Remember the trailer for Revolutionary Road, the Leo Dicaprio - Kate Winslet movie about a disaffected suburban couple or something like that? It always made me want to kill myself and I could never bring myself to see the movie, despite my admiration for Leo and Kate and director Sam Mendes.
Well, Mendes appears to have pulled a 180 with his next movie, Away We Go.
Although I think this may be just movie trailer magic and may be entirely due to the use of a great Alexi Murdoch song (vs. that mournful Nina Simone song in the Rev Rd trailer), this actually makes me want to see the movie even though it stars ex-SNL cringe-inducer Maya Rudolph. (At least it balances her with Jim Gaffigan, who, if you didn't see it, had a great comedy special on Comedy Central this week. I'm sure it's replaying a zillion times. Check it out.)
Always great to hear new rap music that I actually like. Here is a song by The Saturday Knights. With added bonus of a great video homage to Sesame Street:
The tournament was won on Saturday, but today Hakuho completed the perfect 15-0 tournament. Here's how everyone did:
Hakuho -- He wasn't in danger of losing even once the entire tournament, including today's bout with Asashoryu, and won his 10th championship (and 3rd at 15-0). Having just turned 24 years old, he's the 3rd youngest wrestler to 10 wins. (Takanohana beat him by almost a year, but he beat Asashoryu by 3 months.) Will he hang on long enough to match those guys in total wins? He seems very healthy, so it probably only depends on Asashoryu's ability to take some tournaments from him in the next couple years (because there doesn't seem to be a lot of other competition out there.)
Asashoryu -- That first loss seems to have completely brought him down, or else he just got tired and worn out, because he ended up losing 4 of his last 6 to finish at 11-4, in second place but way behind Hakuho. At least his latest injury seems to be behind him now and maybe he can put in some good practice and be strong for Tokyo in May.
Koto'oshu and Harumafuji -- Both finished 10-5, had a couple good wins a couple bad losses. Nothing special. Need to turn it up a notch to compete with the Yokozunas.
Kotomitsuki -- He eked out an 8-7 tournament, just enough to stave off demotion. Very mediocre. Makes you wonder how long he can hang around as a below-average Ozeki. (Based on Kaio and Chiyotaikai, probably a long, long time.)
Kaio -- Speaking of below-average Ozekis, Kaio started strong but faded fast, losing 6 of his last 8 to finish 8-7. Not a surprise, considering he's 36 years old. I've given up on calling for his retirement -- it looks like he's trying to hang on long enough to get the record for most tournaments ever (which I think he's scheduled to get if he survives all six tournaments this year.)
Chiyotaikai -- He just plain embarrassed himself this tournament. He finished 2-13, breaking the all-time record for worst tournament by an Ozeki. He's got no records to go for, except maybe most pathetic Ozeki ever, so maybe it's time for him to call it quits? Please?
Baruto -- He had a very poor tournament, but he did finish strong, taking 5 of his last 6, to eke out a winning 8-7 tournament. He'll stay at Sekiwake for another tournament, but will need to do a lot better if he wants a promotion to Ozeki some day.
Kisenosato -- Started poorly at 5-6 then finished that off with 4 losses in a row to go 5-10. That means a demotion all the way out of the 'sanyaku' top ranks.
Goeido -- Goeido will be taking Kisenosato's spot at Sekiwake, because he went 9-6 from the Komusubi spot just below Kisenosato.
Kakuryu -- The young Mongolian, another small wrestler (304 pounds) with speed and skill, went 10-5 at the top of the Maegashira ranks, winning his final 8 matches. He won his second Technique Prize. He'll be taking Goeido's spot at Komusubi next tournament.
Tochiozan -- Another young (just turned 22), small Mongolian with skill, Tochiozan faded at the end but won today to go 8-7 and held his own all tournament against the top-ranking wrestlers, so he'll move up near the sanyaku ranks in May.
Homasho -- He continued his march back up to toward the top of the rankings with his second straight 11-win tournament. He also won his second straight Fighting Spirit Prize (3rd of his career), and will move up a lot next tournament. He should be near the top of the Maegashira ranks in May, and will have to face the Ozekis and Yokozunas.
Takamisakari -- The super-popular wrestler found his level of competition, going 6-9 at Maegashira #7. In May, he'll drop down and face poorer competition he'll have a better chance against.
Futeno -- My favorite had two chances to win an eighth, but lost them both and ended up 7-8, so he'll be dropping lower himself.
