Senshuraku Comments (Frank reporting)
(Darkness. Distant sound of whistling is heard, gradually getting louder.)

Oh, hey there. Didn't notice ya. Name's Frank. Ah clean up around here after the festivities, you know, sweep up the salt, mop the halls, put away these purple pillows. 

(Sits back on a tall stack of zabuton, takes out a handkerchief and wipes his brow.)

Not that keepin this place spic and span is mah only chore, no sir. Ah also tidy up after them Sumotalk fellers, thinkin they know near bout everythin there is to know about sumo. Horseshit, that. Take fer instance that Kelly feller. Ya ask me he couldn't tell his fannie from a fanbelt. Day 1 tells us Kokkai might "be looking at a double digit basho" and that he likes "Kisenosato's chances this time out to sneak in and possibly grab 10 wins." Both finished with 9 wins. Smartass.

Then there's that jacknabbit Newfie Mark Arbo, doing headstands on mah pillows! Took me pritnear two hours to clean the stink of that pomade off. Million Hit Man or not, next time he pulls a stunt like that, ahmagoan beat em like a rented mule. 

To add insult to injury, we had Boss Man himself playing it straighter than a plumb line on Days 12 and 13, not a gag or ribald comment t'be seen. What's the world comin to?

Mind if Ah smoke? 

Anyways, what little buildup there was comin into Day 15 dissipated like hog gas in a mudhole when that Chiyotaikai feller dropped out, citin some elbow problem. Sounds to me more like the man got hisself some spine problems. So that big ol' Mongolian Yokozuna had the trophy in hand fore he got up to pee in the mornin. Well ain't that a piece?

Naturally bein top man an all he's still goan put on a show, and what better way than to whoop on Kotomitsuki. 'Cept, ya see, the Ozeki had other idears. He hits at the tachi-ai and moves quickly left, grabbin a sumbitch of a right inside. Yokozuna takes hisself a right outside, thank ya much, but after a bit o tussle the Ozeki executes a sweet makikae that befuddles the yusho winner and breaks his right hand hold. Once broken, Mitsuki pushed and pulled and swung the Yokozuna around until he got flung and flipped down to his third loss, as inconsequential as it be.

Problem here was Hakuho was prolly still ruminatin bout the two fights come fore his, fascinating contests of unmatched power between giants of the sport, Sekiwakes Sneaky and Sexy and Ama and ol reliable in a pinch to fill in when ya need em E8 Wakanosato.

Shneaky needed this win to make his eight, and for the second time in three days henka'd his way to the win, getting Sexy off balance and slappin em down like a polecat in a puptent.

Ama won ten for the second basho in a row by hammerin into the former Sekiwake's chest and then gettin closer than me and the missus was on our weddin day, grabbin the front belt and runnin him out quicker'n shit through a goose. One of them so-called "ex-spurts" called him Chiyonofuji on Day 7, then said he AIN'T The Wolf on Day 14. Well, which is er? No matter, plain for anyone to see, this hoss got hisself a whole lot of punch.

Pimple took on the Geek looking for that magic number, but it weren't to be as the E7 blew an early lead and pulled to an armbar. The Geeku almost went out here, but dug in and grabbed that belt like a pitbull with his right hand, then dragged Toyohibiki down to a "makekoshi" as them fancy pantses up in the NHK tower likes to call it.

That 9-6 E2 Kisenosato, aka The Kid, put on a fine show vs Tokitenku, everyone's boogeyman this time out (I hate the henka more than a coyote hates the pitchfork, but this boy was sheddin no tears over the two varmints Tenku henka'd this tourney. Mitsuki has always been a rascal with that non-move, and Ah'll never forgive The Pup for what he done to Miflobby way back when). Anywho, The Kid just dismantled the Mongolian, using great belly work to get him to the edge, and then grabbin in on that belt and Ah'll be darned of it didn't look like he sexed him out! (Ah noticed an unusually large number of gentlemen headin for the facilities at this point.)

Now what else got mah attention? Kokkai was up from 13 to take on a 5 in Takakaze. Weren't so much that he won the bout as it is how he won it. Stayed low and balanced, hands on his foe, waitin for the openin. When he got it he pressed forward keepin the slippery son of a catfish I front of em. No cheap pulldown or nuttin!

Yusho contender Baruto (more nonsense you might a heard, that this behweemoth weren't a factor in the yusho race--goatgunk!--he had them top rankers sweatin it out till Day 14--Wesemann was dead on about that, surenuff) got into some trouble vs Tochinonada, and if he haddna grabbed a last second back of the belt as he was being driven out wouldda gone down like shot of Jack. As it was he twisted the spunky Tochi to the dirt, goodnight Irene.

Ahm happier'n a one legged donkey at a sockhop to see KingTama get his 8th win, as we's both about the same age. Kaiho gave em a fair fight, with lots of slappin and fussin. Kaiho kept in tight, a lil too tight after all, as he was slapped down. He recovered a bit, but only to be punched back and out by the King.

Wakakrin said no to the man dance and toodles to Hokutoriki, who luckily already had his 8th win. Like the two Ozeki, couldna happened to a nicer feller than this serial henkaphile. The rookie gets 10, but at what cost, young buck?

Kasuganishiki blew his chance to stay in Makuuchi by fallin to Tosanoumi.

And what would our little chat be without sayin something bout Roho the Ho, the only Ho to those in the know. Is there a larger, more cretinous sack of monkey vomit operatin in sumo today? Even though he already got nine wins, he henkas Tochiozan who was lookin for his 8th win, a win that would have allowed him to remain in Makuuchi. This man is loathsome and thensome. 

And so ends our little excursion into Sumo's Two Basho Twilight Zone. The Khan returns presently, and 2008 will bring with it some good storylines, not least among them Hakuho trying to win his first yusho as a Yokozuna while another Yokozuna is fightin, Ama going for Ozeki, Kisenosato and Geeku, too. Kotooshu and Kaio will try and remain Ozeki. Goeido, Toyonoshima and Baruto should all become regulars in sanyaku barrin injury.

Wesemann will continue to make predictions as solid as ever (he TOLD you the two basho were Hakuho's with no uncertainty five months ago), Arbo will continue to confuse and delight, Kelly will gross you out as never before, and if the stars align themselves just so, we might, just might have the Manchester Maruader back in bidness in time for Asa's 22nd yusho sometime around Jan. 27. Thanks for reading in 2007 and have a great and safe New Year!

Day 14 Comments (Martin Matra reporting)
Here I am, once more trying to shed light on a murky day 14 of yet another honbasho. I have to say that the most surprising rikishi of the lot has been Chiyotaikai, but the one of the last few days, not Kokonoe's protégé in the first week. Ass-kickings of both Baruto and Kotomitsuki have given Taikai a serious dose of self-confidence (and a top spot on the leaderboard), so let's jump right into the action and start today with the...Sakaizawa - Kotokasuga bout in Juryo.

What do you mean, who the heck is Sakaizawa? His record so far is a shiny 69-22, and, even if he's already 24 years old, he promises to cause an impact on the upper echelons, especially since he belongs to Baruto's own Onoe powerhouse. Or so I thought, before checking out some of his bouts this tournament. True, the guy is huge and has some good technique and strength, but he skirted and henkad his way to the current 12-2 record he boasts in contention for the Juryo Yusho. Today he was paired against kaeri-Juryo Kotokasuga. The Sadogatake sekitori produced a powerful tachi-ai slipping his left arm on Sakaizawa's inside, denying him any sort of belt grip (Sakaizawa is a yotsu guy). The veteran then tried a scoop throw, but Sakaizawa pushed his right leg into Kasuga's left and stayed alive. However, Sakaizawa's poor balance allowed Kotokasuga to get the inside arm deeper and fell his foe to the floor by sukuinage. That, combined with Juryo rookie Ichihara's own victory over our old friend Figgered (Mongolian Ryuo, for those of you who missed the last couple of basho), puts both guys at the 12 win mark. The race is on, and the likely playoff would seem to favor Sakaizawa, who won their last three meetings. However, before that, I'd like you to click this here link, to see just why Sakaizawa is such a good dancer, and proud of it (vigorous keiko is the answer for everything, innit?).

Alright, enough monkey business, the real sumo is on, with the musubi-no-ichiban. After a series of fired-up stares, both men crashed into each other, with the Ozeki going for the neck with his right hand, while trying to keep his left on the deep inside, denying Hakuho the migi-uwate. The Yokozuna was taken back a step by the powerful charge coupled with the nodowa, but he immediately shifted to his left and wrapped Taikai's right arm, going for his favored armbar throw technique. Chiyotaikai isn't exactly a pushover (well, when he wants to, anyway), so he survived the maneuver well, and resumed his thrusting attack on Hakuho's upper body, again driving him back with some intensity. Hakuho, however, isn't a Yokozuna just by a favorable turn of events, so he kept his wits about him, withstood the hectic charge and pushed a bit to Taikai's side, throwing him off balance before dodging his next attack and slapping him down and out of the Yusho race. It was great sumo from both wrestlers, with the more focused man winning in the end. The Yokozuna assumes sole leadership of the division, just like a sole Yokozuna should. Chiyotaikai falls to 11-3, but I'll bet he doesn't have any regrets about today's bout, his best just isn't good enough.

And we're moving on, to the *cough* legitimate bout between Ozeki Kotomitsuki and Dai-Ozeki Kaio. You don't have to watch the bout or learn the result to know the outcome, all you gotta do is to watch the records after yesterday. Let's see...we have 7-6 Kaio needing a win for kachikoshi and keeping his rank, with two Ozeki left on the menu. One of them is Chiyotaikai, who is still in the Yusho race (well, he was when this bout I'm analyzing took place), and the other is Kotomitsuki, who was lubed right out of it by Sneaky and Tokitenku. So...hmm...who could Kaio defeat for his kachikoshi? The tachi-ai was pretty tell-tale, with Mitsuki lunging forward and Kaio stepping slightly to his right and getting the uwate for a few milliseconds. I think they practiced this one a lot. Kaio then focused on pushing at Mitsuki's side, driving him to the straw. Kotomitsuki then quickly gave Kaio a convenient double inside grip, while conspicuously grasping for Kaio's head with the right arm. Of course, Kaio got his left all the way to the back of Kotomitsuki's mawashi, and, to make it look good, Mitsuki appeared to attempt the kubinage, but forgot to wrap Kaio's head in the process. Sure, it looked good to the untrained eye, but it was 1000% fixed. These guys could make a fortune in Pro Wrestling. Oh, while we're talking yaocho, can you tell me who the winner of tomorrow's Kaio-Taikai bout will be? I'll give you a couple of hints...Chiyotaikai is mathematically in the Yusho race, Kaio already has kachikoshi, and their bout takes place BEFORE the Yokozuna faces Kotomitsuki. And don't be surprised if Kotomitsuki takes another one for team Japan and henkas reaches around Hakuho for a more convenient grip.

