{"id":555,"date":"2010-02-04T09:20:22","date_gmt":"2010-02-04T14:20:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bourdaghs.com\/blog\/?p=555"},"modified":"2010-02-05T00:19:48","modified_gmt":"2010-02-05T05:19:48","slug":"so-long-asashoryu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bourdaghs.com\/blog\/?p=555","title":{"rendered":"So Long, Asashoryu"},"content":{"rendered":"

The great Monogolian yokozuna Asashoryu has announced his retirement<\/a>. Just a week after his victory in the New Years tournament gave him his 25th title and third place on the career championship record list, he stepped down to take responsibility for an ugly, but still murky, incident that took place on the sixth day of the tournament, when he got into a late-night drunken brawl that is the subject of an ongoing police investigation.<\/p>\n

It’s an incredibly sad moment for this sumo fan. Asashoryu at his prime was one of the two or three greatest sumo wrestlers ever, combining astonishing technique with a terrifying determination to win. The look in his eyes just before a match, especially a match against a difficult opponent, was something fierce. He was also, however, always daunted by internal demons and seems to have been battling depression for the last few years, though it has never been announced as such. On top of that was the extra pressures he faced as a foreign sumo wrestler: he became the sumo wrestler the tabloids loved to hate. Early on in his career, he was able to transform that hostility into a source of energy, but lately it seems only to have worn him down.<\/p>\n

He was clearly past his peak, and yet he is only 29 and his victory in the most recent tournament demonstrated that he still had some terrific sumo left in him. It’s an awful waste. Moreover, do you know how boring sumo is going to be without him? In terms of talent, personality, and charisma, none of the other wrestlers can touch him. So long, Asashoryu, and thanks for a truly thrilling ride over the past decade. <\/p>\n

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