Day 11 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
Apologies for the lack of comments so far this basho, but have we really missed anything? It seems that every time I tune into a broadcast the last few days, the first thing they show is the Terunofuji - Wakamotoharu bout from Day 8, and that's how my broadcast led off here in the States again for Day 11. I also saw the bout mentioned yesterday in the headlines, and it's such a non-issue at this point. It's like a goal being taken away from a team in soccer because a player was off sides. A player was off sides; therefore, the goal was nullified. Wakamotoharu's belt came untied at the back; therefore, the ref signaled to both parties to stop the action. The fact that Terunofuji let up and WMH didn't is meaningless, but I think the reason the media won't let go of that bout is because it was the most intriguing storyline they've had heading into Day 11 that wasn't negative.

The last time I commented on Day 7, I stated that the yusho would come down to Terunofuji or Kotonowaka, and now Kotonowaka has been eliminated from the tournament after testing positive for Covid. Hoshoryu's kicking his ass yesterday didn't help his cause in the yusho hunt, but that's just one less rikishi for the media to focus on.

Speaking of less rikishi to focus on, it was announced that all rikishi from the Sadogatake-beya and the Tamanoi-beya were going kyujo due to positive Corona tests. The result of that beyond losing Kotonowaka is that only 16 Makuuchi bouts were fought on the day: 8 in the first half and 8 in the second half.

With nothing going right the last little bit, you can see now why they've propped up the Ozeki the last four days. At the end of Week 1 (Day 7), Takakeisho was 4-3 and Shodai was 3-4. With Mitakeumi having withdrawn (luckily for him), the Ozeki were such non-factors, and it really stood out, and so the Association has obviously decided that it's in everyone's best interest to prop them up the last few days for two reasons: 1) Justify the guys being ranked at Ozeki, and 2) Using them to generate positive headlines in the media.

An Ozeki taking the comeback yusho is out of the question in my opinion. For Takakeisho to yusho, Terunofuji's still going to have to lose again, which would bring the yusho line down to three losses, and I'm pretty sure Takakeisho ain't gonna run the table from here, so a Takakeisho yusho would require the yusho line to fall to 11-4 and then the faux-zeki beating Terunofuji in a playoff.

It's just not in the cards, but if they can keep Takakeisho one off the pace, you'll at least have an Ozeki on the leaderboard the rest of the way to drum up positive headlines, and then Shodai's comeback kachi-koshi after that terrible start would be something else for them to riff on.

I suppose I'm focusing a bit here on headlines because when you look at the leaderboard, the dudes not named Terunofuji or Takakeisho are generating very little ink collectively:

8-2: Terunofuji, Ichinojo, Tobizaru, Nishikigi
7-3: Takakeisho, Kotonowaka, Midorifuji

From that list, you know that they're not going to let Tobizaru outshine Takakeisho, so he's a non-factor. Nishikigi is just that...Nishikigi. We've already mentioned why they need Takakeisho hanging around. Kotonowaka is done. They're not going to let a rookie take the yusho and thus show up the Ozeki, so Midorifuji will fade (not to mention he's from the Isegahama-beya who already owns Terunofuji). And so that leaves Ichinojo.

Technically, Ichinojo would be in prime position to yusho because he's already fought the jo'i rikishi, but he's been such a non-factor (on purpose) for such a long time, the fans aren't going to clamor to see him vy for the yusho.

Once again, the best the Association can salvage from this tournament is a 12-3 Terunofuji yusho with the jun-yusho coming from Takakeisho at 11-4. There's still a lot of work to be done to get Takakeisho to 11-4, but that's really the best case scenario without making this look purely like WWE.

With that, let's touch on all 16 bouts from the day starting with M15 Onosho vs. M16 Daiamami, and what a thriller this was. Daiamami kept his hands forward and low from the tachi-ai simply standing there as he waited for Onosho to skirt left and go for a very weak tsuki from the side. Didn't matter. Daiamami's fake fall was pre-meditated, and this one was over in a second. Hmm...after watching this start, I'm starting to feel bad about not commenting on these useless bouts the entire basho. Or not. Onosho moves to 6-5 while Daiamami falls to 2-9 and what a way not to give the fans their money's worth.