In the penultimate bout of the day, Sekiwake Asasekiryu got worked thoroughly by Maegashira Takekaze in a damage-control affair. Kaze launched his usual cannonball tachi-ai, taking the Mongolian a full step back, before going for the pull and working his way to the side. He then pushed at not-so-sexy's right arm, got a deep left inside grip on the back of his mawashi and spun him around and down by shitatenage. Asasekiryu's been looking awful this basho, and he's got the 3-11 record to prove it. At 6-8, Takekaze is defeated but still standing.

The other Sekiwake found a way to postpone his makekoshi, against M4 Kyokutenho. True to his nickname, he shifted to the left at the initial charge and made Tenho look really slow, because by the time the Mongolian realized what was going on, Sneaky had gotten a solid morozashi and just forced the 3-11 Tenho back and out. Kyokutenho is heading for the comfort of the Makuuchi outskirts, while Aminishiki will probably sneak his way to another undeserved kachikoshi once more (he gets Asasekiryu tomorrow).

Mike's latest crush, career-high M6 ranked Goeido took on the larger and more experienced Komusubi Kotoshogiku, in one of the best bouts of the day. It's great to see young, hungry guys like these two go at it with the thrusters at 110%, it makes old tricksters like Aminishiki or Hokutoriki look plain stupid and embarrassing. Today's tachi-ai was just as great, with bouth guys crashing into each other, and Giku seemed to be favored by it, getting his left hand under Goeido's right and pushing upwards under that armpit. However, Goeido started showing his true future Yokozuna colors, because at the first sign of trouble he immediately wrapped his right arm around Giku's neck and simultaneously turned with his thigh into the opponent, for the show-stopper kubinage (if I thought the Kaio-Kotomitsuki bout was legit, I'd probably write something like "Kotomitsuki should watch the replays and take notes", but, since we're already clear on that matter...). Brilliant counter-offensive sumo from Goeido, and a well deserved kachikoshi. Kotoshogiku already had kachikoshi and he should get the Shukunsho, but he will need luck for that second Sekiwake spot.

Had Thanksgiving been delayed a couple of days or so, I'd have personally flown to the US and brought Mike a fresh pair of crows for the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, because he was dead-wrong on Baruto as a yusho threat. Today, imminent Sekiwake Ama showed the proper way to capitalize on the Balt's poor tachi-ai, when he took the charge head on and then suddenly shifted to the left and pretty much let Baruto fall to his face carried by his own momentum rather than the Mongolian's pull on the back of his mawashi. The key factor was Baruto's too upright stance, but when he'll eventually learn to do it properly, he'll be almost unstoppable. Ama has been looking great lately, but he still ain't no Chiyonofuji, no matter what Marcos claims, and, with the current state of the competition, he may never even get to Ozeki, much less Yokozuna.

M2 Kisenosato faced kachikoshi hopeful M1 Miyabiyama, and took the Sheriff's relentless tsuppari attack like a man, withstanding thrust after painful thrust before fighting back with his own and gradually working his way into hidari-yotsu, a position that heavily favors him over his much heavier opponent. From there on, a couple of gaburi-yori had Miyabiyama with his back against the wall, and he couldn't change the inevitable outcome, despite a last-ditch tsukiotoshi attempt. Kisenosato gets his kachikoshi, but a Komusubi spot is out of the question. Miyabiyama falls to his eighth loss.

Hapless Homasho was given a break by the powers that be, having to fight M12 Haku-loser who is well on his way to mid-Juryo. The Ossetian opted for a left harite at the tachi-ai, but all he got out of that one was a double inside grip for Homie. Of course, the whole thing was over in less than a couple of seconds, but at least this time Hakurozan pretended to put up a fight before being quietly forced out. At only 3 wins apiece, both guys need a vacation.

I vaguely remember mentioning something about crows not long ago...Well, it looks like I'm gonna keep this particular pair for myself, because my favorite Dejima couldn't really stay in the Yusho hunt, though he has shown good strength and balance for a change, and a Kanto-Sho isn't out of the question, provided he wins one more. Today's win wasn't easy, though, as he had to take on behemoth Toyohibiki. The veteran strangely opted for the frontal belt grip at the tachi-ai, but the younger foe's thrusts shook Dejima off with ease and drove him a couple of steps back, to the point where everyone (myself included) thought he was a goner. However, this is where experience kicked in, and Dejima, having resisted the fierce nodowa, planted his thick tree trunk of a left arm on Hibiki's inside and managed to get a right uwate, forcing Toyohibiki to grab an awkward left shitate of his own for a brief stalemate in the center of the dohyo. Dejima may not be a belt fighter, but he does fight well from the inside, and Hibiki has absolutely zero yotsu skills, so it's no surprise that the former Ozeki punished a slow maki-kae attempt and promptly pushed his inexperienced foe down and out of the dohyo. Ten hard earned wins for Dejima, and, as I was saying, he should get the Kanto-Sho with another win against Toyonoshima tomorrow. Hibiki will have to overcome Kotoshogiku for his own kachikoshi, and that promises to be one of the more interesting bouts of the day.

Another case of youth vs. experience, with the same outcome, was the next bout. Wakakirin is a lighter, stronger and hypercharged version of Ryuo, focusing exclusively on tsuppari. This one's particularly violent, though, and if you don't believe me, check out this clip.  However, Mongolian Tokitenku is no Makushita rookie, and he absorbed the thrusts with seemingly little effects on him, before quickly dodging an attack and letting Kirin get out of the dohyo on his own. Wakakirin might have some future in this division, but he's too small to be another Chiyotaikai. Tokitenku is an arse.

My favorite Mongolian, the over-ranked M3 Kakuryu, is doing his best impression of a vacuum cleaner (that's a fancy way to say he's sucking big-time). Against equally hapless Kasugao, he didn't even bother to try to look like he was putting up a fight. The Korean charged more powerfully and got the right arm inside and a left uwate, and yorikiried the sucker in two seconds flat to level the score at 3-11 each. Kak could be injured, you say? I didn't notice any taping on his body. I'll tell you what I think happened: he's just neither strong enough nor technical enough nor fast enough to handle the sharks. 'Nuff said.

The Gentle Giant Tochinonada took on the shortest guy in the division, M4 Toyonoshima. After the powerful clash, Nada focused solely on denying the little guy any sort of inside position, and I have to say the veteran knows his stuff well, because right after Toyo tried to slip his right arm in, Tochinonada slipped to his left, grabbed that arm and threw Toyo to the clay like the bowling ball he resembles. It was quick, deadly technique from an often underestimated guy with no less that 11 kinboshi. Both wrestlers have similar 8-win records.

In the next bout, pushover Tamanoshima allowed youngster Tochiohzan to have his way with him, after a poor tachi-ai where Oh worked both arms inside. It was over in three shoves and two seconds. Tochiohzan gets win #7 and is likely to stay in Makuuchi. Tamanoshima falls to his 11th loss and seems to be on his way to retirement.

M11 Tosanoumi had little trouble against injured Takamisakari, who only returned to the tournament to avoid demotion to Juryo (and succeeded, much to my surprise). The veteran slammed hard, head first, into his strange opponent, and kept him away from the mawashi with a low stance and solid thrusts to the neck and upper body. The Cop tried to dig in at the tawara, but Tosanoumi took him off balance with a sudden pull, making him easy push-out fodder in the next two seconds. Tosanoumi gets the sixth win and will stay in the top division, while Takamisakari stays at five.

The Russian Ho got the better of the tachi-ai against Wakanosato, probably because the latter was pretty cautious in his charge (and I don't blame him!). The veteran was promptly pushed a couple of steps back, and when Roho failed to get any belt grip, he went for the quick and cheap pull-down, so excuse me for moving on to the next bout without mentioning who won.

A rather enjoyable slugfest took place between Old Man Kasuga and The Rikishi with no Nickname (you still have my respect, Mr. Eastwood). Well, right from the tachi-ai, both guys focused solely on hitting the other guy, and this seemed like it would go on forever, until the veteran delivered a particularly effective slap to the left side of Kasuganishiki's head, instantly knocking him to the clay. It wasn't much in terms of sumo, but hey, it was a LOT more entertaining than a henka. You hear that, Roho??

Speaking of Ho's, the newest one to join the top division surprisingly lost to no-account Yoshikaze after a high-impact tachi-ai (I think they heard the bonk outside the Kokusai). Right after the hit, the Russian went straight for the pulldown, and when that failed, he seemed determined to take Kaze's head off. Ho still has to work on his aim, though, because the little guy dodged his reckless right haymaker and got a sweet morozashi. A second later, Wakanoho was standing outside the dohyo. It's pretty obvious that, although gifted, the rookie still has a lot to learn (and if he keeps doing those horrendous flying henkas, I may start to call him Monty).

There are a couple of things to be on the lookout for tomorrow. First of all, the Chiyotaikai – Kaio yaocho: I think Kaio might as well announce his retirement and not show up (at least that would eliminate the need to make it look good). Second, there's the Hakuho – Kotomitsuki match. Will Mitsuki cover Taikai's ass and send Hakuho to the playoff? Probably not, but you never know. Will Dejima get his 11th win and the Kanto-Sho? (for some reason, I think I'm really the only one who cares about that...) Will Sneaky vacate the Sekiwake slot to a more worthy rikishi? Stick around and find out. Cheerio!