Aran -- The young Russian suffered the first losing tournament of his career in January, but he followed it up this time with a 10-5 record in his third tournament in the majors. He's strong, but he needs a lot more skill to compete with the top wrestlers.
Shotenro -- The rookie won six in a row to get to 7 wins, but then lost his last three in an attempt to get a winning record. His 7-8 record will drop him down, but should be good enough to keep him in the majors for another tournament.
Yamamotoyama -- In his second tournament in the majors, the man-mountain just barely got a second winning record, at 8-7. He's making a very slow march up the rankings in the majors, which is fitting, because at 550 pounds, the guy is not fast.
Toyohibiki -- The former-major leaguer won the championship in the minors (his second) with a 12-3 record and will be back in the majors in May.
Kunitachi -- I went 10-5 in my first tournament in the Sumo pool, correctly picking 98 winners in 15 days (65.3%). Hopefully, I'll move up a bunch from my opening ranking at Makushita (2nd minors) #64. My goal is to make the majors in the Sumo pool by 2011.
The Summer Sumo Tournament starts May 10 in Tokyo...
I hope Scott stays alive in the competition for a long, long time, because the best part of American Idol for me each week is seeing what they will do with him in the ridiculous Ford commercial music videos.
Last week (or maybe the week before), we got to see Scott throwing water balloons at a car. I'm sure his aim was great. Oh wait, he's blind!
Tonight, the American Idols were putting together a puzzle and Scott joined in to help them out. I'm sure he's really good at puzzles with uniformly-shaped rectangular pieces. Oh wait, he's blind!
What's it going to be next week? Maybe a baseball-themed video for opening day? Or maybe the American Idols doing surgery? I can't wait.
Stay alive, Scott, no matter what occurs!
Day 12 of the Sumo tournament was one of the craziest in a long time.
The day's matches included:
Miyabiyama beating Chiyotaikai but nearly being disqualified for pulling his opponent's hair (the judges considered, but decided the offense didn't merit a penalty).
Yoshikaze beating the giant Yamamoto, but in the process grabbing the butt-floss portion of Yamamotoyama's mawashi and exposing the world to Yamamotoyama's 550-pound ass in all its glory. Luckily, the knot held and the mawashi stayed on. (Sorry, couldn't find it on YouTube.)
Baruto beating little Tochiozan by picking him up and carrying him clear across the ring. I've seen him win that way at the edge, but this one looked more like a game on the World's Strongest Man competition. (Note: "Little" Tochiozan weighs 330 pounds.) Check it out:
And finally, Asashoryu losing to Kotomitsuki and basically falling out of the race. Hakuho now leads by 2 after beating Harumafuji, with only 3 days to go. That means he'll have to lose to either Koto'oshu or Kaio in the next 2 days, then Asashoryu will have to beat him on day 15. Not too likely.
And in the Sumo pool, Kunitachi (me) got his kachikoshi, now at 8-4 after 3 wins in a row.
Matches of the day tomorrow: Hakuho vs. Koto'oshu and Asashoryu vs. Kaio
12-0: Hakuho
10-2: Asashoryu
9-3: Homasho
8-4: Kunitachi, Koto'oshu, Kaio
7-5: Harumafuji, Kotomitsuki, Goeido
6-6: Futeno, Yamamotoyama
5-7: Baruto, Kisenosato, Takamisakari
2-10: Chiyotaikai
11-0: Hakuho
10-1: Asashoryu
8-3: Kaio, Homasho, Chiyohakuho
7-4: Kotooshu, Harumafuji, Tochiozan
6-5: Kotomitsuki, Goeido, Shotenro, Yamamotoyama
5-6: Kisenosato
4-7: Baruto, Takamisakari
2-9: Chiyotaikai
Asashoryu blinked first, losing on day 10 to Harumafuji. Harumafuji got a grip on his belt with a super-fast move at the faceoff, spun Asashoryu back toward the edge and pushed him out, all in about 1.5 seconds. Meanwhile, Hakuho had a tough one on day 10 vs. Kotomitsuki but won it and followed that up with an easy win today over Kisenosato to stay undefeated. Of course, as long as Asashoryu can stay within 1 of Hakuho, he can tie him up with a win on the Sunday to force a playoff.
Everyone else is out of the tournament, at least 3 back with only 4 days to go.
