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2013
Aki Post-basho Report
The biggest story of the Aki basho
was by far the emergence of Endoh, and I know that statement may startle some of
the foreign fans a bit who solely rely on English media, but if you follow the
Japanese media at all, then you know that no one received more coverage this
basho than Endoh, and that includes the eventual yusho winner, Yokozuna Hakuho.
The reason why Endoh is so popular is because the kid has true game, and it
doesn't matter that his match against Tochiohzan wasn't close. Endoh is the
first Japanese rikishi the banzuke has seen since the three Japanese
Ozeki--Kaio, Chiyotaikai, and Tochiazuma--who has a chance to earn his way to
the top instead of fake his way to the top. Everyone in the know is aware of
this, and so Endoh will be incessantly hyped until he ultimately reaches the
Yokozuna rank.
The reason that Endoh is so important to sumo is because he is someone who can
finally bring legitimacy back to the sport. Every basho this year has followed a
disturbing pattern, which is this: we have yet to have a tournament in twenty
thirteen where the jun-yusho rikishi was just one loss off of the champion. In
fact, it's been so bad that the average distance between the yusho winner and
the jun-yusho rikishi this year has been 2.8 bouts. That might not seem like
much to the novice fan, but that is a huge number that sumo cannot allow to
become the norm, and so in the absence of a true yusho race, the Association has
strategically seen fit to give the appearance of a yusho race in order to
maintain excitement and interest in the basho for as long as possible.
And the Aki basho was no exception. By the end of day 9 this tournament, the
basho was over and everyone knew it. Hakuho had waltzed to a 9-0 start, and the
next closest rikishi was Ozeki Kisenosato at 7-1 entering the day, but when he
was defeated by tsuki-dashi at the hands of a rikishi who was just 2-6, it put
two bouts between Hakuho and the rest of the field meaning the yusho race had
just vanished like a fart in the wind, and it wasn't even Tuesday. Even the
darling rookie couldn't come back from a 6-3 start, and fans don't keep paying
attention just to see one of their own win a Sansho. I mean, if Japanese rikishi
earning Sansho really mattered, the Association wouldn't have instigated that
rule back when Asashoryu was kicking everyone's ass (with Hakuho waiting in the
wings) limiting each stable to just one foreign rikishi.
Anyway, the basho was over by day 9, so what happened on day 10? Hakuho
strategically dropped a bout to Goeido instantly breathing life back into the
basho. I know that statement makes a lot of foreign fans groan, but it's a
perfect example of just how much a Hakuho loss means to everyone else. That
Goeido was his day 10 opponent was largely inconsequential because the goal of
Hakuho's losing wasn't to inspire another Ozeki run for Goeido nor to propel him
or Kisenosato to the
yusho;
rather, it was to breath life back into a tournament that was already over. At
the start of the day 14 broadcast, they showed the leaderboard that consisted of
Hakuho and Kisenosato to the backdrop of the Emperor's Cup for a full minute
while Kariya Announcer and Takanohana broke down the various scenarios that
needed to play out in order for the yusho race to be extended one more day.
Everyone knew that wasn't going to happen, but it at least gave the Sumo
Association a chance to carry the "yusho race" into the final weekend. If Hakuho
doesn't drop that bout on day 10, the yusho is decided on day 12 or day 13, and
there is no audience for the weekend.
This has been the pattern this entire year, and the only basho where Hakuho
didn't purposefully need to bring himself back to the field was the Natsu basho
where Kisenosato started out 13-0 guaranteeing the yusho wouldn't be decided
until senshuraku. Having Hakuho lower the bar in this manner isn't an ideal
solution for the Sumo Association, but it's the best method they've got until a
Japanese rikishi can rise up and legitimately restore order to the sport, and
that's where Endoh's popularity comes in. The Sumo Association can see the
potential in this kid along with the Japanese media, and so Endoh is going to be
thee story every basho until the experts are proven wrong.
Okay, enough of the politics behind the scenes; let's get to the individual
rikishi who were worth talking about at the Aki basho starting with Yokozuna
Hakuho and this interesting graphic displayed at the start of the senshuraku
broadcast.
Since I'm too lazy to
recreate this visual in English, I'll just tell you what it says. The
title of the graphic says "Number of Yusho" and then it features the top
three yusho rikishi in the sport along with the age of the rikishi when
they won their tournaments (as denoted by that thin horizontal line of
numbers). Taiho is on top with 32 yusho; Chiyonofuji is next with 31;
and Hakuho crept a step closer at the Aki basho by picking up yusho #27.
The first thing that jumps out to me in this graphic is just how late in
his career Chiyonofuji began racking up the yusho, and Clancy and I are
both of the opinion that the Wolf started juicing around the age of 24
or 25. I won't bring Kane into this discussion because he doesn't know
the first thing about
using
steroids, but imagine a guy like Goeido or Myogiryu suddenly coming
out of nowhere to start dominating the sport in their mid-twenties. And
what's crazier is that 19 of Chiyonofuji's yusho came after the age of
30. How he accomplished this feat will never be questioned by anyone in
Japan, but I think it's safe to say that with the current drug testing
that goes on in sumo, we won't see anyone yusho more than three or four
times after they hit their 30th birthday.
That aside, what I really wanted to point out in this graphic is just
how close Hakuho's career has mirrored that of Taiho's career. I of
course didn't even know what sumo wrestling was when Taiho was an active
rikishi, and so I can't comment as to the strength of the banzuke or the
political situation back then, but going strictly off of this chart,
Hakuho is on pace to become the career yusho leader by the time he hangs
up his mawashi. I'm actually of the opinion that he should already be
the career yusho leader because since Asashoryu's retirement--and even
about a year before then, I can't recall a single basho where Hakuho
might not have won if he was fighting at full strength. Hakuho is scary
good, and I only wish we had a tougher banzuke because he simply isn't
challenged in sumo and hasn't been for nearly four years now. There's
really no point in my breaking down his sumo. He turned it on most days
and let up on other days, but even at about 75% of full strength, he's
simply unstoppable and makes a mockery of the yusho race.