Sumo Tournament Day 4
Top 5 bouts of the day in the top division.
My regular guy didn’t post today.
These are some exciting matches!
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I'm hoping this basho will be the one for my favorite rikishi Takaysu... Hey, I can dream, can't I? I'd love to see him as ozeki again! His loss today was a bummer, but Shodai is no slouch.
If I'm betting, my money is on the Ozekis Takakeisho or Kotonowaka. I have my doubts about Terenofuji, he doesn't seem to have it this time around, though I haven't heard him complain about his knees lately, I think that's his problem. I think he may drop out if he loses much more, which would be a shame - we need at least one yokozuna to stick around for a while.
And the "Flying" Monkey, sigh, it looks to me like he might be putting on weight a little too quickly to achieve lift off these days. 
So far, I am enjoying this month's tourney! 
There is always a lot of rotation in and out of Makuuchi, and it is hard to keep up with the rookies sometimes. Every now and then a veteran rikishi moves back up from Juryo and it is like seeing an old friend after a long absence.
But I am also saddened to see some former great talents fade away. I was a big fan of Tochinoshin, and shed a tear along with him when his top knot was removed. He stayed longer than he probably should have, but it was still hard to see him go. Same with the Mongolian Behemoth, I was always so optimistic when Ichinojo entered the ring.
Lately I'm watching and rooting for both Abi and Mitakeumi to rise to yokozuna some day (if Mitakeumi can develop more consistency.) I like Tobizaru alright, but as I've long predicted, his wiry tricks have faded with his weight gain, and now he needs to rely more on the basics than he has had to during his fast rise. I like him, but he needs more experience before I can see him rise to Ozeki, which he surely will some day.
I am glad to see my boy Takayasu performing so well this tournament, his win today shows why I haven't lost faith in him. I hope this is his turn, he needs a tournament victory, it has been too long. And with another (sad) loss for Terunofuji today, I am cautiously optimistic he might pull it off.
But what's with these magical rookies? So much strong new talent this month - Onosato looks amazing! And Takerufuji too, both undefeated maegashira, and both with a good chance to gain a Kinboshi Gold Star win, especially given Terunofiji's condition. I wouldn't be surprised if one or both of them wins a Sansho special prize trophy.
I am not familiar with that SumoJason on YouTube, but I will look him up. I get my fix primarily from NHK World Japan: The preview show, the four live broadcasts, and the daily highlights. It's such a fun sport to watch, and to follow. The 1,000+ year history and tradition is so rich and interesting. And I confess that I just love it when they slap the shit out of eachother, especially at the tachiai!
That's funny! No, the crowd is usually very well behaved. The most "hooliganism" you may see is when, after a notably exciting match, the crowd throws their seat cushions into the ring, which is technically prohibited, and very rare. But I've never seen nor heard of any particularly bad or disruptive behavior at a Grand Sumo tournament.
And yes, I believe that they do serve alcohol along with food, but I think it is just beer and possibly wine and/or saki, but I am not certain about that.
I love the idea of a gang of drunken Sumo Hooligans! Hilarious, but not very likely.
I suppose you could argue that drumpf's visit a few years ago was a type of hooliganism, when he entered (defiled) the ring during the award ceremony and presented a special "President's Cup" trophy to the champion. That was a very sad day for me to witness.
