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2015 Hatsu Post-basho Report (Page 2)
As we work our way back down the banzuke, there's no
use commenting on Sekiwake Okinoumi who withdrew after three days of work. I
should note that the banzuke will be very even come Natsu, so let's see how many
of the jo'i rikishi can kachi-koshi.
Komusubi Myogiryu was a star this basho finishing 8-7, and I don't know of
anyone who wasn't rooting for this guy. Myogiryu is so tenacious on the dohyo,
and that's all I ask of any rikishi in sumo...just fight your hardest and stick
to your brand of sumo. His signature win came against Ichinojo on day 13, and I
still maintain that the last rikishi to beat Hakuho straight up was Myogiryu.
M1 Tochiohzan had a fantastic basho finishing 10-5 with losses only to the two
Yokozuna, Terunofuji, and Takarafuji. In the paragraph when I was talking about
the Ozeki only being able to win 25 among them on this banzuke, Tochiohzan is
the measuring stick. Had he not given Goeido a gift on day 4, he'da been a solid
11-4, and it was set up for the truly elite rikishi to have great basho. And,
the truly elite rikishi did have great basho. Tochiohzan showed in Osaka why
he's the best Japanese rikishi on the board.
And as easy as it is to get excited about Tochiohzan,
don't overlook the Mongolith to the West who checked in at 9-6. Ichinojo has
actually been fighting a few nagging injuries, and I just read where he was
having problems with his eyes. If this dude is 100% healthy, he's going to start
dominating again like Terunofuji did in March. I'm already salivating at the
sanyaku for May. My guess is that Tochiohzan takes Okinoumi's Sekiwake slot, but
regardless of rank, here are your four sanyaku rikishi for the Natsu basho:
Sekiwake - Terunofuji, Tochiohzan
Komusubi - Myogiryu, Ichinojo
M2 Sadanoumi was a definite bright spot as he finished 7-8, and I'm of the
opinion he gave both Ozeki wins, so you could say that he's already capable of
scoring kachi-koshi from the jo'i. I've stated for several basho now how much
I've enjoyed watching him fight, and it's because he has a defining style. I
know he's going straight forward at the tachi-ai, and he's quickly becoming a
force at the belt. I guess I understand why Endoh is still hyped by the media,
but this is a great example where you shouldn't buy the hype from the media and
trust the comments of ST instead. Sadanoumi has earned everything up to this
point on his own, and he's such a refreshing story to me that I never tire of
hyping the kid. As for his sumo in Osaka, he stuck to his guns, which meant the
elite rikishi defeated him soundly, but he pounded the guys ranked beneath him
and looked great down the stretch.
Across the aisle is Takarafuji who finally picked up that jo'i kachi-koshi. The
reason why I tout him as the second best Japanese rikishi is because he doesn't
have to fight Harumafuji and Terunofuji as they are both stablemates. Still,
Takarafuji cooperated by bowing to all three Ozeki, so it all evens out in the
end. Like Sadanoumi, this guy is proof of just how effective solid belt fighting
can be in the division, and unlike Sadanoumi, Takarafuji has a ton of bulk,
which should see him frequent the sanyaku for years to come. Takarafuji is no
fluke, and yes, he's clearly the number two guy on the charts among the Japanese
rikishi.
M3 Takayasu was just plain awful this basho, and I never did really read whether
or not he was injured. Like Takarafuji and Sadanoumi, this guy is a good belt
fighter, and he's also a strong kid, so let's hope he rebounds well in May.
Two or three basho ago, I think I touted M3 Aoiyama as one of the top six guys
in all of sumo, but it's safe to say he's one of the least driven guys in sumo,
so it's nice to see the top three Japanese rikishi and then guys like Ichinojo
and Terunofuji out hussle Aoiyama and send him lower in the ranks. 5-10 for him
was a disgrace this basho.
While M4 Tochinoshin did at least kachi-koshi in Osaka, like Aoiyama he doesn't
seem very driven to me. After getting knocked down to the Makushita ranks due to
injury, he showed great drive in climbing back up to this level, but now he's in
cruise control again relying on his size to stay in the upper half of the
division and pull that cushy Makuuchi paycheck. Part of me wonders if these
Eastern Eur-ape-eans are encouraged to let up a bit, but who knows? One thing I
do know is that Aoiyama and Tochinoshin were uninspired in Osaka.
