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2014 Nagoya Post-basho Report (Page 2)
On that note, let's move to the individual rikishi and break
down their tournaments starting with Yokozuna Hakuho who finished 13-2. It is my
opinion that Hakuho is indeed the greatest rikishi to have ever graced the
dohyo, and I think that if you placed him in the same environments that Taiho
and Chiyonofuji fought in, he would be able to surpass their results. Having
said that, Hakuho was not fighting at 100% in Nagoya, and no, that wasn't due to
injury. I've been saying the last few years that I believe Hakuho has lowered
the bar in regards to his sumo in order to give the appearance that the rikishi
around him are at least sorta in his same league, and Nagoya was another example
of where he left openings here and there, took a few losses for team Japan, and
then ultimately walked away with the yusho at 13-2. Part of Hakuho's greatness
lies in the fact that he can actually go out and give himself a two-loss
handicap and still take the yusho without serious threat. It's probably a good
thing that I didn't comment on the days when Hakuho lost, but just consider the
winning technique in the Goeido bout: abise-taoshi. That kimari-te is rarely
seen just because it's so hard to pull off. You literally have to be so strong
that you can body your opponent over and down in the center of the ring without
using a throw or a trip and in the case of Goeido, without even using the inside
position to set it up. Hakuho simply runs circles around the competition in
victory and in defeat, and that's part of what makes him so great.
Before I comment on Harumafuji and Kakuryu, I must reiterate my take after
Kakuryu first received promotion to Yokozuna that we will never see all three
Mongolian Yokozuna post records worthy of a Yokozuna in the same basho. It's not
that they can't; rather, it's in order to maintain a semblance of balance and
parity among all of the jo'i rikishi, which actually doesn't exist. Yokozuna are
expected to post records worthy of the yusho which is 13 wins or higher, and so
if all three of these guys did that and amassed 39 wins at a tournament, that
leaves too few wins to go around elsewhere. I don't think we'll be hearing too
much criticism from the YDC if the Mongolian Yokozuna are finishing with 11 wins
per basho, so Harumafuji's 10-5 is par for the course. He was greased by both
Oguruma boys that resulted in losses, he gave up wins to Osunaarashi and
Kotoshogiku, and then he was defeated by Hakuho on senshuraku. Thing is...he was
just going through the motions and he still defeated everyone else. I can easily
tell if Harumafuji is serious about a basho if he sticks to a single attacking
style like consistent nodowa from the tachi-ai or a lower charge focused on
fighting from the front of his opponent's belt. When he's kinda all over the
place and even mixing in henka himself, he's just lowering the bar a bit.
As for Kakuryu, it's really the same story: strategic losses to Osunaarashi (for
what reason, I don't know) and Goeido and then losses to both Yokozuna. Other
than that, he sleepwalked his way in Nagoya, gave up a few bouts here and there,
and still finished 11-4 without trying. Just think about all it takes to get a
guy like Kisenosato or Goeido to 11 wins and the Mongolians look sloppy and
lethargic and can pull it off basho after basho. If you're scoring at home, not
only would you not be reading this, but you'd see that the three Mongolians
check in with 34 wins among them or average record of 11.3 wins apiece. They
tallied 34 wins last basho as well, so expect that to be the baseline from here
on out.
Ozeki Kisenosato was never quite on this entire basho finishing 9-6 thanks to a
gift from Yokozuna Hakuho. Consider this: he was defeated in seconds by Goeido
and Kotoshogiku in the same manner where those two dudes got an arm in early at
the tachi-ai and defeated the Kid in moments. To think that Hakuho couldn't have
done that as well is insulting. Further consider the picture at right. Hakuho is
actually parallel to the dohyo! The only guy who can do that to the greatest of
all time is Hakuho himself, not an inflated 9-6 Ozeki. Kisenosato's feet are
crossed, his right hip is not driving into Hakuho, which is normal for a
kote-nage, and the "throw" is entirely with one arm. Show me other
kote-nage bouts where the defeated ends up parallel to the dohyo with neither
foot digging in. It's physically impossible for Kisenosato to execute such a
throw from his position, especially against a guy like Hakuho. Like this
victory, I didn't buy a lot of
Kisenosato's wins and then in defeat, he just got his ass handed to him. There
was nothing to celebrate regarding Kisenosato in Nagoya.
