Another One Bites the Dust

Or should I say.... The dohyo?

I assume many of you readers know that I am a huge sumo fanatic. I've been watching it for the past four years after discovering it on NHK World.. There was some news breaking today that Former Ozeki Baruto is retiring after a nine year pro career as a sumo wrestler. I'm very bummed out because he has been a major player the whole time I've been watching the sport. He's retiring because of a nagging knee injury that wouldn't go away and probably will stay with him for life, to some degree.

He is in an awkward position because if he were to have pulled out of the current tournament, he would have been demoted off of the upper divisions and with that goes regular pay and benefits. Homasho was able to bounce back after a two tournament recovery period, but there is no guarantee how many tournaments Baruto would be sitting out. In the pro wrestling world, Tyson Kidd just came back from a similar injury that took 6+ months to recover from, and then a solid amount of training on top of that. Unfortunately for us fans, I think Baruto made the right choice for the sake of having a life after sumo.

I think I might start working on my new sumo schedule today. But I guess I need to start watching and tracking again or the schedule won't work. I wonder if there is fantasy sumo, like fantasy football, and if so, how many people always pick Hakuho.

Kyushu Sumo Tournament

Depending on which continent you live on, This Saturday/Sunday is the start to the final sumo tournament of the year. Those of you that know me know what a fan of sumo I am. Unlike the WWE, sumo is all about skill and technicality, and I find it more exciting and nerve wracking sometimes.

Lets jump right in. There are several different issues with this tournament then the rest of the other ones this year.

Issue # 1

Haramafuji was just promoted to Yokozuna. While not done very impressively, since three of the ozeki (second highest level) dropped out due to injury, I was really rooting for him to win. Out of all six ozeki in the last tournament, he is the only one who had the look and determination. Hopefully He will give Hakuho a run for his money, since I don't wish to see him win any more tournaments. The three that dropped out last time have all healed and are back, presumably at least at 80 - 100%. They will give this new yokozuna a run for his money.

Issue #2

The three ozeki that dropped out of this tournament (Baruto, Kotooshu, and Kotoshogiku), are all on probation this time around. If any of them drop out or fail to make their 8 wins, their ass is grass and will be sent back down to the sekiwake rank for the January tournament.

We'll see how this goes. I'm shooting for Kotooshu, Kakuryu, and Takamisakari (even though he is on the juryo rankings). I'll post an update next week on how the tournament is shaping up.