I realloy enjoyed M5 Toyonoshima this basho, and the dude has some nice wins
over the likes of Harumafuji and Tochinoshin. It was also refreshing to see him
go all out against Kotoshogiku on day 13. I really like this kind of guy high in
the jo'i because it makes his opponents work to keep him away from the inside.
Counterpart Endoh got out to a nice 4-1 start, which I think was mostly legit,
but word has it he's in danger of missing out on the Natsu basho. I think I even
read a headline that said something like, "Endoh is Makushita?" I talked about
Chiyonokuni during the basho and how he fell all the way down to Sandanme. The
extent of Endoh's injury remains to be seen, but the sport will miss him because
at worst he's a good topic for the media.
M6 Aminishiki was poised to have a great basho starting out 8-2, but an inury
derailed him as well. Once again, we see a fast start from the M6 rank by a
rikishi with decent game, so it was a shame to see Shneaky forced to bow out
early. If there is a bit of good news for you Aminishiki fans, he did
kachi-koshi and will be in the thick of things in May. Remember, he also hails
from the Isegahama-beya, so that makes four rikishi near the top of the ranks
that don't have to fight each other. That could pave the way for yet another
Aminishiki return to the sanyaku.
As I look down the rest of the ranks, I don't see anyone that really stands out.
I know there were some guys who posted 11 wins down low like Gagamaru,
Osunaarashi, and Chiyootori, but I already gave enough takes regarding those
rikishi in the daily reports.
Before I
close out the Haru basho, let me just change the subject a bit and talk about
soccer. I am totally enjoying this time of year setting my DVR to catch all of
the matches going on in Europe in the Bundesliga, Premier League, the French
league, and of course the Primera division in Spain's La Liga where you have two
powerhouses in Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. I have to say that my favorite
soccer player in the world right now is Luis Suárez. Sure, he's a mad striker,
but just looking at the dude makes me laugh. He's overweight, he's got buck
teeth, and oh yeah, he is hands down the best actor in soccer.
It's hard to watch an FC Barcelona match where Suárez dodesn't get a yellow
card...for acting. I mean, the dude goes down six or seven times a match at
least, and it's so dramatic. Some of the time there is contact, but at least
half the time he's not even touched. It's always fun to watch the replays of his
falls to see exactly what happened, and I can't help but liken it to watching
sumo when guys take dives so to speak. You see something live in sumo that
doesn't feel right and so you go to the tape to watch the slow motion replays.
You see Luis Suárez take a dive on the pitch that doesn't feel right so you go
to the tape and watch the slow motion replays.
Nobody can dispute that soccer players take dives all the time in order to draw
free kicks and penalty kicks if they're really sly. It's just an accepted part
of the game, and so the question I want to leave you with is this: if soccer
players can take dives on the pitch, why couldn't a sumo wrestler take a dive in
the ring? I know many would say in soccer a guy will dive in order to gain an
advantage while in sumo it makes no sense for a guy to dive to a loss--a
perceived disadvantage, but it's
not an apples to apples comparison.
In soccer, you have two separate entities battling each other whether it's two
countries, two club teams, or two franchises within a league. In short, it's
always two separate entities with two separate owners competing against each other. Sumo,
on the other hand, is a single entity where the rikishi are part of a group that
travels together, that lives in the same proximity, and that are paid from the
same source. In Japanese culture, being part of the group means everything, and
harmony is achieved among the group if everyone cooperates for the betterment of
said group, not the individual. Losing on purpose makes no sense from a purely
Western perspective or from the
individual's perspective, but the Sumo Association is a single group, and if one
rikishi's taking a dive gives the group a benefit, it makes perfect sense in
Japanese culture when
it does occur whether it's giving a 7-7 dude kachi-koshi on senshuraku or
helping an Ozeki maintain his rank.
Regardless, if you can act in soccer, you can certainly act in sumo, and when I watch
the slow motion replays and look for the contact atop the dohyo...or lack thereof,
it's no different to me than watching a classic Suárez dive.