11/05/24
June 19, 2005
Takanohana vs. Wakanohana: This Time It's Personal: Legendary sumo yokozuna Takanohana and Wakanohana are feuding publicly over who got to be "chief mourner" at the recent funeral of their father, yokozuna Futagoyama. "They have quarrelled over his corpse, at his funeral and in interviews," according to another report. For those unfamiliar with the strange, timeless. fascinating sport of sumo, this is like Peyton Manning cold-cocking Eli at a memorial to pry Archie Manning's Pro Bowl rings from his cold dead fingers. The brothers fought each other only once, a 1995 playoff in which Wakanohana beat the shitatenage out of him.
Maybe their diapers are too tight?
posted by volfire at 07:57 AM on June 20, 2005
Yeah, this may not look like much to Americans, who are after all regularly treated to public feuds like Kobe/Shaq and Russell Crowe/Rest of World, but this is pretty unusual in sumo. But then, the two of them seemed more tabloid-prone than the average sumotori. And in any case, these two pale in contrast to my man Chiyonofuji . And I would pay good money to see Eli and Peyton get into a slapfest over Archie's body. Couldn't happen to a nicer family.
posted by deadcowdan at 08:20 AM on June 20, 2005
I wish we got more sumo coverage here in the States. The half-hour recaps on ESPN2 at 2:30 in the morning aren't enough to get into the whole soap-opera day-to-day stories that make these guys worthy of our empathy. From watching those recaps, I've at least heard of Takanohana, but he has a brother who's also a yokozuna? And their dad, too? Far as I can tell, this ain't the Mannings (from whom I've had less and less respect over the last few years anyways). This is like Barry Bonds having an equally accomplished twin brother, who he hates. This is huge, and not just in waistline terms.
posted by chicobangs at 08:48 AM on June 20, 2005
Takanohana got all the press, by virtue of being a talented Japanese yokozuna when the fans -- who can be notoriously xenophobic -- got tired of the success of U.S. sumo like Akebono and Musashimaru. Wakanohana was promoted after his brother. Fans call them Taka-Waka. There used to be a show on some PBS stations, Today's Japan, that ran basho highlights each night. I'd kill to watch these matches, but I can't find a way to view them in the U.S.
posted by rcade at 10:40 AM on June 20, 2005
Today's Japan, that ran basho highlights each night. I'd kill to watch these matches There is nothing like watching this stuff live (the highlights just don't give you the sense of tension and drama generated by the pre-bout ceremony, which gets longer and longer as the rank of the sumotori gets higher and higher).
posted by deadcowdan at 01:54 PM on June 20, 2005
I wish we got more sumo coverage here in the States. Me too.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 07:27 PM on June 20, 2005
Ah, brotherly love.