Two playuhs who find themselves lower in the division met today in M13 Chiyoshoma and M12 Takarafuji. Chiyoshoma came with a decent tsuppari attack that put Takarafuji into a defensive posture, but when Chiyoshoma considered a pull as he moved left, Takarafuji was able to turn the tables a bit finding Chiyoshoma with his back to the wall. Because Takarafuji was beaten at the tachi-ai, however, he had little momentum to build off of, and so as he moved forward to attack, Chiyoshoma assumed moro-zashi before easily wrenching Takarafuji back and across. Both dudes end the day 5-6 and should easily keep themselves in the division.

M12 Terutsuyoshi ducked under M17 Chiyomaru at the tachi-ai coming away with his arms wrapped around Chiyomaru's left stump, and the easily-pleased crowd oohed and aahed as Terutsuyoshi executed the entertaining ashi-tori win with Chiyomaru not really attempting anything to recover. Circus sumo draws the biggest applause of the day here with Terutsuyoshi moving to 5-6 while Chiyomaru suffers make-koshi at 3-8.

M14 Tsurugisho left his arms wide open at the tachi-ai gifting M11 Midorifuji moro-zashi, but the smaller Fuji didn't have the strength to execute the immediate force-out charge. Tsurugisho clamped his right arm over the top latching onto the back of Midorifuji's mawashi, but he was largely just standing there and not looking to use his size advantage to attack or counter. A stalemate ensued for about 15 seconds with Midorifuji's left frontal belt grip coming loose along with Tsurugisho's mawashi, but the larger Tsurugisho just stood there continuing to wait for his opponent's move. Midorifuji finally went for an inside right belt throw that Tsurugisho complied with fully by agreeing to be bowled over without countering with a left outer belt grip. This one was improbable, but Midorifuji continues to buy his wins in moving to 7-4 while Tsurugisho is a bit richer in falling to 5-6.

M16 Yutakayama picked up the freebie after M11 Kotoshoho's Rona Withdrawal moving Yutakayama to an easy peasy 5-6.

M10 Chiyotairyu caught M17 Nishikifuji with a blistering right hari-te from the tachi-ai, but then he just backed up and kept his hands high from there not going for a pull and certainly not looking to execute his freight train tsuppari charge. That resulted in an uncontested moro-zashi for the Rookie, and Chiyotairyu made no effort to counter and just went with the yori-kiri flow giving Nishikifuji an 8-3 record. As if. You look at Nishikifuji's stature, and to think that Chiyotairyu would not have tried to pummel him especially after that tachi-ai is pure nonsense. You also look at the pic here at left, and Nishikifuji is in prime position to suffer from a counter tsuki-otoshi...something Chiyotairyu could have easily executed. This was a perfect example of a rookie buying his kachi-koshi as Tairyu had plenty of room to sell in falling to 6-5.

M15 Ohho picked up the freebie due to the withdrawal of M9 Kotoeko. OhSlow moves to 7-4 in the process, and like Kotonowaka, this dude has the pedigree that will earn him attention in the media if he can afford to keep buying wins. His 7-4 is bloated for sure, but that hasn't stopped a lot of these guys from rising up the ranks. Too bad he doesn't come from a rich stable.

Darn the luck...one of our leaders, M8 Nishikigi, was "defeated" by M14 Myogiryu in a hotly contested bout. Or not. Nishikigi just floated his arms forward at the tachi-ai doing nothing, but it amazingly still befuddled Myogiryu a bit, and so Nishikigi brought his arms out wide just gifting Myogiryu moro-zashi. From that point, a brief stalemate ensued as Nishikigi just stood there waiting for Myogiryu's first move, and when the weak and tired pull came, Nishikigi flopped forward and down...and tragically a rung down the leaderboard at 8-3. As for Myogiryu, he arranged this one in moving to 7-4.

