[sumo] Rijicho - more dubious proposals

["Walker, Jay" <Walker@nhrc.navy.mil>]

>Kitanoumi rijicho said there is no way he was going to listen to the 
Rikishi-kai's (Rikishi's association) views on the planned Koshou status 
abolishment. 

What I'd really like to know is if the rijicho is just this bull-headed on
his own or does he speak for all the neanderthals in the Sumo Kyokai. 

This strikes me as one of those proposals that will backfire in a way he
doesn't intend.  Let's say I'm sitting on the banzuke at around M10.  Right
now if I suffer an injury in the first few days of the basho, I may find
myself at high/mid Juryo when I receive my kosho status, and hopefully in 6
months I will have worked my way back to the M10 ranking.  Under the new
rules, I'll fall to at least low Juryo, quite possibly to makushita while I
rehabilitate, and maybe in a year I can make it back to M10 - if I'm lucky.
In the meantime, I've taken a considerable hit in salary and just lost a
year off a career that will likely last only 5 or 6 years (on average)
anyways in the top division.  My new mantra has just become "Avoid Injury At
All Costs".  Winning matches and displaying good fighting spirit are nice,
but first things first.  For the fans, the matches may well become duller as
too many rikishi are no longer willing to take chances during matches
knowing what an injury will cost them.  Sumo popularity plummets even
further and the Kyokai just can't understand why.

Kitanoumi had his solution right in front of him and walked away from it.
Kosho status is determined by the Kyokai and they can be as strict or
lenient as they want.  The denial of kosho status to Musoyama last basho had
to send a message to the rikishi-kai.  Surely there are a few well-trained,
competent doctors in Japan that could be hired to aid in kosho
determination.  If the case is too borderline, wait until the end of basho
before deciding.

Other rules could be tinkered with to discourage withdrawals.  Implement
different levels of pay for the maegashira ranks.  Drop those who receive
kosho an additional two ranks on the banzuke.  For ozekis that go kyujo the
previous basho, require 9 wins to remove kadoban status instead of 8.

Of course all this would require some leadership to implement.  But I guess
in the universe that is Kitanoumi's, he has come up with the perfect
solution to avoiding injuries in sumo - just pretend they don't exist.

-George W.

[EndPost by "Walker, Jay" <Walker@nhrc.navy.mil>]