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Asashoryu, in Mongolia, denies he went on drunken rampage

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‘‘It’s an undeniable fact that there were people who tried to kick me out of the sumo world. If I had continued my career, I would have won more than 30 titles, considering my physical and mental strength,’’ Asashoryu said.

Historical Statement !

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The press conference attracted nearly 100 reporters, but Asashoryu declined to accept any questions from the Japanese media.

this is actually wrong. he stated that since they, the j-reporters, were in mongolia, he wanted them to speak mongolian to him, and that he wouldn't be speaking in japanese.

love it!

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he stated that since they, the j-reporters, were in mongolia, he wanted them to speak mongolian to him, and that he wouldn't be speaking in japanese.

I wonder if he told this to the J-reporters in Japanese or Mongolian. LOL

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Even if some posters in here believe that the JSA was out to get him, surely they must concede that something actually did occur on Jan. 16. Asashoryu's remarks above demonstrate a classic case of inaoru, a Japanese verb which means to turn on one's tormentors instead of submitting. Having been discredited and forced out, Asashoryu is now trying to rewrite his own history, taking advantage of the fact that the Japanese media has draped a veil of silence over the incident. Now that he has gone from vague statements about having been "too drunk to remember" to outright fibs, I hope some publication will get to the bottom of the incident and let the public know what happened.

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It seems to have been a big mistake that JSA gave him "yokozuna" and no "hinkaku" at all. He forgets he is still a member of JSA paying him a lot every month until retirement ceremony. JSA might cancel the retirement money for him.

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‘‘It’s an undeniable fact that there were people who tried to kick me out of the sumo world. If I had continued my career, I would have won more than 30 titles, considering my physical and mental strength,’

Beating the record and making all these backward ojisans stark raving mad and foaming at the mouth would have been the best revenge. Win the 31st title and announce your retirement in the ring.

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Is it only me or does anybody else think that it is very strange that we have not seen photos of the guy that Asashoryu is supposed to have beaten up. Or that he hasn't been interviewed on TV????? I think the JSA just made it up so they could get rid of him.

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I'm loving this... Sumo is getting exactly what they wanted... they should have let Asa leave on his own terms... now, they're going to pay dearly for booting him out... Asa has more power than the JSA realizes... this situation reminds me of Randy Bass, Tuffy Rhodes, and Alex Cabrera... I can't wait to see where Asa takes this... one thing is for sure, though, he won't disrespect his former stable master...

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For sumo it's just another storyline. I hope Asa enjoys his retirement.

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‘‘I don’t want to say bad things about the Japan Sumo Association, but there were things I didn’t like about what they (association officials) told me. They were strict with the rules,’’

if he followed the rules, they wouldn't have to have told him anything.

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He's such a cranky pants. I'm tired of seeing his mean face on TV.

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‘‘It’s an undeniable fact that there were people who tried to kick me out of the sumo world. If I had continued my career, I would have won more than 30 titles, considering my physical and mental strength,’’ Asashoryu said.

Historical Statement !

In Australia, the Coodabeen Champions sports team would refer to this as BS: a Big Statement! :)

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Historical Statement !

There are no points awarded for championships you might have won.

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"I didn't do any thing bad," "They were out to get me." Asa's self-perception of being the wounded party is textbook sociopathological behaviour.

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"I would have won more than 30 titles." Sure. Sounds like sour grapes to me. Always a complainer.

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Sumo is one step away from professional wrestling now.

No one in the real world takes it seriously.

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Sumo is not just sport like other sports. It is 70 percent is traditional ritual demonstration of rikishi and 30 percent is sport that westerners talk about. Asa hardly understand it with hinkaku and he took it as another sport as the strongest is grand champion. Sumo is actually not. So Sumo will never be able to become an international sport.

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Asa was speaking Nihongo on his interview that I saw on TV yesterday, so perhaps he was just kidding. And, what REALLY happened that night in the taxi cab with the Chinese guy? Going to miss Asashoryu, and I feel a little sad everytime I pass the Kokugikan.

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He should just comeback, win the 6 titles and then retire.

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I already miss sweet Asashoryu. Sumo is the most excitingsport and I am waiting impatiently for the next basho. But it will be so different without Asashoryu. Hopefully Kotoosyu will upset hakuho.

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I hope he cashed in all that YEN he earned because that would make him the richest man in Mongolia. I'm sure the JSA had a meeting with Hakuho too.

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"The press conference attracted nearly 100 reporters, but Asashoryu declined to accept any questions from the Japanese media."

As any real athlete and celebrity should. The Japanese media is just a bunch of fools who hype the way Japan looks, and shame the athletes when they 'disappoint' the nation. Asashoryu did more for this so-called sport than most Sumo wrestlers before him, and now that he's gone he can make the sport what it actually should be while Japan is left with a bunch of weaker, inferior wrestlers to battle for the isolated title of Japanese champion. Pretty soon in the world there will be Sumo, and Sumo Japan. It's too bad the JSA had to ruin this sport for the nation. THEY are the ones that should have to answer to the J-media.