Before we move on, I'm sure Nishikigi will bring this same determination against Takakeisho tomorrow.

M8 Tochinoshin was quite passive at the tachi-ai allowing M10 Meisei to plow forward and flirt with moro-zashi, but Shin showed some resolve from that point getting the left arm inside and applying the yotsu pressure before both dudes moved to migi-yotsu where Tochinoshin had the staunch left outer grip, and despite Meisei's protests near the edge, Tochinoshin was able to nudge him across for the nice win after the bad start. Both rikishi end the day at 6-5.

M5 Sadanoumi and M9 Shimanoumi clashed well at the tachi-ai flirting with hidari-yotsu before coming away in migi-yotsu where Sadanoumi had the firm outer grip with the left. It took him a few seconds to retool that grip, but once he was comfortable, he dispatched Shimanoumi straight back and across with little argument. Sadanoumi moves to just 3-8 with the easy win while Shimanoumi is reeling at 1-10.

M7 Hokutofuji was a split second early at the tachi-ai against M4 Wakamotoharu, but because Hokutofuji tends to strike and back up a bit, he couldn't take advantage. As a result, it looked as if WMH was going to take the yotsu advantage, but Hokutofuji fought him off easily and sent Wakamotoharu into retreat mode where the youngster grabbed the back of Hokutofuji's belt with the left, but it was too over the top enabling Hokutofuji to score the emphatic force-out in the end. Hokutofuji one ups his foe at 6-5 to Wakamotoharu's 5-6, but hey, did you guys see that Wakamotoharu shoulda beat Terunofuji on Sunday??

The next bout illustrates exactly what's wrong with sumo. M7 Okinoumi stood straight up with knees locked at the tachi-ai agreeing to actually retreat a bit against M3 Ura, but Ura wasn't exactly plowing forward hisself (as we say in Utah), and so the two hooked back up in the center of the ring with Okinoumi keeping his arms wide and out of harm's way while Ura ducked under. The two stood this way a bit before Ura pulled lightly at Okinoumi's left arm, and Okinoumi just hit the dirt of his own volition. Fixed bout here obviously as Ura one ups Okinoumi (as if) at 5-6 to Umi's 4-7 record.

M3 Tamawashi took charge early against M1 Kiribayama with a nice tsuppari attack, but he relented near the edge allowing Kiribayama to flirt with moro-zashi. Tamawashi was able to shove Kiribayama away from the belt before going for a harmless pull and Kiribayama just flipped himself over and down in exaggerated fashion. There is no way there was enough force to generate that fall, but these guys are just putting on a show of hana-zumo both ending the day at 4-7.

M2 Ichinojo completely rebuffed Komusubi Abi's fire hose tsuppari at the tachi-ai, and with Abi up high and vulnerable, Ichinojo grabbed him by the right arm in a left kote-nage grip yanking Abi over to the edge...but not quite out. As Abi looked to recover and pirouette at the straw, Ichinojo was right there to shove Abi across and off the dohyo that final step. Ichinojo wields the beating stick here in moving to 9-2 while Abi falls to 5-6.

As mentioned previously, Ichinojo has already fought everyone above him, so they can only feed him scrubs the rest of the way. He draws Tobizaru tomorrow and don't be surprised if Ichinojo lets him win.

Sekiwake Daieisho picked up the freebie due to Kotonowaka's withdrawal, and Daieisho will take that 6-5 record.

Isn't it interesting how quickly Sekiwake Wakatakakage's star is fading? Today against M6 Aoiyama, the Happy Bulgar came with what looked like dual kachi-age before going into a committed slap down attempt, and Wakatakakage could do nothing here as Aoiyama (5-6) scored the hataki-komi win in seconds. Wakatakakage falls to 6-5 in defeat, and I'm sorry to say this guy has already peaked in the division with his sumo. I mean, if Asanoyama can become an Ozeki, Wakatakakage can with enough money behind him, but I'm enjoying WTK's sumo less and less each basho. Damn politics in sumo.

