Dreary weekend

Well, that was a kinda messed up weekend. I’ve heard that if you have nothing good to say than you should stay quiet. If that were really true, then I wouldn’t have much to write about. Let’s see if I can spin this weekend around. As always, feel free to send a comment.

World football – I waited to watch the Manchester United face their biggest rivals in Liverpool. I hate Liverpool so much; I even hate the Beatles. Since I had to work, I set the DVR to record the game while I did everything I could to avoid spoilers. Instead coming home to a freshly recorded game, I got the notification the game was postponed to a later date due to a fan protest that grew in to a small riot. The crowd was protesting against the American family that hold the majority stake of ownership stock. The Glazers also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I hear that they are a popular group of “pointy ball" players and they are also champions. The fans feel that the owners are just using the team to suck all the money that they can. The owners don’t care about the fans, culture or tradition of the team. Fans also reacted to the roller-coaster events around the announcement of a separate European super league that faced backlash from the FA and UEFA. Any team that appears in the alternate league would be banned from mainstream competition. The teams wisely backed out. Bright side – well, the fans got a chance to communicate with the organization. Also, Manchester City has to wait to celebrate their Premier League championship.

With the great competition that came out of the men’s curling championship, I was hoping for the same out of the women. I was looking forward to watching Eve Muirhead skip for her native country. After three Olympics representing Great Britain, she is the skip for her Scotland this year. I did get the chance to watch her beat team USA but there was a Covid outbreak with the television crew. Sunday’s matches were delayed or rescheduled and there will be no more television coverage. Bright side – at least the players are healthy.

Grand Sumo starts this Saturday so I have that going for me…which is nice. Shodai is kadoban again so he has to have a winning record of at least eight wins to keep his ozeki rank. With Terunofuji back at the opening rank and looking to become a yokozuna, we also hope that Hakuho is healthy enough to compete. 

With high hopes for a good tournament, there will be an air of sadness over the whole competition. A lower division wrestler, Hibikiryu sadly passed away one month after suffering a horrifying injury in a match when he fell on his head and layer motionless for minutes as people around him waited to react. The resulting lack of quick medical assistance from the staff on site is maddening for any sports fan in America when we get to see extreme caution and care. While I would rather rub my corneas with sandpaper than watch the big three American sports, I do know that these overpaid playground athletes are well treated with regards to first aid and improved concussion protocols. 

High school sports have ambulances on site for most sporting events. The sumo association does not share the same priority of wrestler care. Whether it is a sense of honor or cultural differences, wrestlers are expected to just deal with the pain. The sumo association released a statement that the death may not be related to the injury. There are increased medical training for event staff treating concussions but the problems are more systemic. While the Japanese Sumo Association (JSA) does a good job with Covid precautions, that came after the death of a wrestler last year. With great sadness, I hope that this leads to greater reforms. 

That’s all for now, I’ve tried to stay positive but it feels like a rant.

Have a day…and just be good to yourself and at least one other person.