| Nagoya Nears Eric Blair |
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| Rikishi of Old Joe Kuroda |
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| Heya Peek Barbara Ann Klein |
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| SFM Interview Mark Buckton |
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| Sumo 101 Barbara Ann Klein |
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| Photo Bonanza See the Natsu |
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| Natsu Basho Summary Lon Howard |
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| Lower Division Rikishi Mikko Mattila |
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| Nagoya Ones to Watch Mark Buckton |
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| Kimarite Focus Mikko Mattila |
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| Amateur Angles Howard Gilbert |
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| Sumo Game Bruce Rae |
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| Sumo in Print Barbara Ann Klein |
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| Kokugi Connections Todd Lambert |
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| Fan Debate Facilitator – Lon Howard |
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| SFM Cartoons Benny Loh & Stephen Thompson |
| Let’s Hear From You What was it that |
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| Readers’ Letters |
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Sumo Quiz
The Quizmaster
Answer the Qs and win yourself next basho’s banzuke.
(Note: at this writing, the Natsu Basho had just started)
To be thorough in this perspective, please note that many of the men who will have Mid-Years beyond 2002 are still competing, but in looking at their standings so far, only Kyokushuzan and Hokutoriki are within any reasonable hailing distance of the top 20. Kyokushuzan's return to form (both rikishi and elevator-wise)
in Haru boosted him one notch on the all-time elevator ladder - from 15th to 14th - while Hokutoriki's free-fall of 22 banzuke spots on the Natsu banzuke makes him a contender for an elevator hall of fame (whenever one is built). He does need five more banzuke appearances to actually be on the ladder, but his current Elevator Index of 7.68 would place him 4th all-time. The question is, though: with so many promising new rikishi coming up from below, can he keep making those quantum upward leaps every other basho, which are key to maintaining his lofty EI?
The top ten active elevator men are listed below (minimum of 15 basho for this particular list) and it shows that Asasekiryu is beginning to assert some prowess of his own, having crept up to third place in that group; and with an EI of 5.21, now is in
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MOQ (Move On Quotient) – Average number of banzuke spots moved per basho
AFQ (About Face Quotient) – Percentage of time rikishi changed direction on the banzuke
EI (Elevator Index) – MOQ x AFQ: Actual measure of rikishi's elevator factor
MID-YEAR – Year in which the mid-point of rikishi's qualifying string was reached
Just for some perspective, the careers of all retired rikishi who have ever appeared on a makuuchi banzuke – going back to the 1972 Haru Basho – have been examined. Ninety-eight of
Here's the down and dirty: For the 35-year span of listed Mid-Years to this point in the study, the top seven elevator rikishi show Mid-Years of 1982-1989, and the next seven men show Mid-Years of 1990-1997. Moreover, Tochiazuma I is the only top 20 retired rikishi who falls far from this time frame. So to this point in the study, in relative terms, there was no significant elevator activity on the banzuke either before or following these years.
So what was going on then that wasn't happening before and hasn't happened since? Were the joi-jin of that era tougher customers, so that those with elevator tendencies had little chance against them? Or were the lower divisions – including juryo – so much weaker (remember the Elevator Rules carry penalties for juryo appearances so the top 20 men weren't down there a lot)? Whatever the case, it can now be said that the makuuchi rikishi of the 1980s and 90s had an unrivaled tendency to make wild