Surprisingly, the closest competitor is Kaio, who has had a few good matches but still has to face both Yokozunas, so expect a pretty average final win total. Homasho is continuing his march back up to the top of the ranks, matching last tournament by getting his kachikoshi (winning record of at least 8 wins) on day 11. Also hot is Chiyohakuho, still in his first year in the majors, riding a 5-match win streak to an 8-3 record.
Koto'oshu has been mediocre, as always. Harumafuji has gotten two strong wins today and yesterday over Asashoryu and Kotomitsuki, but still has a poor 7-4 record. And Kotomitsuki is 6-5 and needs to go 2-2 in his last 4 days to keep his rank of Ozeki.
Youngster Yamamotoyama has been in freefall, losing 5 of 7 after winning his first 4, and looking like it might be a struggle just to get a winning 8-7 record.
Also struggling: Baruto, at 4-7, and 1 loss away from falling from his Sekiwake rank. Might be an injury, since he doesn't seem to have any of the power he usually has, and has pretty much look confused and inept this whole tournament.
Match of the day tomorrow: Hakuho vs. Harumafuji
6-0: Asashoryu, Hakuho
5-1: Kaio, Asasekiryu, Yamamotoyama
4-2: Koto'oshu, Harumafuji, Kotomitsuki, Kokkai
3-3: Baruto, Kisenosato, Goeido, Tochiozan, Takamisakari, Futeno
1-5: Chiyotaikai, Shotenro
It only took 5 days for the two Yokozunas to take sole possession of the tournament lead and they both won easily again today. It's been 6 straight easy wins for both wrestlers and continues to look like they're heading for a 14-0 vs. 14-0 match on the last day for the Cup. Do you think there's an intimdiation factor helping Asashoryu? He has now won 30 matches in a row when facing someone for the first time. (He made it 30 with his win over Tochiozan yesterday.)
They may get a little bit of a challenge from the Ozekis, who are coming back into form after slow starts. Kaio has actually won 5 in a row after his Day 1 loss, and Koto'oshu, Harumafuji and Kotomitsuki all have 4 wins. The only pathetic Ozeki showing this tournament has been Chiyotaikai, at 1-5 with zero power behind his slap attack.
I said 3 days ago that Baruto was looking sloppy and he followed up his sloppy wins with 2 more losses to drop to an even 3-3 record and basically out of the running for the championship. He hasn't looked terrible, just a little off, so maybe he can turn it around and finish strong.
550-pounder Yamamotoyama (left, in red) is using his size well this tournament, shoving wrestlers backwards with ease. His only loss was a long match in which he let Tosanoumi escape his march a couple times and finally probably got tired and got shoved out. He should continue to win pretty easily down at the bottom of the rankings, but he'll either lose 1 or 2 of those matches and finish with 11 or 12 wins, or he'll hang in the race for the tournament and be forced to face stronger competition and will lose those (and still finish with 11 or 12 wins).
Asasekiryu, one of my favorites because he's small and uses a lot of quick skill moves, is back into the from he had a year ago. He's looking good at 5-1, but I don't think he'll compete for the tournament, either. Another favorite, Tochiozan, was looking great, too, but has had to face the Yokozunas the last 2 days, so he's dropped to 3-3.
Rookie Shotenro is not having an easy time after 2 straight championships in the minors. He looks like he might not be physically 100%, and he's only got 1 win so far. The good news is, he's heading back to the minors if he keeps it up, and maybe he can win another tournament in May.
And I (Sumo name: Kunitachi) am now a respectable 4-2 in both my Sumo pools.
Match of the Day tomorrow: Hakuho (6-0) vs. Sekiwake Kisenosato (3-3)
Unfortunately, I don't own the Marcels' version.
Is Day 3 too early to call the tournament over for anyone other than Asashoryu and Hakuho? Maybe not.
After 3 days, the two Yokozunas are both 3-0 and looking unstoppable. Asashoryu has maybe looked a little bit stronger, after Hakuho had a tiny amount of trouble in today's match with Kakuryu, but both are looking very good. Asashoryu chalked up his 600th win on Monday, becoming the 4th fastest wrestler to that many wins. Today, he tied his hopes to those of the Japanese World Baseball Classic team. Three years ago, Japan won the WBC and Asashoryu won the Sumo tournament in a playoff over Hakuho, and he's hoping for the "double championship" again this year. (Japan plays Korea tonight for a berth in the WBC semifinals.)
