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2016 Aki Post-basho Report
In short, the manner in which Harumafuji lost all
three bouts was unorthodox and not in a manner that you ever see in a straight
up bout. He stayed well away from the role of spoiler in September, and I think
a lot of it has to do with his oyakata, Isegahama-oyakata. With the death of
Kitanoumi and Chiyonofuji in the last year, you now only have three former
Japanese Yokozuna left in the Association: Hokutoumi (Hakkaku Rijicho),
Asahifuji (Isegahama), and Takanohana. I talked about the prevalence of yaocho
back in Chiyonofuji's day, and I think back then it was mostly the rikishi just
running amok, but I think the yaocho we're seeing post 2011 is mainly being
orchestrated by oyakata in an effort to keep the sport viable in the eyes of the
Japanese fans. What I'm getting at is that Isegahama is using his rikishi as
pawns--particularly Harumafuji and Terunofuji--for the betterment of the sport
in general, and the Mongolians themselves have little say in the matter. That is
all speculation, but you just look at what they're making Terunofuji go through,
and I think it comes from Isegahama feeling guilty for having two of the four
elite Mongolians in his stable.
As for Yokozuna Kakuryu, it was reported that he was experiencing lower back
pain the last few months. I'm not sure what to believe that comes from the
media, but Kakuryu's average performance in Aki was due solely to his letting up
on purpose. Like Harumafuji and Terunofuji, this guy could run the table against
the rest of the field when he wanna, but he's being reined in with the other
Mongolian thoroughbreds. I think it was a little over a year ago after
Terunofuji was promoted to Ozeki and picked up a yusho along the way when I
mentioned the huge predicament the Sumo Association was faced with. Namely, they
had four Yokozuna-caliber Mongolians at the top of the banzuke, and those guys
would suck up all of the wins at the top leaving only crumbs for the guys below
them. I surmised that the foursome could be counted on to pick up at least 48
wins collectively per basho unless they were held back in some way. I then
started keeping mental notes on the number of wins the foursome picked up in the
ensuing basho, and if you take the average number of wins the past eight basho,
the four Mongolians are good for an average of 35 wins per tournament.
Inevitably, one of the four will usually withdraw; two of the four will take
themselves out of the yusho race early; and then one of the Mongolians would
lead the yusho race in the end. In fact, when is the last time that the yusho
race came down to two or more Mongolians and no Japanese rikishi?? Critics of
Sumotalk like to point out law of averages when it comes to Japanese Ozeki
defeating the Mongolians for example. Well, when does the law of averages come
in that states occasionally we'd have a leaderboard at the end of day 13 that
contained multiple Mongolian rikishi and no Japanese rikishi? Nothing adds up in
sumo these days IF you watch it under the premise that all of the bouts are
fought straight up, so when you get a critical thinker like myself who actually
analyzes reality, it's easy to come to the conclusions that I do.
Moving right along, isn't it interesting how none of you think Terunofuji is
elite anymore? It goes back to the whole climate change ruse. You get it pounded
into your head that this guy is average or injured or lazy enough, and you start
believing it. Terunofuji is an elite rikishi who isn't allowed to show it these
days because no other Japanese rikishi can even come close to his ability in the
ring or established history.
I guess I skipped over Ozeki Kisenosato by talking about Terunofuji first, so
let's back up a notch to the East and briefly focus on the Kiddie. So in Utah we
have these dumbass bugs called Box Elder bugs, and they usually show up about
this time of year looking for warm places to congregate...like the side of my
office building bathed in sunlight. Well, the bugs are somehow famous for
working their way onto their backs, and then they just lie their wiggling their
legs frantically until they give up the bug ghost, and for some strange reason,
I think of Kisenosato whenever I see this. Even as I type this, there's a Box
Elder bug lying on my window sill doing what I like to call the Kisenosato
dance.