M5 Endoh easily bested Shodai at the tachi-ai getting the left arm inside while flirting with the right outer grip. All Shodai could do was back up and pull, and he was entirely vulnerable at this point with his back against the edge and momentum in reverse. Endoh's response, however, was to grab the right outer and then back all the way up across the entire length of the dohyo essentially pulling Shodai into his own body and gifting him the inside. With Endoh already backing up, he just stayed the course allowing Shodai to "force" him back and across for the comeback win. What a laugher this one was as they gift Shodai yet another win propelling him to 7-4. The problem is that everyone knows Shodai's a complete fraud, so it's meaningless. As for Endoh, he gets paid to fall to 2-9.

I didn't think it could get worse after the previous bout, but it got plenty worse with M6 Tobizaru paying Takakeisho a visit. From the tachi-ai, Takakeisho was looking pull and Tobizaru had him backpedaling and exposed early, but instead of executing an oshi charge that would have sent Takakeisho across, Tobizaru just backed up to the other side of the dohyo with no contact coming from Takakeisho. As the two resumed, Takakeisho went for another dumb pull and this time Tobizaru instinctively moved him back to the edge where the Flying Monkey had all the advantage, but he let Takakeisho off the hook yet again. Takakeisho was gassed and flustered at this point, and there was no way he was going to defeat Tobizaru and so the latter backed up again and then "stumbled" off balance as he looked to skirt right before falling back towards his opponent. Takakeisho was just quick enough to catch up before Tobizaru completely flopped to the dirt, but what a farce this was. It's a perfect example of how they are very careful in not letting the Ozeki be shown up, especially at the hands of a clown like Tobizaru. Both rikishi end the day at 8-3 and are unfortunately still on the leaderboard.

In the day's final affair, Yokozuna Terunofuji welcomed Komusubi Hoshoryu, and the Komusubi moved left at the tachi-ai grabbing the early outer grip, but you really don't want to be giving Terunofuji the inside. Terunofuji showed why by using a kachi-age to shove Hoshoryu over to the edge, but it was a reckless (and purposeful) move that created separation between the two. After properly social distancing, Hoshoryu was able to grab a right frontal belt grip that was also and outer, and he pushed Terunofuji dangerously to edge before stopping and swinging the Yokozuna around in the center of the ring. Hoshoryu could have easily felled the Yokozuna at this point, but these two were just engaged in exhibition sumo. With the dust settled and the crowding getting stiff at the prospect of another Terunofuji loss, the two hunkered down where Hoshoryu let the Yokozuna back into the bout with the deep left inside, and after pinning the Komusubi in close, Terunofuji forced his foe back where the Komusubi sloppily stepped outta the dohyo without trying to counter.

In a straight up bout from the start, Terunofuji wins this bout, but the two were just putting on another exhibition of flower sumo thus the unorthodox moves at times starting with that wild kachi-age from Terunofuji. The result is the Yokozuna's moving to 9-2 where he stays atop the leaderboard with Ichinojo. As for Hoshoryu, he falls to 6-5 but still leaves the elders in the Association thinking to themselves, "If we only had a Japanese rikishi who could fight like this kid..."

With the dust settled, the leaderboard shapes up as follows heading into Day 12:

9-2: Terunofuji, Ichinojo
8-3: Takakeisho, Tobizaru, Nishikigi, Nishikifuji

In a real world, Terunofuji and Ichinojo would be meeting each other in a playoff on Sunday, but we aren't following a straight up sport here.

Day 7 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
At the end of Day 7, Sumo's really got a hot mess on their hands with this basho. The yusho line is already going to be three losses or worse, and there is just nothing positive for the Association to market. The problem is this pretending that the Japanese rikishi are something they're not, and so there's nothing to anchor a yusho race, especially when the Terunofuji camp feels obligated to have the Yokozuna lose periodically to keep pace with the pathetic Japanese Ozeki.

