|
| Attention to Akeni
|
|
Carolyn Todd
SFM's newest addition to the writing staff takes an
in-depth look at akeni, their history and production techniques
|
|
| Rikishi of Old
|
|
Joe Kuroda
Joe Kuroda slides former yokozuna Minanogawa under his SFM microscope |
|
| Eric Evaluates
|
|
Eric Blair
Eric's wit scythes through the SML and makes clear his opinion of where the future lies for online sumo forums. |
|
Eternal Banzuke Phase II
|
|
Lon Howard
Stats, equations and mathematics all lead to a list of sumo's most prolific up and downers
|
|
|
|
|
Heya Peek
|
|
Mark Buckton
Mihogaseki, former home of Estonian sekitori Baruto is toured (and peeked at) by SFM's Editor-in-Chief
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nagoya Basho Summary
|
|
Lon Howard
Lon gives us his Nagoya basho summary, along with the henka sightings results
|
|
|
Lower Division Rikishi
|
|
Mikko Mattila
Mikko Mattila casts his watchful eye over lower division goings on in makushita and below.
|
|
|
Aki Ones to Watch
|
|
Carolyn Todd
Carolyn takes over the job of rikishi job performance prediction for SFM as she looks at those to keep an eye on come September |
|
|
Kimarite Focus
|
|
Mikko Mattila
Our man Mikko's latest trio of kimarite get thrown about the SFM literary dohyo |
|
|
Amateur Angles
|
|
Howard Gilbert
Howard returns with the second of his columns on the amateur sumo scene.
|
|
|
Sumo Game
|
|
| SFM's very own quiz comes in for a bit of self scrutiny by our secretive man of questions. We'll call him 'X'. |
|
|
Sumo in Print
|
|
Barbara Ann Klein
SFM’s Editor reviews “The Little Yokozuna”, a book for “young” (and older) adults
|
|
| Kokugi Connections
|
|
Todd Lambert
Check out Todd's bimonthly focus on 3 of the WWW's best sumo sites
|
|
Fan Debate
|
|
Facilitator - Lon Howard
Keri Sibley and Eduardo de Paz ponder the concept of ‘to pay or not to pay’ makushita salaries
|
|
SFM Cartoons
| |
Stephen Thompson
Sit back and enjoy the offerings of one of sumo's premier artists |
|
Lets Hear From You
|
|
| What was it that made you a sumo fan? SFM’s own Todd Lambert details his path into sumofandom
|
|
|
|
| Sumo Quiz |
The Quizmaster
Answer the Qs and win yourself next basho’s banzuke. |
|
|
|
 |
|
Tamanoshima
and Tamakasuga were awarded the kantosho (fighting spirit prize) and
ginosho (technique prize), respectively – lots of extra loot floating
around Kataonami-beya right about now. The shukunsho (outstanding
performance) was not awarded this time.
The other two major moves up the banzuke will come as a result of the
10-5 performances by M8 Tokitenku and M12 Tochinonada. When
Tokitenku decides to go on full- offensive, the resulting wins can
really get your juices flowing, but alas, he doesn’t stay committed to
it as he can’t resist contriving to use every ‘gake and ‘hiki move in
the books. As long as that doesn’t change, he may make a cameo
komusubi appearance before his career is over, but that’ll be about
it. In Tochinonada’s case, seeing him get pushed around by the
bottom of the banzuke in the last six months was really painful, and
perhaps I was premature to write him off because of it. BUT…all
you can really say about this performance is that he can still do some
pushing of his own to that same group of bottom-feeders. If
there’s no follow-up in September, I fear that at his age, he won’t
leave their number.
M10 Iwakiyama did finally stop the bleeding with his 9-6 outing, but
it’s mystifying to see one with his size and ability struggle against
so many lower-rankers. With this kind of performance at his
current
|
|
|
|
level, he’s going nowhere, fast.
Iwakiyama
A surprising point of light in Nagoya was found in M11 Toyonoshima, who
has carved a nice little niche for himself in makuuchi, considering
that his sumo career began by being denied entry because of his
small-ish height. He’s becoming somewhat of a polished morozashi
man, and the 9-6 he crafted here may boost him to his highest rank
ever. A little applause here, please!
The remaining 8-7 marks were posted
|
|
|
|
by
M6 Dejima, M7 Aminishiki, M13 Jumonji and M15 Tochinohana.
Tochinohana was especially disappointing, first, because he was near
the bottom of the banzuke, and secondly, because he was 3-7 over the
last ten days after beginning with five wins. Thus, he’ll still
be fighting for his makuuchi life in Aki. Jumonji has been in
that struggle for the last two basho, and now will have a smidgen more
breathing room, but another 4-11 disaster like he had in March would
probably sink him anyway, so he’s still on something of a bubble.
The biggest tears to fall on the Aki banzuke will come from M1
Kotoshogiku, who has patiently wended his way up to the verge of
Kotoshogiku
Next
|
|
