Sumo’s Never Been So… Infuriating

I gotta say it:

URA WAS ROBBED.

The May 2023 Grand Sumo tournament just ended, and on the fourteenth day, Ura was this > < far away from getting his more-wins-than-losses (kachi-koshi). He faced off against Kotonowaka with a pretty good tachi-ai, that part where they bullrush each other it practically rattles the TV.

Ura was flying-kneeling backwards out of the dohyō (you’d have to see it to believe it) while pulling Kotonowaka down on his belly. The belly smashed the clay first, while Ura was still in the air. There was a discussion amongst the judges, a mono-ii, and the judge literally said he was in the air. But something about “unrecoverable” position and my blood started to boil when they gave the win to Kotonowaka. It’s not that I don’t like Kotonowaka, but… any other time when the rikishi is in the air over the rice bails and his opponent touches first, it’s awarded to the one who hasn’t quite touched.

Ura lost the bout on the fifteenth day and ended up 7-8.

I’m still grumbling.

I had a very different post written, but at the last minute I changed my mind. Why? Because I was getting really furious the more I wrote. I’ll add this as the remnant, though–in the US, we should be remembering the soldiers and sailors who fell to create and preserve this fantastic country we live in every day of the year, not just on a handful of token holidays. They (with a notable, horrendous exception) freely enlisted and gave their life, proving their honorable CHARACTER, something sadly lacking in our country today.

For the fallen, for the soldiers, for my shipmates: Thank You.

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