I've yet to sit down and watch a complete day of Makuuchi bouts, but I did turn on the telly the last 20 minutes of Day 5 and was surprised to see how empty the arena was.



That graphic comes just prior to Terunofuji's bout, so the stands were at their fullest point of the day when I snapped the pic. Now, the seats filled up a bit more on Days 6 and 7, but even on Saturday there were multiple rows of masu-seki around the entire arena that had nobody sitting in them.

Sumo is dying on the vine, and it'd already be dead if it wasn't for their "agreement" with NHK to broadcast each basho. It'd be interesting to know how much NHK pays the Association each basho for broadcast rights, but I'm sure the number varies as to how much money sumo needs to survive.

Remember that NHK is a state-run media organization funded by a television tax on the general population and subsidized by the government as needed, and so you essentially have sumo being funded largely by taxation of the people. I realize that there is also revenue from ticket sales, but how can you support the entire Association that goes on the road three times a year for a month and then maintains permanent quarters in Tokyo from just ticket sales?

The NHK money will always be there, but the money on the fringes is dwindling. By that I mean the fan clubs that the larger stables have. I was a bit surprised when I first read about sumo stables having organized fan clubs, and as a novice to sumo I remember thinking, "What's the purpose of having a fan club made up of old people?" No other professional sport to my knowledge had such fan clubs made up of business men and prominent people, so I was perplexed for many years as to their purpose.

Now it's quite obvious. The fan clubs are there to raise money for the stable and support the rikishi, and in turn they get preferred access to the stable and the sweet seats beyond what the normal fans can access. I mean, the same people sit in the suna-kaburi each basho and have for years, and these people are the big donors to the stables.

You take someone like Shodai. His rise to the Ozeki rank was supported by memebers of the fan club, but as soon as his stable master was booted from sumo about a year and a half ago, Shodai immediately lost certain connections that the stable master had with these big donors. Shodai is still scraping by, but it's only a matter of time before the money runs dry to support him as an Ozeki.

Beyond just Shodai, the larger problem with sumo is that the general population just isn't interested. In my wandering around Japan the last week, every time I've struck up a conversation with people about sumo, nobody is interested. The first thing they say is that "they can't win," with "they" referring to the Japanese rikishi that are constantly hyped. I suppose it's like men's tennis in the United States. When the States stopped producing athletes who could win majors, the general population stopped watching tennis.

I mean, I'm still a fan and know the top men's players in the US, but I'm just one out of a hundred. And the same things is happening here. You wouldn't know the hon-basho was going on unless you searched for it.

Okay, enough of the man on the street talk. Let's briefly discuss the sumo through the first week.

At the start of Day 7, the leaderboard contained 12 rikishi as follows:

6-0: Ichinojo
5-1: Tobizaru
4-2: Terunofuji, Takakeisho, Kotonowaka, Nishikigi, Meisei, Midorifuji, Ichiyamamoto, Myogiryu, Yutakayama, Nishikifuji

12 dudes on the leaderboard is just a mess, and even the Juryo division is snickering behind the scenes, but the reason they have to go 12 deep this early is because you have to have prominent guys on the leaderboard with name recognition down the stretch.

From that list above, Ichinojo and Tobizaru are not going to take the yusho. Ichinojo's stable has always kept the Mongolith away from the spotlight (after his debut basho), and they're not going to let a clown like Tobizaru take the yusho.

So that brings us down to the two-loss group and with more than a week to go, there are going to be more losses among that group. Of the two-loss group, the only three rikishi where it would be acceptable to have them yusho are Terunofuji, Takakeisho, and Kotonowaka. The reason that Kotonowaka's on that list is because of his pedigree, but those are the only three from the entire group who can yusho.

Terunofuji obviously controls his own destiny, but Takakeisho and Kotonowaka don't, and so we're already on course again for another Terunofuji 12-3 yusho or the yusho line possibly falling to four losses. Hooboy.

