Off Topic Other Sport

Aw, come on BK, unseal them!

 

Iceland will surprise a few

 

Ok folks, time for a bit of sporting culture. Day 2 of the Kyushu Basho has just been completed in Japan. With a bit of luck I'll be able to find the daily highlights of the tournament. Maybe I'll be the only one interested, but just in case there's a another sporting desperado on the site, I'll post the daily updates. Just a quick pointer or two. Men at the top of the rankings tree are the Yokozuna. Next in descending order are the Ozeki, Sekiwake & Komusubi. At the moment there are only 4 Yokozuna. Harumafuji who won his last basho, and three who have been injured but hopefully will reappear here, Hakuho, Kisenosato and Kakuryu. Harumafuji is seeded top.

Day 2.

 

Day 3 of the Kyushu Basho got underway with the news that the yokozuna wrestler Harumafuji has been pulled from the tournament due to an alleged violence against a fellow wrestler a few months back. Another yokozuna ranked man Kakuryu has withdrawn due to injury. The two remaining yokozuna, Hakuho and Kisenosato both looked impressive.

Hakuho is a legend of the sport. On two occasions he won 86 of his 90 bouts for the year. Before Hakuho arrived on the scene from Mongolia, no sumo had recorded more than 8 championship tournaments without suffering a defeat, Hakuho has done it 13 times. No other Grand Champion has ever won more matches or championships.

Day 3. The two yokozuna are the last two bouts in the clip.

 

Germany and Brazil must be crapping themselves. Australia is Russia bound.

 

I certainly am!

 

No offence to you Aussies, but I do think the qualification system favours sides from areas of the world where football isn't that popular. Hardly seems fair that Italy and Sweden have to go head to head, when Australia and Honduras are in a play off elsewhere.

There should be more qualification places available to European sides, if you want a World Cup with all the best players in the world involved.

Let Australia and Honduras play off against European sides to earn their place, and we will see how they get on.

 

Yeah I suppose they could just stick a few South American teams into the UEFA European Championship and call it the World Cup.

 

Kyushu Basho Day 4. I'm rapidly becoming a fan of the Ozeki class wrestler Goeido, the "little" bloke is lightning fast. The wonderful champion Hakuho seems the complete package.

 

I am slowly getting to like Gareth Southgate; quiet, efficient, a coach who's willing to give the youngsters a chance and brave enough to drop so-called 'legends'. Don't think England are quite ready yet for Russia, as I said before, but the future does look a lot brighter. As for the Slovenia game, mentioned in this clip, just about all of the Balkan countries are a test for any footballing nation, nothing to be ashamed of there. In passing, this Gomez guy from Liverpool is a real find, for sure:

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/42005863

 

Nearly forgot, but great scenes throughout Peru, the nation's football squad became the 32nd and last team to qualify for Russia next year, by beating New Zealand 2-0. But thank goodness Peru did not have to play NZ at Rugby Union! (Initial error corrected, with thanks to OddDog for pointing-out the silly mistake I made!).

Sorry, got really tangled-up typing this bit extra. My keyboard work gets worse every day. ​

 

Have only just started watching the Sumo clips, Cyc, been a bit busy as bloody 'fridge broke down. (Good job it's Winter, got sealed stuff outside, plenty cold enough. Got to wait a week for new one). Don't know who I like best yet in the Kyushu Basho tournament, but I did enjoy the terms "Frontal crush out" and "Frontal force out". Bloody hell, "Frontal crush out", not for me thanks!

In the first bout on one of those clips, that was a great slap on the back by that wrestler to put his opponent flat on his noggin!

 

No worries Swanny, it's a 15 day comp. Betting for the basho has the the legend Hakuho at $1:35 to win whole thing. Goeido is second favourite at $7:00. Both of them look amazing. I suppose these two will eventually meet. If the lower ranked Goeido can beat Hakuho, then the $7:00 looks fantastic.

 

Oh, Scheisse, it's not the keyboard that's ****ed-up, it's the old heed, what a daft error (and Geography was my best subject at school ). Many thanks, however, and will correct this extraordinary piece of misinformation by the unpaid and deepcover MI6, 7, 8, and 9, agent in the south.

How're you getting on in Wichita, steaks good?

 

Day 5. Sensational start to the clip with the "old man" of the sport Amimishiki, showing what decades of experience is all about.

 

I have just read this. The round-ball football world really has gone absolutely round-the-bend IMHO! The bubble will surely burst one of these days?

"Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is determined to sign Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain and will offer Toni Kroos and Gareth Bale as part of a swap deal, Don Balon reports.
The report states that any deal to land the Brazilian will exceed €400 million, and the Los Blancos supremo feels he can replace Kroos and Bale with relative ease as he looks to minimise costs.
At present, PSG are in no mood to sell, but Madrid will not give up their pursuit of Neymar and are hopeful they can bring him to the Santiago Bernabeu within the next two seasons."

The German fan often wonders how the hell Real Madrid do it, because, in a strict business sense and quite unlike Bayern Munich for example, they are virtually broke! QMII I hope will explain the economics of this apparent phenomenon? I thank him in advance.