Day 13 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
The matchup of the basho to the this point featured M16 Baruto against Ozeki Chiyotaikai where you have the obvious strength of Baruto who rarely loses if he gets a belt grip vs. the veteran Ozeki who exhibits the jo'i pride and polices the dohyo better than anyone not name Asashoryu. The lead-up to the bout had the Fukuoka faithful whipped into a frenzy, but the fun would stop there as the bout wasn't even close. Chiyotaikai dominated the tachi-ai keeping Baruto away from his belt with some powerful tsuppari that stood the Estonian upright making him a huge punching bag for the Ozeki's shoves. Chiyotaikai rushed forward and pushed at Baruto's side as he tied to escape the onslaught he knew would come, but with Baruto's bad knee and Chiyotaikai's determination, there was no place to go but out as Chiyotaikai happily escorted Baruto to his third loss with the easy push-out win. This bout wasn't even close, and as much as I like Baruto, I always love to see the Maegashira rikishi come up and visit the Ozeki only to get their asses kicked. You can't say enough about Chiyotaikai for digging in this basho, keeping himself in the yusho race, and protecting not only his home turf but the pride of the top rikishi. This bout was also a perfect example of Baruto's weak tachi-ai, and how the truly great rikishi will expose it every time. The Ozeki moves to 11-2 with the win putting the pressure on Hakuho to defeat Kaio.

Okay, okay, so I'm just trying to build up some drama that really wasn't there. Yokozuna Hakuho played it perfectly today using the tsuppari attack to take no chances of giving Kaio a sniff of his belt. Kaio attempted to grab one of Hakuho's arms in hopes that he could pull it down, but Hakuho's speed overwhelmed the Ozeki to the point that he began stumbling off balance at which point Hakuho grabbed the back of his belt and sent him across the ring and down using a methodical yank all the while with Hakuho standing on the other side of the dohyo watching his handiwork. This one was too easy as the Yokozuna preps for tomorrow's biggie in the battle of the two 11-2 rikishi. Kaio falls to 7-6 but should secure kachi-koshi. How? Read on.

You could see today just how hellbent Sekiwake Aminishiki was on keeping his rank because at 5-7 coming in and facing Ozeki Kotomitsuki today, Sneaky lived up to his name moving to the left at the tachi-ai and masking the henka by grabbing the quick outer grip, which he used to swing Kotomitsuki over to the edge and across. I mean, what more can you say? Kotomitsuki has had a tough-luck basho being henka'd in two of his four losses, but when you consider how he was roughed up by Ama and Chiyotaikai, he wasn't in yusho condition anyway. As for AminiSneaky, he moves to 6-7 and will probably find a way to sneak out those last two wins. As for Kaio, Kotomitsuki is officially knocked out of the yusho with his fourth loss, so it will be a no-brainer when it comes to letting Kaio win his eighth tomorrow.

In an awful display of sumo all around, M4 Kyokutenho hit Sekiwake Asasekiryu hard with his right shoulder only to immediately transition into a pulldown. The move didn't fell Sexy right away, but it took away his footing so as he tried to regain it and capitalize on Kyokutenho's backpedaling, he came up just short falling to another Kyokutenho pull attempt as the chauffeur tiptoed the tawara. Bad stuff all around as this bout mostly served as filler while NHK panned the faces and entrances into the arena of the rikishi who really matter this basho. Both rikishi stand at 3-10.

With the two Sekiwake stumbling this basho, Komusubi Ama was determined to regain his rightful place in the Sekiwake ranks with an inspired performance against M3 Tokitenku. Tokitenku led off the bout with a good right nodowa to shake Ama away from a right outer grip, but Ama countered will with a sweet right hari-te of his own that sent Tokitenku into a rage. Both rikishi traded a few more slap attempts to the face until Ama just lowered his head and charged into the moro-zashi position, which he used to drive Tokitenku back in a flash and slam him down hard to the dirt beyond the straw. I got the feeling in this one that these two don't like each other because there was some electricity in the air. Nevertheless, Ama makes it official as both rikishi are 8-5. You gotta be happy for Ama, and don't look now, but guess who the Association has paired Baruto with tomorrow. Yes, Ama. He's their workhorse right now.

I'm finding myself looking forward to Toyonoshima's matchups each day now as I enjoy his excellent technique and top-notch sumo. The Tokitsukaze-beya leader doesn't know the meaning of the word henka, and despite his lack of height, he more than holds his own against the jo'i rikishi. Today against Komusubi Kotoshogiku, the two settled into the quick hidari-yotsu position from the tachi-ai where the Geeku gained the right outer first. Kotoshogiku pressed the action well with the advantage, but Toyonoshima was able to dig in thanks to some great footwork where he neutralizes his opponent's lower body with the threat of a counter trip. Kotoshogiku mounted two or three force-out charges that were rebuffed, but in the process, Kotoshogiku was able to move to the side of his opponent a little more each time until he was able to take away the threat of a counter trip maneuver, plant his left foot, and launch Toyonoshima over to the dirt with a splendid uwate-nage throw. This was great sumo from both parties as Kotoshogiku secures a well-deserved kachi-koshi at 8-5. Toyonoshima falls to 

It was nice to see Homasho get a rikishi who he could handle in M6 Tamanoshima today. Both rikishi didn't exactly go for deep inside positions at the tachi-ai today opting to butt heads and keep hands pushing at each other's shoulders and elbows in a style that obviously favors Homasho. Homie focused on the left inside position, and even though Tamanoshima cut it off once, Peter was in no position to do anything with it leaving Homasho to secure the deep left inside position again which he used to force Tamanoshima back and across the straw to the delight of the faithful Kyushu crowd. Homasho's left arm was heavily taped in this one, and hopefully this explains the kid's poor showing in Kyushu. There isn't anyone who doesn't want to see him regroup and come back with a vengeance in January. A weak lower half of the banzuke will be just the ticket for him.

Kasugao looked to henka to his left at the tachi-ai today, but in the process the Sheriff caught him with a wicked right nodowa that knocked the Korean completely off balance and set up him for the kill. As Kasugao tried to regain his footing and lurch towards Miyabiyama again, the Sheriff restored order to the dohyo by shifting gears and slapping the hapless Korean down to the dirt. Miyabiyama showed great ring sense and footwork in this one, and his catching Kasugao as the Korean jumped to his left was classic akin to someone spearing a moving fish. Don't look now but Miyabiyama is 6-7 while Kasugao falls to 

Kisenosato and Futenoh put on a decent display of yotsu-zumo hooking up in the solid hidari-yotsu (simultaneous left inside) position and stalling in the center of the ring as each tried for a right outer grip. After about five seconds, the Kid got it first, and once secured, he pushed Futenoh back and out with little fanfare.

Wakakirin's ability and fast start were put into a bit of perspective today against Dejima. The rookie used a brilliant kachi-age (forearm to the throat) tachi-ai raising Dejima's head and taking away his freight train charge. Wakakirin followed that up with some quick tsuppari that drove Dejima back to the edge, but the youngsters lower body was nowhere to be found and he was unable to finish off the former Ozeki after he had him. Dejima's pride kicked in at the edge, and he dug in nicely halting Wakakirin's charge and pushing him back across the dohyo surviving a counter kote-nage throw before forcing the rookie out in the end. Wakakirin falls to 9-4 and thankfully off of the leaderboard where he should have never been in the first place.

Takamisakari's magical run ended today against M3 Kakuryu who wisely struck the Cop low and focused on lifting him upwards as he drove him back. Takamisakari simply couldn't plant his feet in an effort to counter, and by the time he had worked his left arm deep on the inside, the was a step beyond the straw. Good win for Kakuryu who moves to while Takamisakari makes his make-koshi official at 5-8. Still, you gotta admire Takamisakari's determination.

Hakurozan needs to learn if he's going to go for the pulldown early, he may as well henka to either side. Today against Hakurozan, the Russian stood straight and put both hands at the back of Takekaze's head. Takekaze complied straight way pushing Hakurozan back and out with ease. There's no good news here, however, as Takekaze only improves to 5-8 while Hakurozan is just 3-10.

The ONLY way Roho was going to beat Goeido was to use a tachi-ai henka and everyone knew it except for Goeido, who charged hard only to be greeted with thin air as Roho jumped outward to his left. Goeido actually kept his footing, pivoted quick as a flash, and actually got a hand on Roho's belt, but with Roho at the side of him and Goeido still stumbling way to low, he was easy push down fodder from there. I'm not even gonna go on a rant with this one. What's the point? Everyone knows that Roho (805) is a chump. Goeido drops to 7-6, but dare I say his instincts after that henka were Asashoryu-like? Get your cheap licks in on the kid now fellas because you'll be eating his dust in a year to come.

In what looked to be a great oshi-zumo affair considering Hokutoriki's recent resurgence (starting five days ago), Toyohibiki and the Jokester did not disappoint as the two trading tsuppari throughout the contest. Toyohibiki used his bulk from the beginning to force Hokutoriki quickly back to the tawara, but as Hokutoriki exhibited the tiniest resistance, the Nikibi panicked and went for a pull down. Hokutoriki took the opening and would never fall behind again as he drove Toyohibiki back across to the other side of the dohyo. Toyohibiki evaded once and threw Hokutoriki off a bit, but with the two rikishi moving around like this, the much heavier Toyohibiki just wasn't able to keep up as Hokutoriki pushed the slug out in the end. I can only shake my head and say "when will these kids learn?". Toyohibiki was in completely control until he went for the pulldown. He falls to 7-6 and faces Dejima tomorrow. Hokutoriki picks up a well-deserved kachi-koshi,

It's nice to see Kokkai fight when he's desperate because the Georgian actually uses decent sumo. Today against Tochinonada, the gentle giant was happy to give up the right outer grip in exchange for his favored left inside position. Tochinonada immediately went for a huge left inside throw, but Kokkai survived and began circling slowly to Tochinonada's left side taking away another such attempt. As Tochinonada tried to close the gap again, Kokkai backed up a step and dragged the giant to the dirt with that right outer grip in uwate-dashi-nage fashion. The win moves Kokkai to 7-6 and more importantly keeps him in the Makuuchi division for another season.