Meanwhile, there isn't another 3-0 wrestler among the rest of the top ranks (Ozeki, Sekiwake, Komusubi). After I went so easy on them in the preview, the Ozekis have been typically mediocre again. All 5 Ozeki's had at least 1 loss by Day 2. Harumafuji, their best hope, lost on Day 1, though he has come back with 2 losses. Kaio and Koto'oshu are also 2-1, but Kotomitsuki and Chiyotaikai are both 1-2.
Baruto should be a contender, but he's been very sloppy so far. On day 2, he just barely won by hanging on at the edge just long enough for his opponent to go down first. The referee gave it to Kotoshogiku, but the judges reversed the call. Then, in today's match, he lost by Utchari when Goeido twisted him down at the last second when he was almost dead himself. An Utchari win is always worth watching, so here is the match with the always awful English commentary (match starts at 2:30):
There are 3 other wrestlers at 3-0, all low-rankers. They are Kokkai, the Georgian wrestler with the permanent 5-o'clock shadow, Yamamotoyama the Man-Mountain, and Kimurayama, who just got back to the majors after 1 tournament demoted to the minor leagues. I do think Kokkai has some skill and Yamamotoyama is gigantic enough to win some matches, but none of these guys is going to compete for 15 days.
Other wrestlers of interest: Tochiozan, promoted way up to #2, is actually thriving. He's 2-1 with wins over Koto'oshu and Chiyotaikai. Up-and-down Toyonoshima is looking up again at 2-1. Homasho keeps working his way back to the top, at 2-1. Takamisakari has looked good, also at 2-1. And rookie Shotenro has looked outclassed and is still looking for his first win in the big leagues.
Meanwhile, after a 2-0 start in both Sumo pools I entered, I faltered today and dropped to 2-1 in both. Still better than last tournament.
No, I don't mean college basketball. Sumo, baby!
The Osaka tournament starts this weekend. (Hard to believe it's a year since I went to Japan and saw the tournament live.)
Asashoryu won the tournament I saw last year in Osaka, and he won the last tournament in a playoff over Hakuho, and he's looking to win again. He certainly seems happy and excited and also has been practicing hard and looking pretty good in practice. He's back to being the higher-ranked East Yokozuna, but I think the experts would say that Hakuho is still the favorite.
Hakuho tied Asashoryu last tournament and won 3 of the last 4, and he still looks like the strongest wrestler out there. He's also been practicing hard and beating all the competition in practice.
All five Ozekis are back for this tournament and maybe 1 or 2 of them could compete with the Yokozunas. I expect Harumafuji, who had a pretty disappointing record in his first tournament as an Ozeki last time, will bounce back with a good record this time. And Kotomitsuki, who had a losing record last time, needs a good tournament (8 wins or more) to avoid demotion from Ozeki.
Baruto had a good tournament in January at Sekiwake, though not good enough to start any push for Ozeki promotion, but maybe this time he can sustain a challenge for the Cup until the end. He's joined this tournament at the Sekiwake rank by Great Japanese Hope Kisenosato (still only 22 years old). Kisenosato is a Sekiwake for the first time, but I don't expect him to be able to hold onto the ranking consistently. It took him 10 total tournaments at Komusubi before he finally got promoted to Sekiwake, which is tied for the most and not a great record to hold.
Kyokutenho got promoted back to Komusubi for the first time since May 2006. In that time, he had been demoted all the way down to the minor leagues before working his way back. Good for him, but he's getting old and he'll probably start the downward trend again with the next tournament.
Tochiozan is up all the way to Maegashira #2 from #12 last tournament, and Homasho is up to #7 from #16, but Takamisakari dropped down to #7 and Futeno fell from #5 to #9.
Last tournament's rookie, the giant Yamamotoyama, is still way down near the bottom, at #13, but will probably keep moving up.
And there is one rookie in the top division this tournament. Shotenro, another Mongolian, got his promotion after he won both of his tournaments in the minors. That's impressive, but even with a quick victorious trip through the highest minor division, it still took him 48 tournaments from his pro debut to finally making the majors (he was in the same entering class as Hakuho).
There is also one rookie in the Juryo division. His name is Okinoumi, changed this tournament from Fukuoka, which is his actual last name, and he jumped all the way up to halfway up the 2nd-highest division after going undefeated at the top of the 3rd-highest division last tournament.
And this tournament I am determined to do a much better job of picking winners in the Sumo pool. I think I finished something like 3-12 last tournament. Worse than Kaio at his worst. Unacceptable.