Ozeki Kotoshogiku was a bit better, but I got tired of myself crying foul during
many of his bouts during weak one. I think the key this basho was to get
Kotoshogiku to eight wins as soon as possible, and once that mark was hit, dude
went 4-3 the rest of the way. I understand that the competition was better in
week two, but the Ozeki was fed Osunaarashi and Takayasu two of the final three
days, and even then, I thought Osunaarashi went way soft on his kachi-age at the
tachi-ai. Coulda been nerves from the Ejyptian, but I noticed a definite pattern
of a lot of guys going soft against the Geeku. That he was in the yusho race
until senshuraku was due to Hakuho's dropping down two notches and not due to a
single big win from the Geeku.
If you revisit my list of Ozeki promotions on the previous page, you can go
right down the line (skipping over Kisenosato and Kotoshogiku) and recall how
truly great the runs were for each rikishi. And it wasn't just that they
finished with over 33 wins; it was how they were picking up wins. I mean, we
knew Hakuho was better than the Ozeki when he was a Sekiwake just by the content
of his sumo, and his ascendancy to the Yokozuna rank was a given. With Goeido,
there was no signature sumo that pervaded his performance the full fortnight. He
looked great against Kotoshogiku on senshuraku and then got his ass handed to
him by a four-win Ikioi. When I don't see consistency to a dude's sumo, I don't
buy his 12-3 performance, and I will say right now that serious yaocho is going
to be required to keep this guy up around numbers worthy of an Ozeki, and we can
only wait and see if they'll hype him as a future Yokozuna. I guess with
Tochiohzan's injury and Goeido's dominance over Kisenosato and Kotoshogiku that
you'd have to call Goeido the best Japanese rikishi on the banzuke at the
moment, but that is one scary prospect if it's really true. Is it clear just how
big the divide is between the Japanese rikishi and the foreigners when Goeido is
your flag bearer?
I can't remember a basho where the Komusubi actually made an impact, but they're
in a tough spot. They can't beat the Yokozuna and they can't beat the three
Japanese Ozeki ifyaknowhadduhmean. Aoiyama let up against all three and still
finished 6-9. Noted gachinko, Aminishiki, pasted Kisenosato but did
little else limping home at 3-12. The Komusubi rank has become a non-factor in
sumo.
The only notable rikishi ranked M1 thru M3 was Osunaarashi who checked in at M3
in the West. I just don't feel as if we got a good sense for what he could do
this basho, however, due to those curious wins over the two Yokozuna and then
the two fat-free performances against Goeido and Endoh two of the next three
days. In the way that I analyze sumo, I simply can't break him down. I watch him
on day 3 with moro-zashi against Kisenosato; then give it up; then settle into
hidari-yotsu where he goes for the right outer grip three times and then just
moves his hand back every time before standing straight in front of the Ozeki as
he's forced out. His tachi-ai was soft against Kotoshogiku, so there's six bouts
he was involved in where the sumo didn't make sense to me. While he's still raw
and will get beat by the veteran Japanese rikishi at times (Takekaze and
Myogiryu were legit), my opinion is that he's better than anything the Japanese
rikishi got. Osunaarashi was the perfect example this basho of why I loved
watching the first hour of the broadcast and loathed the final 30 minutes for
the most part.
M4 Takekaze's 9-6 effort is likely good enough to see him into the Sekiwake
ranks for Aki. Dude had too many henka for my liking, but I liked how he put
some of the youngsters in their place like Osunaarashi and Takayasu while
putting Myogiryu's good basho in a bit more perspective. I've been talking about
how weak the banzuke has been for awhile, and seeing the two words "Sekiwake"
and "Takekaze" together for the first time will only enforce that stance.
I hate it that I'm starting to hate M5 Endoh. Okay, I don't hate the kid
himself, but I'm really getting tired of this caricature that the media has
completely manufactured. Endoh hasn't done shat in this division; he doesn't
have a single signature win; and he cannot win eight legitimate bouts ranked M5
or above. Yet, dude has more kensho marched around his bouts than a Yokozuna who
just picked up his 30th career yusho. Am I the only one who thinks there's
something terribly wrong with that picture? Endoh is quickly becoming the next
Goeido. Remember how pumped we were when Goeido first entered the division? I
even went as far as to say if Japan produces a Yokozuna in the next 10 years,
his name will be Goeido. I can't remember what year I said that in, but it's
safe to say that prophesy will be fulfilled (or more likely won't...which means
it will if that makes sense).
