[sumo] Asashoryu and Soccer

[JZ8D-SMMN at asahi-net.or.jp]

>
>Robert Brown wrote:
>> Maybe the Asa fans can take a breather while the
>> anti-Asa crowd ceases the bashing of the yokozuna. 
>> Barbara says he is arrogant and rude, but has she ever
>> met him?  Scott has and says he a very nice and polite
>> young man.

 to which technobarbara replied:
>Good behavior in private is not under discussion here as far as I'm 
>concerned.  Someone can be charming one minute and quite awful the next. 
>  He is rude in my eyes because of his more public behavior, such as not 
>rendering a bow to opponents, use of excessive force, use of 
>intimidation techniques against opponents in the guise of training, and 
>requiring dignities to be paid him without himself showing proper 
>respect for others or sumo practice in general.  It is at the point 
>where the Kyokai intervenes quickly to warn Hakuhou if he starts picking 
>up practices followed by Asashoryuu.  I think it has just come to a 
>breaking point - probably for one or two key Kyokai elders, which ones 
>we do not know yet, and this is his last chance to take his duties 
>seriously.

This is one of the most sensible contributions yet. We should be aware of 
the 'reflected glory' phenomenon, in which a brief personal acquaintance 
with a celebrity is assumed to provide 'insider' knowledge. It doesn't. 
It's just a pleasant memory, and we're all happy to read about it.

An acquaintance of mine, who knows Shoryu pretty well, both professionally 
and personally, was aghast at the news of him playing soccer in Mongolia 
when he was supposed to be too banged up to go on jungyo. 
"How could he do such a crazy thing??!!" he asked; "In Hawaii, he was so nice to my friends when I introduced them!"

Meanwhile I suppose I'd better start a third draft of my column, which is by now slightly overdue. 
Pity the writer with a one-month lead time, trying to guess what will still be relevant in Setember.   %-}


Doreen Simmons
jz8d-smmn at asahi-net.or.jp