Now on YouTube, with video of your 3 hosts discussing the upcoming Kyushu basho, and we look into the health of the top ranking rikishi, and the prospects for who might take the cup this time. Rolled into this jam-packed 45 minutes, you get:
- Site news – we continue to set new records
- Our banzuke reactions – The 4 Komusubi of the Apocalypse!
- Our world famous, highly anticipated Genki Report
- The team’s always regrettable predictions
BONUS FEATURE – Why is there a cat on Bruce’s chair?
Fascinating as always guys.
For me it’s an Ichinojo yusho!
If he’s healthy, he will CLEAN HOUSE.
Great stuff as always, guys! So regarding Enho vs. Ichinojo: I looked up the stats for M6w vs. M12e matchups for this decade, and looks like they took place about 1 in every 3 basho. So a decent 1 in 3 chance, but but the odds are against it this time.
I wonder if the M12 needs to be on a yusho run…or if the M6 is getting his clock cleaned. I’m guessing here…all mid-to-late week 2 matchups?
Both the yusho run and the rolex rinsing are very much on the cards.
Yeah mostly day 11 or later, though it’s happened as early as day 6, and the records aren’t always lopsided. E.g. in January we had M6w Onosho (7-4) losing to M12e Kagayaki (3-8) on day 12.
That Onosho/Kagayaki matchup is pretty much the opposite of what I was expecting. M6 doing well paired w/ M12 doing poorly.
And the opposite of the expected outcome, too.
Here’s the query if you want to explore… http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Query_bout.aspx?show_form=0&group_expand=on&year=2010-2019&rank1=m6w&rank2=m12e
Was that really a cat, or did the headrest gain sentience?
That’s my cat! Her name is “Bean”. She loves sumo…
Did you and your cat know that today, 29 October, is “National Cat Day?”
Love the video and seeing all my favorite Tachiai folks live!
Please give Bean a scratch behind her ears from your devoted fan in Seattle!
By the way: No more Tachiai merch? I have a mug and wanted to buy more stuff….
Sharon
Unfortunately. For the time being there is no store but hopefully it will be back in the future.
She’s beautiful. And Bean, especially in conjunction with your shirt were very festive for Halloween. Well done! I just wish I could say the same for your choice of yusho winner, but I would love for you to be right! If not, I’ll root for the Four Horsemen.
Great work as ever, chaps.
I’ve a question about Mitakeumi & his “poor work ethic”. Is that actually a consistent thing, or is it just a one-off event that’s stained his reputation ever since?
And even if it is a consistent thing, I’m guessing a sumo wrestler’s “poor work ethic” would be called a “sensible fitness schedule” in any other sport. With so many I njury-plagued rikishi dropping likes flies at the moment, definitions of proper, “honourable” amounts of effort surely need to be relaxed – especially when corporate money-making events like jungyo are included in those definitions.
It’s a consistent thing. Mitakeumi rarely looks impressive in training and has been described as lazy, but it hasn’t done him any harm. “I’ll do it on the night” seems to be his motto.
From comments made by wrestlers in the media, I gather that yusho practices are actually considered important and beneficial, especially for sekitori who are alone in their heya. I mean, in Kise, Oitekaze or Sadogatake beya, every practice includes good quality opponents. But guys like Tamawashi and Ichinojo need to book degeiko or wait for the joint practice of their ichimon for such a chance. Jungyo provides the sekitori a chance to practice with all of their expected rivals, or with guys who have certain qualities they want to hone their strength against.
The “official” bouts in the Jungyo are mostly show. Come on, Enho turning Mitakeumi around and marching him out? Not going to happen. What you really should watch carefully during jungyo are the practice bouts. Not for the win/lose balance (they will sensibly go limp at the edge to avoid injury), but for who is hot and who is not, who is trying to practice, and who is conspicuously off the dohyo doing shiko and push-ups.
Kakuryu is a guy who has a sensible practice schedule. He starts his jungyo below the dohyo, at most stepping on it to give the occasional butsukari to a local star. By the second half of the jungyo, you’ll see him go up more, and even engage some wrestlers. Then, near the basho, he starts doing degeiko rounds.
Mitakeumi, in this Jungyo, was doing the exact opposite. He started the Jungyo all full of fire, participated in the moshi-ai, and then in the middle of the Jungyo, he stopped. What he should have done if he was doing the “sensible” thing was rest (i.e. do suri-ashi and stretches below the dohyo) after his great effort in Aki, then start doing a few bouts, then near the end of the Jungyo, lengthier moshi-ai with higher ranking rikishi. Instead, he starts on fire, then extinguishes the fire, and now he’ll have to go hunt for some practice since he comes from a heya without a selection of sekitori. So it seems he just practices when he feels like it.
It’s not about “honorable” stuff. It’s about increasing your pace gradually and honing your skills to the point that they are in your muscle memory. He has great talent, and if he had the work ethics of Kakuryu, he would have been Yokozuna by now.
Something I thought about as Josh mentioned that in fact the M1s now have exactly the same number of men above them that they would if they were M2s.
I think one of the reasons they went for four Komusubi this time is to open the field for more Ozeki. You are only considered on an Ozeki run if you are in San-yaku. By throwing Asanoyama and Hoktofuji in, they are giving two guys a chance to become Ozeki by the end of Haru. They know the current Ozeki ranks are in dire straits and that no new Yokozuna will come if there are no new Ozeki. I think we’re going to see an extended san-yaku more frequently now.
I am impressed with myself, because I had similar thoughts. Working towards young, healthy Ozekis.
I thought exactly the same the other day. Surely they hope Takayasu can hold on to the rank and that Tochinoshin might even be able to regain his Ozeki rank but they know how fast things can go bad and suddenly there are only one or two Ozeki left (worst case scenario). They want to give those guys a good chance to make Ozeki and aim even higher.
Although it’s certainly possible to start an Ozeki run from the upper maegashira ranks, Terunofuji and Tochinoshin being the most recent examples. I had a whole post about this some months ago.
But the second and third basho do have to be in san’yaku, so I guess now the two new K2’s could technically get there after Hatsu…
Great summary of rikishi status leading into the November tournament. My opinion on Josh’s question about odds of who will win Nov : 10% chance for each of the 5 previous 2019 winners. 50% chance of new winner. Wish we had more info on Ichinojo’s recovery from his injury. I’m sad to say I don’t think he’ll last 15 days if he even starts day 1. I’m glad that we have 4 komusubi. This is the first time I’m going to be really interested in following Juryo. Kaisei, Ikioi and Kyokutaisei are 3 that I’ve grown fond of and wish them well. How about Chiyomaru returning to Makuuchi?
So, evens on the odds = no reason to go to Vegas after all, Bruce ;)