I think I'll just skip over Ozeki Kotoshogiku and get
to Sekiwake Takayasu since the media has started to mention the phrase "Ozeki
Prospect" when talking of this guy. Of course, his three bout losing streak to
end the basho put a damper on talk of Ozeki, so let's see what happens when they
start the buzz surrounding the Kyushu basho. I talked at length regarding
Takayasu in my day 13 comments, so there's no use repeating that here, so let's
just focus on his three bout losing streak to end the basho. Now, the loss to
Endoh on day 14 was political, and we all know that Takayasu could have just
kicked Endoh's ass in a straight up fight, but losing to Mitakeumi on day 13 and
then getting destroyed by Aoiyama on senshuraku put this guy's basho in better
perspective...at least for me. I'm pretty sure the foreign rikishi have all of
this frustration pent up, and then they'll occasionally just take it out on a
Japanese rikishi. Well, I think that's what happened with Aoiyama on senshuraku
against Takayasu. The M5 came out and just destroyed Takayasu off of the
starting lines and had him thrust out in a matter of seconds. I actually think
Takayasu can beat Aoiyama straight up, but at the Aki basho, he was not fighting
in such a manner, and it was exposed on the tourney's final day. The point
is...Takayasu is a candidate for Ozeki if the media and the Sumo Association say
so, but he is not a legitimate Ozeki candidate if you just analyze his sumo. And
I really like the kid and always have, but he ain't no Ozeki just like I ain't
no grammar sensei.
As for Sekiwake Takarafuji, it's a tough deal when you know you'll fight the
elite Mongolians and then on top of that you're obligated to sit there and take
three losses to the Box Elder Bug Ozeki. Then you have foreign rikishi like
Tochinoshin or Takanoiwa who are pissed off about having to lose bouts of their
own, and so they go all out against a guy like Takarafuji. His 4-11 record here
is meaningless, and what I like about this guy is that I can at least identify
his style. Can't say that about most of the rikishi who get attention these
days, but I can say it about Takara Boom De Ay.
No real comment on our two Komusubi although it does say something when Kaisei
can go 6-9 while still losing on purpose to at least four Japanese rikishi. As
for Tochiohzan who finished 7-8, it's the same dill as we say in Utah. He gives
up the obligatory losses and then has to fight his way back to a respectable
record. Of course in Oh's case, he was given a couple of freebies against elite
rikishi.
Scanning the Maegashira rikishi, I think the rikishi who stood out to me most
this basho was M6 Tamawashi. The dude finished 10-5 despite giving up a few
bouts himself to Japanese rikishi not the least of which was Goeido on day 14,
but I felt that this guy was the perfect barometer from the rank and file to use
as a baseline to determine just how good the Japanese rikishi really are. I
thought Tamawashi fought better in Aki than any other Japanese rikishi on the
banzuke. His style is easily defined, and he manhandled the majority of his foes
in the straight up bouts. It's hard to declare that Tamawashi is better than any
other rikishi Japan can produce, but it's only hard to declare that because we
have so much yaocho skewing the landscape in favor of the Japanese rikishi.
Let's put it this way: if a Japanese rikishi had the skills of Tamawashi, he'd be
an Ozeki. Now, The Mawashi is going to fight from the jo'i in Kyushu and of
course get his ass kicked, but he's as solid of a rikishi when compared to
anyone born in Japan.
There's really no point commenting on other individual rikishi. The media
considers the following rikishi to be their darlings and a host of bouts were
thrown in their favor: Shodai, Mitakeumi, Nishikigi, Endoh, and Kagayaki.
There's nothing regarding those five to break down beyond what we say in the
daily comments, and I expect the lot of them to get special treatment at the
Kyushu basho as well.
Other than that, I really don't have the energy to comment further. You know
when there's a group of people--usually women--at the office and they're talking
about a television drama or movie as if it was actually non-fiction? They break
down the characters and say things like, "He is such a creep!" or "I can't
believe he'd do that to her!" To go any further would be like trying to talk
about a work of fiction as if it was real, and the way my mind works, I just
can't handle it, so I will ride off into the sunset until they release the
Kyushu basho banzuke, and then the nonsense starts all over.
Nja.