Biggest Sports Controversy of the Year Yet- And this is the YEAR of the Sports Controversy!
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by The One and (thankfully) only, Manny Stiles
And when I say big, I mean BIG! Not just big as in big, or "Oh my God. Becky... look at her butt... She must be one of those rap guy's girlfriends" big, but as in "a scandal that has rocked hundreds of millions of people" big! As in superthrongs of reporters and photographers big. As in national headlines big! As in Tim Donaghy wrapped inside of Michael Vick dressed as a Jose Canseco book big! And you probably haven't heard a word about it.
Asashoryu is the 68th Yokozuna (Grand Champion) of Japanese Sumo and first native Mongolian to achieve Yokozuna status. He has held the title since January 30, 2003. He is widely considered one of the five greatest champions in sumo history and certainly the greatest modern champion. In fact, his 21 career Emperor's Cups (top-division championships) puts him fifth all-time in a career spanning less than a mere 6 years!
In 2004, he became the first sumo wrestler to win five tournaments in a year. In 2005, set a new record run of seven consecutive tournament victories (including the last one from 2005) and also set a new record by winning 83 bouts in a year.
Just a month ago, he destroyed the competition in a tournament despite fighting nagging back injuries that supposedly included a fractured disk and some nerve damage. He has won in such unprecedented style that he had to fight allegations of yaocho, or match fixing - an ongoing, vexing issue with Sumo and a seemingly common theme in sports this year, wouldn't you say?
Asashoryu was fatigued mentally and physically and had medical certificates drawn up so he could be excluded from a summer exhibition tour. Such exceptions are rarely granted but Asashoryu was allowed by the sport's governing body to return to his native Mongolia for rest and recouperation in hopes that he could return and lead Sumo to greatness once again.
But a few days ago, Asashoryu did something unprecedented. He was suspended for two upcoming events and had his pay slashed by 30% (from 2.8 million Yen per month or approximately $3.5 mil per year - not including 'fringe' benefits) while being ordered back to Japan. No Yokozuna has EVER been suspended by the Japan Sumo Association (JSA) in it's 80+ year history.
The JSA has never suspended a Yokozuna for one very simple reason - Yokozunas are the reason people watch Sumo! Without the top draw and amidst ongoing match fixing scandals, Sumo has been dealt a vicious, if not a fatal blow.
Q. What did he do to get suspended, you ask?
A. He played soccer
Not only that, he ENJOYED it! Wearing a Wayne Rooney T-shirt and slimmed down a visible 30-50 pounds from his wrestling weight, Asashoryu was caught by (surprise, surprise...) Japanese media on camera in his native Mongolia playing soccer at a charity match that also was attended by Japanese soccer legend Hidetoshi Nakata. Whoops!
Asashoryu was laughing, dancing and hamming it up for fans and even heading the ball while making dives and tackles repeatedly with a look of joy on his face. Not the kind of moves you'd expect from a guy with mental fatigue and nominal back issues. And CERTAINLY NOT the behavior of an All-Time Great Yokozuna.
Yokozunas are held in the highest regard in Japanese culture. They are the "People's Champion" and role model. Yokozunas are a beaming exemplification of Boshido tradition (mercy for the opponent). They are to be honorable and respectful and are always to wear their kimono (traditional robe-like garment) and mage (oiled top knot in their hair). They are to be FULLY devoted to the sport they rule and be the most humble person on the planet doing it. They are to embody Japanese culture and Sumo tradition.
Playing soccer gleefully in a T-shirt, diving and jumping when one is supposedly too injured to represent their sport kicks all of that yokozuna tradition right in the mata (groin). Imagine if Michael Jordan didn't retire from basketball in 1993 but just said he was too hurt and couldn't play to then go play wiffleball with schoolkids in North Carolina. Or if the President up and left the White House during a staff meeting to share a few lines of blow with some strippers... Ok, bad example.
It has stirred such commotion in the Japanese sports world that Government officials in Mongolia have apologized on behalf of the Mongolian Yokozuna saying that they strong armed him into the charity appearance and were unaware that it would cause such resonating consequences. Yeah, they take this stuff serious over there!
Don't get it twisted. This haberdashery by Asahoryu is not an isolated event, but surely an unexpected wrinkle in the story. Asashoryu has had a history of being a "bad boy" and perhaps this was merely the last straw. However this will hurt more than just the Yokozuna's future, it will undulate the entire sport.
His early career was plagued by controversy in the Japanese media (let's not forget which media we're dealing with here) with such transgressions as wearing a Western styled suit in public instead of the standard Champion's kimono. Before he became a Yokozuna, Asashoryu was accused of soliciting young hostesses with his wrestling earnings (Eugene Robinson and Denny Neagle would be proud). He had a habit of purposely hurting sparring partners in the ring and even out of the ring; attacking a fellow wrestler in a dressing room during an argument and allegedly taunted young sparring partners by shooting them in their asses with a pellet gun (a little hazing perhaps?).
In Japan it is customary to shun the display of emotions and actions that Asashoryu has almost made a trademark. Being from Mongolia, where brashness and a fiery temper is considered manly, he has been dogged by such controversial incidents such as pulling on a defeated opponents mage (a serious no-no) that got him disqualified from an event and turned many conservative sumo fans against him. He often taunted opponents and stood above his losing competitors with his infamous "guts pose" (think Merriman's "Lights Out", Sumo style). He has disputed judge's decisions (also a serious no-no) and perhaps most damning of all, he has refused to accept Japanese citizenship.
But few things will overcome his blatent disregard for the sport of Sumo. Which may very well doom not just his career but the whole sport for good. Oh, there are more popular wrestlers than Asashoryu, but none are anywhere near as good. A Bulgarian, Kotooshu is the favorite foreign Sumo wrestler and has been called "The David Beckman of Sumo" because of his dashing looks, suave personality and humble attitude, but as any soccer fan knows being compared to David Beckman doesn't exactly mean you're any good... just popular, at best.
The sport of Sumo has been dodging the nails in it's proverbial coffin for years. In the mid 90's whistleblowers have turned up mysteriously dead, hours after making remarks of the crime and debauchery riddling the sport. More importantly, young Japanese recruits aren't coming up through the ranks. Sumo takes a massive toll on the body, especially the knees (due to the neccessary massive weight gain) and liver (strict sumo diet). And despite the kickbacks, hot babes and other benefits of being a top sumo wrestler, it's just not attractive as it once was in a society ever-opening to the capitalistic wares of Western Society and the new offerings being made available to the youth.
The few young wrestlers that are emerging lack the skill or power to capture the fans' attention like Asashoryu has. Sumo is battered and beaten. And now, with it's Grand Champion holed up in an apartment in Japan, surrounded by a heaping throng of reporters awaiting his every move (Japanese media, remember) and recieving psychiatric assistance while on the verge of a nervous breakdown from the pressure of the situation, there is fear. If they let him go back to Mongolia, he might never return. A grandest of Grand Champions will be lost.
He might be taking the last shroud of hope for the spiraling, sputtering sport of Sumo with him.
I like to write my own little sebacious jokes into most of my posts, so at least I get to enjoy it later when I re-read them. I try to write so it lasts and doesn't stale right away!
Otherwise, I'm normally a very cromulent kind of guy.