The flaw in Gould’s argument is that Hanaregoma oyakata was sure and no one — not the other shimpan and not the video booth — was willing to gainsay him. If he hadn’t been sure then likely the monoii would never have been called.
(This comment is only about Gould’s argument that this event demonstrates that the judging process should have a way of yielding “inconclusive” as a result, and not about my opinion on the actual events.)
It was a travesty, end of story. This is going to rank right up there with Kotoshogiku’s Ozeki loss to a Henka as one of the dark moments in recent sumo.
As ugly as that henka was (giving no respect or a fair chance to Kotoshogiku), it was all Terunofuji’s choice and, sadly, a valid move. Tochi was robbed, plain and simple.
He lost me when he started pontificating on the subconscious motivations of the judges. Really? Though I was upset at the decision and as much as I want to see Tochinoshin reclaim his ozeki rank (not to mention how sweet it would’ve been to have a three way tie between Kakuryu, Tochinoshin and Ansanoyama heading into the last 2 days) I don’t see conspiracy or malfeasance in this. Looking at it dispassionately, the judge with the best view basically made the call. As I understand it there’s no particular deference to the gyoji. No requirement for clear, irrefutable evidence to overturn his decision ala NFL replay. The gyoji has to make a call one way or the other based on what he can see and he was on the other side of the action. The other judges weren’t sure, the video booth wasn’t sure and certainly none of us parsing pixels can say for sure. There was one guy with the clearest view and that’s the call he made. I believe someone also pointed out that this is not a situation where a rematch can be called because it wasn’t about a simultaneous step out or fall. Maybe that needs to change but that’s a separate issue. Judgement calls happen all the time in sports and though the stakes were incredibly high there was no clear cut answer. That being said, their painfully long deliberations sure didn’t inspire confidence and I really feel bad for Tochinoshin
Hope, Judges will change decision, otherwise it will be shame. Tochinoshin deserves it
The flaw in Gould’s argument is that Hanaregoma oyakata was sure and no one — not the other shimpan and not the video booth — was willing to gainsay him. If he hadn’t been sure then likely the monoii would never have been called.
(This comment is only about Gould’s argument that this event demonstrates that the judging process should have a way of yielding “inconclusive” as a result, and not about my opinion on the actual events.)
Couldn’t the judges rule that Asa’s body was in an irrecoverable position anyways?
They could’ve done many things, any of which which would have been better than what they actually chose to do.
Couldn’t Asa’s body have been deemed in an irrecoverable position?
It was a travesty, end of story. This is going to rank right up there with Kotoshogiku’s Ozeki loss to a Henka as one of the dark moments in recent sumo.
As ugly as that henka was (giving no respect or a fair chance to Kotoshogiku), it was all Terunofuji’s choice and, sadly, a valid move. Tochi was robbed, plain and simple.
He lost me when he started pontificating on the subconscious motivations of the judges. Really? Though I was upset at the decision and as much as I want to see Tochinoshin reclaim his ozeki rank (not to mention how sweet it would’ve been to have a three way tie between Kakuryu, Tochinoshin and Ansanoyama heading into the last 2 days) I don’t see conspiracy or malfeasance in this. Looking at it dispassionately, the judge with the best view basically made the call. As I understand it there’s no particular deference to the gyoji. No requirement for clear, irrefutable evidence to overturn his decision ala NFL replay. The gyoji has to make a call one way or the other based on what he can see and he was on the other side of the action. The other judges weren’t sure, the video booth wasn’t sure and certainly none of us parsing pixels can say for sure. There was one guy with the clearest view and that’s the call he made. I believe someone also pointed out that this is not a situation where a rematch can be called because it wasn’t about a simultaneous step out or fall. Maybe that needs to change but that’s a separate issue. Judgement calls happen all the time in sports and though the stakes were incredibly high there was no clear cut answer. That being said, their painfully long deliberations sure didn’t inspire confidence and I really feel bad for Tochinoshin