Anyway, Goeido couldn't handle the early hype and fell down as far as the Juryo
ranks for a spell. They won't let that happen to Endoh, but it's the same
scenario. The kid showed early flashes and great technique at the belt, but the
guys around him are simply bigger and better. At some point, it's also gotta
mess with your head when a guy like Takarafuji has you all but slapped down and
then suddenly stops and stands straight up letting you force him back without
argument because you don't know what's up or down anymore at that point. We have
a guy who contributes reports in Swedish named Stefan Hager, and he's been doing
it for years, and Stefan will sometimes add a few extra comments in his emails
to me. Dude is straight as an arrow in terms of accepting everything that
happens on the dohyo at face value, but he even emailed me on the day Endoh beat
Kaisei and said, "You know, it actually looked like Kaisei didn't try today." Ya
think?
I don't think rikishi like Endoh or Goeido or Kisenosato know going in that
they're going to be gifted a win, but they have to know after the fact. And I
think it really messes with their heads. They don't know how good they really
are, and how will they know if a move they tried in a bout they won due to
mukiryoku sumo on the part of their opponent is really effective or not? I think
it's a real predicament for these guys because they want things to be straight
up yet they know they're not worthy of all the hype that's been given to them.
That would grind on anyone mentally. Anyway, Endoh will likely find himself in
the sanyaku next month as the final Komusubi, but everyone knows including him
that he doesn't deserve it.
My favorite rank of the hira-maku, M6, did not disappoint this basho. Terunofuji
from the East finished with a 9-6 record, and you can't help but to watch him
fight and think, "Damn, he's a beast." The elders on the board must watch a guy
like this and think, "Why can't we produce one of these?" And it's only going to
get worse starting next basho when Ichinojo--another Mongolian--makes his debut.
Terunofuji threw Endoh around like a chew toy on day 1; he defeated Osunaarashi
in a straight up affair between the two thugs; he toppled Myogiryu despite
giving up moro-zashi; and hey, he even learned how to throw his first bout
against Goeido on day 14! This kid is the complete package. He will likely win
with the inside position, and he's pretty damn good even when he gives up
moro-zashi. The only way to really beat him is to make him move laterally and
try to sneak in for the cheap win. He'll figure out how to defend that too in
short order, so watch out for this kid.
On the other side of the aisle, Myogiryu had a great basho finishing 11-4 which
should see him make a return to the Sekiwake slot alongside Takekaze. I do think
he'll struggle up that high, however, because there will be too many trees that
outweigh him at that level of the banzuke. Humor me and entertain this next
thought as well: if there are bouts to be thrown the last 30 minutes of the day
(and there will be), they won't be wasted on Myogiryu.
Let's conclude this nonsense by touching on two more rikishi the first of which
is M11 Takayasu who used an 8-0 start to keep himself on the leaderboard late in
week 2. On one hand, I was quite excited for the kid because I've rooted for him
since he first entered the division, but on the other hand, it's hard for me to
hype a former sanyaku rikishi who wins in double digits low on the banzuke. Had
he defeated the likes of Myogiryu (11-4), Jokoryu (10-5), Kotoshogiku (12-3), or
even Takekaze (9-6) when the pressure was high on senshuraku, it would have been
one thing, but he really didn't come close in those bouts and only beat up on
the dross of the division. Let's grade him for real when he fights among the
jo'i again.
Finally, I'll conclude with M17 Arawashi who had his best basho in the division
finishing 10-5. I think what I enjoyed about his sumo the most was that it was
all legitimate. After a rough start (he was 1-3 after four days), Arawashi found
his groove with quick tachi-ai that enabled him to get established on the
inside, and then he was great at the belt the rest of the way finishing 9-2.
Watching guys like Arawashi or Sadanoumi fight of late remind me when I used to
attend the sumos in Kyushu. I'd usually arrive at the venue around noon and then
watch the non-sekitori division from the front row. I noticed quickly that some
of the best sumo you'll ever see occurs in the Makushita jo'i. These are the
guys who are on the brink of finally earning a paycheck, and the sumo in the
upper ranks of the Makushita division is simply cutthroat. It really was my
favorite part of the entire day, and watching guys like Arawashi and Sadanoumi
kind of reminds me of that hunger displayed by rikishi trying to establish
themselves on the banzuke. I even found myself enjoying Tokitenku this basho
because in that dude you have someone who is on the brink of demotion from the
division, and so you can see his desire to win and continue to pull that
Makuuchi paycheck.
The upper Makuuchi division is largely being fueled by politics these days, and
we rarely see a bout that is actually enjoyable. As a result, the interest for
me right now starts early on in the broadcast and then starts to wane right
about the time the high profile rikishi start walking down the hana-michi. And I
don't see anything changing in the near future, so consider yourself warned for
Aki.