[sumo] Suspension

[Charles Beauchamp]

--- Pierre Wohlleben <Pierre.Wohlleben at gmx.net> wrote:

> Charles Beauchamp wrote:
> > As to the point you are presuming...I have the
> balance of all of sports 
> > history on the planet on my side.  The stars of
> any sport are more
> > important then the crazy old men that run it 100
> times out of 100.  It 
> > has always been this way (yes even in the sport
> you are presuming to 
> > know so much more about) and always will be.  And
> when those crazy old
> > men refuse to change..or uphold absurd tradition
> for the sake of 
> > tradition..the sport suffers.  
> 
> For one thing, "the sport suffers" and "when absurd
> traditions are upheld" is already a far cry from
> your prior assertion that sumo desperately needs
> Asashoryu because he is "bigger than them", which I
> interpreted to mean that sumo would be basically
> doomed without Asashoryu. 

Well I can see how you would get confused seeing as
how I never asserted what you claim above.  


Secondly, I'd be extremely
> curious for you to name some specific examples from
> other sports...I can think of cases where
> large-scale altercations (labour strikes in MLB and
> the NHL, wide-ranging doping scandals etc.) had
> long-term negative effects on a sport, but I'm quite
> hard-pressed to think of any cases where
> censure/dismissal/banning of a single guy/girl, or
> even a small handful, did it, no matter how popular.

The point I raised is self evident.  If you require
specific examples you either 1. are incapable of
grasping what was said in which case you have no real
business engaging in debate or 2. you are an apologist
taking common sense points and dragging them into the
extreme to turn an obvious truth into falsehood.  


> (The main problem would seem to be that truly
> popular athletes rarely get themselves into the
> middle of shitstorms like the ones that Asashoryu
> regularly attracts.) 
> 

ODL.  You apparently have no actual experience
following other sports.  Or you somehow never heard of
Mike Tyson, Kobe Bryant or Michael Vick for that
matter..all of whom got into far deeper trouble then
anything Asashoryu is accused of.  


> It hardly pertains to this specific issue
> anyway...Asashoryu's phase of dominance was one of
> pretty much stagnant sumo popularity and basho
> attendance (much like was the case for Taiho, before
> anyone wants to swing the "Japanese fans are all
> xenophobic" club again), with things only picking up
> a bit lately with increased competition, so I highly
> doubt that things would get worse if he were retired
> by force and things gave way to a dominant Hakuho
> phase instead (and at this point Hakuho's liked
> better in Japan than Asashoryu, to boot). At any
> rate, the Japanese fans appear to overwhelmingly
> support the Kyokai on its decision, so the chance of
> backlash on that front is minimal. And as much as
> some non-Japanese fans seem to think themselves and
> our little circle the navel of sumo fandom, what you
> and I may think of the whole situation (and really,
> of anything) will be entirely inconsequential to the
> continued survival of Ozumo.
> 

So in the end you are left with the arrogant "your
opinion doesn't count" response.  Given your non
points above I'll just chalk it up to your obvious
ignorance and lack of general sports knowledge.


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