[sumo] asashoryu and soccer

[Pardoe, Richard (RPardoe)]

> If Asa were Japanese, would the punishment have been so harsh?
Probably not.

And I would disagree with you.  As was noted in the Sumo Forum, a very
similar thing happened to a Japanese Baseball player (Daisuke Matsuzaka)
when he was caught driving on a suspended license:

Hananotaka posted
(http://www.sumoforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=12990&view=findpost
&p=121764):
**********
When it came out that he'd driven with his license suspended, the
reaction was swift and immediate. The courts let him off with a 195,000
yen fine (roughly $1,800) for driving without a license and parking
illegally. A hefty fine, but then Matsuzaka was making plenty of money,
and it didn't really hurt him. But then the baseball team stepped in.
They confined him to his house for the remainder of the baseball season
(about a month). He had to cancel his trip to the U.S. to see the World
Series, and did not participate in that year's all-star series between
Japanese baseball and Major League Baseball, despite his appearance
being much anticipated. His endorsement contracts were cancelled,
costing him millions of dollars. The president of the team, the manager,
and other executives publicly apologized at a press conference, with the
obligatory deep bow for the cameras.
**********

Seems to be of similar harshness to me.  This is not an issue of "let's
get the foreign Yokozuna".  In my mind this is an issue of an employee
"calling in sick" to get out of some work but then being caught
red-handed being all but sick embarassing his superiors.  I know I would
be reprimanded at my work if I did that, and I think it is fair that
Asashoryu get reprimanded for showing the flouting similar rules.

- Rich Pardoe