RE: Wakano-defensive lineman?

[Richard Webb <rlwebb@puc.edu>]

At 12:52 PM 6/11/2001 Monday, Jason Soter wrote:

>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.

As everyone probably recognizes from my posts the last time the topic of 
football-sumo crossover was discussed, I think that there is a strong 
chance of crossover.  You assert that we reject the notion of a retired NFL 
player coming to sumo after his career is over and suddenly being 
successful in Makuuchi.  Maybe I should point you to Takamiyama (Azumazeki 
Oyakata), Konishiki (KONISHIKI ;-), and Musashimaru.  Takamiyama started 
participating in sumo because his football coach thought the sumo training 
would help him develop the leg strength he needed for football (he was 
recovering from injuries).  Konishiki and Musashimaru both were high school 
football players before they came to Hawaii (I cannot attest for how good 
they were) and both dominated as they moved up through the ranks.  Why 
should we suspect that a retired NFL football player couldn't make it to 
Makuuchi in the minimum number of basho (I believe at the fastest rise it 
would still take a year, during which time the player could learn the 
intricacies of sumo).  [Aaron, Orlando Pace plays for the St. Louis Rams]

What is to stop it from going the other way?  Offensive linemen MUST learn 
instincts and how to work as a unit, something that is not a part of 
sumo.  Otherwise the skill set is virtually identical (although, as has 
been pointed out, much more stamina is required for football).  An 
offensive lineman must be adept at pushing and controlling an opponent with 
his hands while his footwork must be natural without requiring him to 
think.  A sumo wrestler would have to fight the urge to throw in a nage or 
get an advantageous grip when it presents itself, but otherwise he IS 
perfectly trained for the job.

I think someone like Musashimaru could transition almost instantly to the 
NFL because he knows football.  I don't know how much Wakanohana knows 
about football but if it has been a dream of his for 15 years he might know 
more than we think.  There's a chance he could make it.

I figured that the NFL would be having a preseason game in Japan again this 
year and that Wakanohana would be a natural for one of those two teams 
(remember that the NFL requires teams playing in a foreign country to hire 
a player from that country for the game).  However, according to both the 
NFL and ESPN WWW sites, there will be no game in Tokyo this year.

Richard Webb
rlwebb@raiderfans.com         http://www.puc.edu/Faculty/Richard_Webb/
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