RE: [sumo] RE: Sumo World rumors....

[Jack Peacock <peacock@simconv.com>]

<< Ross and I have been writing back and forth, and I have no hard feelings 
about his remark, nor should anyone else.  We go back many years -- he was 
Glenn's replacement, and the first new face on the show. >>

When I first found sumo on C-Band satellite one evening back in 1991 it was
Tom Quinn and Dave Wiggins who made it comprehensible.  Their commentary,
along with Ross Mihara, Lynn Matsuoka and Doreen Simmons got me hooked on
the sport and culture.  Where else could one find the focus on gyojis that
Doreen offers, or the Wigginisms (did he come up with "Bentodashi" to
describe Akebono's express train charge at tachiai?).

As for not being up to US standards for sports broadcasters...I should hope
not.  I'm sure the guy on ESPN does his best (what's his name, Jack
something?) but doesn't begin to compare to what the NHK crew has to offer.


For that matter the strained humor and scripted happy talk among US sports
announcers is a turn off for me.  Rush Limbaugh was the only fresh face in
sports broadcasting to come along in quite a few years (since Dizzy Dean),
and look what happened to him.  Sumo is a different kind of sport that calls
for a different approach, something NHK does seem to understand, at least on
the English speaker side.
  Casinoshima (AKA Jack Peacock) 

from the island of casinos in the sea of desert
[EndPost by Jack Peacock <peacock@simconv.com>]