In a battle of two 7-5 rikishi, Wakanosato schooled Kasuganishiki using a quick hari-te with the left hand before forcing his left arm deep on the inside. With this solid position, the force-out of Kasuganishiki was easy for the veteran Wakanosato (8-5).

M15 Tochiohzan pressed the action against Tamakasuga wiping off the King's initial nodowa and taking the initiative, but his charged was too rushed and as Tamakasuga retreated near the tawara, he countered with an effective slapdown that hit its mark sending Oh down to the clay for a costly seventh loss as King-Tama balanced on the tawara.

Kakizoe and Yoshikaze, two rikishi from Oita Prefecture, were involved in a crazy push affair where the two never really able to connect on an effective blow as they circled around the ring. In the end, the veteran Zoe had Yoshikaze turned completely around, and even though Yoshikaze escaped it, he was in no position to hold the fort as Kakizoe pushed him out of the dohyo and then completely off employing a dame-oshi that Asashoryu is always criticized for. Kakizoe closes the gap at 7-6 while Yoshikaze falls to 3-10.

Makuuchi rookie Wakanoho charged with his head low against Tosanoumi and was able to grab the instant left outer grip, but the blue collar man shook it off and forced a lengthy stalemate in the center of the ring denying the Ho that left grip again. With Wakanoho stuck, he could only wait for Tosanoumi to mount a charge, and when he did, the Russian was able to counter at the tachi-ai by planting his left foot and swinging Tosanoumi around and out with his right inside grip. Great counter sumo from the 19 year-old, but he's gotta work on that tachi-ai. He picks up kachi-koshi while Tosanoumi falls to his costly 8th loss.

And finally, Kaiho used another tachi-ai henka to left against Juryo Tochinohana easily slapping him down to the dirt picking up the cheap win. I see Kaiho working. He's suffered make-koshi already, but he can still keep himself in Makuuchi and pick up the fatter paycheck.

Day 12 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
We couldn't have asked for anything more this basho. We have a Yokozuna and the two Ozeki who don't have issues tied for the lead heading into day 12. Then you throw in a legitimate Maegashira contender in Baruto, and we have some great drama heading into the final days. Coming into the day, we had three rikishi tied for the lead at two losses in Hakuho, Kotomitsuki, Chiyotaikai, and Baruto. Both Kotomitsuki and Baruto didn't deserve one of their losses as each came at the hands of dirty tachi-ai henka. Chiyotaikai suffered a henka loss of his own, but since he was beat straight by Ama early in the basho only to have the referee and judges look the other way, things are even in his case.

Let's get right to the action where the featured bout of the day had to be the Ozeki duel between Kotomitsuki and Chiyotaikai, two rikishi who have been solid this basho, and two rikishi who were handed cheap losses by Tokitenku henka. The key to the bout would be who dictated the pace of the sumo from the tachi-ai, and it was Chiyotaikai who came out guns a'blazin firing tsuppari after tsuppari into Kotomitsuki's mid-section driving his fellow Ozeki back to the straw and out in about three seconds. This was great stuff from Chiyotaikai and that same attack he used today where he feuls the tsuppari with his lower body can have the same effect on Baruto tomorrow and Hakuho on day 14. When Chiyotaikai is on, his sumo is driven by the lower body; when his sumo his off, he still comes out with the tsuppari, but they're nothing but a flurry of lame thrusts as Taikai stands at the starting lines. You'll be able to tell which Chiyotaikai shows up the next two days one second into his bouts. His pride should kick in tomorrow and propel him to the same result he saw today. Kotomitsuki drops to 9-3 and must beat Hakuho on senshuraku to stay in the race. 

Chiyotaikai's win put the pressure on Yokozuna Hakuho to beat Sekiwake Aminishiki to keep pace with the Ozeki. The two opened their bout with a flurry of shoves that really took no effect in terms of driving anyone back, but after about three seconds, Hakuho was able to lunge forward and grab the early right arm position on the inside. As the two aligned their chests, Hakuho wrenched Sneaky upwards and set up the powerful left uwate position on the other side adding insult to injury by moving to the side of Aminishiki completely taking any offensive hope away from the Sekiwake. In this position, Aminishiki did the only thing he could, which was to kick his right leg towards Hakuho's left in an attempt to set up a trip, but Hakuho had created too much separation from his opponent and survived the trip-attempt with ease taking advantage of his now off-balance opponent by bowling him over with a powerful uwate-nage throw. I like Hakuho's approach today in that he set up his sumo with his tsuppari. When Hakuho uses that same conservative tachi-ai where he goes for the left frontal grip, the smart rikishi can neutralize it. Hakuho has a gimme in Kaio tomorrow before facing the hot Ozeki the final two days. Sneaky is in trouble at 5-7 especially considering that he has Kotomitsuki tomorrow.

In the third featured matchup of the day, M16 Baruto looked extremely tentative to me at the tachi-ai wagging his butt up and down, brushing the salt of his hands, and pivoting his wrists all while maintaining his crouch. Dejima, who isn't known for pulling the quick trigger, was content to watch all of this before finally putting both fists to the dirt. Baruto followed suit and came out with his best sumo of the basho getting his right arm in deep at the tachi-ai opting to lift the charging Dejima up by his left side. Dejima nearly slipped out of the maneuver, but the damage was done because in the process, Baruto grabbed the left outer grip and easily forced Dejima to the side and out in the largely uneventful affair. This was great technique from the Estonian, who moves to 10-2 with the win. Baruto is everything that's good about sumo right now. He's got that infectious grin, which breaks normal protocol that calls for the rikishi being gruff and crusty; and the dude takes time to acknowledge the fans, who will respond in kind. You can't help but to root for the Estonian these days. His dominant win moves him to 10-2 alongside Hakuho and Chiyotaikai for the lead. In order to beat Chiyotaikai tomorrow, he's gonna have to lunge forward at the tachi-ai and demand a belt grip instead of tentatively standing upright. Dejima falls to 8-4, but he's had an excellent basho.

Moving onto the rest, was there any doubt Kaio wasn't going to pick up his seventh win today against M4 Kyokutenho? Kaio made that point sure with a solid tachi-ai where he got his left arm inside early and lifted Tenho upright enough to where he was able to grab the moro-zashi grip. From there, it was easy pickins as the Ozeki marched Tenho back and across the straw with little fanfare. I was a bit surprised that the Association is pairing Kaio with Hakuho tomorrow. I thought they would surely give the Ozeki a break and give Hakuho a tougher opponent like Baruto, but you can blame all of it on Roho. Had the Russian not henka'd Baruto at the end of last week, Baruto surely would have seen Hakuho tomorrow. At 7-5, Kaio is one win away, but he's got the two hot Ozeki and Hakuho to overcome. The only way I see him getting a kachi-koshi is if Kotomitsuki suffers another loss and is out of the yusho race. In that case, he will prolly step aside and let Kaio win the bout out of respect. At least we've still got plenty of drama to go. Tenho as been absolutely lousy this basho at 2-10.

Sekiwake Asasekiryu and M2 Kisenosato put on a fine display of yotsu-zumo today hooking up in the hidari-yotsu position from the tachi-ai that eventually led to gappuri yotsu where both rikishi enjoyed right outer grips. Back and forth the two carouseled trying to throw each other over and down for about 20 seconds until the Kid was able to break off Sexy's outer grip and move in for the kill. Asasekiryu countered with a neck throw attempt and had his right leg positioned perfectly to execute the throw, which forced Kisenosato to back off yet again. After resting in the ring for about 15 seconds, Kisenosato forced the action again as the two twisted and turned in the dohyo until Kisenosato's right outer grip proved to be too much as he forced Asasekiryu back and across in a great display of yotsu-zumo. You gotta love this kind of exhibition as Kisenosato moves to 6-6. Asasekiryu will fall out of the sanyaku completely at 3-9.

The most frustrating thing about M3 Tokitenku lately is that he actually has the goods to produce excellent sumo. The problem is he doesn't trust in his ability opting for henka and other shenanigans to pick up kachi-koshi. Today, against Komusubi Kotoshogiku Tokitenku was great denying the Geeku an outer grip from the tachi-ai as the two hooked up in the hidari-yotsu position. That was the key as Kotoshogiku simply couldn't counter Tokitenku's height as the two went chest to chest. A good chikara-zumo battle ensued, but Tokitenku's just too tall and too strong, and he was able to force Kotoshogiku back and out with little argument picking up his eighth win. Still, it's impossible to celebrate Tokitenku's kachi-koshi this basho, and the Sumo Association be damned if they give him a Shukunsho for his win over the Ozeki. The Geeku still has one win to go at 7-5.

The most anticipated bout without yusho implications coming in was the Komusubi Ama - M4 Toyonoshima matchup. These two are keys to the future of sumo other than the current Yokozuna. Ama came out quick driving Toyonoshima straight back to the straw, but instead of grabbing the right outer grip that he was aiming for, he came out with a fist-full of Toyonoshima's sagari (those stringy things that hang down from the rikishi's belts). With no grip or proper inside position now, Toyonoshima easily evaded to his left and quickly grabbed Ama by the back of the belt with his left hand while pulling Ama down by the head with his right in a move that was so well executed that Ama somersaulted his way out of the ring. This was good stuff all around, but the difference was Ama's failing to grab any sort of grip after his great initial charge. Toyonoshima picks up his kachi-koshi with the brilliant counter sumo while Ama must wait another day at 7-5. These two should dominate the sanyaku for the next year to come.

M1 Miyabiyama's sumo was perfect today against M3 Kakuryu as the Sheriff lumbered forward with his tsuppari attack keeping Kakuryu upright and looking for any opening. Kakuryu briefly sniffed Miyabiyama's belt with a right frontal grip, but the Sheriff knocked it away and continued to use good footing to not only fuel the tsuppari but also keep himself in front of the Kak. The push-out win came in about 8 seconds. Good stuff for the former Ozeki who improves to 5-7 while Kakuryu at 2-10 needs to regroup with his pal Homasho.

