Incentive to win

[Yugo Yodogawa <yyy@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU>]

> Thanks for the good discussion on this topic.  One realization I've come to
> is: with Taka and Waka, since they are blood brothers, it doesn't matter what
> heya they are in.  If a situation arose (like what we've been talking about)
> there may be no way to make them fight at 100%.  Dignity and pride might be
> the only way.  So, we must treat Taka-Waka separately from same-heya matches.
>  Nami-Taka may not be as big a problem.
> 
> Also, I understand that every victory means some $$, but my real point is
> that "if with today's reward system, same-heya matches are not recommended",
> then instead of making excuses, I say, let's try to find a system that does
> reward the rikishi more for winning any match.  I mean for these guys 100,000
> or even 300,000 yen don't mean much.  So, how about:  Victory against guys
> who makekoshi are worth 0.  Victory (on any day) against eventual champion is
> worth 1,000,000.  Victory on 15th day that knocks leader into a tomoe-sen is
> worth 2,000,000.  Victory on 15th day over a co-leader is worth 1,500,000.
>  Victory on days 10 through 14 over a sole leader is 1,500,000.  Victory on
> days 10 through 14 over a co-leader is 1,000,000.  Now, do you think these
> guys wouldn't bust their butts?  Taka-Waka may still be a problem, granted,
> but we've conceded that not much can be done about blood brothers.  My point

I think the best solution was the one Abe-san gave, in which rikishi from the
same heya are scheduled to fight only in the first several days of the
tournament.  Perhaps in regards to blood brothers such as Taka-Waka and
Oginohana-Oginishiki, having them fight on the first day would be most ideal.

> is the houshoukin system/rule is not good enough (even if every victory is
> being rewarded today), so find a better system/rule.  Even with baseball,
> Nomura-kantoku of Yakult says Japanese baseball system is nama-nurui (too
> easy).  In the US, the difference between majors and minors is so drastic,
> that players are shinimonogurui (dog-eat-dog) to make the majors.  In Japan,
> 2-gun (minors) get decent treatment, and 1-gun (majors) aren't treated like
> the US majors.  So, going down to the farm is no big deal.  If sumo rikishi
> make good base salary, and every victory only increases his salary by 5% it
> ain't a big deal.  But, if victory in important matches could double his
> salary (or triple), you can bet they'll try.  Let's get some killer instinct
> into these guys.
> 
> We've been mainly focusing about the Futa-beya, but another good potential
> match that we may never see is:  Musashi vs. Musoyama.  That could be an
> awesome match in the coming years.

The more I think about it, though, the more I feel that the novelty of the
same-heya yusho ketteisen would be lost if we became used to Taka/Waka and
Maru/Musoyama fighting each other every tournament.  I agree that something
should be done about the huge stables, but when Chiyonofuji and Hokutoumi met
for their famous yusho ketteisen, it was a really special moment that would
have lost much of its significance had they routinely fought each other every
basho.
-yugo