was any happier with Asa's earlier henka, but one does not cancel the other out. In fact, it just makes it worse. Oh well, I guess I still have Homasho, TochiO3, and Toyonoshima to cheer for.

:-) Yay! They're welcome here anytime. But I know the real reason they are coming back. The can't resist the xiao long bao :-D

If Kotomitsuki loses today (and it does seem rather likely), he will have achieved 7 straight 8-7 records. That's 8-7 for the whole year (plus Kyushu last year). That's 48 wins, the lowest possible to never lose a rank. In several of the basho this year, he had to fight for his 8-7, but the past two he has stormed ahead and been an early yusho challenger only to drop 5 or 6 in a row to finish out the basho rather miserably. As I am relatively new to sumo (just a couple of years), can anyone tell me of another sanyaku rikishi who scraped by in this way for so long? I am not a Mickey-hater. When his game is on, I truly enjoy his sumo, especially his thunderous tachiai. I'm just wondering how this keeps consistently happening and whether there is any precedent for it.

Go Kaio!! Everybody should be cheering for the big lug! 頑張れ！！

Two questions about shinpans: 1) Who is the shinpan with the inordinately bulbous head? He is usually adjudicating the upper makuuchi bouts along with Takanohana. He appears to be in his late 50s or early 60s. Anyone know his name, his heya, and what his shikona was? 2) Why do I never see Azumazeki Oyakata at dohyo-side? Do the oyakata's rotate these jobs? How are they decided?

The reason I said "easier" - and I'm sticking to that - is that none of those opponents are as good as Asashoryu. None of them has won 17 yusho or dominated the field the way he has. All of those opponents have weaknesses that Baruto could exploit. Even though he may well be beaten by them all, he has a much better chance than would with 8 more bouts against Asashoryu.