Speaking of M1 Homasho, his woes continued today as M5 Kasugao unleashed a wicked right arm at the tachi-ai that struck the low-charging Homasho in the back of the left shoulder and knocked him down to the dirt straightway in an affair that lasted maybe a second. Homasho's gotta salvage a win or two more and then just regroup for Hatsu. Sources in Fukuoka tell me that Homasho made quite a few television appearances in between basho and is becoming a popular rikishi, but he's gotta learn to avoid those distractions. Yusho-favorite Terao should straighten that up. He better, anyway, his prodigy is just 1-11. Kasugao "improves" to 3-9.

How about M8 Takamisakari coming back from that ankle injury to defeat Kasugao yesterday. Today, all the cop needed to please the Kyushu crowed was any sort of yotsu position. He got it early by wrapping his right arm around the top of M5 Takekaze's left and then using his left arm to push up on Takekaze from the inside position. Takekaze tried to counter with a neck throw at the edge, but the Cop's too good in this position, and he forced Takekaze back and across the straw for another valiant win. There will be no trip to Juryo now for Takamisakari, which bodes well for the good of sumo. The Robocop improves to 5-7 while Takekaze's make-koshi is official.

M6 Goeido displayed the most disturbing sumo of his Makuuchi career today against M11 Tosanoumi. The upstart grabbed the quick frontal belt grip from the tachi-ai completely neutralizing Tosanoumi's oshi-attack, but instead of trying to get on the inside, Goeido tried to move Tosanoumi around by the belt and pull him down with the other hand. The tactic didn't work, however, due to the huge size difference, and after several attempts at this method of attack, Tosanoumi was able to break off Goeido's belt grip altogether leaving the youngster standing upright with feet aligned. Goeido panicked and went for yet another horrible pull attempt at this point that set him up for the counter slapdown from Tosanoumi. This was bad sumo from Goeido (7-5), but the kid'll learn. Tosanoumi stays alive at 5-7.

M14 Kaiho hit M6 Tamanoshima and quickly moved right looking to grab the quick morozashi, but Tamanoshima wrapped both arms around the outside of Kaiho's and pinched inward in the kime technique often used by the former Takanonami. Tamanoshima tried to force Kaiho around and out of the ring, but the crafty Kaiho slipped out of the move and pushed Tamanoshima (3-9) out from behind in the end moving to 4-8.

M15 Wakakirin displayed what I thought was his best sumo of the basho today against M7 Tochinonada. After the gentle giant put an end to Wakakirin's tsuppari attack from the tachi-ai forcing the bout to what looked to be the hidari-yotsu position, Wakakirin quickly clamped inwards on Tochinonada's elbow and used the hold to wrench Tochinonada over to the side and out in an impressive win. At 9-3, the rookie is technically on the leaderboard, but he should be happy with his kachi-koshi and pending Kantosho (with on more one). The only problem is the competition will get tougher starting with Dejima tomorrow. Tochinonada is 7-5.

M12 Roho baited M7 Toyohibiki into a false start in their bout today, and that definitely threw the Nikibi off when it counted because he just didn't have his usual pop at the tachi-ai. Roho responded well, I guess, by timing a perfect slapdown two seconds in. There was nothing cheap to Roho's sumo today, but it wasn't very good. Nevertheless, the Russian moves to 7-5 and will surely finagle another kachi-koshi. Toyohibiki shares the same mark.

M14 Kakizoe hit M8 Wakanosato straight on but lightly as he quickly moved to his right and just forced Wakanosato down to the dirt by pushing at the back of the left shoulder. The bout lasted about three seconds and all Wakanosato could do was offer a lame harite at the tachi-ai that gave Kakizoe (6-6) the opening. Wasn't Wakanosato (7-5) on the leaderboard just a few days ago?

M16 Kasuga-nickname-me used a quick strike and pull tachi-ai to set up a wicked left nodowa against M9 Futenoh where he had him pushed all the way back to the tawara, but Futenoh arched his back, shook the choke hold off, and twisted Kasuganishiki around 180 degrees into what I believe was our first brokeback moment of the basho. From there, Futenoh garnished his record to 6-6 with the easy push-out win from behind. Kasuganishiki falls to 7-5.

M9 Tamakasuga bullied M10 Yoshikaze all the way over to the straw with a push to the side just after the tachi-ai, but Yoshikaze survived well only to hook up with the King in the center of the in the hidari-yotsu style of all positions. From here the veteran Tamakasuga gathered his wits and just forced Yoshikaze to the dirt with a wicked tsuki-otoshi push at Yoshikaze's side moving Tamakasuga to 5-7. At 3-9 Yoshikaze must win out or likely pack his bags for Juryo come January.

M10 Hokutoriki is just feeding off of that win against Goeido the other day. Since then he's taken every opponent from the tachi-ai and just driven them back and out with some oomph using an effective tsuppari charge. Those new to sumo may not know this, but Hokutoriki was as close as you can come to the yusho back in May 2004. From the M1 rank of all places, Hokutoriki was 13-1 heading into senshuraku after having pasted Asashoryu on day 6 putting an end to the Yokozuna's longest winning streak ever at 35 wins. Unfortunately, a henka from rookie Hakuho on the final day sent Hokutoriki into a tailspin that he has never recovered from. Anyway, against M12 Hakurozan today, the Jokester had him back and out in two seconds pushing at his side and armpits with that seldom-seen dominating tsuppari attack. I like to watch Hokutoriki when he fights like this. At 7-5, he'll be around a few basho more. Hakurozan is rank at 3-9.

M13 Wakanoho's sumo is like a circus, literally. Today against Kokkai the rookie jumped straight up in the air and mounted Kokkai as if he was going to leap frog him. From that position he just rode Kokkai straight into the dirt in true hataki-komi fashion. Yet another tachi-ai henka from the Ho who moves to 7-5. Kokkai is a dangerous 6-6.

And finally, everything that's wrong with M15 Tochiohzan's sumo was on display today against Otsukasa of all rikishi. The two hooked up at the tachi-ai in the migi-yotsu position and just stalled in the center of the ring. That's the problem right there...Tochiohzan allowing Otsukasa to neutralize him at the tachi-ai. Remember Oh's win last basho against Goeido? It was swift and complete. We saw none of that today, however. As Tochiohzan just stood there fiddling around trying to grab an outer grip, Otsukasa quick as a flash stepped to his side and pulled the hapless Oh to the dirt. What a terrible loss for a rikishi with so much potential. Tochiohzan is only 6-6 from the M15 rank.

So, heading into day 13, the leaderboard shapes up like this:

10-2: Hakuho, Chiyotaikai, Baruto
9-3: Kotomitsuki

Chiyotaikai and Baruto face each other tomorrow while Hakuho gets Kaio, which means we're guaranteed at least one 11-2 rikishi after tomorrow's festivities. I'll tell ya all about it.

Day 11 Comments (Mark Arbo reporting)
I was going to do it. I really really was! I have been thinking (obsessing) about it for months. I knew what I wanted to write and how I was going to write it. I was going to shine a light into never before illuminated burrows of treachery and I was going to name names. I was going to tear the Nihon Sumo Kyokai a new one. As many of you may already know I hate the NSK. I hate them like "Alex" hates showers. I hate them like I hate that dog that barks outside my window at 5:30 in the morning. I hate them with a hatred that I had previously thought reserved exclusively for the Devil and his angles.

But after attending sumo last Sunday I knew I probably wouldn't/couldn't do it. Not today at least. Nothing happened to change my feelings about the Jacobites and Jack-offs at the NSK. In fact, I had such a sweet day that it has fuelled my hatred for anyone who could dare pervert something as wonderful as O-zumo. But I just don't feel like being pissed off right now. The sun has been shining bright every day this fall in Kyushu. I'm more or less healthy and happy. I have fantastic friends and a job that pays fine. And with that pay I can jump on an overpriced train or highway and an hour later be at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center where I can buy a cheap ticket and then promptly sneak forward and sit in a seat worth much more than the one I had actually paid for. Life's been good to me so far.

If you have never been to a hon-basho you are really missing something wonderful. I would take this whole report to even begin to describe the sights, smells, conversations and feelings that only being 'there' can provide.

On this particular afternoon I was joined by three other friends to take in the days bouts. We got there early enough to sit right on the floor beside the dohyo and watch some of the next generation of sumo hopes and hopefuls do battle wile the intimidating likes of Takanohana and Kokonoe-oyakata and a handful of fans looked on. 

As the day went on the stands slowly filled and we eventually moved back almost as far as the seats we had actually paid for. 

Funny Confab- At one point we were approached by a crazy and/or drunk lady who said 
"What are you drinking?"
"Wine" I answered
"What kind of wine?"
"Beaujolais Nouveau."
"Oh I have never had that kind before"

I smiled politely trying not to get the hint.

"Could I have some?" she was not going to be denied.
"Oh I'm sorry, we are all out of cups" I sympathetically said thinking "Check mate"
But she didn't miss a beat responding "Oh, I can just drink from the bottle."

What a woman! I should have taken her pic so I could make T-shirts! But I'm a little surprised she got in after what happened with her last time; i.e. all the papers and the making that dash for the dohyo. Next time I'm going to implement the "P.Y.C.S.J." Defense (Pretend You Can't Speak Japanese) and see if I fair any better.

When Juryo finished and the big boys took the stage I noticed a few empty seats in the forth row on the nishi side of the dohyo and said to my friend "When the last hour starts if those seats are still empty lets go down." (sometimes a group won't show up leaving a block of seats [in this case excellent seats] empty). So as the last hour began we snuck down with all the stealthiniss-niss of the inebriated ninjas we were. And just like that, there I was, watching the best of the best from some of the best seats in the arena. 

Mike was 1000% right about the Kyushu Basho. It really shouldn't be missed. The fans here are brash and zealous in their cheering. They are incredibly knowledgeable about sumo and just fun people to be around. They love to support the home town boys and that's great because there are so many of them. Of the 5 J-Boys in the sanyaku 3 are from Fukuoka or neighboring prefectures. Compare that with 0 (0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) from Tokyo anywhere in Makuuchi and you will quickly see where the real heart land of sumo lies.

