[sumo] Second test positive!

[Mike Charlton]

On Sat, Sep 6, 2008 at 3:54 PM, Jezz <jejima at gmail.com> wrote:
> Would any other list member care to speculate on how this news will
> effect the sumo world?

Well, I think the big news here is that the second test was
conducted by an agency that is licensed by the world anti-doping
agency.  I believe there is still talk of doing more tests, but
probably there's no way to escape the conclusion.

However, I do not believe that either rikishi will be kicked
out of sumo.  Smoking marijuana is not illegal in Japan.
Being in possession is (I know, how to you smoke without
possession.. but I guess you might be at a party and
smoke a cigarette or something).  So unless the police
find pot in their possession it won't be the same issue
that Wakanoho ran into.

Having said that, it's pretty darn likely that the two
rikishi lied.  I think that's going to lead to a 2 basho
suspension with 0-15 records (maybe 3), which could
put Hakurozan out of Juuryou.

Apparently the police are going to test Roho's DNA
against (I'm guessing) some cigarette stubs that
were found in Wakanoho's appartment (or at least
that's what Japan Today said).  So I'm guessing that
they are trying to build a case against him.  But
I just don't see how it will work...

Either way (and this is callous), I'm not terribly
disappointed if we don't see them any more.  I've
never really liked either of their sumo and Roho
has been fairly unpleasant at times...

            MikeC