SFM 35....

[Sotonokuni 8]

Sumo Fan Magazine is back live.... with a fresh take on the match-fixing mayhem recently engulfing the sumo world.

Featured this time are:

A detailed history of match-fixing allegations from the Edo era to present

Why Hanaregoma is best placed to deal with the scandal

A full translation of the sumo association's match-fixing questionnaire

A comprehensive statistical analysis of the accused match-fixers

Of course, we also have some morphs, collectors' advice, photos, first-time fans' stories, opinions, letters and much more.

Check out the action (which might be the only sumo action you get this March) at www.sumofanmag.com.

All the best,

Chris G

[Kaji 1]

:-)

(Yusho winner...)

Timely topic

[Tikozan 4]

:-(

Thanks, it's very interesting

[Borislav 4]

Finally something positive in the sumo world :)

[Treblemaker 254]

With all due respect to Chris, who writes very well and always has interesting articles, when a site mag dedicated to a particular subject has 8 out of 13 articles written by the same author, yet displays a complete list of "contributors" who mostly don't contribute, there's something amiss... It's not a mag, but a blog.

Then again, what else can you expect with the sport in a death-grip on the toilet of life? Not much to be happy about, not much to celebrate, and to all those here on SF who write daily and often about reports, rumours, hearsay, how to improve sumo (realizing that absolutely nothing said here will make gnat's ass of a difference to those who make those decisions), dwelling on tiny details like hungry peasants fighting over crumbs on a plate....

Like, there's nothing going on... only words. Nothing else. Yet everyone's busy posting like their lives depend on it. Reminds me of the Fan Site for the British group, Level 42. The site kept going years after the group broke up, discussing every tiny nuance and microscopic detail of a group dead and gone until they finally gave up 4 years later, with nothing left to say.

And you can't fix this. This has been a disaster in the making for many years, mismanaged by inept people, propagated by other inept people unsuited for their leadership positions and maintained by others who assume the world exists in a status quo state.

This won't be fixed by those currently in charge. And it won't be fixed without ripping the very fabric apart and starting over. Thus, it won't be fixed. There's no shot-clock solution. It's a crooked house. Either tear it down and rebuild it, or live in it, or move to a better part of town.

Sumo may be back. Or not. In the meantime, leave the computer alone for a while. Get some fresh air. Go talk to live people.

>Borislav: "Finally something positive in the sumo world :)" Um, no. At the risk of sounding like Buckton, no, there's not much positive in the sumo world right now.