You might be asking "who the double-hockey-sticks is Hakuba?" Well Hakuba was born Ariunbayar Unurjargal in Mongolia early in 1983. He is not much bigger than me, but has taken Makushita and Jonidan championships. He likes long walks on the beach and girls with good teeth. He also got his ass kicked by Kasuganick-name-me today.

It was Tochiohzan's turn to "spank the Rozan" today. Let's all say it together "Juryo! Juryo! Juryo!!".

Baruto just being anywhere in Makuuchi is a 'big' deal. How long has it been since fights this early in the day were thought of as important to the outcome of the yusho usually fought out amongst the upper echelon 20 fights later? After a bit of a shove fest Tosanoumi fell to Baruto's pull down. Tosanoumi is just one loss away from his MK now and it is inevitable. I am really happy that Baruto is doing well and that the knee seems to be holding up, but I'm afraid that his present caliber of sumo is not going to hold up when the big boys at top take their shots at him in a couple days… But I pray I'm wrong!! Again, Baruto was shaking hands with babies and fans after his win...and I was melting.

I KNOW I am not the only person who has been waiting for a double henka. 2 guys jumping like idiots out of the way of a guy who ain't coming cause he is busy doing the exact same thing. Well, we will have to go on waiting cause the Hokutoriki/Roho match was fought (almost) straight up. Jokutoriki won. Roho didn't. Lesser of two evils? 

Kaiho couldn't match Futenoh's perfectly timed tachi-ai and his big supple nipples. That's 4 losses in a row. Juryo? Juryo? Juryo??.

I thought Kakizoe had a great chance to pull ahead of .500 today against ‘Ol' Man Tamakasuga' but he didn't. And I'll tell you why he didn't because that's why they pay me the big bucks. When this fight came to a stalemate in the middle of the ring, instead of continuing pushing, he panicked and leaped backwards looking for a pull-down. He didn't get it and his feet slipped out from under him sending him down to the clay without any assistance from Tama. And that was the difference between win number 6 and loss number 6.

Waka, waka, waka! Wakanosato and Wakakirin both came into today with impressive 7-3 records: Kirin riding 5 wins in a row. I guess WakaK must have been desperate to keep his streak going ‘cause he stepped to the side looking to grab a favorable position and his KK. Wakanosato weathered this storm but was a step behind when the tsuppari started. Wakakirin then went for an arm throw that didn't topple the big guy but did move him enough that Kirin could snuggle up behind him and show him the door. 

After one false start Wakanoho came out strong and completely dominated Tochinonada (too bad, I already had a good joke ready for when he lost). After a brief struggle for hand positioning the Russian landed one of the hardest slaps I have seen out side of Jerry Springer and then showed him how the dohyo looks from the other side. Nothing but praise for the youngster today.

Yesterday Hibiki ran over Wakanoho like a midsized car over a fat kid. His win today was only slightly less impressive as he steamrolled Kokkai in about a second and a half. Don't look now but that's 6 in a row for Big Red.

Tamanoshima finally broke his 8 day losing streak when Yoshikaze somehow figured he needed to henka a guy on an 8 DAY LOSING STREAK!!l It didn't work and Tama-Chan beat him oshi-dashi style. Yoshikaze now has 8 losses too. Good reddens!

The Kokusai Center went rightly electric when Takamisakari swung Kasugao out of the ring in his first fight back after a fracturing his ankle on day 4 against Yoshikaze. I have been hearing talk that they may allow banners in Juryo for only the second time if Takami drops that far. He won't be getting no KK, but I don't think it's going to be a problem to stay in Makuuchi. Broken ankle and still ain't henka-ing? Circus got big heart!

Goeido finally got back to his winning ways today when after a few tsuppari, everyone's favorite rikishi, Tokitenku went for a pull-down. Goeido tackled Tenku on the way down forcing him to step out and over just a fraction of a second before Goeido hit the ground. Good save from Goeido as justice is served.

After a horrible start M1 Miyabiyama has been picking up a few wins and gaining a little momentum. Conversely, Takekaze had dropped his last couple of fights and I thought the lonely sheriff was destined to pick up another win. Miyabi did come out throwing the lumber but the little butter ball was able to get inside on him. The butter ball sidestepped and Miyabi almost walked right out but at the last moment he dug in and spread his arms and one leg high in the air trying to gain some balance. Still backing up, Takekaze realized Christmas had come early and took a running start at Miyabi who was still balanced prettily like a ballerina. Takekaze lay a good hit on the vulnerable sheriff who bounced once on his way off the dohyo and then smacked his head on a big purple leg. I laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed. Fantastic! 

Homasho and Kakuryu (the makeshift punching-bags) came into today with the same embarrassing record of 1-9. But one of them had to pick up a second win, that's just how it works. They met at the tachi-ai with Homasho looking to push and Kak looking to pull (that's a little high-brow British humor for you). The repeated pull attempts kept Homasho off balance so when he finally switched it up, Kak was able to push the sorry local boy out.

In a bout between two fine oshi-dashi'ists Giku was able to move Dejima back and almost out but Dej, to the surprise of everyone but Martin, reached up and beautifully nage-ed his kubi sending KotoG down hard.

Martian really showed some Kahuna's picking Dej as his yusho favorite, so not to be out done I want to make a pick as well. You can take this one to the bank: Kyushu 2007 is going to former Sekiwake Terao. I know what some of you must be thinking, "He's 44 years old" or "He has been retired for more than 5 years". But I'm telling you, I have a good feeling about this one. Terao Tsunefumi has picked up 6 special prizes and 7 gold stars!! Don't you think he is way over due for a yusho? Plus he is now an oyakata so I think he is going to get a lot of favorable calls...think about it!

It was interesting that Martin brought up the comparison between Ama and Chiyonofuji because just the other day I made that comparison to one of the other writers and he said "Ama is no Chiyonofuji." I responded by saying that at Ama's age Chiyonofuji was no Chiyonofuji. Since then I did just a pinch of research. Chiyo was 24 when he won his first yusho and also when he became an Ozeki. Ama is just 23 now. Of course there is no way to know what one's future holds and the odds of anyone becoming another Chiyonofuji have got to be one in a billion, but Ama is young, healthy and has a brighter future than most, and even if he doesn't get it this time around I believe one day sooner than later we will be calling him Ozeki Ama.

So let's see how the future Ozeki did today against the brooding, blinking Kisenosato. From the tachi-ai they both took inside lefts. I couldn't see what Kissy was doing with his right but whatever it was it wasn't nearly as good as the powerful kubi-nage Ama did with his--the second beautiful one in as many matches.

Jazz Hands are in full effect this basho as Chiyotaikai worked Kyokutenho over pretty good. I think Chio has had more forwarding moving wins this basho than in the previous 2...maybe 3! I'm still not confident the Jazz Hands will be enough in the last few days but you know that he knows that with out the Dai-Yokozuna this is his last, best Chance to get his pic raised high one more time. 

KotoM also has been fighting some good sumo as of late. For the first time in quite a few days he got up to some tachi-ai haijinks, but I got the impression that for once it may have been an honest mistake, or else he has gotten better at acting. Mitsuki came out with a left to the tug-boat's throat that almost pushed him right ou,t but Shima stayed in and it went to the belt. This lead to a classic, old school KotoM organized love-in in the middle of the dohyo. After what seemed like a very long time even in fast forward Koto finally pushed Toyonoshima out like he could/should have at the beginning of the standoff.

Kaio picked up his uber-important 6th win in a strange and ugly affair against AmaN. It looked like AmaN was expecting the tachi-ai to be a false start (his left hand was no where near the dirt) as he stood up but Kaio jumped forward and pulled him down. The Kaio sympathetic judges weren't about to do anything to harm the Ozeki and just like that it was over. For those of you who are susceptible to conspiracy theories this could just as easily have been a screwed up yaocho as a screwed up tachi-ai. And the circumstances are...what they are …

In an anticlimactic final bout Hakuho pulled fellow Mongolian AsaSexy down so quickly after that tachi-ai that if you blinked you would have missed the whole thing. I don't mean to short change you on the Yokozuna's match but there really is nothing more I can say.

Thank you to all of you who have been perusing our little site. As I type this we are at about 1,008,000 hits and I thought we would be lucky to get to 1,000,000 by today. Too bad we love sumo and not porn, we could all be rich!

I have thrown more than my share of zabuton in my life already but last Sunday as Ama downed the Yokozuna I had the privilege of finally being hit by zabuton...a dream come true. 

As the "new guy" was finishing his (worse than Oga's) yumitori-shiki I told my buddy that this fun an occasion necessitated a head stand. He responded with a "That's just the wine talking."

Day 10 Comments (Alex Brohm reporting)
Whoops, did I interrupt your conversation on new wines? I thought this was a sumo site. I wonder if on the Sea Monkeys site they are debating the merits of Camembert over Brie or what toast points go best with pate de foie gras.

Well, while we are on the subject of wine I think I'll whine about this basho lacking Asashoryu, Takamisakari and Kotooshu. Although, it can be said every basho has been lacking Kotooshu this year. There's still the great and powerful Ama and of all the wrestlers for the last two years, Ama has been the most exciting to follow.

The only good news I have to give you folks is that in the Juryo right now there are two of the next great Japanese hopes, Sakaizawa and Ichihara. I want to see a Japanese Yokozuna as soon as possible so I don't have to hear Japanese experts, announcers, special guests, old ladies and former Makuuchi turned oyakata complain about not having a native Yokozuna anymore. I personally don't care where they're born as long as the Yokozuna is the strongest and stays in the yusho race till the end so that he has to fight the best on senshuraku.

You know, I had a dream last week, it was in the near future, I was taking my son to join wanpaku sumo (rowdy kids sumo) and we met Sadogatake oyakata's son. He wasn't wearing a mawashi and had slimed down. I asked him why and he said that he had given up sumo. He told me that sumo wasn't cool and that he wanted to play soccer and be like Shunsuke Nakamura. I said that I was sorry to hear that and I asked him if I could get Kotooshu's tegata (hand print).

