[sumo] asashoryu and soccer

[Lenn M.]

Angie Brisse wrote:

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

I guess you've never heard of Maedayama, a Japanese-born Yokozuna who
was forced to retire after getting caught at a baseball game while 
supposedly too sick to participate in a hon-basho. Asashoryu actually 
got off lucky here in my opinion.

This is not the xenophobic issue some people are trying to make it out 
to be. The Kyokai excused Asashoryu from the Jungyo tour because they 
were told he was going to be seeking medical treatment for a serious 
injury. Only to see him, on national television no less, running around, 
gleefully playing soccer. And people wonder why they are so upset?

This was a very public embaressment and loss of face for the Kyokai, and 
in a country like Japan, loss of face is a huge deal. The Kyokai had to 
punish him, they were left with no choice.

Whether or not Asashoryu is too injured to participate in actual sumo 
bouts is irrelevant at this point. If he is healthy enough to run around 
kicking a soccer ball, then he is healthy enough to join a jungyo tour 
and at least perform the dohyo-iri. He is healthy enough to mingle with 
the fans and rub shoulders with the all important sponsors. This is what 
the Kyokai is upset about, not whether or not he is healthy enough to 
participate in actual bouts.

Asashoryu may be the greatest rikishi of his generation, and a real nice 
guy, but this was an amazing lapse in judgement on his part. He really 
should have known better.