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JSA maybe made a mistake that it hired Mongolians as Japan's sumo wrestler in the first place. Mongolia has their own sumo and they understand the strongest is number 1 there even if whatever incidents happens. I think Sumo is hardly a sport because its fighting time is usually about only 5 seconds. Most of its game is a kinda show of similar Kabuki players acting role to grab salt and spread it on circle stage a few times and naturally it depicts excitement by spirit of Sumo culture. I think usual sports take more than 5-10 seconds.

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Asashoryu on Thursday refuted reports of an alleged drunken rampage that preceded his retirement from sumo.

In addition to having a reputation for being drunk and violent in public he now also will be known as a liar.

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The Asashoryu haters are on a rampage here.

And so are the blind and deaf Asa supporters.

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He's retired and back in his own country...time to move on...

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After this statement he went to the his birth hospital in Ulaanbaatar and visited newly born babies and mothers and gave them baby accessories as gift. I think he is little different than the other yokozunas. plus do not forget those kiddy Fanta commercials I really liked them.

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Well said, smithinjapan, except I wuldn't have said "fools" but "tools", which is exactly what the J-media are: a bunch of tools for the government to make Japan look better, and everywhere else less than the best.

Presto245 - I echo another postor's question: if Asashoryu really DID strike someone in a drunken rampage, where is he? Why aren't we hearign his side of things? You can charge Asa for being a liar all you want, but it is pretty strange that the man Asa allegedly hit is nowhere to be found. Put up or shut up, as one of my former american football coaches used to say. If Asa really did hit someone, where is his mug? Where is his story? In a court case, both sides are heard. Where is Asa's accuser? Put up or shut up. Prove Asa a liar, if he realyl is one. Innocent until proven guilty....

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Unbelievable that this guy became a Yokozuna and Konishiki didn't.

That there has only been two yokozuna promoted in the past 10 years, and one of them was Asashoryu, shows much more structural problems in sumo. You can't seperate the way Asashoryu has acted with the other hazing problems in sumo. If you think its okay for the Yokozuna to act the bully in the raised ring, how do you expect other rising stars in the sumo world to act.

The way this is solved is through a more formal training system as I believe has been proposed by Takanohana in the past, as opposed to the apprenticeship system in place today. Either that, or require rikishi to be "drafted" out of college. The latter is more of an american model, but, some sort of radical change is neccessary in training is needed

Other changes that are needed is my priennal complaint that matches should be in prime time as opposed to 4-6. Maybe they should take away one of the basho in Tokyo (or Nagoya or Fukuoka where they have trouble selling out) and have one of the honbasho in the countryside once a year. That would help both increase interest in sumo and tourism for that city, I would think.

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Nothing wrong with a drunken episode. 50% of this country gets druk on fri and sat nights. storm in a teacup if you ask me.

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actually - i thought other foreigners such as Yokozuna Akebono (Chad) did a lot for Sumo also AND he is a really nice guy - although he had a really fierce look in competition. While Asa had problems with the JSA the fact that other foreign wrestlers weren't as colorful indicates SOME of the blame also rests with Asa. Basically Asa and the JSA just couldn't get along.

As for the future of Sumo - I agree with GenkiDesuka's comments about Takanohana's recommendations but that's a really radical change. Maybe try to implement Sumo in high-school through college as a national collegiate sport (with funding) with stables vying for first round draft picks (makes for more advertising money etc). Then we can have the NSA (National Sumo Association), the JSA (similar to the AFL), and maybe even an ill-fated Euro-League and US League. That way Sumo would also be required to attend high school and college and LEARN TO GET ALONG WITH OTHERS the Japanese way (not saying it's good or bad - but it IS the Japanese way).

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Sumo is not just sport like other sports . . . It is 70 percent is traditional ritual demonstration of rikishi and 30 percent is sport that westerners talk about. Asa hardly understand it with hinkaku and he took it as another sport as the strongest is grand champion. Sumo is actually not. So Sumo will never be able to become an international sport.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. "Because foreigners will never be able to understand the inscrutable Japanese mind." Blah, blah, blah. We've heard this all before ad nauseum.

And yet, for all of his supposed lack of understanding of the intricacies of the sport, Asa still managed to clean most of his opponents' clocks in grand fashion, while bringing specators back to the waning sport in droves. Not too shabby for an ignorant gaijin.

If nothing else, Asa can be thankful that sumo gave him an opportunity to be famous enough to hold a press conference where he could give the Japanese media a taste of their own medicine in a Mongolian setting.

Best of luck to him in his future endeavors. He had a great run.

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