As for story lines on Day 7, perhaps the biggest news was the withdrawal of Mitakeumi due to testing positive for the Rona. Coming into the day at 2-4, the intial question was how would he be handled in terms of the banzuke next basho? As a kadoban Ozeki, he will officially finish the tournament at 2-13, but they have traditionally not penalized rikishi who test positive more than a one-rank drop on the banzuke.

Mitakeumi is the first dude to test positive during a basho, but it sounds as if they are not going to drop him a rank despite his poor start. It's definitey the best thing that could have happened to Mitakeumi because now his camp will have extra bank to buy more wins come September.

Aside from that news, M1 Takanosho withdrew the morning of Day 7 after injuring himself the previous day by letting up for Kotonowaka. Takanosho had the good migi-yotsu position and the wide open path to a left outer grip, but he didn't take it and then let up his defenses at the edge resulting in a stiff throw down at the hands of Kotonowaka that resulted in Takanosho's withdrawal due to a right shoulder injury.

In bouts of interest, M2 Kotonowaka was useless at the tachi-ai against M3 Tamawashi, and The Mawashi proceeded to push Baby Waka back to the edge easy as you please, but then the M3 just stood there with Kotonowaka on the brink waiting for Waka to do something...anything. Kotonowaka finally mustered a weak tsuki with the right against Tamawashi's right eblbow, and Tamawashi just dove over and down into a heap giving Kotonowaka the cheap win.

This was a classic case of the Japanese rikishi getting his ass kicked start to finish yet still somehow coming away with the win. When asked about the content of his sumo afterwards, all Kotonowaka could honestly say was, "It wasn't good." He stays on the leaderboard at 5-2 after the obvious fake win.

M2 Ichinojo kept his hands forward and down doing nothing against Shodai except wait for the faux-zeki to make his first move, and when he finally did, it was a weak inashi to his left. Ichinojo played along stumbling forward to the edge where he squared back up with Shodai, but instead of looking to get into the clinch and grab the belt, Ichinojo just positioned his hands up high for a pull that would never come, and with Ichinojo standing there purely mukiryoku, Shodai (3-4) was able to push him across for the much-needed win. More importantly, Ichinojo takes his first step down the leaderboard of more steps to come.

Komusubi Abi henka'd awkwardly to his left against Takakeisho, and the latter was too hapless to adjust, and so Abi grabbed a cheap outer grip and just flung the hapless Takakeisho over and down hard with a nice belt throw. Abi's henka was really bad here and slow-developing, and a true Ozeki would have easily recovered, gotten the right arm inside, and won this bout. That didn't happen here for obvious reasons, so both rikishi now find themselves at 4-3, and it'll be nigh unto impossible for Takakeisho to yusho at this point. Once again, the money on the fringes that has supported this dude is drying up, and so the leaderboard is going to try and keep up with Takakeisho instead of the other way around.

In the final bout of the day, Yokozuna Terunofuji latched onto both of M3 Ura's arms from the outside at the tachi-ai, and as Ura looked to wriggle out of the hold and retreat, Terunofuji just stayed chest to chest forcing Ura (3-4) over to the edge before dumping him down kime-dashi style. At 5-2, Terunofuji has a 75% chance of taking the yusho while Kotonowaka fills in the other 25%.

I just don't see how anyone else is positioned to threaten for the yusho late in week 2 unless the yusho line dips to four losses. At the end of the day, here's where we stand:

6-1: Ichinojo
5-2: Terunofuji, Kotonowaka, Tobizaru, Nishikigi, Midorifuji, Ichiyamamoto, Nishikifuji

That's not exactly a whose who of leaderboards, and the one-loss rikishi will not stand. What really needs to happen this basho is Terunofuji needs to finish 7-1 at worst to provide some stability. And it's not necessarily that I'm rooting for Terunofuji; there's just nobody else there to fill the void.

As for my travels, I head back to the States on Monday. I may do a Day 8, but we'll just have to see what comes my way.