The first point to be drawn from this vision is that I really, really like Kotooshu and I don't care even if he falls down to Makushita I will still be a fan. Second, The sumo association's bumbling leadership has made sumo so unpopular to Japanese kids that even if your father and grandfather were Sekiwake and Yokozuna, you would rather play soccer.

But let's remember children although things at present might be gray and stormy, there is a saying from that classic movie Robocop "The future has a silver lining."

Now, let's get down to today's sumo...

Before the start of today's matches it was announced that Takamisakari will be back on the torikumi for tomorrow's matches. He will be facing Kasugao. 

Kakizoe - Kasuganishiki: Hilarious! Kakizoe was flapping his arms trying to keep his balance at the bails. I think Kokkai's fighting form must be contagious.

Wakakirin - Kaiho: Wakakirin played it safe at the tachi-ai, knowing Kaiho's reputation for henka. Wakakirin stood up played a little patty cake before Kaiho grabbed his head for a pull down but Wakakirin wouldn't have it. He maintained his balance and push the smaller Kaiho right out.

Tosanoumi - Roho: With Roho's long record of hatakikomi against Tosanoumi, today's match held few surprises. Well one surprise, Roho had to yank down Tosa twice before he spilled out on the clay. Roho showed his self-satisfaction with a lovely pirouette. At least one person enjoyed that match.

Tamakasuga - Kokkai: Kokkai badly needed this win against the old warthog. Seems his knee is giving him some pain. He was wincing after the fight.

Tochiohzan - Futenoh: As much as I hate to admit it Futenoh did his best sumo and won.
With a quick grab of Tochiohzan's belt right at the tachi-ai he gradually (but not as gradually as usual) over powered him.

Tamanoshima - Baruto: Tamanoshima pushed Baruto back and made a mighty throw attempt but it was not to be. The secret to a Baruto win is when he gets chest to chest and starts crushing the life out of his opponents. This is what happened again today folks and I could hear Tamanoshima gasping for air all the way over here in Chiba.

Toyohibiki - Wakanoho: In preparation for this bout between the human cannonball and the carcass from the Caucasus I made an artist rendering of how I thought it would play out (a glamorous flying henka over Toyohibiki's confused head) but I was dead wrong. Toyohibiki rocketed right into Wakanoho's middle launching him into some unfortunate pensioner's lap. I hope no bones were broken...

Hokutoriki - Tochinonada: Much more exciting than it should have been. Hokutoriki having bumped his head on a low hanging pipe fitting, thought he was Chiyotaikai on day 8 against Dejima as he tried ineffectually to throttle Tochinonada waited patiently for his chance and then threw the bum out.

Tamanoshima - Hakurozan: the psychic link bonding Hakurozan and Roho is strong indeed. Two brothers, two hatakikomi.

Yoshikaze - Kasugao: One basho your up, one basho your down. Last basho's (yeah, right) yusho contender got tsuppari'd so hard that he dropped his jar of kimchi outside of the dohyo. So, Yoshikaze threw him down to help him retrieve it. Makekoshi for Kasugao.

Kisenosato - Takekaze: Big guy pushed out little guy... NEXT!

Homasho - Miyabiyama: Homasho came into this bout with nothing to lose and gained nothing. Miyabiyama tsuppari'd a sleepy Homasho straight out. Memo to Homasho, lay off the oxycontin.

Ama - Dejima: Did you ever have one of those little toy cars that you pull back to tighten the spring and then let go. Well, that what Ama did to Dejima. Shooting him right between a judge and his stablemate Aminishiki.

Kakuryu - Kotoshogiku: Kakuryu did a good job holding up to the gaburi attack before succumbing to it's might but one must remember that Kotoshogiku developed this technique to help him beat his large and in charge stablemates Kotomitsuki and Kotooshu. So, Kakuryu don't feel bad bigger me have fallen to the power of Kotoshogiku's beer gut.

Aminishiki - Goeido: What no tricks? Aminishiki wasn't interested in playing around with Goeido this time. He just grabbed the back of his mawashi with one hand and held down his neck with the other and flinged him like a booger.

Kotomitsuki - Asasekiryu: By keeping Asasekiryu's hand off the back of his mawashi, Kotomitsuki made Asasekiryu play his sumo. An uwatenage victory for Kotomitsuki.

Toyonoshima - Kaio: Kaio, how you gonna let that little man push you out? Is this truly the end of Kaio? Tune in tomorrow, same Kaio time same Kaio channel.

Tokitenku - Chiyotaikai: I wanted Chiyotaikai to win so bad I could taste it. I had picked him in the "Sumo Game" against the dearly departed ghost of Bernie. F-ing henka! What were you doing? Leaving your head down like that! That's Mr. Big jump to the left, kick to the back of the leg for all that is holy!!! I knew I should have picked Roho!

Hakuho - Kyokutenho: Another beltless win for Hakuho and likely, the yusho as well. Wheee! How exciting it would be if no one saw this coming three months ago when they suspended Asashoryu. Are you happy now, NSK?

Tomorrow, Mark "the albatross" is taking over. I want to welcome Takamisakari back. Even though I am worried about his injury, Robocop, we need you now more than ever. 

Day 9 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
Before I get to the day 9 festivities, let me just take the time to thank Mark Harold Arbo for getting Sumotalk across its millionth hit. Mark and his buddies have been working through the nights this last week tirelessly hitting the refresh buttons on their browsers to inflate our hit counts. In all seriousness, we've come a long way these last five years. Not to get sentimental or anything, but I remember the good ole days when it was just Kenji and myself staying up late each night frantically refreshing our web browsers. As for the picture of the one millionth hit, read it and weep Mr. Arbo. The cash and prizes belong to me. I've got my eye on a few new goodies not the least of which is the latest version of Photoshop.

Turning our attention to the day 9 action, M14 Kakizoe obviously read my report yesterday and has an aficionado for wigs because he classlessly moved to his left against rookie M15 Wakakirin of all rikishi. I actually think Kakizoe was trying to make things look fair because he tried to brush his body against Wakakirin before he jumped out left, but all that did was put him in horrible position and cause him to whiff on the henka. In that state, Wakakirin recovered easily and rewarded Zoe with a trip into the first row. Stupid AND ugly decision by Kakizoe who falls to 5-4. Wakakirin jumps to 6-3.

I know rookie M13 Wakanoho and Hakurozan were close growing up, but are these guys related too? The reason I ask is they both have that penchant for whiffing on their harite at the tachi-ai. Happened to the Ho today against M15 Tochiohzan, and to make things worse, he immediately put both hands at the back of Tochiohzan's dome in the pull position, but luckily for the Russian, Oh didn't hit and just drive his opponent back opting to get his right arm deep on the inside and take his time. Wakanoho countered with the left uwate and the chikara-zumo contest was on. Wakanoho took the initiative first and drove Oh back to the straw, but the former Kageyama dug in well and pushed upwards on Wakanoho's right armpit in an attempt to counter, but the Russian was just too strong and eventually forced his opponent back across the straw. Pretty good finish to a lame start as Wakanoho improves to 5-4. Tochiohzan shares the same mark.

Since being greased by Roho last Saturday, it looks to me that M16 Baruto has let up on his tachi-ai, and can ya blame him...especially against fellow Eastern Euro rikishi and their penchant for the henka? Today, the Estonian was wide open at the tachi-ai and M13 Kokkai had a clear path for the easy tsuki-dashi win if he wanted it, but he opted to bump chests with Baruto and drive him back instead. Bad move. To Kokkai's credit, he did go for the immediate force out and drive Baruto dangerously close to the straw, but in the process Baruto slipped his right hand into an outer grip for some insurance, pivoted nicely at the edge, and shoved Kokkai down from the side with his left hand. Any of the rikishi in the upper half of the banzuke would have beaten Baruto today after that tachi-ai, but there's a distinct reason why Kokkai isn't in that upper half. Either grab the firm morozashi position, lift up on the dude's armpits as you drive him back, or fire away with the tsuppari. Kokkai did none of that and opted to sorta body Baruto back, and he paid the price falling to 5-4. Baruto keeps himself on pace for the outright lead at 7-2.

After a decent tachi-ai from M11 Tosanoumi that knocked his opponent straight up, he made a poor decision to go for the quick pull down, but luckily his opponent was M14 Kaiho, who went down to the dirt quite easily. Replays showed that Tosanoumi's right hand connected perfectly with the side of Kaiho's jaw and neck, and that's what had to have felled him because Tosanoumi's initial pull attempt didn't look that lethal. He'll take the win, though, as he moves to 4-5 while Kaiho falls to 3-6.

Prior to the M10 Yoshikaze matchup against M16 Kasuganishiki, NHK showed a small contingent of Yoshikaze fans in the cheap seats who made the trip from a town in Oita Prefecture so small that I've never heard of it. "Yoshikaze - the pride of Saeki" the sign read, but the fun ended there as Kasuganishiki was too big of a wall for the Pride of Saeki to budge with his tsuppari resulting in a deep left inside position for the Garnish coupled with a left outer grip, and that was all she wrote as Kasuganishiki enjoyed the easy forceout win. Don't look now but Kasuganishiki finds himself at 5-4 while Yoshikaze has been hapless at 2-7.

M8 Wakanosato easily fended off M12 Hakurozan's morote tachi-ai getting his left arm deep on the inside and following that up with a smothering right outer grip. There was nothing Hakurozan could do here as Wakanosato used that inside position to brilliantly lift up at Hakurozan's right side and deny the Russian the outer grip on that side. The perfect yori-kiri win came seconds later as Wakanosato improves to a nifty 7-2 while Hakurozan will likely reacquaint himself with Juryo at just 2-7.

Are you trying to tell me that M12 Roho is out of his league against M7 Tochinonada? Apparently so because without a tachi-ai henka, he was fileted to perfection by the gentle giant. Roho went for the sheepish right outer grip from the start, but Tochinonada wiped that off with a deep left inside grip, and instead of trying to dig in, Roho went for the immediate pull down, a move that spelled his doom. The experienced Tochinonada had the now-compromised Roho pushed out in two seconds flat after that. I want to ask the question what's Roho stable master doing, but it's the former Takatoriki, one of the masters of cheap, evasive sumo. Is it me or has Roho's sumo gone down hill since Taiho retired and left the reins to Takatoriki? Nada improves to an impressive 6-3 while Roho falls to 5-4.

