Recently the amateur sumo association in Japan has encouraged the use of sumo shorts. Article from bbc.uk   In order to encourage teenagers to participate in sumo, the amateur sumo association has advocated ridding the sport of the traditional mawashi (sometimes referred to as "loincloths") in favor of something resembling bicycle shorts.  Competing in shorts apparently makes the youngsters less self-conscious than competing in the traditional sumo near-nakedness. Fortunately in ...

Bob Casey, the 44-year veteran PA announcer for the Minnesota Twins died today at 80.  The most famous announcements of my lifetime probably came with how he called Kirby Puckett's name.  Casey was a fixture with the Twins, and his absence will definitely be felt. As a teenager I didn't really care for Casey's over-the-top announcements.  As I approached my current age, I began to appreciate the unique charm that Casey brought to the Twins.  He added a little bit of atmosp...

I heard today that Barry Bonds arrived at training camp on crutches after knee surgery.  After blaming the media for "getting to him", Bonds indicated that he will be out for at least the first half of (and possibly the whole) baseball season. The timing of the surgery and the announcement are a bit fishy. Inactive players don't show a performance dropoff since they're not playing. Do injured players have to take drug tests? If this knee injury ends up being "career threateni...

This morning as I was driving into work, I heard excerpts of Barry Bonds' press conference.  I have been thinking about it all day, and it has been making me a bit angry. What I gleaned by listening to it was: it is the media's fault that athletes are getting caught "making mistakes", and that he must be doing something right because 50,000 fans show up to "boo" him each night. I think that Barry Bonds is making a mistake that a number of overpushed "heel" pro wrestlers make.  Bo...

We're halfway through the 2005 New Year's Grand Sumo Tournament.  As has become the usual: Yokozuna Asashoryu leads the field with eight wins against no losses.  Behind him is a small pack tied at two losses apiece. Among the rikishi in the group with two losses is a young (19 year-old) Mongolian rikishi named Hakuho. With less than a year in the top division, Hakuho finds himself ranked Komusubi (Junior Champion -Sumo's fourth-highest rank.)  It is very uncommon for ...

Here are the pictures that I couldn't attach to my article (along with the original article): For most of the season, Jamie Burnside's team- Name TBD has struggled with its running game. After initially relying on Dallas' Eddie George, and Arizona's Emmit Smith to carry the load, the acquisition of Running Backs Julius Jones and Derrick Blaylock have added life to a stagnant running game. Not having to rely mainly on the ups-and-downs of Quarterback Daunte Culpepper and Wide Receiver Te...

Alright, I swore off baseball for the year once the Yankees eliminated the Twins in four games.  That said: I have been listening to the sports updates on the radio, and I know that the Yankees have been eliminated by the Red Sox. This will be the Red Sox's first World Series appearance since they faced the Mets in 1986 (Definitely the most interesting series -not including the Twins- that I remember.) From now, I don't really care which team wins it all.  I am jus...

I just finished watch the Yankees hand it to the Twins for the second year in a row.  Hopefully that rat-bastard team gets beat by the Red Sox. I can imagine that it must be terribly discouraging for other American League East teams to have to go to work every day of the season knowing that they'll have to face a team that insists on purchasing division championships year-after-year, rather than working to develop its own talent. How would you like to be a player for, or a fan of: The...

I am writing this weblog during the commercial breaks in the Twins-Yankees game.  It is game one of the ALDS.  (Go Twins!) Every year I am always amazed at how exciting baseball becomes as soon as the post season comes along.  I stay with my team through the highs and the lows of each year; and then as soon as October rolls around, everything seems fresh again. So far, Mike Mussina and Johan Santana are in a 1-0 pitchers' duel.  Every out is crucial.  It is li...

The Twins are in Chicago tonight to play the White Sox.  I am a HUGE Twins fan, and if the game continues as-is (they're ahead 4-0 in the third) they'll clinch the division title on the field. On the other hand, the Vikings are on Monday Night Football tonight.  I have my two biggest fantasy players going tonight (Culpepper and Owens), and I need the points! I guess that I will have to resort to flipping around during the commercials.

At 2:30 AM Minnesota time, the Fall Grand Sumo Tournament will begin. I will be keeping up with the twists and turns of the sumo tournament over the next 15 days (the length of the tournament.) This time, there will be a few interesting things to watch for: 1) Will Yokozuna Asashoryu continue his streak of consecutive tournament victories?  (If memory serves me, he has won the previous four tournaments. 2) Will Ozeki Tochiazuma (now that his injuries have healed) cont...

Tonight (September 3rd) the Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 2-0. Pitcher Johan Santana took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. Once the seventh inning came, the pitcher gave up a single. Then a second baseman's error gave the Royals runners on first and third with nobody out. From that moment on, Mr. Santana got "The Eye of the Tiger."  He ended up striking-out the next three batters to finish the night with eleven.  I have never seen a professional athlete so ob...

This is old news, but the day before yesterday (Monday Aug. 30) the Cleveland Indians beat the New York Yankees 22-0.  That was good news because I like to see the Yankees lose big. I wonder if the Red Sox have it in them to overtake the Yankees this season.  Regardless, it looks like even if the Yankees don't win the division, they'd be the wild-card entrants into the playoffs.  Let's hope that (along with the Red Sox) a team in the AL West gets hot. Go Red Sox!  Go At...

Last night my fantasy football league held its draft.  It was my first time at a draft since I moved to Japan in 1996.  Since then I haven't followed much football, and I am not quite knowledgable about the sport and the players.  I haven't seen many games since I have returned to the US in 2001. Because of this, I asked my friend Andy to come with me to the draft in order to help me pick the best players possible.  I think that we did pretty well.  Here is what w...

Have you ever wanted to know how over half of the New York Yankees' starting lineup would do against the National League All-Stars? Yeah, me neither... Major League Baseball's All-Star Game is next week.  The starting lineup is voted on by fans in stadiums and on the internet.  Because of this voting system a lot of Yankees players are chosen. I think that Yankees players get a lot of their votes because their team gets a lot of media coverage, and most people h...