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RE: Wakano-defensive lineman?

Isn't thinking that Waka can just go in and start playing football as ridiculous as thinking an ex-pro football player can just come in after his football career and go into the makeuuchi division?  The people that are saying it takes years of practice and a development of insticts are absolutey right.  Just as with sumo.

How many people on this list have been angered by the talk that football players could come in and wipe the floor with sumo guys at their own game because of their physical strength and the fact that rikishi were fat and slow? 

you all are doing the same thing in reverse.

 

Jason

>From: "Joshua A. Reyer"
>To:
>Subject: RE: Wakano-defensive lineman?
>Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2001 03:13:31 +0900
>
>
> > I follow the NFL pretty closely, even in the off-season, and I
> > have yet to
> > have heard even the smallest hint about this. You say he is going to
> > "Arizona" but you don't mention the Cardinals organization. Many
> > NFL teams
> > had camps the last few weeks, it is hard to imagine making a team having
> > never played football and not having even attended a camp when it is
> > already June and preseason games start in two months. The Cards started
> > their rookie camp June 4.
>
>As far as I know, Arizona is simply where he's getting back to conditioning.
>Also, the information I have is probably a bit old.
>
> > Does he have an agent?
>
>I imagine so. He worked as sports analyst, and would have almost certainly
>needed to have an agency represent him in that once he left the Kyokai.
>
> Is he having contract talks? This sounds
> > more like
> > a rumor than a fact to me, where are people getting this information?
>
>It's fact. Nihon TV, the network he used to work for, is chronicling his
>attempt. That's where I got my info. They were supposed to go more in
>depth the next day, but I missed it.
>
> > I also highly doubt that a thirty-something injury-prone Wakanohana has
> > even a shadow of a chance to make an NFL team, get real!
>
>He's not exactly 30-something. He just turned thirty January of this year.
>He's no more injury prone than your average NFL'er. And he's in great
>physical shape. Don't forget that the reason he retired from sumo was
>because he was yokozuna, not because he couldn't cut it anymore. You can
>touch the ground with your knee a couple times and still be an effective
>lineman, but that would be a loss in sumo. You can retreat and keep pushing
>a guy away from your quarterback and you're being effective in football,
>although you would have probably stepped out of the dohyo and lost in sumo.
>I wouldn't say he doesn't have a shadow of a chance. He could possibly get
>a on a team in NFL Europe, he could end up getting signed as a second
>stringer on an NFL team.
>
>When I heard about it, I was incredulous, but when I saw him train, I began
>believing he had a chance. This isn't Wakanohana at the end of his career;
>this is Masaru Hanada like you've never seen him before. I remember
>watching him rehab after his makekoshi by doing leg lifts in a pool. It was
>very laid-back, and he looked bored, almost distracted. This time his
>massive Wakanohana legs were back and lifting some hundred pounds of weight,
>as his teeth clenched in determination. If he showed half the fire in his
>rehab for the Haru Basho as he does now, he would've come back no problem.
>The difference now is that he was tired of sumo, and now he's chasing his
>dream.
>
>Failure is of course a possibility. But I don't think he's thinking about
>that. Playing for the NFL was a dream for him, long before he entered sumo.
>He's making his last best attempt to realize that dream. I think that even
>if he fails it's worth doing. I can't help but root for him to do it.
>
>Josh Reyer
>
>
> > At 06:26 AM 6/11/01 +0900, you wrote:
> >
> > >I'm surprised this hasn't been discussed before, but Masaru
> > Hanada (former
> > >Yokozuna Wakanohana) is making a serious attempt to join the NFL. He's
> > >traveled to Arizona and is in the midst of some hard weight training and
> > >conditioning. Apparently, in a few months or so he's going to
> > try out at a
> > >camp there. Nihon TV showed some clips of him training the
> > other night, and
> > >man, I think he could do it. His face as he pushed himself in training,
> > >it's not like any way I've seen him before. And he looks like
> > he's back in
> > >fighting shape.
> > >
> > >In his book, Hanada talked about intending to try out for the NFL when he
> > >graduated high school, but he ended up joining Futagoyama-beya
> > to look out
> > >for his brother. In the final chapter, titled "Dreams", he talks about
> > >Michael Jordan trying baseball the first time he retired from basketball,
> > >and how he admired Jordan for that. I'm sure he was thinking about
> > >attempting to try out even then, before his danpatsu-shiki.
> > >
> > >What position would he play? The only one I can think of is defensive
> > >line-man, a pass rusher. He'd be perfect for it. Defensive
> > line-man have
> > >to quick and nimble to dodge around very large offensive linemen
> > and try to
> > >tackle the quarterback. His proficiency in lateral movement would be a
> > >great asset. If he was an offensive lineman, I imagine he'd
> > instinctually
> > >wrap his arm around his man, like a yotsu-grip, and he'd be called on
> > >holding. But defensive linemen can pick up someone blocking
> > them and toss
> > >them aside with no problem.
> > >
> > >Two things give me pause. One is conditioning. He looked in
> > great shape,
> > >but we're talking about being on the field for probably 30+ minutes per
> > >game, and for extended drives much longer than a long sumo match. It
> > >wouldn't be that much different from five or six torinaoshi's in
> > a row. And
> > >he has his injuries. Well, most football players have injuries from the
> > >time they graduate college, but it is a concern, I think. And finally, I
> > >wonder about his football instincts. Football players get the
> > basics set in
> > >high school, and then in college hone their skills like reading a defense
> > >and/or an offense. I wonder if he would be able to do that. On
> > the other
> > >hand, football is rigorously controlled from the sidelines, and
> > really doing
> > >things like reading the opposition's formation is for the
> > defensive captain
> > >and the quarterback on the field, so maybe this wouldn't be that
> > much of a
> > >problem.
> > >
> > >Anyone with experience with American football care to comment?
> > >
> > >---------
> > >Josh Reyer
> > >jreyer@grn.mmtr.or.jp
> >
> >
>

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