In an amusing tachi-ai, veteran M7 Tamakasuga stood right at the edge of the shikirisen and leaned as far forward as he could trying to close the gap between M7 Toyohibiki and himself. And then after all that, he committed a henka to his left at the start. Toyohibiki reacted well--he's gotta be getting used to this--and rewarded Tamakasuga with some wicked tsuppari to the neck that left the King nowhere to go but back. In true Toyohibiki fashion, his balance was poor as he attacked, and even though he did pick up the decisive win, he still crumbled to the ground at the edge of the dohyo causing his left knee to strike the edge of the clay mound and take out a huge chunk of it. Toyohibiki has finally surpassed the .500 mark and has a bit of momentum. Tamakasuga falls to a respectable 3-6.

Who stole the Goeido mask and snuck onto the dohyo to face M10 Hokutoriki? Somebody please tell me that I did not just see Hokutoriki kick Goeido's ass. My only explanation for the bout was a false start by Hokutoriki where he jumped the gun and immediately put both hands at the back of Goeido's head telegraphing the pulldown. The referee correctly called the bout back, but this must have been in Goeido's noggin' as they reloaded because on the second try, Hokutoriki used a series of neck pushes supported by perfect de-ashi to drive Goeido back and out in spectacular fashion. Hold on a sec...gotta go change my drawers.

Afterwards, they caught up with Hokutoriki on the hanamichi where he said, "That false start where I put my hands at the back of his head was just a reaction. I felt as if I deserved to lose after that, so on the redo I determined to just go all out with forward moving sumo." Worked wonders. As for Goeido, he falls to 6-3, but he's just fine. He's going through the typical learning process that all Makuuchi newcomers go through. He should get his ten and threaten the Komusubi rank for January. How would this scenario be...Goeido makes it to Komusubi where he is paired on day 1 with none other than Asashoryu? Hokutoriki improves to 5-4 with his best win since Natsu 2004, and his sumo today has me asking the eternal question "why don't you fight like that everyday?".

M6 Tamanoshima easily stopped M9 Futenoh's charge at the tachi-ai using a nice left inside position and had his opponent driven back to the straw pusing at Futenoh's side with the right hand, but for some reason he just abandoned the attack at the edge and let the action return to the center of the ring. In the hidari-yotsu position with neither rikishi maintaining an outer grip, Tamanoshima seemed content to let Futenoh (3-6) belly him back to the edge where Peter just gave up and walked out that last step. Puzzling sumo all the way around. Tamanoshima falls to 2-7.

At the midway point of the day, the cameras focused on the edge of the dohyo that Toyohibiki destroyed when his knee hit it as he fell. I guess the yobi-dashi had repaired it using their watering cans to soften up the dirt at the edge and reshape the mud, which would have been a lot more entertaining to watch than that previous bout. But the point is, cosmetically, the dohyo looks good again, but are you trying to tell me that it's gonna hold someone's weight if they step on that patch job? That's a sprained ankle in the making for sure.

Moving right along, in a battle of two of the more hapless rikishi this basho, M4 Kyokutenho and M5 Kasugao hooked up in the gappuri migi-yotsu position from the tachi-ai, and Kasugao forced the pace early by driving Tenho back to the edge. But in the process, Kyokutenho managed to break off Kasugao's right outer grip and survive the attack. As the two settled back into the middle of the ring, Kasugao grabbed the outer again and immediately mounted another attack. Tenho pivoted to the side in an effort to turn the tables near the edge, but he lost his right outer in the process, and Kasugao was just too strong today easily forcing Kyokutenho across the straw. Both dudes are only 2-7.

Martin handed out the bubblegum cigars today after M3 Kakuryu decided to take M2 Dejima straight on at the tachi-ai only to be driven back and out in seconds by the Degyptian,s freight train sumo. Dejima moves to 7-2 with the excellent display of sumo and is firmly planted on that leaderboard at 7-2. The Kak is a paltry 1-8.

Komusubi Kotoshogiku rushed things today against M1 Homasho and nearly paid the price. The Geeku opted to use a series of nodowa and thrusts to knock Homie back near the straw, but that ain't his game, and when Homasho dug in nicely at the edge, Kotoshogiku instinctively put both hands at the back of Homie's head. Fortunately for the Komusubi, there was just too much real estate behind him for Homasho to capitalize completely, and although the struggling M1 did gain a decent left inside position and drive Kotoshogiku dangerously close to the edge, the Geeku dug in nicely did that last-gasp evasive maneuver at the straw as he pushed Homasho down from his left side. Wasn't pretty, but Kotoshogiku got the job done as he moves to 6-3. Homasho joins Kakuryu in the make-koshi category.

Hakuho should take note of the way that M1 Miyabiyama handled Komusubi Ama today. The Sheriff used a series of nodowa thrusts to keep Ama at bay and completely away from his belt. Miyabiyama wasn't hellbent on driving Ama straight back, but he played it smart standing his ground and keeping Ama frustrated throughout. After about 8 seconds of action, Miyabiyama timed a perfect pulldown of his opponent knocking Ama to the clay with ease. The reason why I say that Hakuho should take note is not to say Hakuho should become a tsuppari guy, but remember when he secured promotion to Yokozuna how he used to set up his wins with an oshi-attack? I'd like to see him revert back to that style. Miyabiyama limps to 3-6 while Ama will just have to be satisfied with another Shukunsho this basho at 5-4.

Sekiwake Aminishiki came out with a nodowa attack against M2 Kisenosato, but the Kid showed some determination today that we haven't seen in a long time. After swiping away Sneaky's lame nodowa attempts, Kisenosato exhibited some fine nodowa of his own that knocked Aminishiki clear back to the edge. Ami dug in a bit at this point, but Kisenosato would not be denied grabbing the firm left outer grip and using his left leg to keep Aminishiki from evading to his right setting up the perfect yori-kiri win. This is the Kisenosato that I've been waiting to see for, what, over a year now? Both rikishi are still in the kachi-koshi hunt at 4-5.

As if M3 Tokitenku's act yesterday wasn't bad enough, today against Ozeki Kaio, the Mongolian shifted to his right again grabbing the cheap right outer grip that he used to drive the off-balance Kaio back to the edge. Kaio managed to break off the grip in the melee but found himself standing at the edge of the dohyo in the grapplin' position. Without gaining any sort of position at the tachi-ai, Kaio is not going to push around Tokitenku, and even after a slapdown attempt that had Tenku shaken a bit, the taller rikishi won out in the end pushing Kaio out with relative ease. I honestly don't know how Tokitenku (6-3) sleeps at night. Kaio falls back to 5-4 with the tough-luck loss.

Ozeki Chiyotaikai kept his name atop the leaderboard today making the correct decision to use the tsuppari guns against the smaller Sekiwake Asasekiryu. Seki hasn't been exactly hot this basho, so there was no chance of his digging in to counter the onslaught. Twas a typical Chiyotaikai oshi-dashi win over a smaller opponent who he knows he can bully. At 8-1 Chiyotaikai is your (hold on, I'm trying to keep a straight face) your leader. Seki is a dangerous 3-6 considering his upcoming schedule.

M5 Takekaze opted to cut off Kotomitsuki's right arm from gaining any position at the tachi-ai, but it makes no sense for Takekaze to invite a stalemate against the Ozeki. If he has any chance to beat him, it's to mount a tsuppari attack from the start and just take your chances. Takekaze didn't and paid the price today. While he did deny Kotomitsuki a belt grip for about 20 seconds, he completely took himself out of the bout in terms of mounting any sort of offensive, so it was just a matter of Kotomitsuki being patient and waiting for the opening. After a bit of wrenching and twisting it came, and Kotomitsuki just skated to the easy oshi-dashi win from there. Kotomitsuki is stands alongside Hakuho and Baruto which is all he can ask for at this point. Takekaze is reeling at 3-6.

And finally, all of Yokozuna Hakuho's pre-basho keiko against Juryo Sagatsukasa paid off today against the tricky M4 Toyonoshima. The Yokozuna attacked low jumping into the early migi-yotsu position, but Toyonoshima countered well keeping his butt back and to the left away from a Hakuho outer grip. At this point the Yokozuna used his mass to force Toyonoshima methodically back to the edge, and once Toyonoshima was at the point of no return, he went for the same kubi-nage throw that Ama beat Hakuho with in September, but the difference this time was that Toyonoshima's legs are too short, so he wasn't able to knock Hakuho off balance enough with his left leg pushing up into Hakuho's right...a key to a successful kubi-nage throw. In the end, Hakuho's size proved the difference as he just drove his body into Toyonoshima's riding him down to the dirt via yori-taoshi. At 7-2, Hakuho easily controls his own destiny and is the clear favorite to yusho. In my opinion, the worst is behind him because he matches up so well with his remaining opponents: Kyokutenho, the two Sekiwake, and the three Ozeki. Of that group, Kotomitsuki has the best shot of taking the Yokozuna down, but I don't see it happening as the Ozeki is not fighting at the level that propelled him to the rank in the first place. Both Sekiwake are below average, and then there's Kaio and Chiyotaikai. Hakuho really has to screw this one up not to talk the yusho. Toyonoshima falls to 6-3 with the loss, but is deserving of a place in the sanyaku.

Nine days in and there are really no surprises on the leaderboard which shapes up like this:
8-1 Chiyotaikai (this simply won't last)
7-2 Hakuho, Kotomitsuki, Dejima, Wakanosato, Baruto (the real leaderboard starts here sans Dejima and Wakanosato)
6-3 this record cannot be considered until both Hakuho and Baruto lose again


Considering the schedules down the stretch, Hakuho has to be the favorite. Wakanosato and Dejima will not last due to the increased competition they'll see. And Baruto is the wildcard here because you just can't guarantee that his remaining opponents will fight him straight up.

Alex delivers the monologue tomorrow.