RFD for rec.sport.sumo

[robu@gol.com]

The following is the RFD (Request For Discussion) that I have submitted to
news.annouce.newgroups for discussion regarding the formation of a
newsgroup rec.sport.sumo. The RFD will also be posted to soc.culture.japan,
sci.lang.japan, rec.martial-arts, fj.life.in-japan, rec.travel.japan,
fj.rec.sports.prowrestling and rec.sport.pro-wrestling.

The purpose of such a group shall NOT be to replace this mailing list that
has been so successful and that Chris has done such a good job with, but as
an alternative, especially for people living in Japan.

For a new group to become reality, ALOT of support needs to be shown by
internet users (you all.) The RFD I have submitted to
news.announce.newgroups is the first step. Now discussion will take place
in news.groups and responces will be collected and the charter modified as
needed. PLEASE send positive (or negative/critical) support to this group
(news.groups) so that a charter may be agreed upon. If a charter is agreed
upon a CFV (Call for Votes) will be held. If a sufficeint number of votes
are received, rec.sport.sumo will be formed!! (Sufficient is defined as at
least 100 more YES votes than NO votes and at least two-thirds of the votes
are YES votes.)


_______________________
Start RFD:

                      REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION (RFD)
                    unmoderated group rec.sport.sumo
                    (please follow-up to news.groups)

RATIONALE: all groups

There are currently no existing newsgroups dedicated to Japan's national
sport, sumo. A form of wrestling that is enormously popular in Japan and
has in the last few years gained strong interest in North America, Europe
and East Asia (in part because of the success of foreign born wrestlers),
sumo attracts many fans who are also users of the internet and newsgroups.
Currently, the needs of the on-line sumo community are served by a very
popular sumo mailing list maintained by Chris Basten and managed by
MajorDomo@esssjp.stat.ncsu.edu. Sumo-related posts are also common to
soc.culture.japan. Although there is a group dedicated to marital arts
(rec.martial-arts), its focus is towards more participatory sports, such as
Karate and Aikido. Posts regarding sumo are very rare to
fj.rec.sports.prowrestling and rec.sport.pro-wrestling as sumo posts are
basically off-topic to the discussions of (mostly) American pro-wrestling
conducted there.

CHARTER: rec.sport.sumo

This group is dedicated to discussion of sumo, Japan's national sport.
Possible subjects for discussion are: current results of sumo tournaments
(basho), techniques used by sumo wrestlers, possible promotions or
demotions of sumo wrestlers, the role of foreign born wrestlers in the sumo
world, the growing popularity of sumo in both Japan and abroad, media
coverage of sumo, Japanese university sumo wrestlers, tournaments held in
foreign countries, and sumo-related quizzes and questions.

The group is ummoderated, so all articles are posted, but posters are asked
to refrain from name-calling, flames,  and the use of vulgar or obscene
language. Discussions about other forms of wrestling are generally
off-topic, although discussions of forms of wrestling similar to sumo (such
as Mongolian wrestling) and how they compare to sumo itself, would be
appropriate. The group also facilitates discussions about sumo between both
people living in Japan and folks overseas.

END CHARTER.

Submitted by: Robert F. Underwood (robu@gol.com), proponent.



_____________________________________________________________________________
Robert Underwood                                                 robu@gol.com
                                               http://www2.gol.com/users/robu
58 Kominoue, Totsukawa-mura
Yoshino-gun, Nara-ken                                           P.O Box 7545
637-14 Japan                                       Portland, Maine 04112 USA