[sumo] Videos at Barbara's, day 9,10,11 spoilers

[Barbara]

Sorry these were late.  But they are still worth looking at.

Day 9:

Homasho-Chiyotaikai. Wow, I think someone is giving this young fighter 
some good advice, and even more importantly, he is following that 
advice! Watching Chiyotaikai through his career, it is easy to see how 
predictable he is. The rikishi who can hold his own for 10 seconds or so 
against the rhythmic pounding will suddenly be presented with an 
opportunity to move forward, because C will give up and start trying a 
pull-down. That little smile on C's face means, "I guess you figured me 
out that time."

Day 10:

Ama-Kotooshu. So, how can a small man win against a tall man? Henka! Now 
it is true that Ama has foresworn henkas in the past. But against 
Kotooshu, it is ok because K uses henka against lower ranked men. But 
aside from that, just look at this henka in slow motion. It is the 
loveliest execution of a henka you could imagine.

Asashoryuu-Aminishiki. Hiro Morita noted the previous day, "Asashoryuu 
had better watch out..." referring to how Aminishiki can be extremely 
dangerous when he is on a roll, and here it is. A fair amount of 
discussion ensued in the mailing list, because the slow motion replays 
show Aminishiki's arm down before Asashoryuu touches down. The rationale 
of "shinitai" - the "dead body" - may have played a part. This 
poorly-defined criterion tries to justify giving a win to an attacker 
who touches down first inside the dohyo if the defender has already 
passed outside the dohyo but is still falling, especially in a case like 
this when the defender is falling backwards. There is a general feeling 
among some sumo fans that if you study such judgments enough you will 
figure out the exact way the rule is formed. There is also a faction 
which thinks most such calls are simply errors. A few try to explain 
such calls as evidence of corruption or bias. My feeling is that there 
is a rule being applied, but the judges themselves would have trouble 
stating it in a way which makes sense. Perhaps that is because it is a 
bad rule, and is arbitrarily applied. Either way, Asashoryuu has one 
loss, and the way seems clear for Hakuhou to get his promotion to 
yokozuna. As usual, the air fills with zabuton (seat cushions) in honor 
of the ginboshi ("gold star" win, a permanent distinguishment and pay 
boost given to any hiramaku [makuuchi rikishi with a numbered rank] 
rikishi who manages to defeat a yokozuna). Over the public address 
system you hear the announcer vainly asking that zabuton not be thrown. 
While walking down the hanamichi (the "flower path", the aisle to the 
dohyo) Asashoryuu angrily kicks one of the zabuton. Scary man. Later, 
words are spoken about his "un-yokozuna-like" behavior. As usual, he 
does not bow to the man who defeats him.

Day 11:

Ohtsukasa-Kasuganishiki. Poor Ohtsukasa has 10 losses in a row. With all 
our attention on those with the longest winning streaks, it is easy to 
forget those on the other side of the coin. Finally, in this match he 
wins one. But even here, the great event becomes background to a rarity 
- the injury of a gyoji. The gyoji was forced down the side of the dohyo 
and apparently hurt his ankle or foot. Watch as he calls on the next 
waiting gyoji to take over for him, then is assisted out by a yobidashi.


To see the videos, go to: 
http://www.technogirls.org/sumo/S07B3.htm#2007_B3_Day_9

Barbara Murasakihana