For those of you who regularily read what I write, you probably know that I am an avid follower of Japanese sumo.  I videotape and watch each day's matches during each Grand Sumo Tournament.  (I'd watch them live, but they're broadcast from 2:30-4:30 AM here in Minnesota.)  **At the end of next week, I will have the opportunity to see some matches live in my "hometown" in Japan.  Yay!

To make it even more interesting, I have begun to play an online sumo game. 

Each day, participants in the game need to choose ten wrestlers whom they think will be victorious on that particular day.  Each victory for a chosen wrestler earns the participant one point.  Every day, each participant is paired against another participant.  The person who chooses the most bouts correctly gets a win for the day.

Players who accumulate a better than .500 average move up in the rankings, while those under .500 move down.  (In a 15-day tournament one can only have either a winning, or losing record.)

I was victorious on the first day of the current (Nagoya) tournament.  I lost on the second day.  My record is 1 win, 1 loss.

Day three is upcoming.  Here are the first five (out of ten) wrestlers who I have chosen to win:

1) Asashoryu

2) Kaio

3) Chiyotaikai

4) Asasekiryu

5) Buyuzan (pictured below)